Superconducting Polycrystalline Rhenium Films Deposited at Room Temperature

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful deposition of superconducting polycrystalline rhenium films at room temperature, characterizing their structural, magnetic, and surface properties, with potential implications for superconducting device applications.

Contribution

It introduces a method for depositing superconducting rhenium films at ambient temperature and provides detailed characterization of their properties.

Findings

Critical temperature Tc ~ 3.6 K

Films are polycrystalline with larger lattice parameters than bulk

Determined Hc1, Hc2, coherence length, and penetration depth

Abstract

We report on magnetron deposition of thin superconducting rhenium films on sapphire substrates. During the deposition, substrates were held at ambient temperature. Critical temperature of the films is Tc~3.6 K. Films have polycrystalline structure, and grazing incidence X-ray diffractometry indicates that crystalline lattice parameters are somewhat larger compared to the bulk ones. Magnetoresistive and AC/DC susceptibilities allowed us to determine $H_{c1}$ and $H_{c2}$ of these films, as well as estimate coherence length $\xi$(0) and magnetic penetration depth $\lambda_L$(0). We also provide information on surface morphology of these films.