STM Studies of the Proximity Effect in Superconducting Wires with Artificial Pinning Centers

Y. Levia, O. Milloa, N.D. Rizzob, D.E. Proberb and L.R. Motowidloc aRacah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel bApplied Physics, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8284, USA cIGC-AS, Waterbury, CT 06704, USA

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Scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy were applied to study the proximity effect with nanometer spatial resolution. The measurements were conducted on novel superconducting wires, which consist of an ordered array of submicron diameter normal metal filaments (Cu, Ni) embedded in a superconducting (NbTi) matrix. Spatially resolved information about the local density of states is obtained by taking I-V curves simultaneously with topographic images. Our data provide direct evidence on the interplay between the normal and superconducting constituents in the vicinity of the interface between them.

DOI: 10.12693/APhysPolA.93.425 PACS numbers: 74.50.+r, 73.40.Gk, 61.16.Ch