Ultrathin epitaxial NbN superconducting films with high upper critical field grown at low temperature

Wei, Xiucheng; Roy, Pinku; Yang, Zihao; Zhang, Di; He, Zihao; Lu, Ping; Licata, Olivia; Wang, Haiyan; Mazumder, Baishakhi; Patibandla, Nag; Cao, Yong; Zeng, Hao; Zhu, Mingwei; Jia, Quanxi

doi:10.1080/21663831.2021.1919934

Ultrathin epitaxial NbN superconducting films with high upper critical field grown at low temperature

Journal Article · Thu Apr 29 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Materials Research Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/21663831.2021.1919934· OSTI ID:1783255

Wei, Xiucheng ^[1]; Roy, Pinku ^[1]; Yang, Zihao ^[2]; Zhang, Di ^[3]; He, Zihao ^[3]; Lu, Ping ^[4]; Licata, Olivia ^[1]; ^[3]; Mazumder, Baishakhi ^[1]; Patibandla, Nag ^[2]; Cao, Yong ^[2]; ^[1]; Zhu, Mingwei ^[2]; ^[1]

State Univ. of New York (SUNY), Buffalo, NY (United States)
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (United States)
Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (United States)
Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Ultrathin (5–50 nm) epitaxial superconducting niobium nitride (NbN) films were grown on AlN-buffered c-plane Al₂O₃ by an industrial scale physical vapor deposition technique at 400°C. Both X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy analysis show high crystallinity of the (111)-oriented NbN films, with a narrow full-width-at-half-maximum of the rocking curve down to 0.030°. The lattice constant decreases with decreasing NbN layer thickness, suggesting lattice strain for films with thicknesses below 20 nm. The superconducting transition temperature, the transition width, the upper critical field, the irreversibility line, and the coherence length are closely correlated to the film thickness. This work realized high quality ultrathin epitaxial NbN films by an industry-scale PVD technology at low substrate temperature, which opens up new opportunities for quantum devices.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525

OSTI ID:: 1783255

Report Number(s):: SAND--2021-5547J; 696040

Journal Information:: Materials Research Letters, Journal Name: Materials Research Letters Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 9; ISSN 2166-3831

Publisher:: Taylor and FrancisCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (42)

