Superconductivity in Ag implanted Au thin film

TL;DR

This study reports the discovery of superconductivity around 2 K in Ag-implanted Au thin films, a phenomenon not observed in pure Au or Ag, with potential implications for novel superconducting materials.

Contribution

It demonstrates for the first time that Ag implantation induces superconductivity in Au thin films, revealing a new method to create superconducting metallic systems.

Findings

Superconductivity observed at ~2 K in Ag-implanted Au films.

Superconducting transition affected by magnetic field and current.

Pristine Au and Ag films do not show superconductivity down to 1.6 K.

Abstract

Au and Ag are known to be metallic and none of them have shown independently superconductivity. Here we show superconductivity in Ag implanted Au thin films. Ag implanted Au films of different thicknesses have been studied using four probe resistance versus temperature measurements. We have also measured the pristine samples (i.e. without any implantation) to compare the transport properties. The superconducting transition occurs around ~2 K (TC) for Ag implanted 20 nm Au film (the lowest resistance observed below TC is ~10-6 Ohm). Change of Tc towards lower temperatures has been observed under the effect of increasing current and magnetic field which endorses the superconducting state. Further the V~I measurements were carried out to verify the superconducting nature. On the other hand, the pristine samples clearly did not exhibit superconductivity down to 1.6 K. Our results open an avenue for further exploring this type of novel superconductivity for future applications.