Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2609.13568

Disorder-driven transport in ZrN thin films grown by ion-beam-assisted sputtering

Maximo DiPreta·Samuel Jiang·Serhii Kruhlov·Yi Li·Valentine Novosad·Tomas Polakovic
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

We investigate the structural and electronic transport properties of zirconium nitride (ZrN) thin films grown by dc ion-beam assisted sputtering (IBAS) as a function of nitrogen partial pressure, sputtering power and deposition temperature. Variation of growth conditions enables controlled tuning from disordered metallic and superconducting behavior to insulating transport. Increasing nitrogen flow drives an increase in sheet resistance, suppression of superconducting transition temperature, and non-metallic conduction. XRD shows no measurable change in long range crystallinity or order. In the insulating regime, low-temperature transport is well described by 3D Mott variable-range hopping (VRH), with the characteristic temperature $T_0$ increasing monotonically with sheet resistance over four orders of magnitude. Despite this strong correlation between $T_0$ and disorder, $T_c$ exhibits no systematic dependence on $T_0$, indicating a decoupling between localization physics and the superconducting energy scale. Magnetotransport measurements are not well described by the standard BCS model nor the dirty type-II Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg model. The phase boundary is instead captured by a free-exponent power law, $μ_0 H_{c2}(T) = μ_0 H_{c2}(0)[1 - (T/T_c)^{n}]$ with $n \approx 3.47$, and extrapolates to $μ_0 H_{c2}(0) \approx 6.4$ T. The films have an extracted coherence length of 7 nm. These results establish IBAS-grown ZrN as a broadly tunable platform for investigating disorder-driven transport and the crossover between metallic conduction, electronic localization, and superconductivity.

Explore related subjects

cond-mat.supr-concond-mat.mtrl-sci

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Maximo DiPreta, Samuel Jiang, Serhii Kruhlov, Yi Li, Valentine Novosad, Tomas Polakovic. 2026-09-11. Disorder-driven transport in ZrN thin films grown by ion-beam-assisted sputtering. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.13568

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Superconductivity in MgHCu3 perovskite revisited

We reexamine the crystal structure, electronic structure, lattice dynamics, phonon dispersion, electron-phonon coupling, and superconducting properties of MgHCu3 perovskite using the PBEsol and PBE functionals. This perovskite phase was recently proposed to exhibit superconductivity with the critical superconducting temperature, TC, of 42 K, which falls slightly over the classical 40 K limit for the phonon driven superconductivity. We show that although the crystal and electronic structure of this hypothetical compound are quite robust with respect to the k point mesh and functional used, yet the phonons and phonon related properties are extremely sensitive to the density of the grid chosen as well as functional used for calculations. Correspondingly, the values of the critical superconducting temperature calculated here for different Gaussian broadenings vary in a broad range of ca. 10 to 31 K and they do not exceed the classical limit. We suggest that the properties of this and many other high TC hydrides claimed should be thoroughly scrutinized using a variety of functionals, and benchmarked with experiment, to provide more reliable values of TC.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2026

Different reconstruction pathways toward superconductivity in TaRhTe4 and TaIrTe4 Weyl semimetals

Pressure can drive Weyl semimetals toward superconductivity through qualitatively distinct reconstructions of their lattices and normal-state electronic structures. Here, we report the first observation of superconductivity in compressed TaRhTe4. This finding enables a direct comparison of the distinct reconstruction pathways leading to superconductivity in TaRhTe4 and the previously studied TaIrTe4, both of which belong to the TaXTe4 (X = Rh, Ir) family of type-II Weyl semimetals. For TaRhTe4, high-pressure electrical-resistance, Hall effect, and magnetoresistance measurements, together with synchrotron X-ray diffraction and first-principles calculations, reveal a superconducting transition that emerges near 20 GPa, with onset Tc increasing to approximately 2.6 K at 65.2 GPa and zero resistance achieved above 63 GPa. The onset of superconductivity coincides with a progressive lattice distortion, a strong suppression of the positive magnetoresistance, and a continuous decrease of the Hall coefficient toward zero. Calculations further show that additional electron-like bands cross the Fermi level (EF) and that N(EF) increases upon compression. This evolution contrasts with TaIrTe4, where the Hall coefficient initially increases before reversing its pressure dependence near the superconducting threshold, while the structural anomaly is confined to a narrower pressure interval. This comparison indicates that superconductivity in the TaXTe4 family is not tied to a unique critical pressure or a single Fermi-surface reconstruction, but can emerge through distinct material-specific pathways once pressure sufficiently reconstructs the low-carrier Weyl-semimetal-derived state into a multiband metallic regime.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2026

Electromagnetic Proximity Effects and Spontaneous Currents in Clean Superconducting Heterostructures

When ferromagnets are brought into contact with a superconductor, superconducting proximity effects give rise to a variety of interesting phenomena, including oscillatory singlet Cooper-pair amplitudes and long-ranged odd-frequency triplet correlations induced by the exchange interactions in the ferromagnets. From an electrodynamic perspective, however, it is equally important to understand when and how spontaneous currents can emerge. To investigate the interplay between electromagnetic and conventional superconducting proximity effects, we study clean ferromagnet/ferromagnet/superconductor spin-valve heterostructures in which the relative angle between the two ferromagnetic layers can be tuned. Our approach is based on a self-consistent numerical solution of the coupled Bogoliubov-de Gennes and Maxwell equations, providing a microscopic description capable of resolving physics on atomic length scales. Several notable features emerge. In both the weak- and strong-exchange-field regimes, the central ferromagnetic layer plays a dominant role in generating sizable spontaneous currents when its exchange-field strength is varied. We further find that the resulting electromagnetic response extends across the entire superconducting layer, in sharp contrast to the short-ranged inverse proximity effect. In noncollinear configurations, the electromagnetic proximity effect also reconfigures the local magnetic-field orientation and reduces the angular mismatch between the fields in the two ferromagnetic layers. The long-ranged odd-frequency triplet amplitudes are consequently modified by the orbital response, which alters the underlying quasiparticle states by changing their momentum-space structure. Finally, our framework can be naturally generalized to other superconducting spintronic systems, possibly including Josephson junctions and altermagnet/superconductor heterostructures.

cond-mat.supr-con↗