Abstract
We have fabricated disordered superconducting nanowires of molybdenium silicide. A molybdenium nanowire is first deposited on top of silicon, and the alloy is formed by rapid thermal annealing. The method allows tuning of the crystal growth to optimize e.g. the resistivity of the alloy for potential applications in quantum phase slip (QPS) devices and superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. The wires have effective diameters from 42 to 79 nm, enabling the observation of crossover from conventional superconductivity to regimes affected by thermal and quantum fluctuations. In the smallest diameter wire and at temperatures well below the superconducting critical temperature, we observe residual resistance and negative magnetoresistance, which can be considered as fingerprints of QPSs.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 015002 |
| Journal | Superconductor Science and Technology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2018 |
| MoE publication type | A1 Journal article-refereed |
Funding
We would like to thank D Golubev for discussions and acknowledge the Academy of Finland (Grants 288907 and 287768), Wihuri foundation and European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant Agreement 688539) for financial support.
Keywords
- nanowire
- negative magnetoresistance
- quantum phase slips
- silicides
- superconductivity
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