Proximity-Effect-Induced Superconductivity in Nb/Sb2Te3-Nanoribbon/Nb Junctions

Nanohybrid superconducting junctions using antimony telluride (Sb₂Te₃) topological insulator nanoribbons and Nb superconducting electrodes are fabricated using electron beam lithography and magnetron sputtering. The effects of bias current, temperature, and magnetic field on the transport properties of the junctions in a four-terminal measurement configuration are investigated. Two features are observed. First, the formation of a Josephson weak-link junction. The junction is formed by proximity-induced areas in the nanoribbon right underneath the inner Nb electrodes which are connected by the few tens of nanometers short Sb₂Te₃ bridge. At 0.5 K a critical current of 0.15 µA is observed. The decrease of the supercurrent with temperature is explained in the framework of a diffusive junction. Furthermore, the Josephson supercurrent is found to decrease monotonously with the magnetic field indicating that the structure is in the small-junction limit. As a second feature, a transition is also observed in the differential resistance at larger bias currents and larger magnetic fields, which is attributed to the suppression of the proximity-induced superconductive state in the nanoribbon area underneath the Nb electrodes.     

Ab initio calculations for properties of MAX phases Ti2InC,Zr2InC,and Hf2InC

We have computed the lattice constants, bulk modulus, and total- and partial-density of states of MAX phases Ti₂InC, Zr₂InC and Hf₂InC in the hexagonal P6₃/mmc space group by ab initio calculation. The deviations from the experimental values for lattice constants are below 1.6%. The bulk moduli are computed to be 128 GPa, 113 GPa, and 136 GPa, respectively. The Zr₂InC has the lowest bulk modulus among all MAX phases studied to date, which is related to the weaker covalent interaction between Zr-d and C-s, C-p states.     

External strain effect on the electronic and mechanical properties of the superconductor Nb2InC

We use first-principles method to investigate the effects of external strain ε on the structural, mechanical and electronic properties for the superconductor Nb₂InC. The results show that the tensile strain induces an isostructural phase transition in Nb₂InC. The elastic constants C_ij, bulk modulus B, shear modulus G, Young's moduli E, and Poisson ratio v_ij of Nb₂InC were also investigated in the range from ε=−10% to ε=10%. It indicates that Nb₂InC is mechanically stable under external strain, and its brittle–ductile transition occurs at ε=3.5%. Moreover, Nb₂InC gets a negative Poisson ratio at ε=4%. The calculated electronic structures indicate that the Nb–C bonding is stronger than Nb–In bonding in Nb₂InC. The energy band structures and densities of states of strained Nb₂InC were also calculated and discussed in detail. From these calculations, it is clear that the related properties of Nb₂InC can be easily tuned by strain. Therefore, our findings are very useful to tailor the physical properties of Nb₂InC by using strain engineering.     

Superconductivity of Nb/Cu superlattices

The superconducting transition temperature T_c of Nb/Cu superlattices has been investigated as a function of layer thickness. The dependence of T_c above 300 Å layer thickness agrees well with proximity effect theory with no adjustable parameters. Below 300 Å, the data in conjunction with current proximity theory shows that T_c of Nb decreases with layer thickness. This is interpreted as changes in the electronic density of states due to a decrease in the mean-free path.     

Superconductivity in the Nb3 (Al,Ge) compound system

Superconducting samples of the nominal composition Nb _x (Al_1?y , Ge _y )_1?x withx reaching from 0.72 to 0.78 andy from 0.175 to 0.30 were prepared and the superconducting transitions of as-cast and of annealed samples were measured. The onset of superconductivity for samples with a suitable composition and annealing procedure has been observed to be at about 21.05 K. By the help of anodic oxydation process and by multichannel semiconductor x-ray spectroscopy with scanning electron microscope it has been possible to carry out the phases distribution and detailed phase-analysis in the samples.     

Reentrant Superconductivity in UTe2

JETP Letters - The reentrant superconductivity is the peculiar phenomenon observed in paramagnetic metal UTe2 in magnetic field parallel to the hard magnetisation axis. It is difficult to explain...     

Superconductivity with onset above 23° K in NbGe sputtered films

Sputtered films of nominal composition Nb₃Ge deposited onto hot substrates, of the type recently found by Gavaler to have superconductivity onsets at 22.3° K, have now been obtained with a maximum onset temperature of 23.2 ± 0.2° K and a transition width of ～ 1.2° K. The sputtering conditions necessary to achieve these results are discussed and suggest that the high T_c phase may be detrimentally affected by the presence of high energy particles present under normal sputtering conditions.     

