Polycrystalline NbRe superconducting films deposited by direct current magnetron sputtering

Nb0.18Re0.82 superconducting thin films are deposited by direct current (dc) magnetron sputtering under different growth conditions. The resulting films are homogeneous and polycrystalline, with grains of small dimensions. The electrical transport measurements, which evidence that the samples are disordered superconductors, are interpreted in the framework of different theoretical models in order to find a correlation between the structural disorder and the superconducting properties. Implications of these results are discussed with respect to both fundamental and applicative research, considering the interest in the possible non-conventional order parameter due to the lack of inversion symmetry and the potential of NbRe-based devices as Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors. © 2022 Elsevier B.V.