Phase diagram of the strongly disordered s-wave superconductor NbN close to the metal-insulator transition

Abstract

We present a phase diagram as a function of disorder in three-dimensional NbN thin films as the system enters the critical disorder for destruction of the superconducting state. The superconducting state is investigated using a combination of magnetotransport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements. Our studies reveal three disorder regimes. At low disorder (k_Fl ∼ 10–4), the system follows the mean field Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer behavior, where the superconducting energy gap vanishes at the temperature at which electrical resistance appears. For stronger disorder (1< k_Fl <4), a “pseudogap” state emerges, where a gap in the electronic spectrum persists up to temperatures much higher than T_c, suggesting that Cooper pairs continue to exist in the system even after the zero resistance state is destroyed. Finally, at even stronger disorder (k_Fl < 1), the global superconducting ground state is destroyed even though superconducting correlations continue to survive, as evidenced from a pronounced magnetoresistance peak at low temperatures.