Superconductivity in dense MgB2 wires

MgB2 becomes superconducting just below 40 K. Whereas porous polycrystalline samples of MgB2 can be synthesized from boron powders, in this Letter we demonstrate that dense wires of MgB2 can be prepared by exposing boron filaments to Mg vapor. The resulting wires have a diameter of 160 microm, are better than 80% dense, and manifest the full chi = -1/4pi shielding in the superconducting state. Temperature-dependent resistivity measurements indicate that MgB2 is a highly conducting metal in the normal state with rho(40 K) = 0.38 microOmega cm. By using this value, an electronic mean-free path, l approximately 600 A can be estimated, indicating that MgB2 wires are well within the clean limit. Tc, Hc2(T), and Jc data indicate that MgB2 manifests comparable or better superconducting properties in dense wire form than it manifests as a sintered pellet.     

Percolative Superconductivity in Mg1-xB2

Our results from various transport experiments on Mg1-xB2 indicate a surprising effect associated with the presence of a Mg deficiency in MgB2: the phase separation between Mg-vacancy rich and Mg-vacancy poor phases. The Mg-vacancy poor phase is superconducting, but the insulating nature of the Mg-vacancy rich phase probably originates from the Anderson (disorder-induced) localization of itinerant carriers. Furthermore, electron diffraction measurements indicate that within vacancy-rich regions these defects tend to order with intriguing patterns. This electronic phase separation in Mg1-xB2 shows similar, but also distinct characteristics compared with that observed in La(2)CuO(4+delta).     

Superconductivity of metallic boron in MgB2

Boron in MgB2 forms stacks of honeycomb layers with magnesium as a space filler. Band structure calculations indicate that Mg is substantially ionized, and the bands at the Fermi level derive mainly from B orbitals. Strong bonding with an ionic component and considerable metallic density of states yield a sizable electron-phonon coupling. Together with high phonon frequencies, which we estimate via zone-center frozen phonon calculations to be between 300 and 700 cm(-1), this produces a high critical temperature, consistent with recent experiments. Thus MgB2 can be viewed as an analog of the long sought, but still hypothetical, superconducting metallic hydrogen.     

Superconductivity in Sm-doped CaFe_2As_2 single crystals

In this article,the Sm-doping single crystals Ca_(1-x)Sm_xFe_2As_2(x = 0 ~0.2) were prepared by the Ca As flux method,and followed by a rapid quenching treatment after the high temperature growth.The samples were characterized by structural,resistive,and magnetic measurements.The successful Sm-substitution was revealed by the reduction of the lattice parameter c,due to the smaller ionic radius of Sm~(3+)than Ca~(2+).Superconductivity was observed in all samples with onset T_c varying from 27 K to 44 K upon Sm-doping.The coexistence of a collapsed phase transition and the superconducting transition was found for the lower Sm-doping samples.Zero resistivity and substantial superconducting volume fraction only happen in higher Sm-doping crystals with the nominal x 0.10.The doping dependences of the c-axis length and onset T_c were summarized.The high-T_c observed in these quenched crystals may be attributed to simultaneous tuning of electron carriers doping and strain effect caused by lattice reduction of Sm-substitution.     

Superconductivity and magnetism in HoNi2B2C

The effect of magnetic ordering on superconductivity in HoNi₂B₂C is studied. It is concluded that the abrupt suppression of superconductivity in the region of incommensurate antiferromagnetic ordering is due to a modification of the wave functions of the conduction electrons by the long-range magnetic order. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 9, 702–707 (10 May 1996)     

Superconductivity in Undoped CaFe_2As_2 Single Crystals

Single crystals of undoped CaFe_2As_2 are grown by an FeAs self-flux method,and the crystals are quenched in ice-water rapidly after high-temperature growth.The quenched crystal undergoes a collapsed tetragonal structural phase transition around 80 K revealed by the temperature-dependent x-ray diffraction measurements.Superconductivity below 25 K is observed in the collapsed phase by resistivity and magnetization measurements.The isothermal magnetization curve measured at 2K indicates that this is a typical type-Ⅱ superconductor.For comparison,we systematically characterize the properties of the furnace-cooled,quenched,and post-annealed single crystals,and find strong internal crystallographic strain existing in the quenched samples,which is the key for the occurrence of superconductivity in the undoped CaFe_2As_2 single crystals.     

Substitution Effects on MgB2 Superconductivity

With the help of supercell method, the first-principle calculations were performed for the study of doping crystal Mg_1-xAl_xB₂ and Mg(B_1-yC_y)₂. Analyzing the variations of the charge distribution and the partial densities of states, we found that the compounds with doping Al to MgB₂ compound and/or replacing boron by carbon exhibit new covalent bond effects and unexpected electronic properties, related to superconductivity. The study of the density of states indicates that superconductivity decreases with the increase of Al fraction and carbon concentration. There exists a transition of superconductor to non-superconductor with the change of Al doping fraction. The substitution of boron by carbon results in the decrease of the transition temperature since the decrease of the electron concentration and the lattice constant. The theoretical predictions agree with experimental observations.