1,250 research outputs found
Spontaneous magnetization and Hall effect in superconductors with broken time-reversal symmetry
Broken time reversal symmetry (BTRS) in d wave superconductors is studied and
is shown to yield current carrying surface states. The corresponding
spontaneous magnetization is temperature independent near the critical
temperature Tc for weak BTRS, in accord with recent data. For strong BTRS and
thin films we expect a temperature dependent spontaneous magnetization with a
paramagnetic anomaly near Tc. The Hall conductance is found to vanish at zero
wavevector q and finite frequency w, however at finite q,w it has an unusual
structure.Comment: 7 pages, 1 eps figure, Europhysics Letters (in press
Epilogue: Superconducting Materials Past, Present and Future
Experimental contributors to the field of Superconducting Materials share
their informal views on the subject.Comment: Epilogue to Physica C Special Issue on Superconducting Materials,
Volume 514 (2015
Triplet proximity effect in FSF trilayers
We study the critical temperature T_c of FSF trilayers (F is a ferromagnet, S
is a singlet superconductor), where the triplet superconducting component is
generated at noncollinear magnetizations of the F layers. An exact numerical
method is employed to calculate T_c as a function of the trilayer parameters,
in particular, mutual orientation of magnetizations. Analytically, we consider
limiting cases. Our results determine conditions which are necessary for
existence of recently investigated odd triplet superconductivity in SF
multilayers.Comment: 5 pages, 4 EPS figures; the style file jetpl.cls is included. Version
2: minor corrections, added reference. Version 3: minor correction
Local and macroscopic tunneling spectroscopy of Y(1-x)CaxBa2Cu3O(7-d) films: evidence for a doping dependent is or idxy component in the order parameter
Tunneling spectroscopy of epitaxial (110) Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-d films reveals a
doping dependent transition from pure d(x2-y2) to d(x2-y2)+is or d(x2-y2)+idxy
order parameter. The subdominant (is or idxy) component manifests itself in a
splitting of the zero bias conductance peak and the appearance of subgap
structures. The splitting is seen in the overdoped samples, increases
systematically with doping, and is found to be an inherent property of the
overdoped films. It was observed in both local tunnel junctions, using scanning
tunneling microscopy (STM), and in macroscopic planar junctions, for films
prepared by either RF sputtering or laser ablation. The STM measurements
exhibit fairly uniform splitting size in [110] oriented areas on the order of
10 nm2 but vary from area to area, indicating some doping inhomogeneity. U and
V-shaped gaps were also observed, with good correspondence to the local
faceting, a manifestation of the dominant d-wave order parameter
quantum Heisenberg antiferromagnet on the triangular lattice: a group symmetry analysis of order by disorder
On the triangular lattice, for between and , the classical
Heisenberg model with first and second neighbor interactions presents
four-sublattice ordered ground-states. Spin-wave calculations of Chubukov and
Jolicoeur\cite{cj92} and Korshunov\cite{k93} suggest that quantum fluctuations
select amongst these states a colinear two-sublattice order. From theoretical
requirements, we develop the full symmetry analysis of the low lying levels of
the spin-1/2 Hamiltonian in the hypotheses of either a four or a two-sublattice
order. We show on the exact spectra of periodic samples ( and )
how quantum fluctuations select the colinear order from the four-sublattice
order.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures (available upon request), Revte
Indication of Superconductivity at 35 K in Graphite-Sulfur Composites
We report magnetization measurements performed on graphite--sulfur composites
which demonstrate a clear superconducting behavior below the critical
temperature T = 35 K. The Meissner-Ochsenfeld effect, screening
supercurrents, and magnetization hysteresis loops characteristic of type-II
superconductors were measured. The results indicate that the superconductivity
occurs in a small sample fraction, possibly related to the sample surface.Comment: published versio
Intrinsic surface depression of the order parameter under mixed (s+id)-wave pair symmetry and its effect on the critical current of high-Tc SIS Josephson junctions
An intrinsic gap depression at the Superconductor-Insulator interface due to
the very short value of the coherence length in High-Tc Superconductors [HTSs]
is considered, in the framework of a mixed (s+id)-wave pair symmetry for the
order parameter ranging from pure s to pure d-wave. This gap depression acts as
the main physical agent causing the relevant reduction of IcRn(T) values with
respect to BCS expectations in HTS SIS Josephson junctions. Good agreement with
various experimental data is obtained with both pure s-wave and pure d-wave
symmetries of the order parameter, but with amounts of gap depression depending
on the pair symmetry adopted. Regardless of the pair symmetry considered, these
results prove the importance of the surface order-parameter depression in the
correct interpretation of the Ic(T)Rn(T) data in HTS SIS junctions. In a case
of planar YBCO-based junction the use of the de Gennes condition allowed us to
tentatively obtain an upper limit for the amount of d-wave present in the order
parameter of YBCO.Comment: 11 pages REVTeX file, 6 PostScript figures, to be published in J.
