2014/06/30 by M. Ovadia, D. Kalok, I. Tamir +3 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.supr-con
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/srep13503
published as Scientific Reports 5, Article number: 13503 (2015)
arxiv created 2016/02/08 · arxiv updated 2016/02/09
In superconductors the zero-resistance current-flow is protected from dissipation at finite temperatures (T) by virtue of the short-circuit condition maintained by the electrons that remain in the condensed state. The recently suggested finite-T insulator and the "superinsulating" phase are different because any residual mechanism of conduction will eventually become dominant as the finite-T insulator sets-in. If the residual conduction is small it may be possible to observe the transition to these intriguing states. We show that the conductivity of the high magnetic-field insulator terminating superconductivity in amorphous indium-oxide exhibits an abrupt drop, and seem to approach a zero conductance at T<0.04 K. We discuss our results in the light of theories that lead to a finite-T insulator.