Raman Spectra and Superconductivity of Various Phases of a High-Tc Superconductor: NbN Kaiser, R.; Spengler, W.; Schicktanz, S. Physica Status Solidi (b), Vol. 87, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/pssb.2220870220	journal	June 1978
Phase Diagram and Upper Critical Field of Homogeneously Disordered Epitaxial 3-Dimensional NbN Films Mondal, Mintu; Chand, Madhavi; Kamlapure, Anand Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, Vol. 24, Issue 1-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10948-010-1038-8	journal	October 2010
NbN superconducting nanowire single photon detector with efficiency over 90% at 1550 nm wavelength operational at compact cryocooler temperature Zhang, WeiJun; You, LiXing; Li, Hao Science China Physics, Mechanics & Astronomy, Vol. 60, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-017-9113-4	journal	October 2017
NbN superconducting thin films grown by pulsed laser ablation Boffa, V.; Gambardella, U.; Marotta, V. Applied Surface Science, Vol. 106 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-4332(96)00432-1	journal	October 1996
N concentration effects on structure and superconductivity of NbN thin films Kalal, Shailesh; Gupta, Mukul; Rawat, Rajeev Journal of Alloys and Compounds, Vol. 851 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jallcom.2020.155925	journal	January 2021
Superconducting niobium nitride thin films by reactive pulsed laser deposition Ufuktepe, Y.; Farha, A. H.; Kimura, S. I. Thin Solid Films, Vol. 545 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2013.08.051	journal	October 2013
Polar Nanodomains in a Ferroelectric Superconductor Salmani-Rezaie, Salva; Ahadi, Kaveh; Stemmer, Susanne Nano Letters, Vol. 20, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02285	journal	August 2020
GaN/NbN epitaxial semiconductor/superconductor heterostructures Yan, Rusen; Khalsa, Guru; Vishwanath, Suresh Nature, Vol. 555, Issue 7695 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature25768	journal	March 2018
Ultrathin epitaxial superconducting niobium nitride films grown by a chemical solution technique Zou, Guifu; Jain, Menka; Zhou, Honghui Chemical Communications, Issue 45 https://doi.org/10.1039/B815066D	journal	January 2008
Pulsed laser deposition of high‐quality NbN thin films Treece, Randolph E.; Horwitz, James S.; Claassen, John H. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 65, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.112516	journal	November 1994
Internally shunted sputtered NbN Josephson junctions with a TaNx barrier for nonlatching logic applications Kaul, Anupama B.; Whiteley, Stephen R.; Van Duzer, Theodore Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 78, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.1337630	journal	January 2001
Microstructure of NbN epitaxial ultrathin films grown on A-, M-, and R-plane sapphire Espiau de Lamaëstre, R.; Odier, Ph.; Villégier, J. -C. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 91, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2820607	journal	December 2007
Upper Critical Field and Coherence Length of Homogenously Disordered Epitaxial 3-Dimensional NbN Films Jesudasan, John; Mondal, Mintu; Chand, Madhavi SOLID STATE PHYSICS, PROCEEDINGS OF THE 55TH DAE SOLID STATE PHYSICS SYMPOSIUM 2010, AIP Conference Proceedings https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3606160	conference	January 2011
Superconducting properties and crystal structures of single‐crystal niobium nitride thin films deposited at ambient substrate temperature Wang, Zhen; Kawakami, Akira; Uzawa, Yoshinori Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 79, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.362392	journal	May 1996
Superconducting qubits consisting of epitaxially grown NbN/AlN/NbN Josephson junctions Nakamura, Y.; Terai, H.; Inomata, K. Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.3663539	journal	November 2011
Optimisation of NbN thin films on GaAs substrates for in-situ single photon detection in structured photonic devices Reithmaier, G.; Senf, J.; Lichtmannecker, S. Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 113, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4800838	journal	April 2013
Atomically flat superconducting NbN thin films grown on SrTiO ₃ (111) by plasma-assisted MBE Wang, Guan-Yong; Zhu, Zhen; Yang, Xin-Yi APL Materials, Vol. 5, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5005107	journal	December 2017
An ultrafast NbN hot-electron single-photon detector for electronic applications Lipatov, A.; Okunev, O.; Smirnov, K. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 15, Issue 12 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/15/12/311	journal	November 2002
High quality superconducting NbN thin films on GaAs Marsili, Francesco; Gaggero, Alessandro; Li, Lianhe H. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 22, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/22/9/095013	journal	August 2009
Improvement of the critical temperature of superconducting NbTiN and NbN thin films using the AlN buffer layer Shiino, Tatsuya; Shiba, Shoichi; Sakai, Nami Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 23, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/23/4/045004	journal	March 2010
Growth and characterization of epitaxial ultra-thin NbN films on 3C-SiC/Si substrate for terahertz applications Dochev, D.; Desmaris, V.; Pavolotsky, A. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 24, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/24/3/035016	journal	January 2011
Superconducting niobium nitride thin films deposited by metal organic plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition Ziegler, Mario; Fritzsch, Ludwig; Day, Julia Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/26/2/025008	journal	December 2012
