Suppression of superconductivity in zinc nanowires by bulk superconductors

Transport measurements were made on a system consisting of a zinc nanowire array sandwiched between two bulk superconducting electrodes (Sn or In). It was found that the superconductivity of Zn nanowires of 40 nm diameter is suppressed either completely or partially by the superconducting electrodes. When the electrodes are driven into their normal state by a magnetic field, the nanowires switch back to their superconducting state. This phenomenon is significantly weakened when one of the two superconducting electrodes is replaced by a normal metal. The phenomenon is not seen in wires with diameters equal to or thicker than 70 nm.     

体超导铟对一维锌超导纳米线超导电性的抑制效应

文章细致研究了超导体铟／一维锌超导纳米线阵列／超导体铟夹心结构的超导电性．实验发现，当锌纳米线的长度在2—6μm、直径等于40nm时，宏观尺寸的超导体铟电极对中间的锌纳米线的超导电性具有反常的抑制作用,即当铟处在超导态时，中间的锌纳米线则停留在正常态．如果施加一个磁场，使超导体铟电极变为正常态，锌纳米线则恢复其超导电性，这种奇异的现象与超导电极材料的类型及锌纳米线的直径和长度有关。     

热蒸发法Zn／ZnO叶状微米结构自组装生长及其发光特性

采用热蒸发法在ZnO缓冲层覆盖着Si衬底上合成了2D叶状的Zn晶枝结构,Zn的晶枝长度约为几十微米,厚度约为200nm,随后Zn晶枝在O2的气氛下热处理,在晶枝表面获得纤细、均匀的ZnO纳米线。晶枝按照无催化、自组装、汽相生长模式生长,晶枝最快生长方向是沿着载气气流的方向释放凝固潜热,XRD分析结果结果显示了Zn纳米线具有六角纤锌矿结构,Zn/ZnO的发光谱显示,在380nm处有一弱的UV近带边发射和中心在505nm处的强绿光发射,绿光发射归因于施主/受主对之间的辐射跃迁。     

Discontinuity in the heat capacity of a normal metal-superconductor bilayer

The discontinuity in the heat capacity of a clean NS bilayer is calculated using solutions to the Bugoliubov equation. For a superconductor thickness of a coherence length or less ΔC is proportional to the square of the fractional volume of superconducting material. For a superconductor thickness of ～ 20 coherence lengths or more ΔC is essentially that which would occur with no proximity effect.     

Study of Properties in Superconducting Nanowires

We consider a simple approach of standard Ginzburg--Landau free-energy functional for a wire to study the properties of superconducting nanowires, and analyze the problem of quantum and thermally activated phase slips. In such systems one can consider a possibility for phase slips to be created not only due to thermal but also due to quantum fluctuations of a uperconducting order parameter. We obtain some expressions of the free energy, the entropy, the specific heat and the bias current, respectively. The bias current I is a function of the temperature and the length of superconducting nanowires, and has a quantum phase slip. We obtain the stochastic dynamics of superconductive-resistive switching in hysteretic current-biased superconducting nanowires undergoing phase-slip fluctuations, and obtain the distribution of switching currents. Our results can be verified in modern experiments with superconducting nanowires.     

化学气相沉积法制备Zn2GeO4纳米线及其发光性质的研究

利用化学气相沉积法（CVD）,气-液-固（VLS）生长法则在表面溅有金属Au催化剂层的1 cm×1 cm的Si片上制备三元Zn₂GeO₄纳米线。X射线衍射仪（XRD）测试结果表明,锌源与锗源质量比为8：1时可成功制备出Zn₂GeO₄纳米结构;扫描电子显微镜（SEM）测试结果表明,Zn₂GeO₄纳米线直径为100 nm,长度为10~11 μm;光致发光（PL）测试结果表明,Zn₂GeO₄纳米线在432和480 nm处具有两个发光峰,最后对其生长机理进行了分析。     

Fabrication of ZnO nanowires through thermal heating of metallic Zn by solar energy

ZnO nanowires were synthesized in a short time of a few seconds through a simple thermal evaporation of Zn powder using solar energy under air atmosphere. The Zn powder was heated by focusing sunlight on the Zn powder employing a magnifying lens. This strategy heated Zn to its evaporation temperature resulting in its oxidation in air. This procedure formed ZnO nanowires of ∼10 nm diameter and ∼2 μm length. As only Zn powder without any catalysts was used as the source material, it is suggested that the growth of the nanowires occurs through a vapor-solid mechanism. The cathodoluminescence (CL) spectrum from such ZnO nanowires showed strong ultraviolet emission indicating their highly crystalline quality besides good optical properties.     

Superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7

We report the superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd₂Re₂O₇. The bulk superconducting transition temperature T_c is about 1.0 K, and the upper critical field H_c2 determined by the measurement of specific heat under magnetic fields is 0.29 T. The superconducting coherence length is estimated to be 34 nm. Specific heat data measured on single crystals suggest that the superconducting gap of Cd₂Re₂O₇ is nodeless.     

Electronic transport properties of topological insulator films and low dimensional superconductors

In this review, we present a summary of some recent experiments on topological insulators （TIs） and superconducting nanowires and fihns. Electron electron interaction （EEI）, weak anti-localization （WAL） and anisotropic magneto-resistance （AMR） effect fbund in topological insulator fihns by transport measurements are reported. Then, transport properties of superconducting films, bridges and nanowires and proximity effect in non-superconducting nanowires are described. Finally, the interplay between topological insulators and superconductors （SCs） is also discussed.     

Superconducting properties of SmFeAsO1−x prepared under high-pressure condition

Synthetic conditions such as stoichiometries, temperature and pressure are optimized to achieve a high quality oxygen deficient SmFeAsO_0.6 superconductor. Both electric and magnetic measurements show a sharp superconducting transition at about 55 K. Several important physical parameters are deduced. The apparent superconducting gap observed in heat capacity with 2Δ_o/k_BT_c of 4.57 larger than that of previous fluorine replaced samples indicate that this superconductivity will not strongly conflict with the phonon-mediated BCS mechanism. The mean free length ?=18.8 nm and the coherent length ξ=2.3-3.3 nm show that the superconductivity is in the clean limit.     

Large phase coherence effects in GaMnAs-based nanostructures: Towards a quantum spintronics

Quantum coherent transport of spin-polarized carriers is observed on a very unusual large scale within epitaxial nanowires of GaMnAs, a diluted ferromagnetic semiconductor. From the analysis of the amplitude of strong universal conductance fluctuations, an effective phase coherence length of about 100 nm is inferred at T=100 mK, which is one order of magnitude larger than in a granular 3d-metal ferromagnets. Together with the temperature and bias dependence of these reproducible fluctuations, their wire-length dependence is studied in single-domain sub-micron long nanowires with a perprendicular anisotropy. In particular, variations for two equivalent probe configurations are shown when the length becomes comparable to the actual phase coherence length. This result forecasts the possible observation of non-local voltage drops in GaMnAs nanostructures smaller than about 200 nm. Generally speaking, this research contributes to pave the way towards the realization of quantum spintronics devices.     

Dynamical properties of superconducting nanowires

The dynamical properties of thin superconducting wires (nanowires) are studied using numerical simulations based on a one-dimensional time-dependent Ginzburg-Landau equation, which is modified by introducing an order parameter u characterizing the “purity” of the superconductor material. It is established that relatively long nanowires (with lengths much greater than the coherence length) made of a “pure” superconductor (u > 1) are characterized by two critical current density values: j _c1 and j _c2. For j < j _c1, the total current is entirely superconducting, whereas for j > j _c2, the current is purely normal. In the intermediate region of current densities, j _c1 < j < j _c2, the total current contains both superconducting and normal components (mixed state) and the nanowire exhibits the generation of high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The current-voltage characteristics are constructed and the radiation spectrum is obtained. The properties of short superconducting nanowires (with lengths on the order of the coherence length) coincide with those of the Josephson junction. In the case of an “impure” superconductor (u < 1), the nanowire is characterized by a single critical current density.     

