Superconducting fluctuation effect on epitaxially layered films of superconductor NbN and half-metallic Heusler alloy Co2MnSi.

Superconducting properties were investigated in epitaxially layered films consisting of superconductor NbN and half-metallic Heusler alloy Co2MnSi (CMS). Temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity ρ(T) was measured by applying perpendicular magnetic fields to the surface of NbN/CMS films. With the increase of the CMS thickness dCMS, the upper critical field μ0Hc2 decreased monotonically, but the superconducting transition temperature Tc had the minimum of 10.1 K at dCMS ≈ 5 nm. The Tc behavior was in qualitative agreement with the theory of the π-coupling. The pair-breaking parameter δ determined by the superconducting fluctuation theory took the maximum at dCMS = 3 ∼ 5 nm, which would be related to the minimum of Tc. The experimental results reveal that the superconductivity of the NbN layer in NbN/CMS films is affected by the interplay between the superconducting NbN layer and the half-metallic CMS layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]