Superconducting properties of VN-SiO 2 sol-gel derived thin films

In this work studies of structure and superconducting properties of VN SiO2 lms are reported. The lms were obtained through thermal nitridation (ammonolysis) of sol gel derived V2O3 SiO2 coatings (in a proper V2O3/SiO2 ratio) at 1200 ◦ C. This process leads to the formation of disordered structure with VN metallic grains dispersed in the insulating SiO2 matrix. The structural transformations occurring in the lms as a result of ammonolysis were studied using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The critical superconducting parameters are obtained. The magnetoresistance at high magnetic elds has been investigated

Depairing critical currents and self-magnetic field effects in submicron YBa₂Cu₃O₇₋δ microbridges and bicrystal junctions

We report on depairing critical currents in submicron YBa₂Cu₃O₇₋δ microbridges. A small-angle bicrystal grain boundary junction is used as a tool to study the entrance of vortices induced by a transport current and their influence on the I–V curves. The interplay between the depairing and the vortex motion determines a crossover in the temperature dependence of the critical current. The high entrance field of vortices in very narrow superconducting channels creates the possibility of carrying a critical current close to the depairing limit determined by the S–S–S nature of the small-angle grain boundary junction

Commensurate vortex lattices and oscillation effects in superconducting Mo/Si and W/Si multilayers

We report experimental results of the vortex lattice structure investigation in the artificial superconducting Mo/Si and W/Si superlattices. The resistance R and critical current Ic measurements in parallel magnetic fields have been performed as well as measurements in tilted magnetic fields. At temperatures where condition of strong layering is satisfied the dependences Ic(H||) and R(H||) reveal oscillation behavior. It is shown that the appearance of oscillations and of reentrant behavior (vanishing of resistivity in definite ranges of H||) are due to the strong intrinsic pinning and to the effect of commensurability between the vortex lattice period and multilayer wavelength. The locations of Ic(H||) and R(H||) extrema correspond to the stable states of a commensurate vortex lattice. Our experimental data are in good quantitative agreement with Ivlev, Kopnin, and Pokrovsky (IKP) theory. It is shown that the values of the commensurability fields depend exclusively on the superlattice period s and anisotropy coefficient γ and do not depend on the type of materials used for multilayer preparation. The memory effect, i.e., dependence of the oscillation pattern on the magnetic history of the sample, is observed. It is shown experimentally that the state of the vortex matter in the layered superconductors is essentially different from that of type-II superconductors with a random distribution of the pinning centers. Investigation of oscillation and reentrance behavior may be used as a new tool for vortex lattice arrangement study in layered superconductors. The essential advantage of this method is connected with its simplicity and with the possibility of using it in arbitrary large fields. Investigations of the commensurate states may be used for rather precise determination of the anisotropy coefficient γ

Commensurability effect and lock-in transition in Mo/Si superconducting superlattices

We report the first observation of the lock-in transition in artificial superconducting superlattices, which takes place in tilted magnetic fields. The measurements were carried out on the Mo/Si layered system. The temperature dependence of the critical angle for the trapping of the vortices in the orientation parallel to the layer planes is determined by the previously known resistive method and by a new method based on the effect of commensurability between the intervortex distance and the superlattice wavelength. The temperature dependences of the critical angle obtained by the two methods practically coincide. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical predictions of Feinberg and Villard

Superconducting and normal properties of the set of Mo/Si superlattices with variable Si layer thickness

We report the results of the superconducting and kinetic parameter measurements (transition temperature Tc, parallel and perpendicular critical fields Hc₂, resistivity in the normal state) on a set of Mo/Si superconducting superlattices with a constant metal layer thickness dₘₒ=22 A and variable semiconducting one dₛᵢ(14-44 A ). Our data show a monotonic dependence of all measured parameters on dₛᵢ. It is found that the Josephson interlayer coupling energy depends exponentially on the spacer thickness. The data obtained allowed us to determine the characteristic electron tunneling length for amorphous silicon with high precision. It is equal to 3.9 A. Enhancement of interlayer coupling leads to the Mo/Si multilayer transition temperature increasing, in agreement with Horovitz theory and with the experimental data on high-Tc materials

Interfacial superconductivity in semiconducting monochalcogenide superlattices

Superconducting and structural properties of superconducting semiconducting multilayers are investigated. These layered systems are obtained by epitaxial growth of the isomorphic monochalcogenides of Pb, Sn, and rare-earth elements on a KCl substrate. Some of these compounds are narrow-gap semiconductors (PbTe, PbS, PbSe, SnTe). Layered structures containing one or two narrow-gap semiconductors have a metallic type of conductivity and a transition to a superconducting state at temperatures in the range of 2.5–6 K. Structures containing only wide-gap semiconductors (YbS, EuS, EuSe) do not demonstrate such properties. All superconducting layered systems are type-II superconductors. The critical magnetic fields and the resistive behavior in the mixed state reveal features characteristic of other layered superconductors. However, data obtained in magnetic fields testify that the period of the superstructure corresponds to half of that obtained from x-ray-diffractometry investigations. This is evidence that the superconducting layers in these samples are confined to the interfaces between two semiconductors. Electron microscopy studies reveal that in the case of epitaxial growth the interfaces contain regular grids of misfit dislocations covering all the interface area. These samples appear to undergo a superconducting transition if they have a metallic type of conductivity in the normal state. Samples with island-type dislocation grids only reveal partial superconducting transitions. The correlations between the appearance of superconductivity and the presence of dislocations, which have been found experimentally, lead to the conclusion that the normal metallic conductivity as well as the superconductivity are induced by the elastic deformation fields created by the misfit dislocation grids. A theoretical model is proposed for the description of the narrow-gap semiconductor metallization, which is due to a band inversion effect and the appearance of electron- or hole-type inversion layers near the interfaces. For different combinations of the semiconductors, such inversion layers in the superlattices can have different shapes and topology. In particular, they can form multiply connected periodic nets having a repetition period coinciding with that of the dislocation grids. Numerical estimates show that such a scenario for the appearance of superconductivity is quite likely. It is shown that the new type of metallic and superconducting nanoscale two-dimensional structures with unusual properties may be obtained from monochalcogenide semiconductors