Magnetoresistance Oscillations in Granular Superconducting Niobium Nitride Nanowires

TL;DR

This study investigates magnetoresistance oscillations in granular NbNx nanowires, revealing quantum phase slips and dissipation phenomena similar to one-dimensional superconductors, driven by their granular structure.

Contribution

It demonstrates that granular structure causes magnetoresistance oscillations and quantum phase slips in NbNx nanowires, despite their larger transverse dimensions.

Findings

Magnetoresistance oscillations observed in NbNx nanowires.

Voltage-current characteristics resemble 1D superconductors.

Granular structure is responsible for the observed phenomena.

Abstract

We report on magnetoresistance oscillations in superconducting NbNx nanowires synthesized through ammonia gas annealing of NbSe3 precursor nanostructures. Even though the transverse dimensions of the nanowires are much larger than the superconducting coherence length, the voltage-current characteristics of these nanowires at low temperatures are reminiscent of one-dimensional superconductors where quantum phase slips are associated with the origin of dissipation. We show that both the magnetoresistance oscillations and voltage-current characteristics observed in this work result from the granular structure of our nanowires.