We have discovered superconductivity in the two-layer semiconducting monochalcogenide heterostrutures PbTe/ PbS, PbTe/ PbSe and PbTe/ YbS. By comparing data from two-layer samples with data from single monochalcogenide films we conclude that the superconductivity is connected with the interface between the two semiconductors. Evidence for the low dimensional nature of the superconducting interlayer is presented and a model that explains the appearance of single-interface superconductivity is proposed.

Novel superconducting superlattices with transition temperature in the range 2.5-6.4 K consisting only of semiconducting materials are discovered. Among them there are multilayers, including a wide-gap semiconductor as one of the components. It is shown that superconductivity is connected with the interfaces between two semiconductors containing regular grids of the misfit dislocations. The possibility of the dislocation-induced superconductivity is discussed.

A comprehensive investigation and comparison of the superconducting properties of bilayer and multilayer epitaxial heterostructures of IV–VI semiconductors exhibiting superconductivity at critical temperatures Tc⩽6.5K is carried out. The superconductivity of these systems is due to inversion of the bands in the narrow-gap semiconductors on account of the nonuniform stresses created by the grids of misfit dislocations arising at the interfaces during the epitaxial growth. It is found that Tc and the character of the superconducting transition of bilayer PbTe∕PbS heterostructures depend on the thickness d of the semiconductor layers and are directly related to the quality of the grids of misfit dislocations at the interfaces (the number and type of structural defects in the grids). Substantial differences in the behavior of bilayer sandwiches and superlattices are found. The minimum thickness d at which superconductivity appears is several times larger for bilayer than for multilayer systems. The upper critical magnetic fields Hc2 of the bilayer systems are more anisotropic. For superlattices 3D behavior is observed in the temperature region close to Tc, and with decreasing temperature a 3D–2D crossover occurs. For the bilayer structures 2D behavior starts immediately from Tc, and a 2D–1D crossover is observed, with the sharp divergence of Hc2 that is characteristic of superconducting nets.

Superconducting and structural properties of superconducting semiconducting multilayers are investigated. These layered systems are obtained by epitaxial growth of the isomorphic monochalcogenides of Pb, Sn, and rare-earth elements on a KCl substrate. Some of these compounds are narrow-gap semiconductors ͑PbTe, PbS, PbSe, SnTe͒. Layered structures containing one or two narrow-gap semiconductors have a metallic type of conductivity and a transition to a superconducting state at temperatures in the range of 2.5-6 K. Structures containing only wide-gap semiconductors ͑YbS, EuS, EuSe͒ do not demonstrate such properties. All superconducting layered systems are type-II superconductors. The critical magnetic fields and the resistive behavior in the mixed state reveal features characteristic of other layered superconductors. However, data obtained in magnetic fields testify that the period of the superstructure corresponds to half of that obtained from x-raydiffractometry investigations. This is evidence that the superconducting layers in these samples are confined to the interfaces between two semiconductors. Electron microscopy studies reveal that in the case of epitaxial growth the interfaces contain regular grids of misfit dislocations covering all the interface area. These samples appear to undergo a superconducting transition if they have a metallic type of conductivity in the normal state. Samples with island-type dislocation grids only reveal partial superconducting transitions. The correlations between the appearance of superconductivity and the presence of dislocations, which have been found experimentally, lead to the conclusion that the normal metallic conductivity as well as the superconductivity are induced by the elastic deformation fields created by the misfit dislocation grids. A theoretical model is proposed for the description of the narrow-gap semiconductor metallization, which is due to a band inversion effect and the appearance of electron-or hole-type inversion layers near the interfaces. For different combinations of the semiconductors, such inversion layers in the superlattices can have different shapes and topology. In particular, they can form multiply connected periodic nets having a repetition period coinciding with that of the dislocation grids. Numerical estimates show that such a scenario for the appearance of superconductivity is quite likely. It is shown that the new type of metallic and superconducting nanoscale twodimensional structures with unusual properties may be obtained from monochalcogenide semiconductors.