From a wide band gap to the superconducting proximity effect: Fe on Pb(111)
Epitaxially grown Fe nanostructures on Pb(111) were studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The deposited Fe assemblies are classified into two groups according to their electronic behavior close to the Fermi energy. One group exhibits a wide energy gap of 0.7 eV t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2023-01-01
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| Series: | New Journal of Physics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/acc607 |
| Summary: | Epitaxially grown Fe nanostructures on Pb(111) were studied by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The deposited Fe assemblies are classified into two groups according to their electronic behavior close to the Fermi energy. One group exhibits a wide energy gap of 0.7 eV that is independent of the temperature ranging from 5 K to room temperature. These Fe islands indicate the absence of the superconductivity proximity effect in their interior. The other group shows a metallic behavior at the Fermi level. The substrate superconducting phase locally enters into these islands, which is evidenced by a sharp resonance at the Fermi energy presumably signaling Andreev reflection at the magnet–superconductor interface. |
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| ISSN: | 1367-2630 |