Effect of heat treatment on electronic phase in underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 single crystal

Superconducting La1.937Sr0.063CuO4 crystals grown by the travelling-solvent floating-zone technique were thermally treated under various temperatures and oxygen pressures for moderately adjusting the oxygen content. The response of intrinsic electronic property of the crystals to the change of hole density in La2-xSrxCuO4 in the vicinity of the magic doping of x= 1/16 （= 0.0625） is studied in detail by magnetic measurements under various fields up to 1 T. It is found that when the superconducting critical temperature （Tc） increases with the oxygen content, there appears also a new subtle electronic state that can be detected from the differential curves of diamagnetic susceptibility dx/dT of the crystal sample. In contrast with the intrinsic state, the new subtle electronic state is very fragile under the magnetic fields. Our results indicate that a moderate change in oxygen doping does not significantly modify the intrinsic electronic state originally existing at the magic doping level.     

Two Superconducting Phases and Their Characteristics in Layered BaTi2（Sb1-xBix）2O with x=0.16

Two correlated superconducting phases are identified in the layered superconductor BaTh （Sb1-xBix）2O （x = 0.16）, with the superconducting transition temperatures of Tc = 6K （the high Tc phase） and 3.4K （the low Tc Phase）, respectively. The 6K superconducting phase appears first in the as-prepared sample and can decay into the low TC phase by exposure to an ambient atmosphere for a certain duration. Specially, the high Tc phase can reappear from the decayed sample with the low Tc phase by vacuum annealing. It is also found that the CDW /SDW order occurs only with the 6 K superconducting phase. These notable features and alteration of the superconductivity due to the post-processing and external pressure can be explained by the scenario of electronic phase separation.     

STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE La-DOPED Bi-2201 SYSTEM

In this article, the influence of La substitution for Sr on structure and physi-cal properties of the 2201 phase is studied. First, the crystal microstructure of the Bi_2.1Sr_1.9-xLa_xCuO_y (0≤x≤1.0) is characterized by means of X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction analyses, it is discovered that in the La-doped 2201 system with increasing La content the 2201 phase undergoes tetragnoal-orthorhombic-monoclinic structural transition. With this phase transition, the modulation vector of the 2201 phase transforms from incommensurate to commensurate, and the period of the mod- ulation wave decreases. Secondly, the superconductivity of this system is analyzed systematically. The results of the resistivity measurement show that the appropriate amount of La doping can raise the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of the 2201 phase, with x=0.2, T_c reaches as high as 25K. However the excessive doping of La (x≥0.3) leads the 2201 phase to transit from metal to insulator and the su-perconductivity disappears. The measurement of thermoelectric power (TEP) of this system shows that with increasing La content the TEP value also increases gradu-ally. But the interesting point is that the transition from positive to negative in TEP occurs for x=0.2 sample. In addition, the electronic structure and oxygen content of this system are also studied. Based on these, we analyze the relation between the microstructure, electronic structure of the La-doped 2201 phase and its superconduc-tivity, indicating that the type of element substitution with higher valence, together with the microstructural distortion induced by the substitution affects the electronic states of Cu 3d seriously, that is, changes the degree of coulomb correlation of Cu 3d electrons, thus resulting in the transition of the type of carrier of this system and the decrease of hole carrier concentration, as well as the corresponding variation of the superconductivity of La-doped 2201 phase.     

THE EFFECT OF SUBSTITUTION Fe FOR Cu IN La_(1.85)Sr_(0.15)CuO_(4-δ) POLYCRYSTALLINE SAMPLES

The resistivity, hall coefficient, DC susceptiblity and differential specific heats of La1.85Sr0.15Cu1-xFexO4-δpolycrystalline samples were measured. The superconducting transition temperature Tc, the superconducting volume fraction, the carrier concentration and the magnitude of the specific heat anomalies become lower and smaller rapidly with increasing Fe doping content. The metal behaviour at normal state is changed into semi-conductor behaviour by Fe doping. The experiment results indicate that perfectness of Cu-O plane in LaSrCuO system is significant for forming optimal superconducting phase and the magnetic ions act as pair breakers. The Fe ion doping at Cu site reduces greatly the electron density of states at Fermi level.     

THERMOELECTRIC POWER IN (Gd,Sm)1.85Ce0.15CuO4 SYSTEM

Thermoelectric power measurements are reported for seven samples with different x in the Gd_1.85-xSm_xCe_0.15CuO₄ system at temperatures ranging from 80K to 300K. For Sm-rich superconducting samples, thermoelectric power S has a small negative value and is almost temperature independent. As the content of Sm decreases, the absolute value of S increases and a broad valley appears in the S(T) curve. The results which can be interpreted in terms of a two-channel model support the existence of mid-gap states with Fermi level close to the minimum of the density of states as well as the coexistence of electron and hole carriers. It is suggested that a linear temperature dependence of S with a small negative slope is close to the intrinsic behavior in the a-b plane of normal states for superconducting samples.     

