Point-contact studies of semiconductor $PbTe-PbS$ superconducting superlattice as a model of HTS

TL;DR

This study investigates superconducting superlattices of semiconductor PbTe-PbS, revealing electron pairing at dislocation networks, large energy gaps, and similarities to high-temperature superconductors, through point-contact measurements and analysis of fluctuation regions.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the superconducting mechanisms in semiconductor superlattices and their relation to high-temperature superconductors, including electron pairing sites and energy gap behaviors.

Findings

Electron pairing occurs at dislocation networks.

Superlattices exhibit large energy gaps at low temperatures.

Point-contact spectra show electron-phonon interaction features.

Abstract

Superconducting (SC) superlattices (SL) of the epitaxial semiconductor $PbTe-PbS$/(001) $KCl$ with two-dimensional ordered misfit dislocation (MD) networks across heteroboundaries (HB) are studied, and the obtained results are compared with the corresponding data for $YBaCuO$. An analysis of the fluctuational region showed that the pairing of electrons in SL takes place at the sites of dislocation networks. In the region of SC fluctuations, the IVC derivatives of point-contacts (PC) based on SL and HTS display a metal-insulator transition associated with delocalization of carriers from the vicinity of the structural elements responsible for the emergence of SC. The critical current density in a superlattice is determined, and a mechanism is proposed for formation of excess current on the IVC of PC based on SL and HTS. The values of the energy gap $\Delta_0$ at low temperatures in units of $kT_c$ are found to be anomalously large for SL and HTS. For anisotropic three-dimensional SL with a strong bond between two-dimensional SC planes, two gaps emerge from the MD. For quasi-two-dimensional SL with a weak bond between two-dimensional SC planes, the $\Delta(T)$ dependence is nonmonotonic, and the fluctuation region for these SL and for HTS reveals a gap that is practically independent of temperature. The IVC derivatives of a $Cu$-SL PC reveal an oscillating structure which is restricted to an energy of $90\ meV$ and is apparently associated with the electron-phonon interaction. It is assumed that there is a similarity between the SC mechanisms in SL and HTS. pacs 73.40.Jn, 74.25.Kc, 74.45.+c, 74.50.+r., 73.40.-c, 74.78.-w, 74.78.Fk, 74.20.Mn, 74.40.+k.-n, 74.45.+c, 74.62.Dn, 74.70.Ad