Superconducting islands, phase fluctuations and the superconductor–insulator transition

Properties of disordered thin films are discussed based on the viewpoint that superconducting islands are formed in the system. These lead to superconducting correlations confined in space, which are known to form spontaneously in thin films. Application of a perpendicular magnetic field can drive the system from the superconducting state (characterized by phase-rigidity between the sample edges) to an insulating state in which there are no phase-correlations between the edges of the system. On the insulating side the existence of superconducting islands leads to a non-monotonic magnetoresistance. Several other features seen in experiment are explained.