Structural and transport properties of Sr_2VO_(3-δ)FeAs superconductors with different oxygen deficiencies

Sr2VO3-δFeAs superconductors with different oxygen deficiencies have been successfully fabricated.It is found that the superconducting transition temperature drops down monotonically with the increase of nominal oxygen deficiency.The diminishing of superconductivity is accompanied by the enhancement of residual resistivity,indicating an anomalous scattering effect induced by the oxygen deficiency.The highest superconducting transition temperature at about 36 K is achieved near the stoichiometrical sample Sr2VO2.9FeAs.The Hall effect measurements reveal that the density of charge carriers(electron-like here) varies qualitatively with the increase of nominal oxygen deficiency.Magnetotransport measurements show that the superconducting transition changes from one-step-like shape at low fields to two-step-like one at high fields,indicating an enhanced vortex motion due to the high anisotropy.     

Combinative energy, oxygen deficiency and superconductivity in LnBa2Cu3O7-x （Ln=Nd, Er, Sm）

The correlation among the combinative energy, superconductivity, oxygen content, the position of holes in different planes, and the position of holes in the Cu(2)-O plane in LnBa2Cu3O7-x (Ln=Nd, Er, and Sin) has been investigated on the basis of a block model. The results indicate that the combinative energy decreases with increasing Tc in all of these compounds. And also, the combinative energies are obviously different with holes at different positions in the Cu(2)-O plane when the oxygen deficiency is low. However, this difference becomes less with increasing the oxygen deficiency.The effect of the holes in different positions on the combinative energy supplies some clue to the understanding of an unresolved problem, i.e. whether the distribution of carriers in the CuO2 plane is uniform or inhomogeneous. The results not only show that the structural characters, the combinative energy between two structural blocks and the superconductivity are closely interrelated in this class of compounds, but also reveal some differences among these systems. The relationship between the combinative energy and the Tc value in NdBa2Cu3O7-x shows some features different from the systems containing Er or Sm.     

ELECTROCHEMICAL OXIDATION OF La2CuO4 SINGLE CRYSTALS

Bulk superconducting La₂CuO_4+δ single crystals are obtained by using electrochemical intercalation technique from the as-grown insulating samples. Oxidation is carried out by constant current I=10μA at temperature T=70℃ and room temperature, respectively. Structure and magnetic properties are studied by low-temperature X-ray diffraction and susceptibility measurements. A superconducting phase with T_c of 19K and δ-0.12 can be attributed to the formation of oxygen clusters. Room temperature oxidation is inhomogeneous: two superconducting phases with T_c1 of 24K and T_c2 of 8K and an antiferromagnetic phase are coexisting in the crystal. It is found that the appearance of T_c in this system has the "step" tendency.     

Superconductivity in LiTi2O4 Prepared by Hybrid Microwave Method

The well-known superconducting oxide LiTi2 04 has a structural phase transition from spinel to ramsdellite around 900℃. We have successfully obtained the superconducting spinel phase and the non-superconducting ramsdellitephase of LiTi2O4 using a hybrid microwave method. The samples are characterized by x-ray powder diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and measurements of resistivity and magnetic susceptibility. The results show thatthe low-temperature spinel phase is a superconductor with Tc=13K, while the high-temperature ramsdellite phase is a semiconductor. By comparison between the crystal structures of the spinel and the ramsdellite phases, it is suggested that the geometrical frustration plays an important role in the superconductivity of the spinel LiTi2O4.     

Superconductivity and Transport Properties in Th and F Codoped Sm1-xThxFeAsO1-yFy

A series of Th and F co-doped superconductors Sm1-xThxFeAsO1-yFy are synthesized and the variation of superconductivity with the doping level is investigated. At the fixed Th doping level x = 0.1, the superconducting transition temperature Tc increases monotonically with F content, and finally Tc reaches a maximum of about 55K around y = 0.1, and saturates for even more F content the normal state thermopower increases monotonically with ＇overdoped＇ regime is not observed and possible explanation （y = 0.15）. Similar to the SmFeAsO1-y Fy system, the doping level. However the decrease of Tc in the is discussed.     

