TY - JOUR A1 - Cubero, A. A1 - Martínez, E. A1 - Angurel, L.A. A1 - de la Fuente, G.F. A1 - Navarro, R. A1 - Legall, Herbert A1 - Krüger, Jörg A1 - Bonse, Jörn T1 - Surface superconductivity changes of niobium sheets by femtosecond laser-induced periodic nanostructures T2 - Nanomaterials N2 - Irradiation with ultra-short (femtosecond) laser beams enables the generation of sub-wavelength laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) over large areas with controlled spatial periodicity, orientation, and depths affecting only a material layer on the sub-micrometer scale. This study reports on how fs-laser irradiation of commercially available Nb foil samples affects their superconducting behavior. DC magnetization and AC susceptibility measurements at cryogenic temperatures and with magnetic fields of different amplitude and orientation are thus analyzed and reported. This study pays special attention to the surface superconducting layer that persists above the upper critical magnetic field strength Hc2, and disappears at a higher nucleation field strength Hc3. Characteristic changes were distinguished between the surface properties of the laser-irradiated samples, as compared to the corresponding reference samples (non-irradiated). Clear correlations have been observed between the surface nanostructures and the nucleation field Hc3, which depends on the relative orientation of the magnetic field and the surface patterns developed by the laser irradiation. PB - MDPI CY - Basel KW - Niobium KW - Surface superconductivity KW - Laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) KW - Nanostructures PY - 2020 UR - https://opus4.kobv.de/opus4-bam/frontdoor/index/index/docId/51846 AN - OPUS4-51846 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-518462 SN - 2079-4991 VL - 10(12) IS - Special issue "Laser-generated periodic nanostructures" SP - 1 EP - 16 AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany