16 research outputs found
Magnetic Penetration Depth Measurements of PrCeCuO Films on Buffered Substrates: Evidence for a Nodeless Gap
We report measurements of the inverse squared magnetic penetration depth,
, in PrCeCuO () superconducting films grown on SrTiO (001) substrates coated with a
buffer layer of insulating PrCuO. , and
normal-state resistivities of these films indicate that they are clean and
homogeneous. Over a wide range of Ce doping, ,
at low is flat: it changes by less than 0.15% over a
factor of 3 change in , indicating a gap in the superconducting density of
states. Fits to the first 5% decrease in produce values of
the minimum superconducting gap in the range of .Comment: 4 pages 5 figure
Evidence for a Nodeless Gap from the Superfluid Density of Optimally Doped Pr_{1.855}Ce_{0.145}CuO_{4-y} Films
We present measurements of the ab-plane magnetic penetration depth,
\lambda(T), in five optimally doped Pr_{1.855}Ce_{0.145}CuO_{4-y} films for 1.6
K \leq T \leq T_c \sim 24 K. Low resistivities, high superfluid densities
n_s(T)\propto \lambda^{-2}(T), high T_c's, and small transition widths are
reproducible and indicative of excellent film quality. For all five films,
\lambda^{-2}(T)/\lambda^{-2}(0) at low T is well fitted by an exponential
temperature dependence with a gap, \Delta_{min}, of 0.85 k_B T_c. This behavior
is consistent with a nodeless gap and is incompatible with d-wave
superconductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, reorganized for clarit
Anisotropic Optical Conductivity of Nd2-xCexCuO4 Thin Films
Opticcal conductivity spectra of Nd2-xCexCuO4 thin films,
measured by the reflectance-transmittance method (R-T method) which has been
proposed to investigate far-infrared spectroscopy, are investigated based on
the anisotropic pairing model. Precise measurements of the frequency-dependent
conductivity enable us to examine quantitatively the nature of the
superconducting gap through infrared properties in the electron-doped high-Tc
superconductors. We show that the behavior of optical conductivity
is consistent with the anisotropic superconducting gap and is well explained by
the formula for d-wave pairing in the low-energy regime of the far-infrared
region. Our results suggest that the electron-doped cuprate superconductors
Nd2-xCexCuO4 have nodes in the superconducting gap.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Electronic States in the Antiferromagnetic Phase of Electron-Doped High-Tc Cuprates
We investigate the electronic states in the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase of
electron-doped cuprates by using numerically exact diagonalization technique
for a t-t'-t''-J model. When AF correlation develops with decreasing
temperature, a gaplike behavior emerges in the optical conductivity.
Simultaneously, the coherent motion of carriers due to the same sublattice
hoppings is enhanced. We propose that the phase is characterized as an AF state
with small Fermi surface around the momentum k=(\pi,0) and (0,\pi). This is a
remarkable contrast to the behavior of hole-doped cuprates.Comment: RevTeX, 5 pages, 4 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. B Brief Report
Magnetic Field Dependence of Electronic Specific Heat in Pr_{1.85} Ce_{0.15} CuO_4
The specific heat of electron-doped Pr_{1.85} Ce_{0.15} CuO_4 single crystals
is reported for the temperature range 2 - 10 K and magnetic field range 0 - 10
T. A non-linear magnetic field dependence is observed for the field range 0 - 2
T. Our data supports a model with lines of nodes in the gap function of these
superconductors. Theoretical calculations of the electronic specific heat for
dirty d-wave, clean d-wave, and s-wave symmetries are compared to our data.Comment: 10 pages Latex and 4 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Theory for Electron-Doped Cuprate Superconductors: d-wave symmetry order parameter
Using as a model the Hubbard Hamiltonian we determine various basic
properties of electron-doped cuprate superconductors like
and for a
spin-fluctuation-induced pairing mechanism. Most importantly we find a narrow
range of superconductivity and like for hole-doped cuprates -
symmetry for the superconducting order parameter. The superconducting
transition temperatures for various electron doping concentrations
are calculated to be much smaller than for hole-doped cuprates due to the
different Fermi surface and a flat band well below the Fermi level. Lattice
disorder may sensitively distort the symmetry via
electron-phonon interaction
Microwave Electrodynamics of Electron-Doped Cuprate Superconductors
We report microwave cavity perturbation measurements of the temperature
dependence of the penetration depth, lambda(T), and conductivity, sigma(T) of
Pr_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4-delta} (PCCO) crystals, as well as parallel-plate
resonator measurements of lambda(T) in PCCO thin films. Penetration depth
measurements are also presented for a Nd_{2-x}Ce_{x}CuO_{4-delta} (NCCO)
crystal. We find that delta-lambda(T) has a power-law behavior for T<T_c/3, and
conclude that the electron-doped cuprate superconductors have nodes in the
superconducting gap. Furthermore, using the surface impedance, we have derived
the real part of the conductivity, sigma_1(T), below T_c and found a behavior
similar to that observed in hole-doped cuprates.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table. Submitted to Physical Review Letters
revised version: new figures, sample characteristics added to table, general
clarification give
Evidence of a d to s-wave pairing symmetry transition in the electron-doped cuprate superconductor PrCeCuO
We present point contact spectroscopy (PCS) data for junctions between a
normal metal and the electron doped cuprate superconductor
PrCeCuO (PCCO). For the underdoped compositions of this cuprate
() we observe a peak in the conductance-voltage characteristics of
the point contact junctions. The shape and magnitude of this peak suggests the
presence of Andreev bound states at the surface of underdoped PCCO which is
evidence for a d-wave pairing symmetry. For overdoped PCCO () the
PCS data does not show any evidence of Andreev bound states at the surface
suggesting an s-wave pairing symmetry.Comment: 4 pages Latex, 4 eps figures included. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
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
Angular dependence of the penetration depth in unconventional superconductors
We examine the Meissner state nonlinear electrodynamic effects on the field
and angular dependence of the low temperature penetration depth, , of
superconductors in several kinds of unconventional pairing states, with nodes
or deep minima (``quasinodes'') in the energy gap. Our calculations are
prompted by the fact that, for typical unconventional superconducting material
parameters, the predicted size of these effects for exceeds the
available experimental precision for this quantity by a much larger factor than
for others. We obtain expressions for the nonlinear component of the
penetration depth, , for different two- and three- dimensional
nodal or quasinodal structures. Each case has a characteristic signature as to
its dependence on the size and orientation of the applied magnetic field. This
shows that measurements can be used to elucidate the nodal or
quasinodal structure of the energy gap. For nodal lines we find that
is linear in the applied field, while the dependence is
quadratic for point nodes. For layered materials with
(YBCO) type anisotropy, our results for the
angular dependence of differ greatly from those for tetragonal
materials and are in agreement with experiment. For the two- and three-
dimensional quasinodal cases, is no longer proportional to a
power of the field and the field and angular dependences are not separable,
with a suppression of the overall signal as the node is filled in.Comment: 16 pages plus nine figure