Size-dependent superconducting state of individual nanosized Pb islands grown on Si(111) by tunneling spectroscopy

By measuring the temperature-dependent tunneling spectroscopy of a set of flat-top Pb islands from 3.2 to 15 K, the limiting size of a nine-monolayer-thick Pb island with superconductivity above 3.2 K was determined to be ∼ 30 nm(2), in good agreement with the Anderson criterion. Further analysis in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of physics. Condensed matter 2011-07, Vol.23 (26), p.265007-8
Main Authors: Liu, Jiepeng, Wu, Xuefeng, Ming, Fangfei, Zhang, Xieqiu, Wang, Kedong, Wang, Bing, Xiao, Xudong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Energy gap
Exact sciences and technology
Islands
Lead (metal)
Mesoscopic and nanoscale systems
Physics
Proximity effects, weak links, tunneling phenomena, and josephson effects, adreev effect, sn and sns junctions
Spectroscopy
Superconducting films and low-dimensional structures
Superconductivity
Transition temperature
Tunneling
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Summary:By measuring the temperature-dependent tunneling spectroscopy of a set of flat-top Pb islands from 3.2 to 15 K, the limiting size of a nine-monolayer-thick Pb island with superconductivity above 3.2 K was determined to be ∼ 30 nm(2), in good agreement with the Anderson criterion. Further analysis indicates that the zero-temperature energy gap decreases significantly faster than the transition temperature when the Pb island size approaches this limit. This leads to a decrease of 2Δ(0)/k(B)T(C) from 4.5 to 3.3, thus showing that the Pb island superconductors undergo a change from strong to weak electron-phonon coupling.
ISSN:0953-8984
1361-648X
DOI:10.1088/0953-8984/23/26/265007