Evolution of the upper critical field and superconducting vortex phase with thickness in PLD-grown Ta fllms

High quality superconducting thin films are the basis for the application of superconducting devices. Here we report the fllm growth and superconducting properties of the Ta films. The films were grown by the pulsed laser deposition technique on the α-Al2O3 substrates. It is found that, with the increase of the fllm thickness from 20 nm to 61 nm, both the superconducting transition temperature Tc and residual resistance ratio RRR display an upward trend, while the upper critical field decreases monotonously in a wide temperature region. A clear anisotropic behavior is revealed by comparing the upper critical fields with two difierent orientations (H ⊥ film and H // film). The anisotropy parameter Γ is found to be as high as 20 for the sample with the thickness of 20 nm. The systematical evolution from two- to three-dimensional features for the superconductivity with the increase of fllm thickness is observed in the temperature dependent upper critical fleld data. Moreover, the vortex liquid region tends to expand with the increase of the fllm thickness.

Non-conventional superconductivity in magnetic In and Sn nanoparticles

We report on experimental evidence of non-conversional pairing in In and Sn nanoparticle assemblies. Spontaneous magnetizations are observed, through extremely weak-field magnetization and neutron-diffraction measurements, to develop when the nanoparticles enter the superconducting state. The superconducting transition temperature TC shifts to a noticeably higher temperature when an external magnetic field or magnetic Ni nanoparticles are introduced into the vicinity of the superconducting In or Sn nanoparticles. There is a critical magnetic field and a critical Ni composition that must be reached before the magnetic environment will suppress the superconductivity. The observations may be understood when assuming development of spin-parallel superconducting pairs on the surfaces and spin-antiparallel superconducting pairs in the core of the nanoparticles.

Electronic Structure of Monolayer FeSe on Si(001) from First Principles

The huge increase in the superconducting transition temperature of FeSe induced by an interface to SrTiO3 remains unexplained to date. However, there are numerous indications of the critical importance of specific features of the FeSe band topology in the vicinity of the Fermi surface. Here, we explore how the electronic structure of FeSe changes when located on another lattice matched substrate, namely a Si(001) surface, by first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory. We study non-magnetic (NM) and checkerboard anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) magnetic orders in FeSe and determine which interface arrangement is preferred. Our calculations reveal interesting effects of Si proximity on the FeSe band structure. Bands corresponding to hole pockets at the Γ point in NM FeSe are generally pushed down below the Fermi level, except for one band responsible for a small remaining hole pocket. Bands forming electron pockets centered at the M point of the Brillouin zone become less dispersive, and one of them is strongly hybridized with Si. We explain these changes by a redistribution of electrons between different Fe 3d orbitals rather than charge transfer to/from Si, and we also notice an associated loss of degeneracy between dxz and dyz orbitals.

Josephson junctions based on amorphous MoGe: prospects for use in superconducting electronics

We have fabricated and characterized all-MoGe Josephson junctions with a very thin Al/AlOx/(Al) barrier, where the amorphous MoGe films exhibit superconducting transition temperatures up to 7 K. Due to the uniformity of the surface morphology of the MoGe films, the junctions demonstrate high uniformity of their tunneling properties. The experimental data on the temperature dependence of the subgap current agree well with theoretical calculations. The results obtained imply that Josephson tunnel junctions based on amorphous superconductors are promising candidates for use in superconducting electronics, especially in applications requiring multiple stacked junctions or the creation of a nonequilibrium quasiparticle distribution.

Effects of Te- and Fe-doping on the superconducting properties in FeySe1−xTex thin films

High quality FeySe1−xTex epitaxial thin films have been fabricated on TiO2-buffered SrTiO3 substrates by pulsed laser deposition technology. There is a significant composition deviation between the nominal target and the thin film. Te doping can affect the Se/Te ratio and Fe content in chemical composition. The superconducting transition temperature Tc is closely related to the chemical composition. Fe vacancies are beneficial for the FeySe1−xTex films to exhibit the higher Tc. A 3D phase diagram is given that the optimize range is x = 0.13–0.15 and y = 0.73–0.78 for FeySe1−xTex films. The anisotropic, effective pining energy, and critical current density for the Fe0.72Se0.94Te0.06, Fe0.76Se0.87Te0.13 and Fe0.91Se0.77Te0.23 films were studied in detail. The scanning transmission electron microscopy images display a regular atomic arrangement at the interfacial structure.

Superconductor-insulator transitions in three-dimensional indium-oxide at high pressures

Experiments investigating magnetic-field-tuned superconductor-insulator transition (HSIT) mostly focus on two-dimensional material systems where the transition and its proximate ground-state phases, often exhibit features that are seemingly at odds with the expected behavior. Here we present a complementary study of a three-dimensional pressure-packed amorphous indium-oxide (InOx) powder where granularity controls the HSIT. Above a low threshold pressure of ~0.2 GPa, vestiges of superconductivity are detected, although neither a true superconducting transition nor insulating behavior are observed. Instead, a saturation at very high resistivity at low pressure is followed by saturation at very low resistivity at higher pressure. We identify both as different manifestations of anomalous metallic phases dominated by superconducting fluctuations. By analogy with previous identification of the low resistance saturation as a "failed superconductor", our data suggests that the very high resistance saturation is a manifestation of a "failed insulator". Above a threshold pressure of ~6 GPa, the sample becomes fully packed, and superconductivity is robust, with TC tunable with pressure. A quantum critical point at PC~25 GPa marks the complete suppression of superconductivity. For a finite pressure below PC, a magnetic field is shown to induce a HSIT from a true zero-resistance superconducting state to a weakly insulating behavior. Determining the critical field, HC, we show that similar to the 2D behavior, the insulating-like state maintains a superconducting character, which is quenched at higher field, above which the magnetoresistance decreases to its fermionic normal state value.

Versatile control of superconducting transition temperature in anti-ThCr2Si2-type Y2O2Bi via H, Li, or F doping

In Y2O2Bi with Bi square net, H substitution and Li intercalation led to higher superconducting transition tempareture (Tc), while F substitution led to lower Tc, where Tc is universally scaled...

Recovering the performance of irradiated high temperature superconductors for use in fusion magnets

The magnets confining the plasma in future fusion devices will be exposed to a significant destructive flux of fast neutrons. Particularly, in cost efficient compact reactor designs, the degradation of the superconductor becomes an issue and directly impacts the commercial viability. We report on the influence of neutron radiation on the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, and the critical current density, jc, and discuss possibilities to counteract the degradation by thermal treatments. We found that the degradation in Tc and jc are closely related to each other, likely by the expected loss of superfluid density; thus, Tc is a very useful indicator for the magnets' degradation. It increases linearly with annealing temperature and around 25 % of the decrease can be recovered by annealing at 150 °C and about 60 % at 400 °C, which would more than double the magnet’s life time. However, a loss of oxygen has to be impeded in the latter case.

Incompatibility of Published ac Magnetic Susceptibility of a Room Temperature Superconductor with Measured Raw Data

Room temperature superconductivity has recently been reported for a carbonaceous sulfur hydride (CSH) under high pressure by Snider et al [1]. The paper reports sharp drops in magnetic susceptibility as a function of temperature for five different pressures, that are interpreted as signaling a superconducting transition. Here I question the validity and faithfulness of the magnetic susceptibility data presented in the paper by comparison with the measured raw data reported by two of the authors of ref. [2]. This invalidates the assertion of the paper [1] that the susceptibility measurements support the case for superconductivity in this compound.