Superconductivit
High-Level Expression of Various Apolipoprotein (a) Isoforms by "Transferrinfection". The Role of Kringle IV Sequences in the Extracellular Association with Low-Density Lipoprotein
Characterization of the assembly of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] is of fundamental importance to understanding the biosynthesis and metabolism of this atherogenic lipoprotein. Since no established cell lines exist that express Lp(a) or apolipoprotein(a) [apo(a)], a "transferrinfection" system for apo(a) was developed utilizing adenovirus receptor- and transferrin receptor-mediated DNA uptake into cells. Using this method, different apo(a) cDNA constructions of variable length, due to the presence of 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, or 18 internal kringle IV sequences, were expressed in cos-7 cells or CHO cells. All constructions contained kringle IV-36, which includes the only unpaired cysteine residue (Cys-4057) in apo(a). r-Apo(a) was synthesized as a precursor and secreted as mature apolipoprotein into the medium. When medium containing r-apo(a) with 9, 15, or 18 kringle IV repeats was mixed with normal human plasma LDL, stable complexes formed that had a bouyant density typical of Lp(a). Association was substantially decreased if Cys-4057 on r-apo(a) was replaced by Arg by site-directed mutagenesis or if Cys-4057 was chemically modified. Lack of association was also observed with r-apo(a) containing only 3, 5, or 7 kringle IV repeats without "unique kringle IV sequences", although Cys-4057 was present in all of these constructions. Synthesis and secretion of r-apo(a) was not dependent on its sialic acid content. r-Apo(a) was expressed even more efficiently in sialylation-defective CHO cells than in wild-type CHO cells. In transfected CHO cells defective in the addition of N-acetylglucosamine, apo(a) secretion was found to be decreased by 50%. Extracellular association with LDL was not affected by the carbohydrate moiety of r-apo(a), indicating a protein-protein interaction between r-apo(a) and apoB. These results show that, besides kringle IV-36, other kringle IV sequences are necessary for the extracellular association of r-apo(a) with LDL. Changes in the carbohydrate moiety of apo(a), however, do not affect complex formation
ab-plane tunneling and Andreev spectroscopy of superconducting gap and pseudogap in (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8
We have measured the temperature dependence of gap features revealed by
Andreev reflection Delta_s and by tunneling Delta in the ab-plane of optimal
and slightly overdoped microcrystals of (BiPb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi2223) with
critical temperature Tc=110-115 K, and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) with Tc=80-84 K.
The tunneling conductance of Bi2223-Insulator-Bi2223 junction shows peaks at
the 2Delta gap voltage, as well as dips and broad humps at other voltages. In
Bi2223, similarly to the well known Bi2212 spectra, the energies corresponding
to 2Delta, to the dip, and to the hump structure are in the ratio of 2:3:4.
This confirms that the dip and hump features are generic to the high
temperature superconductors, irrespective of the number of CuO2 layers or the
BiO superstructure. On the other hand, in both compounds Delta(T) and
Delta_s(T) dependences are completely different, and we conclude that the two
entities have different nature.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 17 pages, 7 figures in .eps forma
The BCS-like gap in superconductor SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15
Since the discovery of superconductivity in the cuprates two decades ago, it
has been firmly established that the CuO_2 plane is consequential for high T_C
superconductivity and a host of other very unusual properties. A new family of
superconductors with the general composition of LaFeAsO_(1-x)F_x has recently
been discovered but with the conspicuous lacking of the CuO_2 planes, thus
raising the tantalizing questions of the different pairing mechanisms in these
oxypnictide superconductors. Intimately related to pairing in a superconductor
are the superconducting gap, its value, structure, and temperature dependence.
Here we report the observation of a single gap in the superconductor
SmFeAsO_0.85F_0.15 with T_C = 42 K as measured by Andreev spectroscopy. The gap
value of 2Delta = 13.34+/-0.3 meV gives 2Delta/k_BT_C = 3.68, close to the BCS
prediction of 3.53. The gap decreases with temperature and vanishes at T_C in a
manner consistent with the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) prediction but
dramatically different from that of the pseudogap behavior in the cuprate
superconductors. Our results clearly indicate a nodeless gap order parameter,
which is nearly isotropic in size across different sections of the Fermi
surface, and are not compatible with models involving antiferromagnetic
fluctuations, strong correlations, t-J model, and the like, originally designed
for cuprates.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure
- …