314 research outputs found
Nanometer Scale Mapping of the Density of States in an Inhomogeneous Superconductor
Using high speed scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we perform a full mapping
of the quasiparticle density of states (DOS) in single crystals of
BiPbSrCaCuO(2212). The measurements carried out at 5 K showed a complex spatial
pattern of important variations of the local DOS on the nanometer scale.
Superconducting areas are co-existing with regions of a smooth and larger
gap-like DOS structure. The superconducting regions are found to have a minimum
size of about 3 nm. The role of Pb-introduced substitutional disorder in the
observed spatial variations of the local DOS is discussed.Comment: 4 page Letter with 3 figures (2 color figures
Loading of a cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide
We demonstrate experimentally the continuous and pulsed loading of a slow and
cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide. The slow beam is produced using a vapor
loaded laser trap, which ensures two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping, as
well as cooling by a moving molasses along the third direction. It provides a
continuous flux larger than atoms/s with an adjustable mean velocity
ranging from 0.3 to 3 m/s, and with longitudinal and transverse temperatures
smaller than K. Up to atoms/s are injected into the magnetic
guide and subsequently guided over a distance of 40 cm.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication to EPJ
Probing the superfluid velocity with a superconducting tip: the Doppler shift effect
We address the question of probing the supercurrents in superconducting (SC)
samples on a local scale by performing Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS)
experiments with a SC tip. In this configuration, we show that the tunneling
conductance is highly sensitive to the Doppler shift term in the SC
quasiparticle spectrum of the sample, thus allowing the local study of the
superfluid velocity. Intrinsic screening currents, such as those surrounding
the vortex cores in a type II SC in a magnetic field, are directly probed. With
Nb tips, the STS mapping of the vortices, in single crystal 2H-NbSe_2, reveals
both the vortex cores, on the scale of the SC coherence length , and the
supercurrents, on the scale of the London penetration length . A
subtle interplay between the SC pair potential and the supercurrents at the
vortex edge is observed. Our results open interesting prospects for the study
of screening currents in any superconductor.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
A source of cold atoms for a continuously loaded magnetic guide
We present an intense source of Rb atoms that has been set up to
produce a continuous, slow and cold beam in a magnetic guide. It consists of a
two-dimensional magneto-optical trap whose cooling laser power is provided by a
master-oscillator tapered-amplifier system. This trap produces an atomic beam
with a flux of over atoms/s and a mean velocity of 40 m/s. The beam
is recaptured by a second trap whose purpose consists in reducing the beam's
velocity, in further cooling the atoms and injecting them into the magnetic
guide. The article focusses on the first stage of the process described above.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures to appear in Physica Scripta (Proceedings of 2002
EGAS conference
Quasiparticle spectrum of the cuprate BiSrCaCuO: Possible connection to the phase diagram
We previously introduced [T. Cren et al., Europhys. Lett. 52, 203 (2000)] an
energy-dependant gap function, , that fits the unusual shape of the
quasiparticle (QP) spectrum for both BiSrCaCuO and YBaCuO. A simple
anti-resonance in accounts for the pronounced QP peaks in the
density of states, at an energy , and the dip feature at a higher
energy, . Here we go a step further : our gap function is consistent
with the () phase diagram, where is the carrier density. For large QP
energies (), the total spectral gap is , where is tied to the condensation
energy. From the available data, a simple -dependance of and
is found, in particular .
These two distinct energy scales of the superconducting state are interpreted
by comparing with the normal and pseudogap states. The various forms of the QP
density of states, as well as the spectral function , are discussed
Continuous loading of a non-dissipative atom trap
We study theoretically a scheme in which particles from an incident beam are
trapped in a potential well when colliding with particles already present in
the well. The balance between the arrival of new particles and the evaporation
of particles from the trapped cloud leads to a steady-state that we
characterize in terms of particle number and temperature. For a cigar shaped
potential, different longitudinal and transverse evaporation thresholds can be
chosen. We show that a resonance occur when the transverse evaporation
threshold coincides with the energy of the incident particles. It leads to a
dramatic increase in phase space density with respect to the incident beam.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
Pairbreaking Without Magnetic Impurities in Disordered Superconductors
We study analytically the effects of inhomogeneous pairing interactions in
short coherence length superconductors, using a spatially varying
Bogoliubov-deGennes model. Within the Born approximation, it reproduces all of
the standard Abrikosov-Gor'kov pairbreaking and gaplessness effects, even in
the absence of actual magnetic impurities. For pairing disorder on a single
site, the T-matrix gives rise to bound states within the
BCS gap. Our results are compared with recent scanning tunneling microscopy
measurements on BiSrCaCuO with Zn or Ni impurities.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to PR
Superconductivity in an Exactly Solvable Model of the Pseudogap State: Absence of Self Averaging
We analyze the anomalies of superconducting state within a simple exactly
solvable model of the pseudogap state, induced by fluctuations of
``dielectric'' short range order, for the model of the Fermi surface with
``hot'' patches. The analysis is performed for the arbitrary values of the
correlation length xi_{corr} of this short range order. It is shown that
superconducting energy gap averaged over these fluctuations is non zero in a
wide temperature range above T_c - the temperature of homogeneous
superconducting transition. This follows from the absence of self averaging of
the gap over the random field of fluctuations. For temperatures T>T_c
superconductivity apparently appears in separate regions of space (``drops'').
These effects become weaker for shorter correlation lengths xi_{corr} and the
region of ``drops'' on the phase diagram becomes narrower and disappears for
xi_{corr}-->0, however, for the finite values of xi_{corr} the complete self
averaging is absent.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, RevTeX 3.0, submitted to JETP, minor misprints
correcte
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