Macroscopic and robust supercurrents are observed by direct electron transport measurements on a silicon surface reconstruction with In adatoms (Si(111)-(R7xR3)-In). The superconducting transition manifests itself as an emergence of the zero resistance state below 2.8 K. I−V characteristics exhibit sharp and hysteretic switching between superconducting and normal states with well-defined critical and retrapping currents. The two-dimensional (2D) critical current density J2D,c is estimated to be as high as 1.8A/m at 1.8 K. The temperature dependence of J2D,c indicates that the surface atomic steps play the role of strongly coupled Josephson junctions.
@article{arxiv.1107.3902,
title = {Macroscopic Superconducting Current through a Silicon Surface Reconstruction with Indium Adatoms: Si(111)-(R7$\times$R3)-In},
author = {Takashi Uchihashi and Puneet Mishra and Masakazu Aono and Tomonobu Nakayama},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1107.3902},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures; The error in the values of 2D critical current density $J_\mathrm{2D,c}$ was corrected. In the old version, the numbers were wrong by a factor of 100 due to a mechanical error. This does not affect the following analysis and conclusion