75 research outputs found
Respective influences of pair breaking and phase fluctuations in disordered high Tc superconductors
Electron irradiation has been used to introduce point defects in a controlled
way in the CuO2 planes of underdoped and optimally doped YBCO. This technique
allows us to perform very accurate measurements of Tc and of the residual
resistivity in a wide range of defect contents xd down to Tc=0. The Tc decrease
does not follow the variation expected from pair breaking theories. The
evolutions of Tc and of the transition width with xd emphasize the importance
of phase fluctuations, at least for the highly damaged regime. These results
open new questions about the evolution of the defect induced Tc depression over
the phase diagram of the cupratesComment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Synthesis of sodium cobaltate NaCoO single crystals with controlled Na ordering
In this study, we synthesized single crystals of NaCoO with
using the optical floating zone technique. A thorough
electrochemical treatment of the samples permitted us to control the
de-intercalation of Na to obtain single crystal samples of stable Na ordered
phases with . Comparisons of the bulk magnetic properties with those
observed in the Na ordered powder samples confirmed the high quality of these
single crystal phases. The ab plane resistivity was measured for the Na ordered
samples and it was quite reproducible for different sample batches. The data
were analogous to those found in previous initial experimental studies on
single crystals, but the lower residual resistivity and sharper
anti-ferromagnetic transitions determined for our samples confirmed their
higher quality.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure
Nernst effect and disorder in the normal state of high-T_{c} cuprates
We have studied the influence of disorder induced by electron irradiation on
the Nernst effect in optimally and underdoped YBa2Cu3O(7-d) single crystals.
The fluctuation regime above T_{c} expands significantly with disorder,
indicating that the T_{c} decrease is partly due to the induced loss of phase
coherence. In pure crystals the temperature extension of the Nernst signal is
found to be narrow whatever the hole doping, contrary to data reported in the
low-T_{c} cuprates families. Our results show that the presence of "intrinsic"
disorder can explain the enhanced range of Nernst signal found in the pseudogap
phase of the latter compounds.Comment: revised version. to be published in Physical Review Letter
Na atomic order, Co charge disproportionation and magnetism in NaCoO for large Na contents
We have synthesized and characterized four different stable phases of Na
ordered NaCoO, for . Above 100 K they display similar
Curie-Weiss susceptibilities as well as ferromagnetic spin fluctuations
in the CoO planes revealed by Na NMR data. In all phases from
Co NMR data we display evidences that the Co disproportionate already
above 300 K into non magnetic Co and magnetic Co
sites on which holes delocalize. This allows us to understand that metallic
magnetism is favored for these large Na contents. Below 100 K the phases
differentiate, and a magnetic order sets in only for at
22 K. We suggest that the charge order also governs the low energy
scales and transverse couplings
Glitz
The crystal structure of the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases of La(Ba 2-xLax)Cu3-yO 6+x/2-y+ z are determined on twinned crystals. The orthorhombic structure, obtained for low x, is close to the regular Y-Ba-Cu-O type (twin a * b * c-b * a * c), but is highly copper deficient on the Cu(1) site (~ 30 %). The local correlations (ξ ~ 20 Å) between copper atoms and vacancies, as deduced from X-ray diffuse scattering, correspond to a short-range segregation of vacancies in chains. As a consequence of the large amount of defects, these crystals are non-typical semiconductors. The tetragonal structure, x ≃ 0.50, leads to tri-twinned crystals with 90° faulting, a * a * 3 a-a * 3 a * a -3 a * a * a (a, the perovskite lattice constant). In these materials the copper sites are found to be strongly anharmonic. This is due to the disorder introduced by the La-Ba substitution. These crystals are also semiconductors with a T-1/4 activation law for the conductivity which indicates that variable range hopping is expected to set in, a consequence of localization by the disorder
Disorder and transport in cuprates: weak localization and magnetic contributions
We report resistivity measurements in underdoped YBaCuOand overdoped TlBaCuO single crystals in which the
concentration of defects in the CuO planes is controlled by electron
irradiation. Low upturns of the resistivity are observed in both cases for
large defect content. In the Tl compound the decrease of conductivity scales as
expected from weak localization theory. On the contrary in
YBaCuO the much larger low T contribution to the
resistivity is proportional to the defect content and might then be associated
to a Kondo like spin flip scattering term. This would be consistent with the
results on the magnetic properties induced by spinless defects.Comment: latex rullier1.tex, 5 files, 4 pages [SPEC-S01/003], submitted to
Phys. Rev. Let
High-field muSR studies of superconducting and magnetic correlations in cuprates above Tc
The advent of high transverse-field muon spin rotation (TF-muSR) has led to
recent muSR investigations of the magnetic-field response of cuprates above the
