Nanostructured and disordered superconductors exhibit many exotic fundamental phenomena, and also have many possible applications. We show here that films of superconducting lead nanoparticles with a wide range of particle coverages, exhibit non-linear V(I) characteristics that are consistent with percolation theory. Specifically, it is found that , where a = 2.1 ± 0.2, independent of both temperature and particle coverage, and that the measured critical currents (Ic) are also consistent with percolation models. For samples with low normal state resistances, this behaviour is observable only in pulsed current measurements, which suppress heating effects. We show that the present results are not explained by vortex unbinding [Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless] physics, which is expected in such samples, but which gives rise to a different power law behaviour. Finally, we compare our results to previous calculations and simulations, and conclude that further theoretical developments are required to explain the high level of consistency in the measured exponents a.
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14 December 2017
Research Article|
December 13 2017
Percolating transport in superconducting nanoparticle films
Shawn Fostner;
Shawn Fostner
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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Amol Nande;
Amol Nande
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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Alex Smith;
Alex Smith
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni
;
Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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Jack Grigg;
Jack Grigg
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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Kristiaan Temst;
Kristiaan Temst
3
Instituut voor Kern-en Stralingsfysica
, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Margriet J. Van Bael;
Margriet J. Van Bael
4
Laboratory of Solid State Physics and Magnetism
, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
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Simon A. Brown
Simon A. Brown
a)
1
The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
2
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Canterbury
, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
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J. Appl. Phys. 122, 223905 (2017)
Article history
Received:
September 27 2017
Accepted:
November 14 2017
Citation
Shawn Fostner, Amol Nande, Alex Smith, Rodrigo Martinez Gazoni, Jack Grigg, Kristiaan Temst, Margriet J. Van Bael, Simon A. Brown; Percolating transport in superconducting nanoparticle films. J. Appl. Phys. 14 December 2017; 122 (22): 223905. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5006694
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