Enhanced suppression of superconductivity in amorphous films with nano-scale patterning

Authors

M D. Stewart Jr, Brown University
H Q. Nguyen, Brown University
Shawna M. Hollen, University of New Hampshire - Main Campus
Aijun Yin, Brown University
J. M. Xu, Brown UniversityFollow
J M. Valles Jr., Brown UniversityFollow

Abstract

We have measured the thickness dependence of the superconducting critical temperature, T_c(d_Bi), in amorphous Bi/Sb films patterned with a regular array of holes as well as nanoscale thickness variations. We find that the mean field T_c is suppressed relative to simultaneously produced unstructured films of the same thickness. Surprisingly, however, the functional form for T_c(d_Bi), remains unaffected. The role of the thickness variations in suppressing T_c is compared to the role of the holes, through parameterization of the surface, as measured through AFM/SEM and a proximity effect calculation. These results suggest that these two nanoscale modifications suppress T_cabout equally and are consistent with T_c being determined on a microscopic length scale.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

7-1-2009

Journal Title

Physica C: Superconductivity

Publisher

Elsevier

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.physc.2009.04.009

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

M.D. Stewart Jr., H.Q. Nguyen, S.M. Hollen, Aijun Yin, J.M. Xu, J.M. Valles Jr., Enhanced suppression of superconductivity in amorphous films with nano-scale patterning, Physica C: Superconductivity, Volume 469, Issue 13, 1 July 2009, Pages 774-777, ISSN 0921-4534, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2009.04.009.