Characterization of ultrathin superconducting FeSe nanowires on SrTiO3 substrates

Abstract

Superconducting quantum devices, due to their ultra-low power consumption, high sensitivity and high speed, have attracted great attention in recent years and put forward higher requirements for fabrication technology. Here, we report on the first superconducting ultrathin FeSe nanowires on SrTiO3 substrates successfully fabricated by electron beam lithography and Ar plasma ion beam etching. As the superconductivity of the molecular beam epitaxial ultrathin FeSe film is highly susceptible by moisture and oxygen, FeTe layers were deposited for protection. We synthesized a superconducting ∼300 nm wide, ∼1.1 nm thick ultrathin FeSe nanowire with (the critical temperature of zero resistance), as revealed by electrical transport measurements. The proper synthesis conditions of the high-quality ultrathin superconducting FeSe nanowires on SrTiO3 substrates are evaluated by analyzing the morphology and physical properties of the ∼300 nm width ultrathin FeSe nanowire. Our work may pave the way for future applications of air-sensitive iron-based superconducting films.