Abstract
Disorder due to small random variations of the width L of thin films leads to scattering for superconducting particles. It is shown for the first time that this disorder, interface-roughness scattering for bosons, gives rise to a superconductor-insulator transition, as observed for instance in amorphous Bi films. We present a model calculation of a disordered interacting Bose condensate in a quantum well of finite width L. Films with L < L C are insulating, with L C as the critical width, while films with L > L C are superconducting. Disorder strongly reduces the critical temperature L C of the superconducting phase and L C vanishes at L C . A phenomenological two-fluid model is also discussed.
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Gold, A. Superconductor-insulator transition in thin metallic films induced by interface-roughness scattering. Jetp Lett. 90, 612–616 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1134/S002136400921005X
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S002136400921005X