Fabrication of a strain-induced high performance NbN ultrathin film by a Nb5N6 buffer layer on Si substrate

Abstract

Lattice mismatch between NbN and silicon (Si) reduces the superconducting properties of NbN film on Si substrate, and this in turn affects the performance of devices such as the hot electron bolometer (HEB) and superconducting nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD). We have found that the superconducting properties of NbN film on Si will be significantly improved by a Nb5N6 buffer layer. The strain of the NbN film was optimized by varying the thickness of the buffer layer. With 30 nm thick Nb5N6, the zero resistance superconducting transition temperature (TC0) of a 6 nm thick NbN film on Si is up to 13.5 K and the critical current density (JC) of the film is more than 107 A cm−2. All the details of preparation, improvement and characteristics of this film are also presented.