Universal conductivity of two-dimensional films at the superconductor- insulator transition

Abstract

The zero-temperature universal conductivity of two-dimensional (2D) films at the supeconductor-insulator transition is studied. The existence of a finite conductivity at T=0 and the universality class for this transition is discussed. Neglecting disorder as a first approximation, so the transition is from a commensurate Mott-Hubbard insulator to a superconductor, we calculate analytically the universal conductivity for the 2D pure boson Hubbard model up to the first order in a large-N expansion and numerically by Monte Carlo simulation of the (2+1)-D XY model. From the Monte Carlo results we find the universal conductivity to be σ*=(0.285±0.02)σQ, where σQ-1==RQ==h/(2e)26.45 kΩ. An analysis in 1D suggests that in the presence of disorder, the universal conductivity in films might be somewhat smaller than this value. The possible existence of universal dissipation in He4 films is also discussed briefly. © 1991 The American Physical Society.