3,037 research outputs found
Evolution of Superconductivity in Electron-Doped Cuprates: Magneto-Raman Spectroscopy
The electron-doped cuprates Pr_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4 and Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4 have been
studied by electronic Raman spectroscopy across the entire region of the
superconducting (SC) phase diagram. The SC pairing strength is found to be
consistent with a weak-coupling regime except in the under-doped region where
we observe an in-gap collective mode at 4.5 k_{B}T_c while the maximum
amplitude of the SC gap is ~8 k_{B}T_{c}. In the normal state, doped carriers
divide into coherent quasi-particles (QPs) and carriers that remain incoherent.
The coherent QPs mainly reside in the vicinity of (\pi/2, \pi/2) regions of the
Brillouin zone (BZ). We find that only coherent QPs contribute to the
superfluid density in the B_{2g} channel. The persistence of SC coherence peaks
in the B_{2g} channel for all dopings implies that superconductivity is mainly
governed by interactions between the hole-like coherent QPs in the vicinity of
(\pi/2, \pi/2) regions of the BZ. We establish that superconductivity in the
electron-doped cuprates occurs primarily due to pairing and condensation of
hole-like carriers. We have also studied the excitations across the SC gap by
Raman spectroscopy as a function of temperature (T) and magnetic field (H) for
several different cerium dopings (x). Effective upper critical field lines
H*_{c2}(T, x) at which the superfluid stiffness vanishes and
H^{2\Delta}_{c2}(T, x) at which the SC gap amplitude is suppressed by field
have been determined; H^{2\Delta}_{c2}(T, x) is larger than H*_{c2}(T, x) for
all doping concentrations. The difference between the two quantities suggests
the presence of phase fluctuations that increase for x< 0.15. It is found that
the magnetic field suppresses the magnitude of the SC gap linearly at
surprisingly small fields.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures; submitted to Phys. Rev.
Observation of Leggett's collective mode in a multi-band MgB2 superconductor
We report observation of Leggett's collective mode in a multi-band MgB2
superconductor with T_c=39K arising from the fluctuations in the relative phase
between two superconducting condensates. The novel mode is observed by Raman
spectroscopy at 9.4 meV in the fully symmetric scattering channel. The observed
mode frequency is consistent with theoretical considerations based on the first
principle computations.Comment: Accepted for PR
The electronic specific heat in the pairing pseudogap regime
When pairing correlations in a quasi two dimensional electron system induce a
pseudogap in the single particle density of states, the specific heat must also
contain a sizeable pair contribution. The theoretically calculated specific
heat for such a system is compared to the experimental results of Loram and his
collaborators for underdoped YBa_2Cu_3O_{6+x} and La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_4 samples.
The size and doping dependence of the extracted pseudogap energy scale for both
materials is comparable to the values obtained from a variety of other
experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 5 eps figure
Charge-Density-Wave Formation in the Doped Two-Leg Extended Hubbard Ladder
We investigate electronic properties of the doped two-leg Hubbard ladder with
both the onsite and the nearest-neighbor Coulomb repulsions, by using the the
weak-coupling renormalization-group method. It is shown that, for strong
nearest-neighbor repulsions, the charge-density-wave state coexisting with the
p-density-wave state becomes dominant fluctuation where spins form intrachain
singlets. By increasing doping rate, we have also shown that the effects of the
nearest-neighbor repulsions are reduced and the system exhibits a quantum phase
transition into the d-wave-like (or rung-singlet) superconducting state. We
derive the effective fermion theory which describes the critical properties of
the transition point with the gapless excitation of magnon. The phase diagram
of the two-leg ladder compound, Sr_{14-x}Ca_xCu_{24}O_{41}, is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Is there an integrative center in the vertebrate brain-stem? A robotic evaluation of a model of the reticular formation viewed as an action selection device
Neurobehavioral data from intact, decerebrate, and neonatal rats, suggests that the reticular formation provides
a brainstem substrate for action selection in the vertebrate central nervous system. In this article, Kilmer,
McCulloch and Blum’s (1969, 1997) landmark reticular formation model is described and re-evaluated, both in
simulation and, for the first time, as a mobile robot controller. Particular model configurations are found to
provide effective action selection mechanisms in a robot survival task using either simulated or physical robots.
The model’s competence is dependent on the organization of afferents from model sensory systems, and a genetic
algorithm search identified a class of afferent configurations which have long survival times. The results support
our proposal that the reticular formation evolved to provide effective arbitration between innate behaviors
and, with the forebrain basal ganglia, may constitute the integrative, ’centrencephalic’ core of vertebrate brain
architecture. Additionally, the results demonstrate that the Kilmer et al. model provides an alternative form of
robot controller to those usually considered in the adaptive behavior literature
Influence of oxygen ordering kinetics on Raman and optical response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4}
Kinetics of the optical and Raman response in YBa_2Cu_3O_{6.4} were studied
during room temperature annealing following heat treatment. The superconducting
T_c, dc resistivity, and low-energy optical conductivity recover slowly,
implying a long relaxation time for the carrier density. Short relaxation times
are observed for the B_{1g} Raman scattering -- magnetic, continuum, and phonon
-- and the charge transfer band. Monte Carlo simulations suggest that these two
relaxation rates are related to two length scales corresponding to local oxygen
ordering (fast) and long chain and twin formation (slow).Comment: REVTeX, 3 pages + 4 PostScript (compressed) figure
Nonmonotonic d_{x^2-y^2} Superconducting Order Parameter in Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_4
Low energy polarized electronic Raman scattering of the electron doped
superconductor Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4 (T_c=22 K) has revealed a nonmonotonic
d_{x^2-y^2} superconducting order parameter. It has a maximum gap of 4.4 k_BT_c
at Fermi surface intersections with antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone (the ``hot
spots'') and a smaller gap of 3.3 k_BT_c at fermionic Brillouin zone
boundaries. The gap enhancement in the vicinity of the ``hot spots'' emphasizes
role of antiferromagnetic fluctuations and similarity in the origin of
superconductivity for electron- and hole-doped cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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