Title
Intrinsic granularity in nanocrystalline boron-doped diamond films measured by scanning tunneling microscopy
Date Issued
21 December 2009
Resource Type
Journal
Author(s)
Dao- V.H.
Vanacken J.
Chibotaru L.F.
Moshchalkov V.V.
Guillamón I.
Suderow H.
Vieira S.
Janssens S.D.
Williams O.A.
Haenen K.
Wagner P.
Abstract
We report on low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy experiments performed on superconducting boron-doped nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) thin films prepared by chemical-vapor deposition methods. The most representative sample reveals the observed superconducting gap (Δ) highly modulated over a length scale on the order of ∼30nm, which is much shorter than the typical diamond grain size. The sample local and macroscopic behavior favors for the Δ modulation as being an intrinsic property of the NCD granules. On the other hand, Δ shows its temperature dependence [Δ (T)] consistent with the results obtained by Fominov and Feigel'man [Phys. Rev. B 63, 094518 (2001)], who studied theoretically the behavior of the superconducting gap of a BCS superconductor in contact with a normal layer by solving the one-dimensional Usadel equations on the superconducting side of the superconducting to normal interface. © 2009 The American Physical Society.
Volume
80
Issue
22
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-77954695637
Source
Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Resource of which it is part
Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
ISSN of the container
10980121
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus