Large magnetoresistance of insulating silicon films with superconducting nanoprecipitates

摘要

We report on large negative and positive magnetoresistance in inhomogeneous, insulating Si:Ga films below a critical temperature of about 7 K. The magnetoresistance effect exceeds 300 % at temperatures below 3 K and fields of 8 T. The comparison of the transport properties of superconducting samples with that of insulating ones reveals that the large magnetoresistance is associated with the appearance of local superconductivity. A simple phenomenological model based on localized Cooper pairs and hopping quasiparticles is able to describe the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the sheet resistance of such films.