  A superconducting state is characterized by the gap in the electronic density
of states which vanishes at the superconducting transition temperature Tc. It
was discovered that in high temperature superconductors a noticeable depression
in the density of states still remains even at temperatures above Tc; this
feature being called pseudogap. Here we show that a pseudogap exists in a
conventional superconductor: ultrathin titanium nitride films over a wide range
of temperatures above Tc. Our study reveals that this pseudogap state is
induced by superconducting fluctuations and favored by two-dimensionality and
by the proximity to the transition to the insulating state. A general character
of the observed phenomenon provides a powerful tool to discriminate between
fluctuations as the origin of the pseudogap state, and other contributions in
the layered high temperature superconductor compounds.
