来源:ACS Publications
Superconductor/ferromagnet heterostructures have been investigated extensively because of their capability to break superconducting electron pairs. In this study, we report on heterostructures of a superconductor and heavy-fermion system as an alternative platform for a strong pair-breaking proximity effect. We fabricated rocksalt-type CeO/LaO heteroepitaxial bilayers, where LaO is a superconductor and CeO is a nonferromagnetic heavy-fermion system. While LaO(9.5–21 nm) thin films showed superconductivity below 4.4–5.2 K, the CeO(4.8–5.8 nm)/LaO(9.2–17 nm) bilayers showed no trace of superconductivity down to 0.025 K. This result demonstrates a strong pair-breaking effect at the superconductor/heavy-fermion system heteroepitaxial interface. This effect would provide a useful platform for superconducting micro and nano devices.