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Quantum criticality at the superconductor-insulator transition revealed by specific heat measurements

Author

Listed:
  • S. Poran

    (Bar Ilan University
    Institut NÉEL, CNRS)

  • T. Nguyen-Duc

    (Institut NÉEL, CNRS
    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Inst NEEL)

  • A. Auerbach

    (Technion
    Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS UMR 7600, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités)

  • N. Dupuis

    (Laboratoire de Physique Théorique de la Matière Condensée, CNRS UMR 7600, UPMC-Sorbonne Universités)

  • A. Frydman

    (Bar Ilan University
    Institut NÉEL, CNRS
    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Inst NEEL)

  • Olivier Bourgeois

    (Institut NÉEL, CNRS
    Univ. Grenoble Alpes, Inst NEEL)

Abstract

The superconductor–insulator transition (SIT) is considered an excellent example of a quantum phase transition that is driven by quantum fluctuations at zero temperature. The quantum critical point is characterized by a diverging correlation length and a vanishing energy scale. Low-energy fluctuations near quantum criticality may be experimentally detected by specific heat, cp, measurements. Here we use a unique highly sensitive experiment to measure cp of two-dimensional granular Pb films through the SIT. The specific heat shows the usual jump at the mean field superconducting transition temperature marking the onset of Cooper pairs formation. As the film thickness is tuned towards the SIT, is relatively unchanged, while the magnitude of the jump and low-temperature specific heat increase significantly. This behaviour is taken as the thermodynamic fingerprint of quantum criticality in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition.

Suggested Citation

  • S. Poran & T. Nguyen-Duc & A. Auerbach & N. Dupuis & A. Frydman & Olivier Bourgeois, 2017. "Quantum criticality at the superconductor-insulator transition revealed by specific heat measurements," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:8:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms14464
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14464
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    Cited by:

    1. Koichiro Ienaga & Yutaka Tamoto & Masahiro Yoda & Yuki Yoshimura & Takahiro Ishigami & Satoshi Okuma, 2024. "Broadened quantum critical ground state in a disordered superconducting thin film," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.

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