Vortex fluctuations in the critical Casimir effect of superfluid and superconducting films

Vortex-loop renormalization techniques are used to calculate the magnitude of the critical Casimir forces in superfluid films. The force is found to become appreciable when the size of the thermal vortex loops is comparable to the film thickness, and the results for TT(c). When applied to a high-T(c) superconducting film connected to a bulk sample, the Casimir force causes a voltage difference to appear between the film and the bulk, and estimates show that this may be readily measurable.     

Impurity effect on surface states of Bi(111) ultrathin films

The surface impurity effect on the surface-state conductivity and weak antilocalization(WAL) effect has been investigated in epitaxial Bi(111) films by magnetotransport measurements at low temperatures. The surface-state conductivity is significantly reduced by the surface impurities of Cu, Fe, and Co. The magnetotransport data demonstrate that the observed WAL is robust against deposition of nonmagnetic impurities, but it is quenched by the deposition of magnetic impurities which break the time reversal symmetry. Our results help to shed light on the effect of surface impurities on the electron and spin transport properties of a 2D surface electron systems.     

Persistent superconductivity in ultrathin Pb films: a scanning tunneling spectroscopy study

By using a low temperature scanning tunneling microscope we have probed the superconducting energy gap of epitaxially grown Pb films as a function of the layer thickness in an ultrathin regime (5-18 ML). The layer-dependent energy gap and transition temperature (Tc) show persistent quantum oscillations down to the lowest thickness without any sign of suppression. Moreover, by comparison with the quantum-well states measured above Tc and the theoretical calculations, we found that the Tc oscillation correlates directly with the density of states oscillation at E(F) . The oscillation is manifested by the phase matching of the Fermi wavelength and the layer thickness, resulting in a bilayer periodicity modulated by a longer wavelength quantum beat.     

Observation of spin-polarized surface states on ultrathin bct Mn(001) films by spin-polarized scanning tunneling spectroscopy

We report the observation of a magnetic contrast of up to 20% in the scanning tunneling spectroscopy dI/dV maps obtained with Fe-coated tips on Mn(001) layers grown on an Fe(001) whisker at 370 K. These nanometer resolution microscopy results show that the layers couple antiferromagnetically. By normalizing the dI/dV curves by tunneling probability functions, we found a spin-dependent peak on the body-centered-tetragonal (bct) Mn(001) surface at +0.8 V, whose high spin polarization gives rise to the dI/dV map contrast. Band structure calculations allow one to identify the +0.8 V peak as due to two spin-polarized d(z(2)) surface states.     

MgO和Si上NbN超薄薄膜的生长研究

我们在单晶MgO(100)、Si(100)和SiOx/Si基片上成功生长了纳米厚度的超薄NbN薄膜,利用现代分析手段:X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、原子力显微镜(AFM)等技术分析研究了所制备的超薄NbN薄膜的微观结构、厚度、表面界面情况等物理特性。研究表明,在MgO(100)基片上获得了外延生长的单晶NbN超薄薄膜,在Si(100)和SiOx/Si基片上获得的是多晶NbN超薄薄膜。厚度均约6nm左右。这些超薄薄膜的超导转变温度分别为:MgO上薄膜是14.46K,Si和SiOx上薄膜分别是8.74K和9.01K.     

Improvements of performance on sputter-coated niobium films for superconducting cavities by adding a NbN interlayer

A new type of superconducting film is studied at Peking University in order to improve the properties of sputter-coated films for superconducting cavities. NbN film and NbN–Nb film have been prepared by DC diode sputtering technology at certain nitrogen content and temperature. NbN film is prepared between copper and Nb film as a barrier against copper diffusion into Nb. Micro-structure analyses show that the NbN–Nb films grow well on the copper substrate. The T_c of the Cu–NbN–Nb increases to 9.5 K compared to the 9.2 K transition temperature of bulk Nb.     

