Nucleation of Stable Superconductivity in YBCO-Films

By means of the linear dynamic conductivity, inductively measured on epitaxial films between 30mHz and 30 MHz, the transition line $T_g (B)$ to generic superconductivity is studied in fields between B=0 and 19T. It follows closely the melting line $T_m (B)$ described recently in terms of a blowout of thermal vortex loops in clean materials. The critical exponents of the correlation length and time near $T_g (B)$, however, seem to be dominated by some intrinsic disorder. Columnar defects produced by heavy-ion irradiation up to field-equivalent-doses of $B_{\phi} = 10T$ lead to a disappointing reduction of $T_g (B \to 0)$ while for $B>B_{\phi}$ the generic line of the pristine film is recovered. These novel results are also discussed in terms of a loop-driven destruction of generic superconductivity.Comment: 11 pages including 7 EPS figures, accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society, Muenster 1999,Festkoerperprobleme/Advances in Solid State Physics 199

Double sign reversal of the vortex Hall effect in YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films in the strong pinning limit of low magnetic fields

Measurements of the Hall effect and the resistivity in twinned YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films in magnetic fields B oriented parallel to the crystallographic c-axis and to the twin boundaries reveal a double sign reversal of the Hall coefficient for B below 1 T. In high transport current densities, or with B tilted off the twin boundaries by 5 degrees, the second sign reversal vanishes. The power-law scaling of the Hall conductivity to the longitudinal conductivity in the mixed state is strongly modified in the regime of the second sign reversal. Our observations are interpreted as strong, disorder-type dependent vortex pinning and confirm that the Hall conductivity in high temperature superconductors is not independent of pinning.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Critical fluctuations and pseudogap observed in the microwave conductivity of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ, and YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films

Critical fluctuations have been studied in the microwave conductivity of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+δ, and YBa2Cu3O7-δ thin films above T-c. It is found that a consistent analysis of the real and imaginary parts of the fluctuation conductivity can be achieved only if an appropriate wave vector or energy cutoff in the fluctuation spectrum is taken into account. In all of the three underdoped superconducting films one observes strong fluctuations extending far above T-c. The coherence length inferred from the imaginary part of the conductivity exhibits the static critical exponent ν=1 very close to T-c, and a crossover to the region with ν=2/3 at higher temperatures. In parallel, our analysis reveals the absence of the normal conductivity near T-c, i.e., fully opened pseudogap. Following the crossover to the region with ν=2/3, the normal conductivity is gradually recovered, i.e., the closing of the pseudogap is monitored

Experimental implications of quantum phase fluctuations in layered superconductors

I study the effect of quantum and thermal phase fluctuations on the in-plane and c-axis superfluid stiffness of layered d-wave superconductors. First, I show that quantum phase fluctuations in the superconductor can be damped in the presence of external screening of Coulomb interactions, and suggest an experiment to test the importance of these fluctuations, by placing a metal in close proximity to the superconductor to induce such screening. Second, I show that a combination of quantum phase fluctuations and the linear temperature dependence of the in-plane superfluid stiffness leads to a linear temperature dependence of the c-axis penetration depth, below a temperature scale determined by the magnitude of in-plane dissipation.Comment: 6 pgs, 1 figure, minor changes in comparison with c-axis expt, final published versio