Improvement of the superconducting properties of NbN thin film on single-crystal silicon substrate by using a TiN buffer layer Zhang, J. J.; Su, Xiaodong; Zhang, L. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 26, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/26/4/045010	journal	March 2013
Epitaxial growth of ultra-thin NbN films on Al _x Ga _{1− x} N buffer-layers Krause, S.; Meledin, D.; Desmaris, V. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 27, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/27/6/065009	journal	April 2014
Superconducting properties of very high quality NbN thin films grown by high temperature chemical vapor deposition Hazra, D.; Tsavdaris, N.; Jebari, S. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 29, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/0953-2048/29/10/105011	journal	September 2016
Structural and electrical properties of ultrathin niobium nitride films grown by atomic layer deposition Linzen, S.; Ziegler, M.; Astafiev, O. V. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 30, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aa572a	journal	January 2017
Growth and characterization of few unit-cell NbN superconducting films on 3C-SiC/Si substrate Chang, H. W.; Wang, C. L.; Huang, Y. R. Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 30, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aa8616	journal	October 2017
Fundamental origin of the large impact of strain on superconducting Nb ₃ Sn Godeke, A.; Hellman, F.; Kate, H. H. J. ten Superconductor Science and Technology, Vol. 31, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6668/aad980	journal	September 2018
Ultra-thin NbN films on Si: crystalline and superconducting properties Ilin, K.; Schneider, R.; Gerthsen, D. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 97 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/97/1/012045	journal	February 2008
High quality ultrathin NbN layers on sapphire for superconducting single photon detectors Lamaestre, R. Espiau de; Odier, Ph; Bellet-Amalric, E. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 97 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/97/1/012046	journal	February 2008
Surface term in the superconductive Ginzburg-Landau free energy: Application to thin films Simonin, J. Physical Review B, Vol. 33, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.33.7830	journal	June 1986
Experimental evidence for a two-band superconducting state of NbSe 2 single crystals Zehetmayer, M.; Weber, H. W. Physical Review B, Vol. 82, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.82.014524	journal	July 2010
Enhancement of the Superconducting Transition Temperature of M g B 2 by a Strain-Induced Bond-Stretching Mode Softening Pogrebnyakov, A. V.; Redwing, J. M.; Raghavan, S. Physical Review Letters, Vol. 93, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.147006	journal	September 2004
Ferroelectric enhancement of superconductivity in compressively strained SrTiO 3 films Russell, Ryan; Ratcliff, Noah; Ahadi, Kaveh Physical Review Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.3.091401	journal	September 2019
Fabrication of all-NbN Josephson tunnel junctions using single crystal NbN films for the base electrodes Shoji, A. IEEE Transactions on Magnetics, Vol. 27, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/20.133888	journal	March 1991
A niobium nitride-based analog to digital converter using rapid single flux quantum logic operating at 9.5 K Radparvar, M. IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, Vol. 4, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/77.291697	journal	June 1994
Fabrication and properties of an ultrafast NbN hot-electron single-photon detector Gol'tsman, G.; Okunev, O.; Chulkova, G. IEEE Transactions on Appiled Superconductivity, Vol. 11, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1109/77.919410	journal	March 2001
Operation of single-flux-quantum logic cells based on all-NbN integrated circuit technology Terai, Hirotaka; Makise, Kazumasa; Wang, Zhen 2013 IEEE 14th International Superconductive Electronics Conference (ISEC) https://doi.org/10.1109/ISEC.2013.6604278	conference	July 2013
NbN Superconducting Single-Photon Detectors Prepared on Single-Crystal MgO Substrates Miki, S.; Fujiwara, M.; Sasaki, M. IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 17, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2007.898582	journal	June 2007
AlN-Buffered Superconducting NbN Nanowire Single-Photon Detector on GaAs Schmidt, E.; Ilin, K.; Siegel, M. IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2016.2637358	journal	June 2017
Superconducting Characteristics of NbN Films Deposited by Atomic Layer Deposition Ukibe, Masahiro; Fujii, Go IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, Vol. 27, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2017.2655719	journal	June 2017
Enhancing superconductivity in SrTiO 3 films with strain Ahadi, Kaveh; Galletti, Luca; Li, Yuntian Science Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw0120	journal	April 2019

Similar Records

Correlation between thickness dependent nanoscale structural chemistry and superconducting properties of ultrathin epitaxial NbN films

Journal Article · Sun Feb 27 19:00:00 EST 2022 · Materials Chemistry and Physics · OSTI ID:1908166

CMOS-Compatible Ultrathin Superconducting NbN Thin Films Deposited by Reactive Ion Sputtering on 300 mm Si Wafer

Journal Article · Wed Nov 29 19:00:00 EST 2023 · Materials · OSTI ID:2469894

Suppression of superconductivity in epitaxial NbN ultrathin films

Journal Article · Mon Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 2011 · Journal of Applied Physics · OSTI ID:21538084

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
NbNepitaxial growthphysical vapor deposition
Ultrathin superconducting films

Ultrathin epitaxial NbN superconducting films with high upper critical field grown at low temperature

Citation Formats

References (42)

Similar Records

Related Subjects