Evaluation of effects of nanoscale inhomogeneities on the superconducting transition temperature in hydrogen-doped Zr-Co metallic glasses

We present the results of measurements of electrical resistivity on hydrogen-doped Zr-Co metallic glass in the vicinity of the superconducting transition temperature, T_C, in the temperature range 1.5 K - 4.2 K. The hydrogen dopant lowers the superconducting transition temperature. At the same time, the superconducting transition region is broadened and ``steps'' appear in the resistance curve at the transition. Scanning proton microprobe and p-p scattering have been used to determine areal distributions of hydrogen and depth profiles in the samples studied. Hydrogen depth profiles at particular positions have been deconvoluted using cubic splines. We discuss the effects of different hydrogen environments on the superconducting transition temperature of Zr-Co-H metallic glasses.