The proximity effect between a superconductor and a highly diffusive two-dimensional metal was revealed in a Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy experiment. The in-situ elaborated samples consisted of superconducting single crystalline Pb islands interconnected by a non-superconducting atomically thin disordered Pb wetting layer. In the vicinity of each superconducting island the wetting layer acquires specific tunneling characteristics which reflect the interplay between the proximity-induced superconductivity and the inherent electron correlations of this ultimate diffusive two-dimensional metal. The observed spatial evolution of the tunneling spectra was accounted for theoretically by combining the Usadel equations with the theory of dynamical Coulomb blockade; the relevant length and energy scales were extracted and found in agreement with available experimental data.
@article{arxiv.1401.8102,
title = {Scanning tunneling spectroscopy study of the proximity effect in a disordered two-dimensional metal},
author = {L. Serrier-Garcia and J. C. Cuevas and T. Cren and C. Brun and V. Cherkez and F. Debontridder and D. Fokin and F. S. Bergeret and D. Roditchev},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1401.8102},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures, supporting information available in the journal web site or upon request