superconducting transition temperature T_c. Here the results of such
experiments on hole-doped cuprates are reviewed. Although these investigations
are currently ongoing, it is clear that the effects of high field on the
internal magnetic field distribution of these materials is dependent upon a
competition between superconductivity and magnetism. In La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 the
response to the external field above Tc is dominated by heterogeneous spin
magnetism. However, the magnetism that dominates the observed inhomogeneous
line broadening below x ~ 0.19 is overwhelmed by the emergence of a completely
different kind of magnetism in the heavily overdoped regime. The origin of the
magnetism above x ~ 0.19 is currently unknown, but its presence hints at a
competition between superconductivity and magnetism that is reminiscent of the
underdoped regime. In contrast, the width of the internal field distribution of
underdoped YBa_2Cu_3O_y above Tc is observed to track Tc and the density of
superconducting carriers. This observation suggests that the magnetic response
above Tc is not dominated by electronic moments, but rather inhomogeneous
fluctuating superconductivity.Comment: 28 pages, 11 figures, 104 reference
Planar 17O NMR study of Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6+x}
We report the planar ^{17}O NMR shift in Pr substituted YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{6+x},
which at x=1 exhibits a characteristic pseudogap temperature dependence,
confirming that Pr reduces the concentration of mobile holes in the CuO_{2}
planes. Our estimate of the rate of this counterdoping effect, obtained by
comparison with the shift in pure samples with reduced oxygen content, is found
insufficient to explain the observed reduction of T_c. From the temperature
dependent magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR we conclude that the Pr moment
and the local magnetic defect induced in the CuO_2 planes produce a long range
spin polarization in the planes, which is likely associated with the extra
reduction of T_c. We find a qualitatively different behaviour in the oxygen
depleted Pr_yY_{1-y}Ba_2Cu_3O_{6.6}, i.e. the suppression of T is nearly
the same, but the magnetic broadening of the ^{17}O NMR appears weaker. This
difference may signal a weaker coupling of the Pr to the planes in the
underdoped compound, which might be linked with the larger Pr to CuO_2 plane
distance, and correspondingly weaker hybridization.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, accepted in Phys Rev
Observation of the Nernst signal generated by fluctuating Cooper pairs
Long-range order is destroyed in a superconductor warmed above its critical
temperature (Tc). However, amplitude fluctuations of the superconducting order
parameter survive and lead to a number of well established phenomena such as
paraconductivity : an excess of charge conductivity due to the presence of
short-lived Cooper pairs in the normal state. According to an untested theory,
these pairs generate a transverse thermoelectric (Nernst) signal. In amorphous
superconducting films, the lifetime of Cooper pairs exceeds the elastic
lifetime of quasi-particles in a wide temperature range above Tc; consequently,
the Cooper pairs Nernst signal dominate the response of the normal electrons
well above Tc. In two dimensions, the magnitude of the expected signal depends
only on universal constants and the superconducting coherence length, so the
theory can be unambiguously tested. Here, we report on the observation of a
Nernst signal in such a superconductor traced deep into the normal state. Since
the amplitude of this signal is in excellent agreement with the theoretical
prediction, the result provides the first unambiguous case for a Nernst effect
produced by short-lived Cooper pairs
Electron transport and anisotropy of the upper critical magnetic field in a Ba0.68K0.32Fe2As2 single crystals
Early work on the iron-arsenide compounds supported the view, that a reduced
dimensionality might be a necessary prerequisite for high-Tc superconductivity.
Later, however, it was found that the zero-temperature upper critical magnetic
field, Hc2(0), for the 122 iron pnictides is in fact rather isotropic. Here, we
report measurements of the temperature dependence of the electrical
resistivity, \Gamma(T), in Ba0.5K0.5Fe2As2 and Ba0.68K0.32Fe2As2 single
crystals in zero magnetic field and for Ba0.68K0.32Fe2As2 as well in static and
pulsed magnetic fields up to 60 T. We find that the resistivity of both
compounds in zero field is well described by an exponential term due to
inter-sheet umklapp electron-phonon scattering between light electrons around
the M point to heavy hole sheets at the \Gamma point in reciprocal space. From
our data, we construct an H-T phase diagram for the inter-plane (H || c) and
in-plane (H || ab) directions for Ba0.68K0.32Fe2As2. Contrary to published data
for underdoped 122 FeAs compounds, we find that Hc2(T) is in fact anisotropic
in optimally doped samples down to low temperatures. The anisotropy parameter,
{\gamma} = Habc2/Hcc2, is about 2.2 at Tc. For both field orientations we find
a concave curvature of the Hc2 lines with decreasing anisotropy and saturation
towards lower temperature. Taking into account Pauli spin paramagnetism we
perfectly can describe Hc2(T) and its anisotropy.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figure
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