Effect of thermal phase fluctuations on the superfluid density of two-dimensional superconducting films

High precision measurements of the complex sheet conductivity of superconducting a-Mo77Ge23 thin films have been made from 0.4 K through T(c). A sharp drop in the inverse sheet inductance, L-1(T), is observed at a temperature, T(c), which lies below the mean-field transition temperature T(c0). Just below T(c), the suppression of L-1(T) below its mean-field value indicates that longitudinal phase fluctuations have nearly their full classical amplitude, but they disappear rapidly as T decreases. We argue that there is a quantum crossover at about 0.94T(c0), below which classical phase fluctuations are suppressed.     

Quantum fluctuations and the universal kinetic inductance of granular superconducting films

The same mean-field theory for an array of Josephson junctions that describes the onset of superconductivity at normal state resistance R_N^(c) yields the kinetic inductance, L, for R_N<R_N^(c). The predicted universal behavior of L, as a function of R_N/R_N^(c), provides a further test of the theory of quantum fluctuations.     

Matching effect in superconducting NbN thin film with a square lattice of holes

A square hole array is fabricated over a micro-bridge of NbN thin film by electron beam lithography and reactive ion milling. Magneto-resistance is measured across the micro-bridge filled with a hole array near the superconducting transition temperature. It is found that magneto-resistance minima occur when the number of vortices is an integer multiple or a fractional multiple of the number of holes. The temperature and the current dependences of the matching effect are studied.     

Formation of ultrathin iron magnetic films on the silicon vicinal surface

Physics of the Solid State - The phase composition, electronic structure, and magnetic properties of ultrathin layers of iron and iron silicides formed upon deposition of 1- to 25-Å-thick Fe...     

Spectral investigations of surface ordering in ultrathin molecular films

Surface molecular ordering in ultrathin molecular films is investigated. The optical transmission spectra of molecular films ranging in thickness from 2 to 13 smectic layers (6.7–43 nm) in the region of the electronic absorption bands in the smectic A phase of cyanobiphenyl CB9 are measured. The thickness and temperature dependences of the permittivity are determined. It is found that the orientational ordering of the molecules depends on the film thickness. The penetration depth of the surface molecular orientational order does not exceed two smectic layers (<7 nm). Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 1833–1842 (May 1999)     

The influence of semiconducting properties of passive films on the cavitation erosion resistance of a NbN nanoceramic coating

To alleviate the cavitation damage of metallic engineering components in hydrodynamic systems operating in marine environments, a NbN nanoceramic coating was synthesized on to a Ti-6Al-4V substrate via a double cathode glow discharge technique. The microstructure of the coating consisted of a ~13 μm thick deposition layer of a hexagonal δ′-NbN phase and a diffusion layer ~2 μm in thickness composed of face-centered cubic (fcc) B1-NaCl–structured (Ti,Nb)N. The NbN coating not only exhibited higher values of H/E and H²/E than those measured from NbN coatings deposited by other techniques, but also possessed good adhesion to the substrate. The cavitation erosion resistance of the NbN coating in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution was investigated using an ultrasonic cavitation-induced apparatus combined with a range of electrochemical test methods. Potentiodynamic polarization measurements demonstrated that the NbN coated specimens demonstrated both a higher corrosion potential (E_corr) and lower corrosion current density (i_corr) than the uncoated substrate. Mott-Schottky analysis, combined with the point defect model (PDM), revealed that, for a given cavitation time, the donor density (N_D) of the passive film on the NbN coating was reduced by 1 ~ 2 orders of magnitude relative to the uncoated Ti-6Al-4V, and the diffusivity of the point defects (D₀) in the passive film grown on the NbN coating was nearly one order of magnitude lower than that on the uncoated substrate. In order to better understand the experimental observations obtained from Mott-Schottky analysis and double-charge layer capacitance measurements, first-principles density-functional theory was employed to calculate the energy of vacancy formation and the adsorption energy for chloride ions for the passive films present on both the NbN coating and bare Ti-6Al-4V.     

