Self-heating effects in thin-film type-I superconductors

We have investigated the current-induced electrical resistance for zero applied magnetic field in long superconducting strips of tin 100–200 μm wide and up to a few μm thick. We observe self-heating effects similar to those reported recently by Skocpol, Beasley, and Tinkham (SBT) for ’’one-dimensional’’ tin microbridges with dimensions much smaller than those of our samples. Our results agree well with the one-dimensional SBT hotspot model for long microbridges. In the presence of an inductive load, relaxation oscillations can be observed resulting from the negative differential resistance region in the V-I characteristic.