Scaling of the superfluid density in severely underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+y

Recent measurements on extremely-underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+y [Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 237003 (2007)] have allowed the critical temperature (T_c), superfluid density [rho_0 (T << T_c)] and dc conductivity [sigma_dc (T ~ T_c)] to be determined for a series of electronic dopings for T_c ~ 3 - 17 K. The general scaling relation rho_0/8 ~ 4.4 sigma_dc T_c is observed, extending the validity of both the ab-plane and c-axis scaling an order of magnitude and creating a region of overlap. This suggests that severely underdoped materials may constitute a Josephson phase; as the electronic doping is increased a more uniform superconducting state emerges.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Flux quantization for a vortex in two-gap superconductor

Contrary to recent theoretical prediction, we show that the magnetic flux of a vortex in SU(2) model of two-gap superconductor is quantized in units of 2\pi/g, not 4 \pi/g. For the U(1) version of this model, the flux is quantized in units of 2 \pi\alpha/g where 0 < \alpha < 1. The parameter \alpha depends on the masses and concentrations of the Cooper pairs in the two condensates.Comment: 7 page

Gravitational Field of a Spinning Cosmic String

We study the effect of internal space rotation on the gravitational properties of infinite straight and stationary cosmic string. From the approximate solution of Einsten equations for the spinning Q-lump string we obtain long range gravitational accelleration resembling that of a rotating massive cylindrical shell. We also compute the angular velocity of the inertial frame dragging and the angle of light deflection by the Q-lump string. Matter accretion on to spinning strings can play a role in galaxy formation when the angular velocity times the string width is comparable to the speed of light.Comment: 14 page

Superconductivity in silicon nanostructures

We present the findings of the superconductivity observed in the silicon nanostructures prepared by short time diffusion of boron on the n-type Si(100) surface. These Si-based nanostructures represent the p-type ultra-narrow self-assembled silicon quantum wells, 2nm, confined by the delta - barriers heavily doped with boron, 3nm. The EPR and the thermo-emf studies show that the delta - barriers appear to consist of the trigonal dipole centres, which are caused by the negative-U reconstruction of the shallow boron acceptors. Using the CV and thermo-emf techniques, the transport of two-dimensional holes inside SQW is demonstrated to be accompanied by single-hole tunneling through these negative-U centres that results in the superconductivity of the delta - barriers. The values of the correlation gaps obtained from these measurements are in a good agreement with the data derived from the temperature and magnetic field dependencies of the magnetic susceptibility, which reveal a strong diamagnetism and additionally identify the superconductor gap value.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, presented at the 4th International Conference on Vortex Matter in Superconductors, Crete, Greece, September 3-9, 200

Effective Vortex Mass from Microscopic Theory

We calculate the effective mass of a single quantized vortex in the BCS superconductor at finite temperature. Based on effective action approach, we arrive at the effective mass of a vortex as integral of the spectral function $J(\omega)$ divided by $\omega^3$ over frequency. The spectral function is given in terms of the quantum-mechanical transition elements of the gradient of the Hamiltonian between two Bogoliubov-deGennes (BdG) eigenstates. Based on self-consistent numerical diagonalization of the BdG equation we find that the effective mass per unit length of vortex at zero temperature is of order $m (k_f \xi_0)^2$ ($k_f$=Fermi momentum, $\xi_0$=coherence length), essentially equaling the electron mass displaced within the coherence length from the vortex core. Transitions between the core states are responsible for most of the mass. The mass reaches a maximum value at $T\approx 0.5 T_c$ and decreases continuously to zero at $T_c$.Comment: Supercedes prior version, cond-mat/990312

Growth and electronic and magnetic structure of iron oxide films on Pt(111)

Ultrathin (111)-oriented polar iron oxide films were grown on a Pt(111) single crystal either by the reactive deposition of iron or oxidation of metallic iron monolayers. These films were characterized using low energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy and conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy. The reactive deposition of Fe led to the island growth of Fe3O4, in which the electronic and magnetic properties of the bulk material were modulated by superparamagnetic size effects for thicknesses below 2 nm, revealing specific surface and interface features. In contrast, the oxide films with FeO stoichiometry, which could be stabilized as thick as 4 nm under special preparation conditions, had electronic and magnetic properties that were very different from their bulk counterpart, w\"ustite. Unusual long range magnetic order appeared at room temperature for thicknesses between three and ten monolayers, the appearance of which requires severe structural modification from the rock-salt structure.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 50 reference

Spin rotation for ballistic electron transmission induced by spin-orbit interaction

We study spin dependent electron transmission through one- and two-dimensional curved waveguides and quantum dots with account of spin-orbit interaction. We prove that for a transmission through arbitrary structure there is no spin polarization provided that electron transmits in isolated energy subband and only two leads are attached to the structure. In particular there is no spin polarization in the one-dimensional wire for which spin dependent solution is found analytically. The solution demonstrates spin evolution as dependent on a length of wire. Numerical solution for transmission of electrons through the two-dimensional curved waveguides coincides with the solution for the one-dimensional wire if the energy of electron is within the first energy subband. In the vicinity of edges of the energy subbands there are sharp anomalies of spin flipping.Comment: 9 oages, 7 figure

Shifts of the nuclear resonance in the vortex lattice in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7_7

The NMR and NQR spectra of $^{63}$Cu in the CuO$_2$ plane of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ in the superconducting state are discussed in terms of the phenomenological theory of Ginzburg-Landau type extended to lower temperatures. We show that the observed spectra, Kumagai {\em et al.}, PRB {\bf 63}, 144502 (2001), can be explained by a standard theory of the Bernoulli potential with the charge transfer between CuO$_2$ planes and CuO chains assumed.Comment: 11 pages 7 figure

Quantum depinning of a pancake-vortex from a columnar defect

We consider the problem of the depinning of a weakly driven ($F\ll F_{c}$) pancake vortex from a columnar defect in a Josephson-coupled superconductor, where $F$ denotes the force acting on the vortex ($F_{c}$ is the critical force). The dynamics of the vortex is supposed to be of the Hall type. The Euclidean action $S_{Eucl}(T)$ is calculated in the entire temperature range; the result is universal and does not depend on the detailed form of the pinning potential. We show that the transition from quantum to classical behavior is second-order like with the temperature $T_{c}$ of the transition scaling like $F^{{4}/{3}}.$ Special attention is paid to the regime of applicability of our results, in particular, the influence of the large vortex mass appearing in the superclean limit is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, RevTeX, 4 figures inserte

Dynamic vortex mass in clean Fermi superfluids and superconductors

We calculate the dynamic vortex mass for clean Fermi superfluids including both s- and d-wave superconductors as a response to a vortex acceleration. Assuming a finite quasiparticle mean free time, the vortex mass appears to be a tensor. The diagonal component dominates in the limit of long mean free time while the off-diagonal mass takes over in the moderately clean regime.Comment: 4 pages, no figures, typeset using RevTe