Superconducting phase transitions in disordered NbTiN films

Abstract

Suppression of superconductivity in disordered systems is a fundamental problem of condensed matter physics. Here we investigate superconducting niobium-titanium-nitride (Nb1−xTixN) thin films grown by the atomic layer deposition (ALD) with slightly different growth process parameters. We observe a smooth crossover from the disorder-driven superconductor-normal metal transition (SMT) to the superconductor-insulator transition (SIT) via the intermediate Bose metal state detected by the low-temperature saturation of the temperature dependence of the sheet resistance. We demonstrate that the SIT via the intervening Bose metal state occurs if the sheet resistance of the film in the maximum, Rmax prior to the superconducting drop of R(T), exceeds Rq = h/4e2.