低维超导的实验进展

超导自发现以来, 已成为凝聚态物理领域最重要的方向之一. 近年来, 低维材料制备技术的进步使得一维或二维的超导特性实验研究成为可能. 本文在简要介绍超导现象的基础上, 重点回顾了近些年二维超导薄膜和一维超导纳米线的制备和电输运研究, 以及在低维超导体中发现的相移、近邻效应、铁磁超导相互作用和高温超导等新奇的现象, 并对该领域的进一步发展做出了展望.     

Surface specific heat of 3He and Andreev bound states

High resolution measurements of the specific heat of liquid 3He in the presence of a silver surface have been performed at temperatures near the superfluid transition in the pressure range of 1-29 bar. The surface contribution to the heat capacity is identified with Andreev bound states of quasiparticles that have a range of half a coherence length.     

Preparation and photoluminescence of Sc-doped ZnO nanowires

We demonstrate bulk synthesis of single-crystal Sc-doped ZnO nanowires by using (Sc+Zn) powders at . These mass nanowires are characterized through X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction, and high-resolution TEM, which have uniform diameters of about 40 nm and microns of several decades in length. The growth of ZnScO nanowires is suggested for self-catalyzed vapor–liquid–solid. In particular, PL spectra of these nanowires show emission peaks that intensely shift to long wavelength with increasing Sc and the doping quantity is found responsible for the different characteristics, in which PL mechanism is explained in detail.     

Weak localization in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)as nanostructures

We report on the observation of weak localization in arrays of (Ga,Mn)As nanowires at millikelvin temperatures. The corresponding phase coherence length L phi is typically between 100 and 200 nm at 20 mK. Strong spin-orbit interaction in the material is manifested by a weak antilocalization correction around zero magnetic field.     

MBE growth of ZnSe nanowires on oxidized silicon substrate

We report the growth of single crystalline ZnSe nanowires on oxidized Si(100) substrates by molecular-beam epitaxy using Au nano-particles as the catalysts. It was found that average length decreased while the average diameter increased as we increased the temperature from 230 to 320 ^°C. It was also found that crystal quality of the ZnSe nanowires prepared at 320 ^°C was poorer than the ZnSe nanowires prepared at 230 ^°C and 280 ^°C.     

On the Free Carrier-Negative U Center Interacting Model for the High-Tc Oxide Superconductor

Using the free carrier-negative U center interacting model, we have investigated the superconducting transitionr,temperature T_c, the specific heat jump at T_c, the coherence length, the penetration depth, the thermodynamic critical field and the isotope effect for the high-T_c oxide superconductor. The theoretical values of these physical quantities are consistent with the experimental values. Further, the residual electronic specific heat in the superconducting state is explained as the result of the inherent instability in this superconductive mechanism.     

Pressure-induced enhancement of the superconducting properties of single-crystalline FeTe0.5Se0.5

The pressure dependence, up to 11.3 kbar, of basic parameters of the superconducting state, such as the critical temperature (T(c)), the lower and the upper critical fields, the coherence length, the penetration depth, and their anisotropy, was determined from magnetic measurements performed for two single-crystalline samples of FeTe(0.5)Se(0.5). We have found pressure-induced enhancement of all of the superconducting state properties, which entails a growth of the density of superconducting carriers. However, we noticed a more pronounced increase in the superconducting carrier density under pressure than that in the critical temperature which may indicate an appearance of a mechanism limiting the increase of T(c) with pressure. We have observed that the critical current density increases under pressure by at least one order of magnitude.     

Hochfrequenzwiderstand abschreckend kondensierter supraleitender Metallschichten

A microwave cryostat is described, which enables us to measure the surface resistance of superconducting films in metastable states. In metastable disordered films often elevated transition temperatures are found. Surface resistance measurements can give information about electronic parameters of such films. In connection withdc-conductivity and critical magnetic field measurements, the mean free path, the penetration depth and the coherence length were determined in the metastable and the annealed state. These values have been compared with those expected from a free electron model.