Aging of ultra-thin niobium films

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2015

Abstract

We characterize the evolution of the electrical properties of ultra-thin niobium films stored in ambient conditions over a period of approximately seven months. Patterned films with thicknesses between 8 and 16 nm were fabricated via electron-beam deposition on unheated silicon substrates using a lift-off process. The film quality is similar to previous results obtained with sputter deposition onto unheated silicon substrates. The increase of the resistance and the decrease of the superconducting critical temperature are well described by an exponential function with a time constant of approximately 37 days.

Publication Title

IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Volume

25

Issue

3

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1109/TASC.2014.2363628

ISSN

10518223

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