Moldavian Journal of the Physical Sciences (Apr 2008)
Influence of strong disorder on superconductivity of MgB2 thin films
Abstract
We investigated the influence of disorder on superconductivity of MgB2 films, prepared in a single deposition run onto two different substrates: (100)-MgO and on (128° rot)-LiNbO3 with trigonal crystal structure which does not match to the MgB2 structure. As expected, the microstructure of both films crucially differs. The REM study shows a very homogeneous, smooth morphology of the MgB2 film on MgO, but a very rough inhomogeneous film structure on LiNbO3. Although the MgB2 film on LiNbO3 is strongly disordered, its critical temperature Tc=33.5 K is practically the same as for the film deposited on MgO. Possible reasons of such unusual Tc behavior are discussed.