Aging of Ultra-Thin Niobium Films

Author

Santavicca, Daniel F. ; Prober, Daniel E.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Phys., Univ. of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL, USA

Volume

25

Issue

3

fYear

2015

fDate

Jun-15

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

We characterize the evolution of the electrical properties of ultra-thin niobium films stored in ambient conditions over a period of approximately seven months. Patterned films with thicknesses between 8 and 16 nm were fabricated via electron-beam deposition on unheated silicon substrates using a lift-off process. The film quality is similar to previous results obtained with sputter deposition onto unheated silicon substrates. The increase of the resistance and the decrease of the superconducting critical temperature are well described by an exponential function with a time constant of approximately 37 days.

Keywords

ageing; electrical resistivity; electron beam deposition; niobium; superconducting thin films; superconducting transition temperature; type II superconductors; Nb; Si; aging; electrical properties; electrical resistance; electron-beam deposition; exponential function; film quality; lift-off process; patterned films; size 8 nm to 16 nm; superconducting critical temperature; time constant; ultrathin niobium films; unheated silicon substrates; Electrical resistance measurement; Niobium; Resistance; Substrates; Superconducting epitaxial layers; Temperature measurement; Nanofabrication; Niobium; nanofabrication; niobium; superconducting devices; superconducting thin films;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

1051-8223

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TASC.2014.2363628

Filename

6926837