44 research outputs found
Phase fluctuations and the pseudogap in YBa2Cu3Ox
The thermodynamics of the superconducting transition is studied as a function
of doping using high-resolution expansivity data of YBa2Cu3Ox single crystals
and Monte-Carlo simulations of the anisotropic 3D-XY model. We directly show
that Tc of underdoped YBa2Cu3Ox is strongly suppressed from its mean-field
value (Tc-MF) by phase fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. For
overdoped YBa2Cu3Ox fluctuation effects are greatly reduced and Tc ~ Tc-MF . We
find that Tc-MF exhibits a similar doping dependence as the pseudogap energy,
naturally suggesting that the pseudogap arises from phase-incoherent Cooper
pairing.Comment: 9 pages, 3 Figure
Anomalously large oxygen-ordering contribution to the thermal expansion of untwinned YBa2Cu3O6.95 single crystals: a glass-like transition near room temperature
We present high-resolution capacitance dilatometry studies from 5 - 500 K of
untwinned YBa2Cu3Ox (Y123) single crystals for x ~ 6.95 and x = 7.0. Large
contributions to the thermal expansivities due to O-ordering are found for x ~
6.95, which disappear below a kinetic glass-like transition near room
temperature. The kinetics at this glass transition is governed by an energy
barrier of 0.98 +- 0.07 eV, in very good agreement with other O-ordering
studies. Using thermodynamic arguments, we show that O-ordering in the Y123
system is particularly sensitive to uniaxial pressure (stress) along the chain
axis and that the lack of well-ordered chains in Nd123 and La123 is most likely
a consequence of a chemical-pressure effect.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, submitted to PR
X-ray diffraction measurements of the c-axis Debye-Waller factors of YBa2Cu3O7 and HgBa2CaCu2O6
We report the first application of x-rays to the measurement of the
temperature dependent Bragg peak intensities to obtain Debye-Waller factors on
high-temperature superconductors. Intensities of (0,0,l) peaks of YBa2Cu3O7 and
HgBa2CaCu2O6 thin films are measured to obtain the c-axis Debye-Waller factors.
While lattice constant and some Debye-Waller factor measurements on high Tc
superconductors show anomalies at the transition temperature, our measurements
by x-ray diffraction show a smooth transition of the c-axis Debye-Waller
factors through T. This suggests that the dynamic displacements of the
heavy elements along the c-axis direction in these compounds do not have
anomalies at Tc. This method in combination with measurements by other
techniques will give more details concerning dynamics of the lattice.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. To be published in Physical Review B (Brief
Report