On the theory of localized superconductivity: Fluctuational diamagnetism

The diamagnetic susceptibility of a twinning plane at temperatures slightly higher than the localized superconductivity temperature T_c as well as the heat capacity jump at T = T_c are calculated. The possibility of an appreciable increase of the superconductivity temperature in small particles containing twinning planes is studied.     

Re-entry in ferromagnetic superconductors

The re-entry phenomenon in magnetic superconductors is studied using the generalized Ginzburg-Landau free energy introduced by Blount and Varma. The re-entry temperature T_c2 is simply that temperature at which the magnetization acts as a source of induction strong enough to destroy superconductivity. Above T_c2 ferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist. The structure is an Abrikosov vortex lattice, with ferromagnetic magnetization spreading widely around the vortex cores. Within our approximations, the phase transition at T_c2 is of second order.     

Superconductivity of Li under pressure

The superconductivity of Li under pressure is studied by a density functional method. Structural and elastic properties, transition temperature (T_c), density of states (DOS), are considered for the material at ambient and at higher pressures. The calculations, particularly of T_c and DOS as a function of pressure, are compared with other available results. This is in view of the wide difference between the previously predicted maximum T_c-value and those observed by both magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity experiments. The present calculations yield better estimates of T_c and other parameters with respect to measured values.     

Superconductivity with transition temperature up to 80 K for TbSr2Cu2.7Mo0.3O7+δ

A Tb-123 phase with the composition, TbSr₂Cu_2.7Mo_0.3O_7+δ, has been synthesized in single-phase form by the solid-state reaction route. Its phase purity has been confirmed from neutron powder diffraction studies. The as-synthesized Tb-123 sample does not show superconductivity down to 5 K. On the other hand, an unusually high antiferromagnetic ordering temperature (T_N) of around 7 K is seen for the Tb moments. After 120-atm-O₂ post-annealing, bulk superconductivity is achieved in this compound with a superconducting transition temperature (T_c) of about 30 K, without any significant effect on T_N. To achieve higher oxygen content and higher T_c, the as-synthesized sample was subjected to high-pressure oxygenation, carried out in a closed cell, at 5 GPa and 400 °C in the presence of AgO as an excess-oxygen source. This sample exhibited superconductivity onset at around 80 K with a Meissner fraction larger than 10% at 5 K. Our observation of superconductivity at 80 K is the highest T_c to-date for the Tb-123 type compounds.     

The vortex-like excitations detected by Nernst signals in high-T c superconductors

The nature of the pseudogap state and its relation to the d-wave superconductivity in high-T _c superconductors is still an open issue. The vortex-like excitations detected by the Nernst effect measurements exist in a certain temperature range above superconducting transition temperature T _c, which strongly support that the pseudogap phase is characterized by finite pairing amplitude with strong phase fluctuations and imply that the phase transition at T _c is driven by the loss of long-range phase coherence. We first briefly introduce the electronic phase diagram and pseudogap state of high-T _c superconductors, and then review the results of Nernst effect for different high-T _c superconductors. Related theoretical models are also discussed.     

The origin of the pseudogap phase: precursor superconductivity versus a competing energy gap scenario

In the last few years evidence has been accumulating that there are a multiplicity of energy scales which characterize superconductivity in the underdoped cuprates. In contrast to the situation in BCS superconductors, the phase coherence temperature T_c is different from the energy gap onset temperature T^∗. In addition, thermodynamic and tunneling spectroscopies have led to the inference that the order parameter Δ_sc is to be distinguished from the excitation gap Δ; in this way, pseudogap effects persist below T_c. It has been argued by many in the community that the presence of these distinct energy scales demonstrates that the pseudogap is unrelated to superconductivity. In this paper, we show that this inference is incorrect. We demonstrate that the difference between the order parameter and excitation gap and the contrasting dependences of T^∗ and T_c on hole concentration x and magnetic field H follow from a natural generalization of BCS theory. This simple generalized form is based on a BCS-like ground state, but with self-consistently determined chemical potential in the presence of arbitrary attractive coupling g. We have applied this mean field theory with some success to tunneling, transport, thermodynamics, and magnetic field effects. We contrast the present approach with the phase fluctuation scenario and discuss key features which might distinguish our precursor superconductivity picture from that involving a competing order parameter.     

