Magnetic field induced superconductor-insulator transitions for ultra-thin Bi films on the different underlayers

Abstract

This work shows the experimental results of the superconductor-insulator (S-I) transition for ultra-thin Bi films in magnetic fields. The quench-condensed (q-c) Bi film onto insulating underlayers have been interpreted to be homogeneous. In contrast, the Bi film without underlayers has been regarded as a granular film. The electrical transport properties of ultra-thin metal films near the S-I transition depend on the structure of the film. In order to confirm the effect of the underlayer to the homogeneity of the superconducting films, we investigate the characteristics of S-I transitions of q-c nominally homogeneous Bi films on underlayers of two insulating materials, SiO, and Sb. Under almost the same deposition condition except for the material of underlayer, we prepared the Bi films by repeating the additional deposition and performed in-situ electrical measurement. It is found that the transport properties near the S-I transitions show the remarkable difference between two films on different underlayers. As for Bi films on SiO, it turned out that the temperature dependence of resistance per square Rsq(T) of the field-tuned transition and the thickness-tuned transition shows similar behavior; it was a thermally activated form. On the other hand, the R sq(T) of Bi films on Sb for thickness-tuned S-I transition showed logarithmic temperature dependence, but that for field-tuned S-I transition showed a thermally activated form. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.