Imboden, MatthiasHan, HanStark, ThomasBishop, David2017-11-082017-11-082017-11-08201710.1021/acsnano.7b01808https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/142076WOS:000411918200018Using a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS)-based Fab-on-a-Chip, we quench-condense lead thin-films. Suppressing the formation of lead islands makes it possible to grow a homogeneous and continuous film as thin as 2 nm, without the use of an adhesion layer. Thermal cycling from 3 K to as low as 10 K reveals irreversible annealing of the thin-film characteristic of a metastable state. The transition to the stable state is smooth and is completed by cycling the temperature above,similar to 42 K, where a distinctive resistance minimum is observed. This resistive minimum is accompanied by an unexpected peak in the superconducting transition temperature. After further thermal cycling, the standard metallic/superconductive behavior is established. The MEMS-based approach yields a platform for systematic studies of quench-condensed thinfilm materials, making an intriguing parameter space of mesoscopic physics experimentally accessible.superconductivityquench-condensed thin-filmsmicro- and nanofabricationpatterningelectron transportmicroelectromechanical systemsin situ fabricationtext::journal::journal article::research article