Reversible Tuning of Superconductivity in Ion-Gated NbN Ultrathin Films by Self-Encapsulation with a High-$\kappa$ Dielectric Layer

TL;DR

This paper presents a reversible, electrostatic method to tune superconductivity in ultrathin NbN films using self-encapsulation with a high-k dielectric layer, avoiding electrochemical issues of ionic gating.

Contribution

It introduces a surface oxidation encapsulation technique that enables reversible and volatile tuning of superconductivity in ultrathin films, expanding ionic gating applications.

Findings

Reversible tuning of resistivity and superconducting temperature achieved.

Encapsulation withstands high gate voltages beyond electrochemical stability.

Capacitance comparable to non-encapsulated ionic transistors.

Abstract

Ionic gating is a powerful technique for tuning the physical properties of a material via electric field-induced charge doping, but is prone to introduce extrinsic disorder and undesired electrochemical modifications in the gated material beyond pure electrostatics. Conversely, reversible, volatile and electrostatic modulation is pivotal in the reliable design and operation of novel device concepts enabled by the ultrahigh induced charge densities attainable via ionic gating. Here we demonstrate a simple and effective method to achieve reversible and volatile gating of surface-sensitive ultrathin niobium nitride films via controlled oxidation of their surface. The resulting niobium oxide encapsulation layer exhibits a capacitance comparable to that of non-encapsulated ionic transistors, withstands gate voltages beyond the electrochemical stability window of the gate electrolyte, and enables a fully-reversible tunability of both the normal-state resistivity and the superconducting transition temperature of the encapsulated films. Our approach should be transferable to other materials and device geometries where more standard encapsulation techniques are not readily applicable.