title: Superconducting Pb island nanostructures studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy.
abstract: Superconductivity of nanosized Pb-island structures whose radius is 0.8 to 2.5 times their coherence length was studied under magnetic fields using low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. Spatial profiles of superconductivity were obtained by conductance measurements at zero-bias voltage. Critical magnetic fields for vortex penetration and expulsion and for superconductivity breaking were measured for each island. The critical fields depending on the lateral size of the islands and existence of the minimum lateral size for vortex formation were observed.
authors.affiliation: The Institute for Solid State Physics, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa-no-ha, Kashiwa, Japan.
authors.forename: Takahiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishio
authors.forename: Toshu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.forename: Kousuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miyachi
authors.forename: Toyoaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eguchi
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakata
authors.forename: Shizeng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hayashi
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Masahiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Machida
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hasegawa