Superconducting nitridized-aluminum thin films

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates tunable superconductivity in nitridized-aluminum thin films, showing high critical temperatures and magnetic resilience, highlighting their potential for quantum technology applications.

Contribution

First direct observation of superconductivity in nitridized-aluminum thin films with controllable properties via nitrogen concentration.

Findings

Critical temperature up to 3.38K observed.

Resilience to magnetic fields above 1T.

Reproducible superconducting properties across samples.

Abstract

We report the direct observation of superconductivity in nitridized-aluminum thin films. The films are produced by sputtering deposition of aluminum in a controlled mixture of nitrogen diluted in argon. The concentration of applied nitrogen directly determines the properties of the superconducting thin films. We observe samples displaying critical temperatures up to 3.38$\pm$0.01K and resilience to in-plane magnetic fields well above 1T, with good reproducibility of the results. This work represents an unambiguous demonstration of tunable superconductivity in aluminum-based nitridized thin films. Our results put forward nitridized aluminum as a promising material to be employed in superconducting quantum circuits for quantum technology applications.