Superconductivity at the Surface of PbTe

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
These experiments describe a superconducting state formed when thin layers of Pb, In, Al, Sn, and Tl are deposited on a clean PbTe surface. Initial studies were made previously of crystalline Al films deposited on single-crystal Si substrates. These present experiments extend the study of ultrathin films of superconducting metals to a system thought to be favorable to the observation of excitonic superconductivity. Some discussion is given of low-energy-electron-diffraction (LEED) studies of the initial epitaxy of Pb, In, and Tl layers on PbTe. It appears that the supperconductivity is not in the deposited layer but is in a region which includes the PbTe surface.