Observation of Josephson-like Tunneling Junction Characteristics and Positive Magnetoresistance in Oxygen Deficient Nickelate Films of Nd(0.8)Sr(0.2)NiO(3−δ)

Nickelate films have recently attracted broad attention due to the observation of superconductivity in the infinite layer phase of Nd [Formula: see text] Sr [Formula: see text] NiO [Formula: see text] (obtained by reducing Sr doped NdNiO [Formula: see text] films) and their similarity to the cuprates high temperature superconductors. Here, we report on the observation of a new type of transport in oxygen poor Nd [Formula: see text] Sr [Formula: see text] NiO [Formula: see text] films. At high temperatures, variable range hopping is observed while at low temperatures a novel tunneling behavior is found where a Josephson-like tunneling junction characteristic with serial resistance is revealed. We attribute this phenomenon to coupling between superconductive (S) surfaces of the grains in our Oxygen poor films via the insulating (I) grain boundaries, which yields SIS junctions in series with the normal (N) resistance of the grains themselves. The similarity of the observed conductance spectra to the tunneling junction characteristic with Josephson-like current is striking, and seems to support the existence of superconductivity in our samples.