title: Macroscopic superconducting current through a silicon surface reconstruction with indium adatoms: Si(111)-(√7 × √3)-In.
abstract: Macroscopic and robust supercurrents are observed by direct electron transport measurements on a silicon surface reconstruction with In adatoms [Si(111)-(√7 × √3)-In]. The superconducting transition manifests itself as an emergence of the zero resistance state below 2.8 K. I-V characteristics exhibit sharp and hysteretic switching between superconducting and normal states with well-defined critical and retrapping currents. The two-dimensional (2D) critical current density J(2D,c) is estimated to be as high as 1.8 A/m at 1.8 K. The temperature dependence of J(2D,c) indicates that the surface atomic steps play the role of strongly coupled Josephson junctions.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Namiki, Tsukuba, Japan. UCHIHASHI.Takashi@nims.go.jp
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Uchihashi
authors.forename: Puneet
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Masakazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aono
authors.forename: Tomonobu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakayama