Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. Observation of shell effects in superconducting nanoparticles of Sn
 
research article

Observation of shell effects in superconducting nanoparticles of Sn

Bose, Sangita
•
Garcia-Garcia, Antonio M.
•
Ugeda, Miguel M.
Show more
2010
Nature Materials

In a zero-dimensional superconductor, quantum size effects(1,2) (QSE) not only set the limit to superconductivity, but are also at the heart of new phenomena such as shell effects, which have been predicted to result in large enhancements of the superconducting energy gap(3-6). Here, we experimentally demonstrate these QSE through measurements on single, isolated Pb and Sn nanoparticles. In both systems superconductivity is ultimately quenched at sizes governed by the dominance of the quantum fluctuations of the order parameter. However, before the destruction of superconductivity, in Sn nanoparticles we observe giant oscillations in the superconducting energy gap with particle size leading to enhancements as large as 60%. These oscillations are the first experimental proof of coherent shell effects in nanoscale superconductors. Contrarily, we observe no such oscillations in the gap for Pb nanoparticles, which is ascribed to the suppression of shell effects for shorter coherence lengths. Our study paves the way to exploit QSE in boosting superconductivity in low-dimensional systems.

  • Details
  • Metrics
Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/NMAT2768
Web of Science ID

WOS:000279014300015

Author(s)
Bose, Sangita
•
Garcia-Garcia, Antonio M.
•
Ugeda, Miguel M.
•
Urbina, Juan D.
•
Michaelis, Christian H.
•
Brihuega, Ivan
•
Kern, Klaus  
Date Issued

2010

Published in
Nature Materials
Volume

9

Start page

550

End page

554

Subjects

Transition

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

EPFL

EPFL units
LSEN  
Available on Infoscience
December 16, 2011
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/75393
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés