Energy gap and transition temperature of highly disordered and amorphous thallium- and indium-films

Abstract

Thin and pure Tl-films and In-films with different impurities (Ag, Te, Ge, Sb) are condensed onto a cooled substrate at 4 K. Measurements of the energy gap by means of the tunnel effect and the transition temperature of the weak-coupling superconductor thallium are carried out as a function of the degree of disorder of the films. The ratioα=2Δ0/kTc increases proportional to the reciprocal mean free path from 3.5 for the annealed film up to 3.8 for the highly disordered film. For In-films condensed by quenching with impurity additions, one finds a linear relation between energy gap and transition temperature. In-films with Sb-additive are obtained in an amorphous phase with a ratioα=2Δ0/kTc of 4.4. The amorphous state of the In/Sb-films is confirmed by measurements of the electric conductivity and the Hall-effect.