Disorder and magnetic field tuned

insulating state in a-InO

superconducting films
1
Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science
2
Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Geneva University
Benjamin Sacp
1,2
, Maoz Ovadia
1
, Dan Shahar
1

Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear transport

3. Non-linear transport

4. Electron overheating

Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear transport

3. Non-linear transport

4. Electron overheating

1/T [K]
Disorder-driven
Superconductor-Insulator Transition
0
exp
T
R
T
| |

|
\ .
I1 : T
0
= 0.25 K
I2 : T
0
= 0.38 K
I3 : T
0
= 0.61 K
Titanium nitride thin films
d 5 nm
T. I. Baturina, C. Strunk, M. R. Baklanov, and A. Satta
PRL 98, 127003 (2007)
V. F. Gantmakher et al., JETP 82, 951 (1996)
Disorder-driven
Superconductor-Insulator Transition
Amorphous Indium Oxyde
D. Shahar and Z. Ovadyahu, Phys. Rev. B 46, 10917, (1992)
Magnetic field-tuned SIT
TiN InO
x

G. Sambandamurthy, L.W. Engel, A. Johansson, E.
Peled, D. Shahar, PRL 94, 017003, (2005)
T. Baturina, C. Strunk, M. Baklanov, A. Satta,
PRL 98, 127003, (2007)
Magnetic field-tuned SIT
Activated regime
1
0
( ) exp
T
R T R
T
| |
=
|
\ .
G. Sambandamurthy, L.W. Engel, A. Johansson, D.
Shahar, PRL 92, 107005, (2004)
Collective insulating state
G. Sambandamurthy, L.W. Engel, A. Johansson, E.
Peled, D. Shahar, PRL 94, 017003, (2005)
Magnetic field-tuned insulating state
InO
x

Collective insulating state
G. Sambandamurthy, L.W. Engel, A. Johansson, E.
Peled, D. Shahar, PRL 94, 017003, (2005)
T. Baturina, A. Mironov, V. Vinokur, M. Baklanov,
C. Strunk, PRL 99, 257003, (2007)
Magnetic field-tuned insulating state
InO
x

Disorder-tuned insulating state
TiN
Strong instability occurs around T* ~ 0.1K
Zero conductive state ?
Superinsulating state in TiN thin films
Nature 452, 613, (2008)
PRL 100, 086805 (2008)
TiN versus Josephson junction array
E. Chow, P. Delsing, D. Haviland
PRL 81, 204 (1998)
T. Baturina, et al., PRL 99, 257003, (2007)
Fistul et al., PRL 100, 086805 (2008)
1D Josephson junction array Voltage threshold in TiN
E
J
>E
c

E
J
<E
c

B (G)
Superconductor-Insulator Transition (SIT)
Alternative answer :
Joule overheating of electrons
(B. Altshuler, V. Kravtsov, I. Lerner, I. Aleiner, cond-mat/0810.4312)
Question :
Origin of this instability in the I-V curves
New phase transition at T*~0.1K ?
Superinsulating state ?
Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear-transport

3. Non-linear transport

4. Electron overheating

R(T)
InO-I : Thickness = 30 nm, R(300K) ~ 2 k/
InO-S : same sample after 4 days of annealing at 300K
InO-I
InO-S
Amorphous Indium Oxide
Magnetoresistance
(2 probes measurements)
InO-I InO-S
Activated regime under magnetic field ?
InO-I
(note: perpendicular field)
Before the MR peak:
Over-activation ?
After the MR peak:
Sub-activation ?
InO-S
Activated regime only around the magnetoresistance peak !
Activated regime under magnetic field ?
Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear transport

3. Non-linear transport
B-dependence of voltage threshold
Low current branch

4. Electron overheating

I(V) curves at B=0T
InO-I
I(V) curves at B=8T
InO-I
V
T
changes by 3 orders of magnitude !
I(V) curves at B=12T
InO-I
T* < 30mK
T* decrease at high field
I(V) curves InO-S
InO-S
B-dependence of the voltage threshold
V
T
(B=0) = 2 mV
InO-S InO-I
( )
T c
V B B
o

