Effects of doping on thermally excited quasiparticles in the high-TcT_c superconducting state

The physical properties of low energy superconducting quasiparticles in high- $T_c$ superconductors are examined using magnetic penetration depth and specific heat experimental data. We find that the low energy density of states of quasiparticles of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ scales with $(x-x_c)/T_c$ to the leading order approximation, where $x_c$ is the critical doping concentration below which $T_c=0$. The linear temperature term of the superfluid density is renormalized by quasiparticle interactions and the renormalization factor times the Fermi velocity is found to be doping independent.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures, minor change to the content, fig1 is reploted, to appear in Phys Rev

Systematic behaviour of the in-plane penetration depth in d-wave cuprates

We report the temperature T and oxygen concentration dependences of the penetration depth of grain-aligned YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} with \delta= 0.0, 0.3 and 0.43. The values of the in-plane \lambda_{ab}(0) and out-of-plane \lambda_{c}(0) penetration depths, the low temperature linear term in \lambda_{ab}(T), and the ratio \lambda_{c}(0) /\lambda_{ab}(T) were found to increase with increasing $\delta$. The systematic changes of the linear term in \lambda_{ab}(T) with T_c found here and in recent work on HgBa_2Ca_{n-1} Cu_nO_{2n+2+\delta} (n = 1 and 3) are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Metallic characteristics in superlattices composed of insulators, NdMnO3/SrMnO3/LaMnO3

We report on the electronic properties of superlattices composed of three different antiferromagnetic insulators, NdMnO3/SrMnO3/LaMnO3 grown on SrTiO3 substrates. Photoemission spectra obtained by tuning the x-ray energy at the Mn 2p -> 3d edge show a Fermi cut-off, indicating metallic behavior mainly originating from Mn e_g electrons. Furthermore, the density of states near the Fermi energy and the magnetization obey a similar temperature dependence, suggesting a correlation between the spin and charge degrees of freedom at the interfaces of these oxides

Penetration Depth Measurements in MgB_2: Evidence for Unconventional Superconductivity

We have measured the magnetic penetration depth of the recently discovered binary superconductor MgB_2 using muon spin rotation and low field $ac$-susceptibility. From the damping of the muon precession signal we find the penetration depth at zero temperature is about 85nm. The low temperature penetration depth shows a quadratic temperature dependence, indicating the presence of nodes in the superconducting energy gap.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure

Flux pinning and phase separation in oxygen rich La2-xSrxCuO4+y system

We have studied the magnetic characteristics of a series of super-oxygenated La2-xSrxCuO4+y samples. As shown in previous work, these samples spontaneously phase separate into an oxygen rich superconducting phase with a TC near 40 K and an oxygen poor magnetic phase that also orders near 40 K. All samples studied are highly magnetically reversible even to low temperatures. Although the internal magnetic regions of these samples might be expected to act as pinning sites, our present study shows that they do not favor flux pinning. Flux pinning requires a matching condition between the defect and the superconducting coherence length. Thus, our results imply that the magnetic regions are too large to act as pinning centers. This also implies that the much greater flux pinning in typical La2-xSrxCuO4 materials is the result of nanoscale inhomogeneities that grow to become the large magnetic regions in the super-oxygenated materials. The superconducting regions of the phase separated materials are in that sense cleaner and more homogenous than in the typical cuprate superconductor.Comment: 4 figures 8 pages Submitted to PR

Measurement of low energy charge correlations in underdoped spin-glass La-based cuprates using impedance spectroscopy

We report on the charge kinetics of La_2CuO_4 lightly doped with Li and Sr. Impedance spectroscopy measurements down to 25mK and from 20Hz to 500kHz reveal evidence for low energy charge dynamics, which slow down with decreasing temperature. Both systems are acutely sensitive to stoichiometry. In the case of Sr substitution, which at higher carrier concentration evolves to a high temperature superconductor, the ground state in the pseudogap-doping regime is one of spatially segregated, dynamic charge domains. The charge carriers slow down at substantially lower temperatures than their spin counterparts and the dynamics are particularly sensitive to crystallographic direction. This is contrasted with the case of Li-doping.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Tunable magnetic interaction at the atomic scale in oxide heterostructures

We report on a systematic study of a number of structurally identical but chemically distinct transition metal oxides in order to determine how the material-specific properties such as the composition and the strain affect the properties at the interface of heterostructures. Our study considers a series of structures containing two layers of ferromagnetic SrRuO3, with antiferromagnetic insulating manganites sandwiched in between. The results demonstrate how to control the strength and relative orientation of interfacial ferromagnetism in correlated electron materials by means of valence state variation and substrate-induced strain, respectively