175 research outputs found
Anomalous proximity effect in gold coated (110) films: Penetration of the Andreev bound states
Scanning tunneling spectroscopy of (110) bi-layers
reveal a proximity effect markedly different from the conventional one. While
proximity-induced mini-gaps rarely appear in the Au layer, the Andreev bound
states clearly penetrate into the metal. Zero bias conductance peaks are
measured on Au layers thinner than 7 nm with magnitude similar to those
detected on the bare superconductor films. The peaks then decay abruptly with
Au thickness and disappear above 10 nm. This length is shorter than the normal
coherence length and corresponds to the (ballistic) mean free path.Comment: 5 prl format pages, 4 figures, to be published in PR
Local and macroscopic tunneling spectroscopy of Y(1-x)CaxBa2Cu3O(7-d) films: evidence for a doping dependent is or idxy component in the order parameter
Tunneling spectroscopy of epitaxial (110) Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-d films reveals a
doping dependent transition from pure d(x2-y2) to d(x2-y2)+is or d(x2-y2)+idxy
order parameter. The subdominant (is or idxy) component manifests itself in a
splitting of the zero bias conductance peak and the appearance of subgap
structures. The splitting is seen in the overdoped samples, increases
systematically with doping, and is found to be an inherent property of the
overdoped films. It was observed in both local tunnel junctions, using scanning
tunneling microscopy (STM), and in macroscopic planar junctions, for films
prepared by either RF sputtering or laser ablation. The STM measurements
exhibit fairly uniform splitting size in [110] oriented areas on the order of
10 nm2 but vary from area to area, indicating some doping inhomogeneity. U and
V-shaped gaps were also observed, with good correspondence to the local
faceting, a manifestation of the dominant d-wave order parameter
Correlation of tunneling spectra with surface nano-morphology and doping in thin YBa2Cu3O7-delta films
Tunneling spectra measured on thin epitaxial YBa2Cu3O7-delta films are found
to exhibit strong spatial variations, showing U and V-shaped gaps as well as
zero bias conductance peaks typical of a d-wave superconductor. A full
correspondence is found between the tunneling spectra and the surface
morphology down to a level of a unit-cell step. Splitting of the zero bias
conductance peak is seen in optimally-doped and overdoped films, but not in the
underdoped ones, suggesting that there is no transition to a state of broken
time reversal symmetry in the underdoped regimeComment: accepted to ep
A New Method of Probing the Phonon Mechanism in Superconductors including MgB
Weak localization has a strong influence on both the normal and
superconducting properties of metals. In particular, since weak localization
leads to the decoupling of electrons and phonons, the temperature dependence of
resistance (i.e., ) is decreasing with increasing disorder, as
manifested by Mooij's empirical rule. In addition, Testardi's universal
correlation of (i.e., ) and the resistance ratio (i.e.,
) follows. This understanding provides a new means to probe the
phonon mechanism in superconductors including MgB. The merits of this
method are its applicability to any superconductors and its reliability because
the McMillan's electron-phonon coupling constant and
change in a broad range, from finite values to zero, due to weak localization.
Karkin et al's preliminary data of irradiated MgB show the Testardi
correlation, indicating that the dominant pairing mechanism in MgB is the
phonon-mediated interaction.Comment: 9 pages, latex, 3 figure
Correlation between the residual resistance ratio and magnetoresistance in MgB2
The resistivity and magnetoresistance in the normal state for bulk and
thin-film MgB2 with different nominal compositions have been studied
systematically. These samples show different temperature dependences of normal
state resistivity and residual resistance ratios although their superconducting
transition temperatures are nearly the same, except for the thin-film sample.
The correlation between the residual resistance ratio (RRR) and the power law
dependence of the low temperature resistivity, rho vs. T^c, indicates that the
electron-phonon interaction is important. It is found that the
magnetoresistance (MR) in the normal state scales well with the RRR, a0(MR)
proportional to (RRR)^2.2 +/- 0.1 at 50 K. This accounts for the large
difference in magnetoresistance reported by various groups, due to different
defect scatterings in the samples.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (July 6, 2001; revised
September 27, 2001); discussion of the need for excess Mg in processing and
of the power law dependence of the low temperature resistivity added in
response to referee's comment
Strong Electron-Phonon Coupling in Superconducting MgB: A Specific Heat Study
We report on measurements of the specific heat of the recently discovered
superconductor MgB in the temperature range between 3 and 220 K. Based on a
modified Debye-Einstein model, we have achieved a rather accurate account of
the lattice contribution to the specific heat, which allows us to separate the
electronic contribution from the total measured specific heat. From our result
for the electronic specific heat, we estimate the electron-phonon coupling
constant to be of the order of 2, significantly enhanced compared to
common weak-coupling values . Our data also indicate that the
electronic specific heat in the superconducting state of MgB can be
accounted for by a conventional, s-wave type BCS-model.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Specific heat of MgB in a one- and a two-band model from first-principles calculations
The heat capacity anomaly at the transition to superconductivity of the
layered superconductor MgB is compared to first-principles calculations
with the Coulomb repulsion, , as the only parameter which is fixed to
give the measured . We solve the Eliashberg equations for both an
isotropic one-band and a two-band model with different superconducting gaps on
the and Fermi surfaces. The agreement with experiments is
considerably better for the two-band model than for the one-band model.Comment: final published versio
Influence of impurity-scattering on tunneling conductance in d-wave superconductors with broken time reversal symmetry
Effects of impurity scattering on tunneling conductance in dirty
normal-metal/insulator/superconductor junctions are studied based on the Kubo
formula and the recursive Green function method. The zero-bias conductance peak
(ZBCP) is a consequence of the unconventional pairing symmetry in
superconductors. The impurity scattering in normal metals suppresses the
amplitude of the ZBCP. The degree of the suppression agrees well with results
of the quasiclassical Green function theory. When superconductors have
+is-wave pairing symmetry, the time-reversal symmetry is broken in
superconductors and the ZBCP splits into two peaks. The random impurity
scattering reduces the height of the two splitting peaks. The position of the
splitting peaks, however, almost remains unchanged even in the presence of the
strong impurity scattering. Thus the two splitting peaks never merge into a
single ZBCP.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, using jpsj2.cls and overcite.st
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