Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions

Mentink, M. G. T.; Bonevich, John E.; Dhalle, M. M.  J.; Dietderich, D. R.; Godeke, A.; Hellman, F.; ten Kate, H. H.  J.

doi:10.1109/TASC.2012.2235513

Title: Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions

Abstract

Binary Nb-Sn thin film samples were fabricated and characterized in terms of their composition, morphology, and superconducting properties. Nb-Sn was magnetron-sputtered onto heated R-plane sapphire substrates at 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C, using a custom-built heater assembly. Samples were cut into strips, where each strip has a unique composition. For a subset of the samples, Nb-Sn was selectively etched away at an etching rate of 6 ± 1 nm/s using an aqueous solution of 3 vol. % hydrofluoric and 19 vol. % nitric acid. The sample composition was investigated with a scanning electron microscope with an X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy detector. Surface and cross-section morphologies were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy, revealing a dense columnar poly-crystalline grain structure. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate a highly textured film that is (100) oriented out-of-plane and random in-plane. The critical temperature Tc (ranging from 9.8 to 17.9 K), critical magnetic field μ-0 H_c2 (ranging from 12.5 to 31.3 T), residual resistivity ratio (RRR), and normal state resistivity ρ 0 were measured and found to be broadly consistent with literature data on bulk Nb-₃ Sn.

Authors:

Mentink, M. G. T. ^[1]; Bonevich, John E. ^[2]; Dhalle, M. M. J. ^[1]; Dietderich, D. R. ^[3]; Godeke, A. ^[3]; Hellman, F. ^[4]; ten Kate, H. H. J. ^[1]

Univ. of Twente, Enschede (Netherlands)
National Inst. of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Publication Date:: Thu Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2012

Research Org.:: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division

OSTI Identifier:: 1511354

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 23; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1051-8223

Publisher:: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY

Citation Formats


                    Mentink, M. G. T., Bonevich, John E., Dhalle, M. M.  J., Dietderich, D. R., Godeke, A., Hellman, F., and ten Kate, H. H.  J. Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions.  United States: N. p., 2012. 
Web.  doi:10.1109/TASC.2012.2235513.

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                    Mentink, M. G. T., Bonevich, John E., Dhalle, M. M.  J., Dietderich, D. R., Godeke, A., Hellman, F., & ten Kate, H. H.  J. Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2012.2235513

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                    Mentink, M. G. T., Bonevich, John E., Dhalle, M. M.  J., Dietderich, D. R., Godeke, A., Hellman, F., and ten Kate, H. H.  J. Thu .  
"Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1109/TASC.2012.2235513.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1511354.

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@article{osti_1511354,

  title        = {Superconductivity in Nb-Sn Thin Films of Stoichiometric and Off-Stoichiometric Compositions},

  author       = {Mentink, M. G. T. and Bonevich, John E. and Dhalle, M. M.  J. and Dietderich, D. R. and Godeke, A. and Hellman, F. and ten Kate, H. H.  J.},

  abstractNote = {Binary Nb-Sn thin film samples were fabricated and characterized in terms of their composition, morphology, and superconducting properties. Nb-Sn was magnetron-sputtered onto heated R-plane sapphire substrates at 700 °C, 800 °C, and 900 °C, using a custom-built heater assembly. Samples were cut into strips, where each strip has a unique composition. For a subset of the samples, Nb-Sn was selectively etched away at an etching rate of 6 ± 1 nm/s using an aqueous solution of 3 vol. % hydrofluoric and 19 vol. % nitric acid. The sample composition was investigated with a scanning electron microscope with an X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy detector. Surface and cross-section morphologies were investigated using scanning electron microscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy, revealing a dense columnar poly-crystalline grain structure. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate a highly textured film that is (100) oriented out-of-plane and random in-plane. The critical temperature Tc (ranging from 9.8 to 17.9 K), critical magnetic field μ-0 Hc2 (ranging from 12.5 to 31.3 T), residual resistivity ratio (RRR), and normal state resistivity ρ 0 were measured and found to be broadly consistent with literature data on bulk Nb-3 Sn.},

  doi          = {10.1109/TASC.2012.2235513},

  journal      = {IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity},

  number       = 3,

  volume       = 23,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Thu Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2012},

  month        = {Thu Dec 20 00:00:00 EST 2012}

}

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Figures / Tables:

Fig. 1: Surface image of a selectively etched Nb-Sn thin film. The bright regions are the Nb-Sn layer, while the dark regions are the exposed sapphire substrate.

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