Abstract. Planar superconducting microwave resonators are key elements in a variety of technical applications and also act as sensitive probes for microwave spectroscopy of various materials of interest in present solid state research. Here superconducting Pb is a suitable material as a basis for microwave stripline resonators.To utilize Pb stripline resonators in a variable magnetic field (e.g. in ESR measurements), the electrodynamics of such resonators in finite magnetic field has to be well understood. Therefore we performed microwave transmission measurements (with ample applied power to work in linear response) on superconducting Pb stripline resonators in a variable, parallel magnetic field. We determined surface resistance, penetration depth as well as real and imaginary parts, σ 1 and σ 2 , of the complex conductivity of superconducting Pb as a function of magnetic field. Here we find features reminiscent of those in temperaturedependent measurements, such as a maximum in σ 1 (coherence peak). At magnetic fields above the critical field of this type-I superconductor we still find a low-loss microwave response, which we assign to remaining superconductivity in the form of filaments within the Pb. Hysteresis effects are found in the quality factor of resonances once the swept magnetic field has exceeded the critical magnetic field. This is due to normal conducting areas that are pinned and can therefore persist in the superconducting phase. Besides zero-field-cooling we show an alternative way to eliminate these even at T < Tc. Based on our microwave data, we also determine the critical magnetic field and the critical temperature of Pb in a temperature range between 1.6K and 6.5K and magnetic fields up to 140mT, showing good agreement with BCS predictions. We furthermore study a Sn sample in a Pb resonator to demonstrate the applicability of superconducting Pb stripline resonators in the experimental study of other (super-)conducting materials in a variable magnetic field.

We present an experimental approach for cryogenic dielectric measurements on ultra-thin insulating films. Based on a coplanar microwave waveguide design we implement superconducting quarter-wave resonators with inductive coupling, which allows us to determine the real part ε 1 of the dielectric function at GHz frequencies and for sample thicknesses down to a few nm. We perform simulations to optimize resonator coupling and sensitivity, and we demonstrate the possibility to quantify ε 1 with a conformal mapping technique in a wide sample-thickness and ε 1 -regime. Experimentally we determine ε 1 for various thin-film samples (photoresist, MgF 2 , and SiO 2 ) in the thickness regime of nm up to µm. We find good correspondence with nominative values and we identify the precision of the film thickness as our predominant error source. Additionally we demonstrate a measurement of ε 1 (T ) vs. temperature for a SrTiO 3 bulk sample, using an in-situ reference method to compensate for the temperature dependence of the superconducting resonator properties.

Abstract. The electronic properties of superconducting Sn films (Tc ≈ 3.8 K) change significantly when reducing the film thickness down to a few nm, in particular close to the percolation threshold. The low-energy electrodynamics of such Sn samples can be probed via microwave spectroscopy, e.g. with superconducting stripline resonators.Here we study Sn thin films, deposited via thermal evaporation -ranging in thickness between 38 nm and 842 nm-which encompasses the percolation transition.We use superconducting Pb stripline resonators to probe the microwave response of these Sn films in a frequency range between 4 GHz and 20 GHz at temperatures from 7.2 K down to 1.5 K. The measured quality factor of the resonators decreases with rising temperature due to enhanced losses. As a function of the sample thickness we observe three regimes with significantly different properties: samples below percolation, i.e. ensembles of disconnected superconducting islands, exhibit dielectric properties with negligible losses, demonstrating that macroscopic current paths are required for appreciable dynamical conductivity of Sn at GHz frequencies. Thick Sn films, as the other limit, lead to low-loss resonances both above and below Tc of Sn, as expected for bulk conductors. But in an intermediate thickness regime, just above percolation and with labyrinth-like morphology of the Sn, we observe a quite different behavior: the superconducting state has a microwave response similar to the thicker, completely covering films with low microwave losses; but the metallic state of these Sn films is so lossy that resonator operation is suppressed completely.arXiv:1602.03147v2 [cond-mat.mes-hall]

Dielectric measurements on insulating materials at cryogenic temperatures can be challenging, depending on the frequency and temperature ranges of interest. We present a technique to study the dielectric properties of bulk dielectrics at GHz frequencies. A superconducting coplanar Nb resonator is deposited directly on the material of interest, and this resonator is then probed in distant-flip-chip geometry with a microwave feedline on a separate chip. Evaluating several harmonics of the resonator gives access to various probing frequencies, in the present studies up to 20 GHz. We demonstrate the technique on three different materials (MgO, LaAlO 3 , and TiO 2 ), at temperatures between 1.4 K and 7 K.

Planar superconducting microwave transmission line resonators can be operated at multiple harmonic resonance frequencies. This allows covering wide spectral regimes with high sensitivity, as it is desired e.g. for cryogenic microwave spectroscopy. A common complication of such experiments is the presence of undesired 'spurious' additional resonances, which are due to standing waves within the resonator substrate or housing box. Identifying the nature of individual resonances ('designed' vs. 'spurious') can become challenging for higher frequencies or if elements with unknown material properties are included, as is common for microwave spectroscopy. Here we discuss various experimental strategies to distinguish designed and spurious modes in coplanar superconducting resonators that are operated in a broad frequency range up to 20 GHz. These strategies include tracking resonance evolution as a function of temperature, magnetic field, and microwave power. We also demonstrate that local modification of the resonator, by applying minute amounts of dielectric or ESR-active materials, lead to characteristic signatures in the various resonance modes, depending on the local strength of the electric or magnetic microwave fields.