High resistance of superconducting TiN thin films against environmental attacks.

Superconductors, an essential class of functional materials, hold a vital position in both fundamental science and practical applications. However, most superconductors, including MgB, BiSrCaCuO, and FeSe, are highly sensitive to environmental attacks (such as from water and moist air), hindering their wide applications. More importantly, the surface physical and chemical processes of most superconductors in various environments remain poorly understood.

Electronic structure of superconducting VN(111) films.

Vanadium nitride (VN) is a transition-metal nitride with remarkable properties that have prompted extensive experimental and theoretical investigations in recent years. However, there is a current paucity of experimental research investigating the temperature-dependent electronic structure of single-crystalline VN. In this study, high-quality VN(111) films were successfully synthesized on -Al O (0001) substrates using magnetron sputtering.