Cryogen-Free Operation of SNIS for AC Quantum Voltage Standards

We report on our recent and ongoing activities on helium-free operation with ac Josephson standards based on programmable superconductor-normal conductor-insulator-superconductor (SNIS) arrays. Liquid helium-free operation provides ease of use, which is a wider number of applications and users. Moreover, it allows to reduce cable loading, which is crucial to overcome frequency-related limitations to the accuracy. Thermalization problems not faced with helium cooling are still challenging, in particular with programmable standards. To identify the effect of He-free cooling on electrical behavior, we compared the array steps in cryocooler a liquid helium. Results show that SNIS arrays can be operated in cryocooler and are interesting for application to programmable voltage standard.