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We report molecular beam epitaxy synthesis of vacancy-ordered rock-salt NbO thin films that display superconductivity. The unique lattice structure and Nb 2+ oxidation state trigger structural and chemical instabilities in the epitaxial growth process. A comparative study of substrates identifies Al 2 O 3 (0001) as the optimal platform for realizing high-quality, single-phase films when growing at temperatures exceeding 1000 °C. The controlled NbO films exhibit superconductivity with critical temperatures up to T c = 1.37 K, comparable to bulk single crystals. This work addresses the fundamental bottlenecks encountered in the high-temperature epitaxy of transition-metal suboxide compounds while expanding the scope of available thin-film superconductors.
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Glotzer et al. (2025) studied this question.
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