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Title: Superconducting properties of Nb-Cu nano-composites and nano-alloys

Journal Article · · AIP Conference Proceedings
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4948140· OSTI ID:22608851
; ; ;  [1];  [2]
  1. UM-DAE Center for Excellence in Basic Sciences, University of Mumbai, Vidyanagari, Santacruz(E), Mumbai 400098 (India)
  2. Tata Instutite of Fundamental Research, Colaba, Mumbai 400005 (India)

The evolution of the superconducting transition temperature (T{sub c}) in nano-composite and nano-alloys of Nb-Cu, grown by DC magnetron co-sputtering are investigated. Microstructure of these films depends less strongly on the ratio of Nb:Cu but more on the growth temperature. At higher growth temperature, phase separated granular films of Nb and Cu were formed which showed superconducting transition temperatures (T{sub c}) of ~ 7.2±0.5 K, irrespective of the composition. Our results show that this is primarily influenced by the microstructure of the films determined during growth which rules out the superconducting proximity effect expected in these systems. At room temperature growth, films with nano-scale alloying were obtained at the optimal compositional range of 45-70 atomic% (At%) of Nb. These were also superconducting with a T{sub c} of 3.2 K.

OSTI ID:
22608851
Journal Information:
AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1731, Issue 1; Conference: DAE solid state physics symposium 2015, Uttar Pradesh (India), 21-25 Dec 2015; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0094-243X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English