Sputtering Current Driven Growth & Transport Characteristics of Superconducting Ti40V60 Alloy Thin Films

TL;DR

This study investigates how sputtering current influences the growth, stress, crystallite size, and superconducting transition temperature of Ti40V60 alloy thin films, revealing that higher currents enhance superconducting properties.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the relationship between sputtering parameters and superconducting characteristics of Ti40V60 alloy thin films.

Findings

Superconducting transition temperature increases with sputtering current.

Crystallite size and texturing correlate positively with TC.

Stress shifts from tensile to compressive with higher sputtering currents.

Abstract

The room temperature growth, characterization, and electrical transport properties of magnetron sputtered superconducting Ti40V60 alloy thin films are presented. The films exhibit low surface roughness and tunable transport properties. As the sputtering current increases, the superconducting transition move towards higher temperatures. Rietveld refinement of two dimensional XRD (2D XRD) pattern reveals the presence of stress in the films, which shifts from tensile to compressive as the sputtering current increases. Additionally, the crystallite size of the films increases with higher sputtering currents. The films exhibit a strong preferential orientation, contributing to their texturing. The crystallite size and texturing are found to be correlated with the superconducting transition temperature (TC) of the films. As the crystallite size and texturing increase, the TC of the films also rises.