Tuning of the superconducting properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5 thin films through the substrate effect

From recent literature, it became clear that the crystallographic lattice parameters and the superconducting properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5 thin films exhibit a non-trivial dependence on the in-plane lattice constant of the substrates on which they are grown. The strain, which depends on the type of growth, can play an important role both in enhancing the critical temperature Tc and in determining the pinning mechanisms. Here, we present the effects of the substrate on the superconducting properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5 thin films. After a comprehensive overview of the different substrates used, i.e. oxides and fluorides, we compare the superconducting properties of films grown on LaAlO3(001) and SrTiO3(001). We show that the pinning properties of the two types of film are completely different: the angular dependences of the critical current density are opposite due to the presence of extrinsic pinning along the c-axis on films grown on SrTiO3. The presence of strong correlated pinning for a field perpendicular to the surface in films grown on SrTiO3 is confirmed by the analysis of the activation energy for vortex motion U0 and supported by the observation through scanning tunnelling microscopy of nanoscale threading dislocations possibly induced by the lattice mismatch with the substrate, which are not seen on the films deposited on LaAlO3.