Sharpness of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Disordered NbN Films

Weitzel, Alexander; Pfaffinger, Lea; Maccari, Ilaria; Kronfeldner, Klaus; Huber, Thomas; Fuchs, Lorenz; Mallord, James; Linzen, Sven; Il’ichev, Evgeni; Paradiso, Nicola; Strunk, Christoph

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.131.186002

Phys. Rev. Lett.

2023

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.131.186002

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Sharpness of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Disordered NbN Films

Alexander Weitzel,

Lea Pfaffinger,

Ilaria Maccari

et al.

Abstract: We present a comprehensive investigation of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in ultrathin strongly disordered NbN films. Measurements of resistance, current-voltage characteristics, and kinetic inductance on the very same device reveal a consistent picture of a sharp unbinding transition of vortexantivortex pairs that fit standard renormalization group theory without extra assumptions in terms of inhomogeneity. Our experiments demonstrate that the previously observed broadening of the transition … Show more

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2024

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Cited by 8 publications

References 58 publications

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Effect of ion irradiation on superconducting thin films

Kohopää,

Ronzani,

Jabdaraghi

et al. 2024

APL Materials

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We demonstrate ion irradiation by argon or gallium as a wafer-scale post-processing method to increase disorder in superconducting thin films. We study several widely used superconductors, both single-elements and compounds. We show that ion irradiation increases normal-state resistivity in all our films, which is expected to enable tuning their superconducting properties, for example, toward a higher kinetic inductance. We observe an increase in superconducting transition temperature for Al and MoSi and a decrease for Nb, NbN, and TiN. In MoSi, ion irradiation also improves the mixing of the two materials. We demonstrate the fabrication of an amorphous and homogeneous film of MoSi with uniform thickness, which is promising, for example, for superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors.

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Effect of ion irradiation on superconducting thin films

Kohopää,

Ronzani,

Jabdaraghi

et al. 2024

APL Materials

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show abstract

Measurements of fluctuation-induced in-plane magneto-conductivity of granular aluminum film

Pervin,

Thuwal,

Ghosh

2024

Journal of Applied Physics

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The phenomenon of Berezinskii–Kosterlitz–Thouless (BKT) phase fluctuations and the superconducting fluctuations is investigated in a 40 nm thick granular aluminum film using magneto-transport measurements. The transport measurements suggest the possibility of strong electron–phonon (el–ph) interactions in contrast to a Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer superconductor. It shows a BKT transition of 2.304 K and a superconducting mean-field transition at 2.32 K. The presence of the resistive tail even before the BKT transition reflects the abundance of thermally activated free vortices. By analyzing the excess conductivity, Gaussian–Ginzburg–Landau superconducting fluctuations are observed above the superconducting transition, which causes rounding of the transition region even before the superconducting transition. The temperature dependence of the fluctuation conductivity in zero magnetic field exhibits distinct signatures of the two-dimensional direct Aslamazov–Larkin theory, with a significant contribution from the Maki–Thompson (MT) model. Furthermore, the anomalous behavior of the fluctuation conductivity at higher temperatures and perpendicular magnetic fields (up to 700 mT) is explained in terms of the total-energy cutoff (=0.72) in the low-wavelength region of the superconducting fluctuations and a pair-breaking parameter (∼0.031). Further studies on the pair-breaking parameter indicate the presence of the el–ph scattering, which diminishes the MT contribution. Our study carries important bearings on how the BKT phase fluctuations and superconducting amplitude fluctuations control the conductivity of granular superconductor near and above the transition region as non-equilibrium properties of weakly disordered granular superconductors. This research is of significance, offering insights into the fundamental properties of granular superconductivity and aiding in the comprehension of nano-structured thin film devices.

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Vortex dynamics in disordered niobium thin films

Altanany,

Zajcewa,

Zajarniuk

et al. 2024

Phys. Rev. B

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Sharpness of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Disordered NbN Films

Cited by 8 publications

References 58 publications

Effect of ion irradiation on superconducting thin films

Effect of ion irradiation on superconducting thin films

Measurements of fluctuation-induced in-plane magneto-conductivity of granular aluminum film

Vortex dynamics in disordered niobium thin films

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