Cathodoluminescent and electrical properties of an individual ZnO nanowire with oxygen vacancies

A single ZnO nanowire with intrinsic oxygen vacancies is utilized to fabricate four-contact device with focus ion beam lithography technique. Cathodoluminescent spectra indicate strong near-UV and green emission at both room temperature and low temperatures. Experimental measurement shows the temperature-dependent conductivity of the ZnO nanowire at low temperatures （below 100 K）. The further theoretical analysis confirms that weak localization plays an important role in the electrical transport, which is attributed to the surface states induced by plenty of oxygen vacancies in ZnO nanowire.     

Engineering of electronic and optical properties of ZnO thin films via Cu doping

ZnO thin films doped with different Cu concentrations are fabricated by reactive magnetron sputtering technique. XRD analysis indicates that the crystal quality of the ZnO:Cu film can be enhanced by a moderate level of Cu-doping in the sputtering process. The results of XPS spectra of zinc, oxygen, and copper elements show that Cu-doping has an evident and complicated effect on the chemical state of oxygen, but little effect on those of zinc and copper. Interestingly, further investigation of the optical properties of ZnO:Cu samples shows that the transmittance spectra exhibit both red shift and blue shift with the increase of Cu doping, in contrast to the simple monotonic behavior of the Burstein–Moss effect. Analysis reveals that this is due to the competition between oxygen vacancies and intrinsic and surface states of oxygen in the sample. Our result may suggest an effective way of tuning the bandgap of ZnO samples.     

Deoxygenation Enhanced Double-Resistivity-Peak Properties in Polycrystalline La0.7Ca0.3Mn0.92Cr0.08O3-δ

Influences of deoxygenation on the resistivity and the magnetic properties of La0.7Ca0.3Mn0.92Cr0.08O3-δ(M =Al, Cr) are compared to understand the peculiar doping effect of chromium in the ferromagnetic manganites. It is found that the double resistivity bumps exhibited by the Cr-doped compounds can be tuned by the oxygen content. We have related the double-bump feature with the well-known inefficiency of Cr in lowering Tc, and interpreted both the features consistently in terms of large-scale phase separation. It is suggested that the largescale phase separation is a general characteristic of Cr-doped manganites, and many unusual phenomena exhibited by Cr doping are directly related to the large-scale phase separation.     

A model for the chain-to-plane charge transfer in YBa2Cu3O6+x

A model for the chain-to-plane charge transfer is proposed to account for the two plateaus,at 60 K and at 90 K,of the Tc(x) characteristics of the YBa2Cu3O6+x high-Tc superconductor.It is assumed that the number of holes transferred from a CuO chain of length l to two nearby CuO2 sheets is proportional to l(that is,to the number of oxygen atoms in the chain),if the chain length is greater than,or equal to,a certain critical chain length,lcr,that is required to trigger the charge transfer process.No holes are assumed to have been transferred from chains of length l相似文献   

Transport properties and anomalous fatigue effect of Ag/Bi_(0.9)La_(0.1)FeO_3/La_(0.7)Sr_(0.3)MnO_3 heterostructures

The transport properties and fatigue effect of Ag/Bi0.9La0.1FeO3/La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 heterostructures are described. By examining the I–V curves, an anomalous fatigue effect was found and its influences on resistive states were studied. I–V curves combined with C– f spectra were used to directly analyze the transport properties and fatigue effect. Compared to the first I–V cycle state, this structure shows more than one order increase of resistance after 100 cycles of "I–V curve training". The redistribution of oxygen vacancies in the depletion layer of Ag/Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 is believed to be responsible for the different resistance mechanisms and tenfold magnitude drop in resistance. The resistive switching is understood to be caused by electric field–induced carrier trapping and detrapping, which changes the depletion layer thickness at the Ag/Bi0.9La0.1FeO3 interface.     

Thermodynamics of the CaLi2 Superconductor in the Vicinity of Structural Phase Transition

Eliashberg formalism is used to investigate the thermodynamic properties of the high-pressure superconducting phase of the CaLi2 compound. In particular, our calculations are conducted in the vicinity of the C2/c → P21/c pressure-induced structural phase transition. We show that, in the considered case, the value of the Coulomb pseudopotential is high and equals 0.26. Moreover, we give the analysis of the thermodynamic parameters such as the superconducting transition temperature （Tc）, the energy gap at the Fermi level （2Δ（0））, the thermodynamic critical field （He）, and the specific heat of superconducting （C^S） and normal （C^N） states. We emphasize that the characteristic dimensionless ratios RΔ=2A（0）/kBTc, RH = TcC^N（Tc）/Hc^2（0）, and Rc = ΔC（Tc）/C^N（Tc）, have values that are beyond the predictions of the BCS theory in the case of the considered material. In particular, RΔ = 3.85, RH = 0.161, and Rc= 1.86. Furthermore, it is proved that the effective electron mass is high and equals 2.02me, where me denotes the bare electron mass.     