Theory of high-T c superconductivity based on the fermion-condensation quantum phase transition

A theory of high-temperature superconductivity based on the combination of the fermion-condensation quantum phase transition and the conventional theory of superconductivity is presented. This theory describes maximum values of the superconducting gap, which can be as big as Δ₁～0.1ε _F , with ε _F being the Fermi level. We show that the critical temperature 2T _c ?Δ₁. If the pseudogap exists above T _c , then 2T*?Δ₁ and T* is the temperature at which the pseudogap vanishes. A discontinuity in the specific heat at T _c is calculated. The transition from conventional superconductors to high-T _c ones as a function of the doping level is investigated. The single-particle excitations and their lineshape are also considered     

Superconductivity and Peierls instability in coupled linear chain systems

We study the superconducting transition temperature (T_c) and the Peierls instability temperature (T_p) using Eliashberg type equations for both T_c and T_p self consistently with finite interchain coupling. We show that T_c > T_p below a critical electron-phonon coupling constant which depends on the bare phonon frequency. This determines an upper bound on T_c so that for higher transition temperatures T_p > T_c and superconductivity is unlikely. Higher values of T_c are possible if the interchain coupling is increased above a critical value where the Peierls instability is suppressed.     

Surface superconductivity and twinning-plane superconductivity in aluminum

The critical supercooling field H _sc is measured in aluminum single crystals and twinned bicrystals in a temperature range slightly below T _c0 (T _c0 ? 0.055 K < T < T _c0), where T _c0 is the critical superconducting transition temperature. It is found that, even in this small temperature range, the H _sc(H _c) dependence, which is considered to be identical to the H _c3(H _c) dependence for single crystals, is substantially nonlinear. The H _sc(H _c) dependences of the twinned bicrystals and single crystals are shown to be significantly different. The qualitative features of the phase diagram of the twinned aluminum bicrystals coincide with those of the phase diagram of twinning-plane superconductivity obtained earlier for tin in [1]. These findings allow the conclusion that the phenomenon of twinning-plane superconductivity also exists in face-centered cubic crystal lattices.     

Pseudogap phenomena in ultracold atomic Fermi gases

The pairing and superfluid phenomena in a two-component ultracold atomic Fermi gas is an analogue of Cooper pairing and superconductivity in an electron system, in particular, the high Tc superconductors. Owing to the various tunable parameters that have been made accessible experimentally in recent years, atomic Fermi gases can be explored as a prototype or quantum sinmlator of superconductors. It is hoped that, utilizing such an analogy, the study of atomic Fermi gases may shed light to the mysteries of high Tc superconductivity. One obstacle to the ultimate understand- ing of high Tc superconductivity, from day one of its discovery, is the anomalous yet widespread pseudogap phenomena, for which a consensus is yet to be reached within the physics comnnmity, after over 27 years of intensive research efforts. In this article, we shall review the progress in the study of pseudogap phenomena in atomic Fermi gases in terms of both theoretical understanding and experimental observations. We show that there is strong, unambiguous evidence for the existence of a pseudogap in strongly interacting Fermi gases. In this context, we shall present a pairing fuctuation theory of the pseudogap physics and show that it is indeed a strong candidate theory for high Tc superconductivity.     

Compatibility of BCS pairing and the peierls distortion in two-band systems

The effect of the Peierls transition on superconductivity in a two-band system, where one of the bands is flat, is examined theoretically. We find that superconductivity appears at the background of the insulating phase (T_P >; T_c). At T_c > T_P only the superconducting transition is possible.     

Electron tunneling study on superconductivity of (Li0.65Na0.35)0.9Mo6O17

Quasiparticle tunneling measurement has been carried out for a single crystal of (Li_0.65Na_0.35)_0.9Mo₆O₁₇ through the point contact with Al electrode. The observed energy gap is consistent with the BCS value and the shape of the tunneling density-of-states confirms the intrinsic origin of the occurence of the superconductivity in the present compound. The result supports the idea that the same electron system exhibits two conflicting phenomena, the superconductivity and the sharp resistivity upturn above T_c with decreasing temperature.     

Unusual behavior of nuclear relaxation in CeCu2Si2 “possible evidence for triplet superconductivity”

Nuclear relaxation of ⁶³Cu in the superconducting state of the Kondo-lattice system CeCu₂Si₂ has been studied with the use of the ⁶³Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance technique under zero field and down to 65mK. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T₁) decreases drastically just below T_c=0.67 K down to 0.5T_c without the apparent enchanced behavior and then is found to be almost temperature independent below 0.3T_c. These results suggest that the superconductivity in CeCu₂Si₂ is not in the usual BCS regime. The analysis based upon the existing triplet pairing model with an anisotropic energy gap describes well the behavior from T_c down to 0.5T_c, while the temperature independence below 0.3T_c remains unexplained.     

