title: Scanning tunneling spectroscopy study of the proximity effect in a disordered two-dimensional metal.
abstract: The proximity effect between a superconductor and a highly diffusive two-dimensional metal is revealed in a scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiment. The in situ elaborated samples consist of superconducting single crystalline Pb islands interconnected by a nonsuperconducting atomically thin disordered Pb wetting layer. In the vicinity of each superconducting island the wetting layer acquires specific tunneling characteristics which reflect the interplay between the proximity-induced superconductivity and the inherent electron correlations of this ultimate diffusive two-dimensional metal. The observed spatial evolution of the tunneling spectra is accounted for theoretically by combining the Usadel equations with the theory of dynamical Coulomb blockade; the relevant length and energy scales are extracted and found in agreement with available experimental data.
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Serrier-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cuevas
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cren
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brun
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cherkez
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Debontridder
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France and Joint Institute for High Temperatures, Russian Academy of Sciences, 125412 Moscow, Russia.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fokin
authors.affiliation: Centro de Física de Materiales (CFM-MPC), Centro Mixto CSIC-UPV/EHU and Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Paseo Manuel de Lardizabal 4, E-20018 San Sebastián, Spain.
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Bergeret
authors.affiliation: Institut des Nanosciences de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC) and CNRS-UMR 7588, 4 place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Roditchev