Electric current crowding in nanostructured conductors. Alejandro V. Silhanek

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1 XXXVIII National Meeting on Condensed Matter Physics May 24-28, 2015, Foz do Iguaçu, PR, Brazil Electric current crowding in nanostructured conductors Alejandro V. Silhanek Experimental physics of nanostructured materials Physics Department, University of Liège BELGIUM 1

2 Collaborators O. Adami, J. Brisbois, X. Baumans, Z. Jelic (ULg, BE) D. Cerbu, M. Timmermans, V. Zarinov, J. Van de Vondel, V.V. Moshchalkov (KUL, BE) V. Gladilin, J. Tempere, J. Devreese (UA, BE) B. Hackens (UCL, BE) M. Motta, F. Colauto, W. Ortiz (Sao Carlos, BR) J.I. Vestgarden, T.H. Johansen (Oslo, NO) J. Fritzsche (Chalmers, SE) C. Cirillo, C. Attanassio (Salerno, IT) 2

3 What is current crowding? 10 MA/cm 2 3 MA/cm 2 1 MA/cm 2 3

4 Why is it important? Electromigration Kelvin probe bridges Nanostructured superconductors Single photon detectors J 4 T. Taychatanapat et al., NanoLetters 7, 652 (2007)

5 Outline CURRENT CROWDING IN NORMAL METALS CURRENT CROWDING IN SUPERCONDUCTORS SHARP BENDS SURFACE INDENTATIONS MAGNETIC FLUX AVALANCHES NANOSTRUCTURING VIA CURRENT CROWDING CONCLUSION

6 Pre-history: normal conductors conformal mapping r i ABC g r 1/3 i 0 is the asymptotic current density in the leg i 0 The perturbations of the current crowding propagate about three strips widths into the legs Optimum curvature

7 Pre-history: normal conductors if b >> a and N >> 1 a as small as possible and b and N as large as possible

8 History: superconductors Villegas et al. (2005) Phys. Rev. B 72, A Palau et al. (2007) Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, Silhanek et al. (2008) Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, substantial deformation of the current-voltage characteristic when the voltage pads are attached close to the vertices.

9 Superconductors (vortex nucleation) W 2 2 / d Definition of J c current at which a nucleating vortex surmounts the Gibbs-free-energy barrier at the wire edge and then is driven entirely across the strip J c = R J 0 R < 1 J 0 the critical current of a superconducting strip

10 Comparison superconductors vs metals J c = R J 0 W 3 R r W Clem-Berggren (superconductor) 1/3 R r r 0 W 1/3 Hagedorn-Hall (normal metal) Vortex flow does not play a role The critical current of a right-angle bend is finite There is an optimum curvature which permits to avoid current crowding. The minimum radius being 1.27 W Clem and Berggren, Phys. Rev. B 84, (2011)

11 CC in voltage and current leads Voltage Contact C 3 2 1/3 if b W b b C 1 if b Current Contact C W 2 2 ( W a ) a 1/3 a W Clem and Berggren, Phys. Rev. B 84, (2011)

12 Supporting experimental evidence H. L. Hortensius et al. Appl. Phys. Lett. 100, (2012) NbTiN ~ 7 nm ~ 20 mm W ~ 1 mm D. Henrich et al., Phys. Rev. B 86, (2012) NbN ~ 5 nm >> W W ~ 0,3 mm

13 Field dependence H >0 London H >0 tdgl H <0 Compensation effect between the field induced stream-lines and the externally applied current at the current crowding point Clem et al., Phys. Rev. B 85, (2012)

14 Experimental confirmation Al (0) ~ 120 nm (1,22 K) ~ 8,3 mm W ~ 3,3 mm V- SiO 2 90 H > 0 I V+ I C (ma) S K, I+ H max 1 ( T) I C (µa) S H max 1.18K, I+ 1.18K, I- 1.20K, I+ 1.20K, I- 1.22K, I+ 1.22K, I ,08-0,04 0,00 0,04 0,08 H (mt) Adami et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, (2013) H (mt)

15 Rectified motion of vortices Fixed J > 0 H >0 H <0 Fixed H > 0 J >0 J <0 0.5 T = 0.92 Tc Freq = 1kHz S180 Freq = 1kHz S T = 0.92 Tc ac amplitude [ma] V dc [µv] ac amplitude [ma] V dc [µv] H[mT] H[mT] Adami et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, (2013)

16 Surface indentations C 1 2 C a 1/3 if 90 Current crowding is more important for the triangular indentation Clem et al., Phys. Rev. B 84, (2011)

17 Surface indentations Cerbu et al. New J. Phys. 15, (2013)

18 Surface indentations The onset of the resistive regime is mainly determined by the properties of the inlet boundary of the strip. The effect due to patterning of the outlet boundary facilitates the formation of PSLs Cerbu et al. New J. Phys. 15, (2013)

19 High field behavior M. Friesen and A. Gurevich, Phys. Rev. B 63, (2001)

20 Surface indentations (many vortices) J. I. Vestgården et al., PRB 76, (2007) Meissner currents concentrate in front of the indentation where their density reaches jc and hence lead to even deeper flux penetration. This is why the flux front near the indentation advances faster than in the rest of the film. Brisbois et al., unpublished Nb, H=2 mt, T=4K 20

21 CC in nanostructured superconductors J Nakai & Machida Physica C (2010) Tsuchiya et al. Physica C 470 S788 (2010)

22 Magnetic flux avalanches D T >> D M D M >> D T Q Adiabatic conditions, ΔT = Q/C(T) Flux motion T v>10 km/s > sound velocity 3 km/s v Abrikosov << 1 km/ s v kinematics ~ 1-10 km/ s Jc, F p 22 R. G. Mints and A. L. Rakhmanov, Rev. Mod. Phys. 53, 551 (1981)

23 Magnetic flux avalanches Motta et al. Phys. Rev. B 89, (2014)

24 Baumans et al. unpublished Electromigration

25 Conclusion In the same way that magnetic field lines lead to demagnetization effects, deformation of current stream lines lead to current crowding. This effect have important consequences on - the resistance calculation in normal metals - V(I) characteristics in superconductors - unwanted ratchet signal - hot spots (joule heating) - reduction of the critical current

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