Thermal imaging of Bi2212 THz oscillator

Highlights: • Temperature distributions of Bi2212 mesas at low temperatures are measured. • Fluorescent thermal imaging (FTI) method is applied in the thermal imaging. • Obtained thermal images reveal non-uniformity of the temperature distribution. - Abstract: Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ (Bi2212) mesas are promising candidates for THz oscillators, which can fill the frequency range around "THz gap". However, it is known that Bi2212 mesas show self-heating effects (hot spots) when the current is passed along the c-axis due to the low thermal conductivity in this direction. Although several previous studies reported the relation of the hot spot and THz emission, consistent answer has not been obtained yet. In order to address this issue, imaging of temperature distributions on Bi2212 mesas is expected to be very effective. Here, we set up fluorescent thermal imaging (FTI) method for visualizing the surface temperature distribution on the Bi2212 mesa. We have succeeded in observing hot spots in the Bi2212 mesa with high spatial resolution.