V
T
changes by 4 orders of magnitude
V
T
follows a power law with B
2.1 o =
0.8 o =
B-dependence of the voltage threshold
V
T
changes by 4 orders of magnitude
V
T
follows a power law with B
2.1 o =
0.8 o =
B-dependence of the voltage threshold
Length scale L behind V
T
?
eEL T
-
=
16 1.2
2 10
T
T
nm for V V
L
mm for V V
=

=

=

Answer : no !
Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear transport

3. Non-linear transport
B-dependence of voltage threshold
Low current branch

4. Electron overheating

Current below V
T
?
InO-I
Current below V
T
?
InO-I
InO-S
Low-current branch
I-V is linear at low voltage !
InO-S
I-V is exponential at higher bias
Low-current branch
Extrapolation of the linear resistance
Possible fit :




linear for V << V0 = 150V

at V=0, R
0
= V
0
/ I
0
( )
0
0
exp 1
V
I V I
V
(
| |
=
( |
(
\ .

Extrapolation of the linear resistance
Possible fit :




linear for V << V0 = 150V

at V=0, R
0
= V
0
/ I
0
( )
0
0
exp 1
V
I V I
V
(
| |
=
( |
(
\ .

Correct extrapolation of R(T)
( )
0
0
exp 1
V
I V I
V
(
| |
=
( |
(
\ .

Extrapolation of the linear resistance
Extrapolation of R(T)
Sub-activation seems confirmed at high field
InO-S
Superinsulator ?
Question : is there a superinsulator state in InOx ?
Answer : No !
Current jump in Y
x
Si
1-x

Activated regime (T
0
~ 0.5K)
for both thin (40nm) and thick
(7m) films

Absence of superconducting
correlations
Outline
1. Introduction

2. Linear-transport

3. Non-linear transport

4. Electron overheating

Overheating of electrons
cond-mat / 0810.4312
( )
2
6 6
( )
el ph
el
V
c T T A
R T
o = =
Heat balance equation (dirty metal) :
0
0
( ) exp R T R
T
| |
A
=
|
\ .
Insulating behaviour :
Overheating of electrons
cond-mat / 0810.4312
( )
2
6 6
( )
el ph
el
V
c T T
R T
=
Heat balance equation (dirty metal) :
Electronic temperature
B. Altshuler et al.
cond-mat / 0810.4312
Electronic temperature
( , ) ( , )
ph ph
dI
G V T V T
dV
=
1
( ) ( 0, )
ph ph el
R T G V T T

= = =
( , )
el ph
T V T
B. Altshuler et al.
cond-mat / 0810.4312
Electronic temperature
( , )
el ph
T V T
B. Altshuler et al.
cond-mat / 0810.4312
Electron overheating
( )
2
2 6 6
( , )
( )
ph el ph
el
V
V G V T c T T
R T
= =
Heat balance equation :
[
W
]

Electron overheating
( )
2
2 6 6
( , )
( )
ph el ph
el
V
V G V T c T T
R T
= =
Heat balance equation :
[
W
]

Summary
Voltage threshold :
changes by 4 orders of magnitude
follows a power law with field

Low-current branch :
Linear at low bias
Exponential at higher bias
give an extrapolation of R(T)

Electron overheating :
Give an alternative description
Justify the extrapolation of R(T) from the I-V cuvres

Thank you for your attention
Electron overheating
( )
2
2 6 6
( , )
( )
ph el ph
el
V
V G V T c T T
R T
= =
Heat balance equation :
C = .V => = 1 nW/m
3
/K
6

( In a metal : ~ 1 nW/m
3
/K
5
)
Application: heating T
el
= 90mK and T
ph
=20mK

Metal P=V
2
/R ~ 6e-7 nW/m
3

Dirty metal P=V
2
/R ~ 5e-6 nW/m
3
Extrapolation of R(T)
Sub-activation seems confirmed at high field
InO-I
InO-S
Extrapolation of R(T)
InO-S
Activated ?
Efros-Shklovskii ?
Four probes measurments
Anisotropy
Perpendicular Field
Parallel Field
B-dependence of the voltage
threshold
Fluctuations of V
T
stop at the maximum of V
T
(B)
Electron overheating
( )
2
2 6 6
( , )
( )
ph el ph
el
V
V G V T c T T
R T
= =
Heat balance equation :
I(V) curves at B=12T
InO-I
T* < 30mK
T* decrease at high field