Fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride thin films using infra-red pulsed laser deposition

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride thin films using infrared pulsed laser deposition, analyzing their structural and superconducting properties on different substrates.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of 1064 nm pulsed laser deposition for creating superconducting TaN films with specific phases and properties on MgO and SiO2 substrates.

Findings

TaN films exhibit superconductivity at 8 K on MgO and 6 K on SiO2.

The films are smooth, particulate-free, and have distinct crystalline phases depending on the substrate.

Superconducting transition temperature on SiO2 is highly sensitive to nitrogen pressure during deposition.

Abstract

We report the successful fabrication of superconducting tantalum nitride (TaN) thin films using a pulsed laser deposition technique with 1064 nm radiation. Films with thickness $ \sim $ 100 nm deposited on MgO (100) single crystals and on oxidized silicon (SiO$_{2} $) substrates exhibited a superconducting transition temperature of $\sim $ 8 K and 6 K, respectively. The topography of these films were investigated using atomic force and scanning electron microscopy, revealing fairly large area particulate free and smooth surfaces, while the structure of the films were investigated using standard $ \theta -2 \theta $ and glancing angle X-ray diffraction techniques. For films grown on MgO a face-centered cubic phase of TaN was observed, while films grown on SiO$_{2} $ exhibited the face-centered cubic and as well as a mononitride hexagonal phase. The transition temperature of the TaN deposited on SiO$_{2} $ was found to be more sensitive to the nitrogen pressure during deposition as compared to the TaN deposited on MgO.