Transport properties of superconducting films and heterostructures

​The research activity of the group is devoted to the investigation of the superconducting properties of ultrathin films and artificial heterostructures based on conventional metals.

The group is historically intensively involved in the study of superconductor/ferromagnetic (S/F) hybrids and to the physical phenomena related to the inhomogeneous character of the superconducting order parameter in these systems.

Another research line focuses on the study of the superconducting properties of Nb ultrathin films deposited on porous silicon templates with pores diameter and interpore distance tunable in the range 5-10 nm and 10-40 nm, respectively. These systems behave like an array of superconducting nanowires whose transport properties are dominated by quantum fluctuactions.

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More recently, the transport properties of non-centrosymmetric superconductors, both single crystals and thin films,  were also investigated. NbRe and NbReN thin films were realized for the first time in the research group and their possible application in the field of Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors (SNSPS) was explored. In particular the firts NbRe-based SNSPD were realized in collaboration with TU Delft and its spin-off Single Quantum.