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Register a new userSpecific Heat Signature of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Ultrathin Superconducting Films
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The Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is expected to have a clear signature on the specific heat. The singularity at the transition temperature $T_{BKT}$ is predicted to be immeasurable, and a broad non-universal peak is expected at $T>T_{BKT}$. Up to date this has not been observed in two-dimensional superconductors. We use a unique highly sensitive technique to measure the specific heat of ultrathin Pb films. We find that thick films exhibit a specific heat jump at $T_C$ that is consistent with BCS theory. As the film thickness is reduced below the superconducting coherence length and the systems enters the 2D limit the specific heat reveals BKT-like behavior. We discuss these observations in the framework of the continuous BCS-BKT crossover as a function of film thickness.
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The precondition for the BKT transition in thin superconducting films, the logarithmic intervortex interaction, is satisfied at distances short relative to $Lambda=2lambda^2/d$, $lambda$ is the London penetration depth of the bulk material and $d$ is the film thickness. For this reason, the search for the transition has been conducted in samples of the size $L<Lambda$. It is argued below that film edges turn the interaction into near exponential (short-range) thus making the BKT transition impossible. If however the substrate is superconducting and separated from the film by an insulated layer, the logarithmic intervortex interaction is recovered and the BKT transition should be observable.
Occurrence of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is investigated by superfluid density measurements for two-dimensional (2D) disordered NbN films with disorder level very close to a superconductor-insulator transition (SIT). Our data show a robust BKT transition even near this 2D disorder-tuned quantum critical point (QCP). This observation is in direct contrast with previous data on deeply underdoped quasi-2D cuprates near the SIT. As our NbN films approach the QCP, the vortex-core energy, an important energy scale in the BKT transition, scales with the superconducting gap, not with the superfluid density, as expected within the standard 2D-XY model description of BKT physics.
The effects of microwave radiation on the transport properties of atomically thin $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ films were studied in the 0.1-13 GHz frequency range. Resistance changes induced by microwaves were investigated at different temperatures near the superconducting transition. The nonlinear response decreases by several orders of magnitude within a few GHz of a cutoff frequency $ u_{cut} approx$ 2 GHz. Numerical simulations that assume an ac response to follow the dc V-I characteristics of the films reproduce well the low frequency behavior, but fail above $ u_{cut}$. The results indicate that two-dimensional superconductivity is resilient against high-frequency microwave radiation, because vortex-antivortex dissociation is dramatically suppressed in two-dimensional superconducting condensates oscillating at high frequencies.
Superconducting hybrid junctions are revealing a variety of novel effects. Some of them are due to the special layout of these devices, which often use a coplanar configuration with relatively large barrier channels and the possibility of hosting Pearl vortices. A Josephson junction with a quasi ideal two-dimensional barrier has been realized by growing graphene on SiC with Al electrodes. Chemical Vapor Deposition offers centimeter size monolayer areas where it is possible to realize a comparative analysis of different devices with nominally the same barrier. In samples with a graphene gap below 400 nm, we have found evidence of Josephson coherence in presence of an incipient Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. When the magnetic field is cycled, a remarkable hysteretic collapse and revival of the Josephson supercurrent occurs. Similar hysteresis are found in granular systems and are usually justified within the Bean Critical State model (CSM). We show that the CSM, with appropriate account for the low dimensional geometry, can partly explain the odd features measured in these junctions.
The quenched dynamics of an ultracold homogeneous atomic two-dimensional Bose gas subjected to periodic quenches across the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) phase transition are discussed. Specifically, we address the effect of periodic cycling of the effective atomic interaction strength between a thermal disordered state above, and a highly ordered state below the critical BKT interaction strength, by means of numerical simulations of the stochastic projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation. Probing the emerging dynamics as a function of the frequency of sinusoidal driving from low to high frequencies reveals diverse dynamical features, including phase-lagged quasi adiabatic reversible condensate formation, resonant excitation consistent with an intrinsic system relaxation timescale, and gradual establishment of dynamically-recurring or time-averaged non-equilibrium states with enhanced coherence which are neither condensed, nor thermal. Our study paves the way for experimental observation of such driven non-equilibrium ultracold superfluid states.
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