No abstract

Single-crystal niobium nitride ͑NbN͒ thin films were fabricated at ambient substrate temperature so that photoresist lift-off techniques could be used in fabricating Josephson tunnel junctions. In this article, we describe the superconducting properties and crystal structure of the NbN films. Even though the substrates were not heated, the NbN films had excellent superconducting properties: a high T c of 16 K, low normal-state resistivity ͑ 20 ϭ62 ⍀ cm͒, and residual resistivity ratios RRRϭ 300 / 20 above one. The film structures, which were investigated by x-ray diffraction, electron diffraction patterns and transmission electron micrographs, show a single-phase orientation without columnar and granular structures. We have found that the superconducting properties depend on the lattice parameter, and the best films had a lattice parameter of 0.446 nm. NbN/AlN/Nb tunnel junctions were fabricated to measure the superconducting energy gap of the NbN films. We estimated the energy gap ⌬ NbN to be 2.6 meV and the magnetic penetration depth NbN to be 176 nm.

No abstract

Articles you may be interested inHigh-quality epitaxial NbN/AlN/NbN tunnel junctions with a wide range of current density

Al substituted Ba-hexaferrite single-crystal films for millimeter-wave devices Anomaly of skin effect of singlecrystal copper in the millimeterwave region at room temperature