Superconductor-insulator transition in granular Pb films near a superconducting ground plane

摘要

We report observations of the zero-field superconductor-insulator transition in granular quench-condensed Pb for samples within 10-15 nm of relatively thick superconducting ground planes. Resistance vs temperature measurements of sufficiently thick Pb samples exhibit broadened superconductor transitions consistent with previous results on clean dielectric substrates. The lack of any measurable influence by the superconducting planes on the Pb film resistance is discussed within the context of zero-field vortex-antivortex unbinding explanations for the transition broadening.