Formation of epitaxial Tl_2Ba_2Ca_2Cu_3O_(10) superconducting films by dc-magnetron sputtering and triple post-annealing method

For obtaining pure phase T12Ba2Ca2Cu3O10 （T1-2223） films with good superconducting properties, the growth technique is improved by dc magnetron sputtering and a triple post-annealing process. The triple post-annealing process comprises annealing twice in argon and once in oxygen at different temperatures. In the first low-temperature annealing phase in argon, T12Ba2CaCu2O8 （T1-2212） is obtained to effectively minimize evaporation in the next step. With the increase of temperature in the second annealing stage in argon, the previously prepared T1-2212 inter-phase is converted into T1-2223 phase. An additional annealing in oxygen is also adopted to improve the properties of T1-2223 films, each containing an optimal oxygen content value. The results of X-ray diffraction （XRD） θ-2θ scans, 09 scans and rotational φ scans show that each of the T1-2223 films has a high phase purity and an epitaxial structure. Smooth films are observed by scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The critical temperatures Tc of the films are measured to be about 120 K and the critical current densities Jc can reach 4.0 MA/cm2 at 77 K at self field.     

Electronic Phase Separation in Iron Selenide(Li,Fe)OHFeSe Superconductor System

The phenomenon of phase separation into antiferromagnetic(AFM) and superconducting(SC) or normal-state regions has great implication for the origin of high-temperature(high-T_c) superconductivity. However, the occurrence of an intrinsic antiferromagnetism above the T_c of(Li,Fe)OHFe Se superconductor is questioned. Here we report a systematic study on a series of(Li,Fe)OHFe Se single crystal samples with T_c up to ～41 K. We observe an evident drop in the static magnetization at T_(afm) ～ 125 K, in some of the SC(T_c 38 K, cell parameter c■9.27 ?) and non-SC samples. We verify that this AFM signal is intrinsic to(Li,Fe)OHFe Se. Thus, our observations indicate mesoscopic-to-macroscopic coexistence of an AFM state with the normal(below T_(afm)) or SC(below T_c) state in(Li,Fe)OHFe Se. We explain such coexistence by electronic phase separation, similar to that in high-T_c cuprates and iron arsenides. However, such an AFM signal can be absent in some other samples of(Li,Fe)OHFe Se, particularly it is never observed in the SC samples of T_c 38 K, owing to a spatial scale of the phase separation too small for the macroscopic magnetic probe. For this case, we propose a microscopic electronic phase separation. The occurrence of two-dimensional AFM spin fluctuations below nearly the same temperature as T_(afm), reported previously for a(Li,Fe)OHFe Se(T_c ～ 42 K) single crystal, suggests that the microscopic static phase separation reaches vanishing point in high T_c(Li,Fe)OHFe Se. A complete phase diagram is thus established. Our study provides key information of the underlying physics for high-T_c superconductivity.     

Dense coding with a two-qubit Heisenberg XYZ chain under the influence of phase decoherence

We investigate the joint effects of phase decoherence,Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya(DM) interaction and inhomogeneity of the external magnetic field(b) on dense coding in a two-qubit anisotropic Heisenberg XY Z spin chain.Analytical expressions are obtained for the dense coding capacity.It is found that valid dense coding is always possible with this model when the system is initially prepared in the maximum entangled state.Moreover,optimal dense coding can be implemented for this initial state as long as the mean spin-spin coupling constant J + of the XY plane is larger than b and the DM interaction despite the intrinsic decoherence.Non-maximal entangled initial states are found to be undesirable for dense coding with this model.     

Superconductivity in Hole-Doped （S1-xKx）Fe2As2

A series of layered （Sr1-xKx）Fe2As2 compounds with nominal x = 0-0.40 are synthesized by solid state reaction method. Similar to other parent compounds of iron-based pnictide superconductors, pure SrFe2As2 shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 210 K, which was ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. The anomaly temperature is much higher than those observed in LaOFeAs and BaFe2As2, the two prototype parent compounds with ZrCuSiAs- and ThCr2Si2-type structures. K-doping strongly suppresses this anomaly and induces superconductivity. Like in the case of K-doped BaFe2As2, sharp superconducting transitions at Tc ～ 38 K is observed. We perform the Hall coefficient measurement, and confirm that the dominant carriers are hole-type. The carrier density is enhanced by a factor of 3 in comparison to F-doped LaOFeAs superconductor.