Ex situ elaborated proximity mesoscopic structures for ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling spectroscopy
- UMR 7588, Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, UPMC Univ Paris 06, Sorbonne Universités, F-75005 Paris (France)
- Université de Bordeaux, LP2N, 351 cours de la Libération, F-33405 Talence (France)
- Institute of Solid State Physics RAS, 142432 Chernogolovka (Russian Federation)
- LLC “Applied radiophysics” 142432 Chernogolovka (Russian Federation)
We apply ultrahigh vacuum Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) at ultra-low temperature to study proximity phenomena in metallic Cu in contact with superconducting Nb. In order to solve the problem of Cu-surface contamination, Cu(50 nm)/Nb(100 nm) structures are grown by respecting the inverted order of layers on SiO{sub 2}/Si substrate. Once transferred into vacuum, the samples are cleaved at the structure-substrate interface. As a result, a contamination-free Cu-surface is exposed in vacuum. It enables high-resolution STS of superconducting correlations induced by proximity from the underlying superconducting Nb layer. By applying magnetic field, we generate unusual proximity-induced superconducting vortices and map them with a high spatial and energy resolution. The suggested method opens a way to access local electronic properties of complex electronic mesoscopic devices by performing ex situ STS under ultrahigh vacuum.
- OSTI ID:
- 22267712
- Journal Information:
- Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 17; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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