Anomalous Parallel Field Negative Magnetoresistance in Ultrathin Films Near the Superconductor-Insulator Transition

A parallel field negative magnetoresistance has been found in quench-condensed ultrathin films of amorphous bismuth in the immediate vicinity of the thickness-tuned superconductor-insulator transition. The effect appears to be a signature of quantum fluctuations of the order parameter associated with the quantum critical point.Comment: Revised content includes revised argument and new figures 3 and 4. Totals: 4 pages, 4 figure

Hot Electron Effects in the 2D Superconductor-Insulator Transition

The parallel magnetic field tuned two-dimensional superconductor-insulator transition has been investigated in ultrathin films of amorphous Bi. The resistance is found to be independent of temperature on both sides of the transition below approximately 120 mK. Several observations suggest that this regime is not intrinsically "metallic" but results from the failure of the films' electrons to cool. The onset of this temperature-independent regime can be moved to higher temperatures by either increasing the measuring current or the level of electromagnetic noise. Temperature scaling is successful above 120 mK. Electric field scaling can be mapped onto temperature scaling by relating the electric fields to elevated electron temperatures. These results cast doubt on the existence of an intrinsic metallic regime and on the independent determination of the correlation length and dynamical critical exponents obtained by combining the results of electric field and temperature scaling.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Evidence of Spatially Inhomogeous Pairing on the Insulating Side of a Disorder-Tuned Superconductor-Insulator Transition

Measurements of transport properties of amorphous insulating indium oxide thin films have been interpreted as evidence of the presence of superconducting islands on the insulating side of a disorder-tuned superconductor-insulator transition. Although the films are not granular, the behavior is similar to that observed in granular films. The results support theoretical models in which the destruction of superconductivity by disorder produces spatially inhomogenous pairing with a spectral gap.Comment: Revised title and content/argument. Totals: 4 pages, 3 figure

Electrostatic Tuning of the Superconductor-Insulator Transition in Two Dimensions

Superconductivity has been induced in insulating ultra-thin films of amorphous bismuth using the electric field effect. The screening of electron-electron interaction was found to increase with electron concentration in a manner correlated with the tendency towards superconductivity. This does not preclude an increase in the density of states being important in the development of superconductivity. The superconductor-insulator transition appears to belong to the universality class of the three dimensional XY model.Comment: Four pages, three figures. Revised slightly to reflect referees' comment

Electrostatic- and Parallel Magnetic Field- Tuned Two Dimensional Superconductor-Insulator Transitions

The 2D superconductor-insulator transition in disordered ultrathin amorphous bismuth films has been tuned both by electrostatic electron doping using the electric field effect and by the application of parallel magnetic fields. Electrostatic doping was carried out in both zero and nonzero magnetic fields, and magnetic tuning was conducted at multiple strengths of electrostatically induced superconductivity. The transitions were analyzed using finite size scaling with critical exponent products nu*z = 0.65-0.7. The parallel critical magnetic field increased with electron transfer as (dn_c-dn)^0.33, where dn is the electron transfer and dn_c is its critical value, and the critical resistance decreased linearly with dn. However at lower temperatures, in the insulating regime, the resistance became larger than expected from extrapolation of its temperature dependence at higher temperatures, and scaling failed. These observations imply that although the electrostatic- and parallel magnetic field- tuned superconductor-insulator transitions would appear to belong to the same universality class and to be delineated by a robust phase boundary that can be crossed either by tuning electron density or magnetic field, in the case of the field-tuned transition at the lowest temperatures, some different type of physical behavior turns on in the insulating regime.Comment: About 11 pages, with 14 figures. To be submitted to Phys Rev