Establishment of global phase coherence in a highly disordered fractal MgO/MgB2 nanocomposite: Roles of interface, morphology and defect

TL;DR

This study investigates how structural disorder, interfaces, and defects in a MgO/MgB2 nanocomposite facilitate the emergence of global superconducting phase coherence despite high disorder and low MgB2 content.

Contribution

It provides detailed microstructural and electronic insights into how atomically clean interfaces and oxygen vacancy channels promote superconducting coherence in a disordered nanocomposite.

Findings

Isotropic fractal microstructure with fractal dimension ~1.67.

Atomically coherent MgO/MgB2 interfaces without amorphous boundaries.

Evidence of strong intergranular coupling below Tc.

Abstract

Recently, we have reported that a highly disordered fractal MgO/MgB2 nanocomposite exhibits bulk-like superconducting properties with isotropic pinning, showing an excellent phase-coherent capability irrespective of the low volume fraction (~30 vol. %) of MgB2 [Uchino et al., Phys. Rev. B 101, 035146 (2020); Teramachi et al,, Phys. Rev. B 108, 155146 (2023)]. Hence, this nanocomposite provides a useful experimental system to investigate the relationship between the structural disorder and the establishment of the superconducting phase coherence. In this work, we show from 3D focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) data that in the nanocomposite, a complex MgO/MgB2 microstructure spreads isotropically throughout the sample with a constant fractal dimension of ~1.67. Atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has revealed that the MgO/MgB2 interfaces are atomically clean and free from amorphous grain boundaries, even leading to atomically coherent interfaces. Detailed ac susceptibility measurements have demonstrated a smooth crossover from an intragranular to an intergranular superconducting regime, giving evidence of the establishment of the critical state due to strong intergranular coupling just below the superconducting transition temperature. Also, spatially-resolved cathodoluminescence measurements have demonstrated that oxygen vacancies in the MgO-rich phase tend to aggregate near the MgO/MgB2 boundary regions, forming long channels of oxygen vacancies through the nanocomposite. These channels of oxygen vacancies will contribute to the long-range carrier transfer and the related Andreev reflection via coherent tunneling of charge carriers among the oxygen vacancy sites.