TY - JOUR

T1 - Charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in superconducting NbTiN films

AU - Mironov, Alexey Yu

AU - Silevitch, Daniel M.

AU - Proslier, Thomas

AU - Postolova, Svetlana V.

AU - Burdastyh, Maria V.

AU - Gutakovskii, Anton K.

AU - Rosenbaum, Thomas F.

AU - Vinokur, Valerii V.

AU - Baturina, Tatyana I.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s).

PY - 2018/3/6

Y1 - 2018/3/6

N2 - Three decades after the prediction of charge-vortex duality in the critical vicinity of the two-dimensional superconductor-insulator transition (SIT), one of the fundamental implications of this duality - the charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition that should occur on the insulating side of the SIT - has remained unobserved. The dual picture of the process points to the existence of a superinsulating state endowed with zero conductance at finite temperature. Here, we report the observation of the charge BKT transition on the insulating side of the SIT in 10 nm thick NbTiN films, identified by the BKT critical behavior of the temperature and magnetic field dependent resistance, and map out the magnetic-field dependence of the critical temperature of the charge BKT transition. Finally, we ascertain the effects of the finite electrostatic screening length and its divergence at the magnetic field-tuned approach to the superconductor-insulator transition.

AB - Three decades after the prediction of charge-vortex duality in the critical vicinity of the two-dimensional superconductor-insulator transition (SIT), one of the fundamental implications of this duality - the charge Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition that should occur on the insulating side of the SIT - has remained unobserved. The dual picture of the process points to the existence of a superinsulating state endowed with zero conductance at finite temperature. Here, we report the observation of the charge BKT transition on the insulating side of the SIT in 10 nm thick NbTiN films, identified by the BKT critical behavior of the temperature and magnetic field dependent resistance, and map out the magnetic-field dependence of the critical temperature of the charge BKT transition. Finally, we ascertain the effects of the finite electrostatic screening length and its divergence at the magnetic field-tuned approach to the superconductor-insulator transition.

KW - 2 DIMENSIONS

KW - 2-DIMENSIONAL SYSTEMS

KW - ATOMIC LAYER DEPOSITION

KW - JOSEPHSON-JUNCTION ARRAYS

KW - MAGNETIC-FIELD

KW - METAL-INSULATOR-TRANSITION

KW - PHASE-TRANSITIONS

KW - SMALL TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS

KW - TIN FILMS

KW - UNIVERSAL RESISTANCE

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85043248732&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-22451-1

DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-22451-1

M3 - Article

C2 - 29511317

AN - SCOPUS:85043248732

VL - 8

SP - 4082

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

SN - 2045-2322

IS - 1

M1 - 4082

ER -