Niobium's intrinsic coherence length and penetration depth revisited using low-energy muon spin spectroscopy and secondary-ion mass spectrometry

Abstract

We report direct, simultaneous measurements of the London penetration depth ($\lambda_L$) and Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) coherence length ($\xi_0$) in oxygen-doped niobium, with impurity concentrations spanning the "clean" to "dirty" limits. Two depth-resolved techniques - low-energy muon spin spectroscopy (LE-$\mu$SR) and secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) - were used to quantify the element's Meissner screening profiles, analyzed within a framework that accounts for nonlocal electrodynamics. The analysis indicates intrinsic length scales of $\lambda_L = 29.1(10)$ nm and $\xi_0 = 39.9(25)$ nm, corresponding to a Ginzburg-Landau (GL) parameter of $\kappa = 0.70(5)$. The obtained $\lambda_L$ and $\kappa$ values, accurately quantified at the nanoscale, are smaller than values commonly used in applications and modeling, and indicate that clean niobium lies at the boundary between type-I and type-II superconductivity, supporting the contemporary view that its intrinsic state may be type-I.