Substrate effect on mechanical relaxation of polystyrene in ultrathin films

Mechanical relaxation behavior in ultrathin polystyrene (PS) films supported on silicon oxide (SiO_x) and gold (Au) substrates has been studied by dynamic viscoelastic measurement. Based on the method, effects of free surface and substrate interface on the segmental dynamics were discussed. In the case of thin PS films with a thickness of approximately 200 nm, α_a-relaxation process corresponding to the segmental motion did not show any deviation from the bulk behavior. In contrast, for the films thinner than about 50 nm, the relaxation time distribution for the α_a-process became broader, probably due to a mobility gradient in the surface and interfacial regions. When we sandwiched an ultrathin PS film between SiO_x layers, another relaxation process, in addition to the original α_a-process, appeared at a higher temperature side that we assigned to the interfacial α_a-relaxation process. However, this was never seen for an ultrathin PS film between Au layers, implying that restriction from the substrate interface might be weak in this case.     

Photovoltaic effect of TiO2 thick films with an ultrathin BiFeO3 as buffer layer

The photovoltaic (PV) effect of a bilayer anatase TiO₂/BiFeO₃ (BFO) film has been studied. The 20-nm ultrathin BFO layers were deposited on the fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass substrates by the chemical solution deposition method. An anatase TiO₂ layer is deposited subsequently on the BFO surface via a screen-printing technique. It is found that the FTO/TiO₂/Au cell exhibits negligible PV effect under solar exposure, while the one after introducing an ultrathin BFO film between TiO₂ and FTO leads to a considerable PV effect with an open-circuit voltage of ?0.58 V and a photocurrent density of 18.27 µA/cm². The FTO/BiVO₄ (BVO)/TiO₂/Au cell was constructed to investigate the underlying mechanism for the observed effect. A negligible PV effect of the FTO/BVO/TiO₂/Au cell indicates that the PV effect of the FTO/BFO/TiO₂/Au cell arises mainly from a built-in electric field in the BFO film induced by the self-polarization. Our work opens up a new path to utilize TiO₂ and may influence the future design of solar cells.     

Thickness dependence of the surface plasmon dispersion in ultrathin aluminum films on silicon

The collective excitation in Al films deposited on Si(1 1 1)-7 × 7 surface was investigated by high-resolution electron-energy-loss spectroscopy (HREELS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). At the Al film thickness d < 10 ML, the surface plasmon of Al film has only a small contribution to the observed energy-loss peaks in the long wavelength limit (q_∥≈0), while its contribution becomes significant for q_∥>d^-1. More interestingly, for thin Al films, the initial slope of the surface plasmon dispersion curve is positive at q_∥∼0, in a sharp contrast to bulk Al surface where the energy dispersion is negative. These observations may be explained based on the screening interaction of the space charge region at the Al-Si interface.     

高温超导膜微波表面电阻Rs对微波滤波器插入损耗的贡献

利用微波电路仿真软件，分析高温超导膜微波表面电阻Rs对各种频率、各种级数的滤波器插入损耗的影响.结果给出:对于级数较少、频率较低的滤波器，使用Rs较高的薄膜或厚膜就可以得到很低的插入损耗;对于频率较高(高于6GHz),或极数较多（超过8极）的滤波器，就必须采用高质量的高温超导薄膜（Rs<1mΩ）. 关键词： 高温超导膜 微波滤波器 微波表面电阻 插入损耗     

The effect of fluctuations of a classical exterior medium on tunneling nonradiative processes in molecules

We examine nonradiative transitions in molecules with allowance for the effect of a classical polar exterior medium on tunneling charge transport. The approach allows for the vibrational frequencies of a molecule in the electron transition. In the case of slow fluctuations, the theory predicts a low-temperature (non-Arrhenius) increase in the tunneling nonradiative transition rate, and the results agree qualitatively with the experimental data. When the fluctuations of the exterior medium are rapid, at certain values of the molecular parameters the tunneling decay rate is found to decrease with increasing temperature because the conditions needed for resonant tunneling are violated. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1944–1953 (December 1998)