48-Channel electron detector for photoemission spectroscopy and microscopy

We show that it is possible to use a multichannel electron detector in a zone plate based photoemission spectromicroscopy in a snap shot mode to reduce the total acquisition time for a given counting time by 50% relative to the standard scanning mode while preserving the feature of the spectra. We describe the result of tests performed at Elettra using its microbeam ~150 nm! together with a 48-channel detector designed for the PHOIBOS 100 analyzer optimized for extremely small x-ray sources. We also give a short summary of the technical features of the detector and describe one possible calibration procedure for its use in the snap shot mode. We show initial results from using this device to perform chemical maps of surfaces at a resolution of 150 nm

Nonlinear I-V characteristics of two-dimensional superconductors: Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless physics versus inhomogeneity

One of the hallmarks of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition in two-dimensional superconductors is the universal jump of the superfluid density that can be indirectly probed via the nonlinear exponent of the current-voltage I-V characteristics. Here, we compare the experimental measurements of I-V characteristics in two cases, namely NbN thin films and SrTiO3-based interfaces. While the former display a paradigmatic example of BKT-like nonlinear effects, the latter do not seem to justify a BKT analysis. Rather, the observed I-V characteristics can be well reproduced theoretically by modeling the effect of mesoscopic inhomogeneity of the superconducting state. Our results offer an alternative perspective on the spontaneous fragmentation of the superconducting background in confined two-dimensional systems