Bi_2 Sr_2 CaCu_2 O_{8+delta} Bicrystal c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions: A New Phase-Sensitive Test of Order Parameter Symmetry

Li {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 83}, 4160 (1999)] prepared atomically clean Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$ (BSCCO) Josephson junctions between identical single crystal cleaves stacked and twisted an angle $\phi_0$ about the c axis. For each bicrystal, the ratio $J_c^J/J_c^S$ of the c-axis twist junction critical current density to that across either single crystal part is unity, independent of $\phi_0$ and the ratio $A^J/A^S$ of junction areas. From extensive theoretical studies involving a variety of tunneling and superconducting order parameter (OP) forms, we conclude that the results provide strong evidence for incoherent c-axis tunneling and that the dominant OP is s-wave for $T\le T_c$. Recently, Takano {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. B {\bf 65}, 140315(R) (2002)] obtained results from BSCCO whisker twist junctions which also rule out a pure d-wave OP, but which are surprisingly suggestive of coherent c-axis tunneling form small Fermi surface hot spots.Comment: 5 pages, 11 figures, invited talk at LT23, to be published in Physica

Radiation from a Josephson STAR-emitter

We calculate the angular dependence of the radiation-zone output power and electric polarization of stimulated terahertz amplified radiation (STAR) emitted from a $dc$ voltage applied across cylindrical and rectangular stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions. During coherent emission, a spatially uniform $ac$ Josephson current density in the stack acts as a surface electric current density antenna source, leading to an harmonic radiation frequency spectrum, as in experiment, but absent in all cavity modesl of cylindrical mesas. Spatial fluctuations of the $ac$ Josephson current cause its fundamental mode to lock onto the lowest finite energy cylindrical cavity mode, causing it to resonate, leading to a non-uniform magnetic surface current density radiation source, and a non-trivial combined fundamental frequency output power with linear polarization We also present a model of the superconducting substrate, and present results for rectangular mesas.Comment: 18 pages, 26 figures, submitted to PR

Enhancement of ferromagnetism by p-wave Cooper pairing in superconducting ferromagnets

In superconducting ferromagnets for which the Curie temperature $T_{m}$ exceeds the superconducting transition temperature $T_{c}$, it was suggested that ferromagnetic spin fluctuations could lead to superconductivity with p-wave spin triplet Cooper pairing. Using the Stoner model of itinerant ferromagnetism, we study the feedback effect of the p-wave superconductivity on the ferromagnetism. Below $T_{c}$, the ferromagnetism is enhanced by the p-wave superconductivity. At zero temperature, the critical Stoner value for itinerant ferromagnetism is reduced by the strength of the p-wave pairing potential, and the magnetization increases correspondingly. More important, our results suggest that once Stoner ferromagnetism is established, $T_m$ is unlikely to ever be below $T_c$. For strong and weak ferromagnetism, three and two peaks in the temperature dependence of the specific heat are respectively predicted, the upper peak in the latter case corresponding to a first-order transition.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Single-ion and exchange anisotropy effects and multiferroic behavior in high-symmetry tetramer single molecule magnets

We study single-ion and exchange anisotropy effects in equal-spin $s_1$ tetramer single molecule magnets exhibiting $T_d$, $D_{4h}$, $D_{2d}$, $C_{4h}$, $C_{4v}$, or $S_4$ ionic point group symmetry. We first write the group-invariant quadratic single-ion and symmetric anisotropic exchange Hamiltonians in the appropriate local coordinates. We then rewrite these local Hamiltonians in the molecular or laboratory representation, along with the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriay (DM) and isotropic Heisenberg, biquadratic, and three-center quartic Hamiltonians. Using our exact, compact forms for the single-ion spin matrix elements, we evaluate the eigenstate energies analytically to first order in the microscopic anisotropy interactions, corresponding to the strong exchange limit, and provide tables of simple formulas for the energies of the lowest four eigenstate manifolds of ferromagnetic (FM) and anitiferromagnetic (AFM) tetramers with arbitrary $s_1$. For AFM tetramers, we illustrate the first-order level-crossing inductions for $s_1=1/2,1,3/2$, and obtain a preliminary estimate of the microscopic parameters in a Ni$_4$ from a fit to magnetization data. Accurate analytic expressions for the thermodynamics, electron paramagnetic resonance absorption and inelastic neutron scattering cross-section are given, allowing for a determination of three of the microscopic anisotropy interactions from the second excited state manifold of FM tetramers. We also predict that tetramers with symmetries $S_4$ and $D_{2d}$ should exhibit both DM interactions and multiferroic states, and illustrate our predictions for $s_1=1/2, 1$.Comment: 30 pages, 14 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Local SiC photoluminescence evidence of non-mutualistic hot spot formation and sub-THz coherent emission from a rectangular Bi2_2Sr2_2CaCu2_2O8+δ_{8+\delta} mesa

From the photoluminescence of SiC microcrystals uniformly covering a rectangular mesa of the high transition temperature $T_c$ superconductor Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$, the local surface temperature $T({\bm r})$ was directly measured during simultaneous sub-THz emission from the $N\sim10^3$ intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) in the mesa. At high bias currents $I$ and low bath temperatures $T_{\rm bath}\lesssim~35$ K, the center of a large elliptical hot spot with $T({\bm r})> T_c$ jumps dramatically with little current-voltage characteristic changes. The hot spot doesn't alter the ubiquitous primary and secondary emission conditions: the ac Josephson relation and the electromagnetic cavity resonance excitation, respectively. Since the intense sub-THz emission was observed for high $T_{\rm bath}\gtrsim~50$ K in the low $I$ bias regime where hot spots are absent, hot spots can not provide the primary mechanisms for increasing the output power, the tunability, or for promoting the synchronization of the $N$ IJJs for the sub-THz emission, but can at best coexist non-mutualistically with the emission. No $T({\bm r})$ standing waves were observed