Fabrication and Characterization of Short Josephson Junctions with Stepped Ferromagnetic Barrier

We present novel low-T_c superconductor-insulator-ferromagnet-superconductor (SIFS) Josephson junctions with planar and stepped ferromagnetic interlayer. We optimized the fabrication process to set a step in the ferromagnetic layer thickness. Depending on the thickness of the ferromagnetic layer the ground state of the SIFS junction has a phase drop of either 0 or pi. So-called 0-pi Josephson junctions, in which 0 and pi ground states compete with each other, were obtained. These stepped junctions may have a double degenerate ground state, corresponding to a vortex of supercurrent circulating clock- or counterclockwise and creating a magnetic flux which carries a fraction of the magnetic flux quantum \Phi_0. Here, we limit the presentation to static properties of short junctions.