Terahertz electrodynamics and superconducting energy gap of NbTiN

Abstract

Terahertz electrodynamics of superconducting NbTiN has been studied in the spectral range of 8-70 cm–1 above and below the critical temperature of Tc = 14.1 K. Our transmission terahertz time-domain spectroscopy technique allows for independent and accurate determination of both the real part σ1 and the imaginary part σ2 of the optical conductivity σ as a function of frequency ω and temperature T without a Kramers-Kronig analysis. A clear signature of the superconducting energy gap Δ(T) is observed in the real part σ1 of the optical conductivity below Tc, with 2Δ(0) = 36.5 cm−1 corresponding to 2Δ(0)/kBTc = 3.72. No indication of strong-coupling effects was observed in the imaginary part σ2 toward zero frequency. Our results, including the temperature dependence of the penetration depth λ(T), are in excellent quantitative agreement with weak coupling BCS theory and Mattis-Bardeen formula.