Investigation of superconductivity in the single-walled carbon nanotubes

Superconductivity in the single-walled carbon nanotubes is investigated. First, effect of diameter increasing on the clean systems critical temperature, T_c, is calculated. Then effect of impurity doping on the reduction of critical temperature T_c, of single-walled carbon nanotubes, is discussed. Our calculations illustrate that metallic zigzag single-walled carbon nanotubes have higher T_c than armchair single-walled carbon nanotubes with approximately same diameters and T_c decreases by increasing diameter. This can explain why superconductivity could be found in the small diameter single-walled carbon nanotubes. We found for the impurity doped systems, impurity in the strong scattering regime can decrease T_c significantly while in the weak scattering regime T_c is not affected by impurity doping.     

Another approach to mechanism of ferromagnetic superconductor UGe2

We study the ferromagnetic superconductor of UGe₂ applying our previous model [Phys. Rev. B 61 (2000), 4289] for the high transition temperature superconductivity (HTSC). The Coulomb interaction for triplet electron pairs is reduced by a difference of the exchange interaction. In the case of UGe₂ including other heavy fermion superconductors, coexistence of triplet superconductivity and ferromagnetism is possible in the case of our scheme. We also investigate the pressure-dependence of Curie temperature, T_c and superconducting temperature, T_sc.     

Coherent state and superconductivity in the free carrier-bipolaron interacting system

In this paper a model to describe the free carrier-bipolaron interacting system is proposed. Effective hopping of the bipolaron is studied in the slave-boson approach, and a characteristic temperature T¹ is obtained, below which the system enters a coherent state. The density of states in the normal state and the superconductivity of the system are discussed in a quasiparticle picture. The results show that the mixing between the free carrier and the bipolaron results in an enhancement of the effective mass of the quasiparticle and meanwhile the renormalized coupling interaction, arising from the negative correlation energy in the bipolaron region, enhances the effective superconducting coupling interaction. Under the most favourable conditions, the superconducting transition temperature T_c ∼ ω_c, where ω_c is the Debye frequency related with local electron-phonon coupling. In general we have T¹ > T_c ⪢ T_c0 (T_c0 is the superconducting transition temperature of a usual superconductor). Therefore the system will firstly enter a coherent state before becoming a high-T_c superconductor.     

Superconductivity in the intermetallic compound YRhAl

The intermetallic compound, YRhAl, has been prepared and is found to be isomorphic with RRhAl (R=Pr, Nd, Gd, Ho and Tm) compounds crystallizing in the orthorhombic TiNiSi-type structure (space group Pnma). Heat capacity and electrical resistivity measurements in the He-3 temperature range reveal that this compound is superconducting with a transition temperature, T_c, of 0.9 K. The electronic specific heat coefficient, γ, and the Debye temperature are found to be 6.1 mJ/mol K and 197 K, respectively. The specific heat jump at the superconducting transition is found to be consistent with the BCS weak-coupling limit. This combined with the earlier observation of superconductivity in LaRhAl (T_c=2.4 K) having a different structure than that of YRhAl, suggests that the underlying structure is not very crucial for the occurrence of superconductivity in RRhAl series of compounds.     

Are the high Tc superconductors d-wave?

Although it has been widely accepted for several years that the normal state of high T_c superconductors is anomalous, only recently has there been growing evidence for the anomalous nature of the superconducting state. A number of recent experiments show clear evidence for the existence of low-lying excitations in the superconducting state. Moreover, the observation by Bonn, Hardy and coworkers of a linear temperature dependence in the microwave surface resistance and penetration depth of YBCO at low temperatures suggests d-wave pairing with line nodes. The evidence for and against unconventional superconductivity in the high T_c oxides is reviewed. Specific topics discussed include the different behaviours observed for the penetration depth in thin films and in single crystals, what is known about the absolute value of the penetration depth, the role of disorder and inelastic scattering, the relative merits of strongvs. weak correlation theories of d-wave superconductivity in the high T_c oxides, and most important, what have we actually learned about the penetration depth of high T_c superconductors fromμSR?     

A study of Fe-doped Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu superconductors

We have substituted 1.5% of Fe for Cu in several “2212” and “2223” Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu superconductors. All of the samples show a reduction ofT _c about 13 K due to the Fe impurities. Mössbauer measurements at room temperature reveal the structural characteristics such as stacking faults and intergrowth of different phases in these Bi-based compounds on the microscopic scale. The susceptibility ofT _c to Fe-doping in the Bi-“2212” or “2223” system is comparable to that of the “123” system but much smaller than that of the “214” system. The interplanar correlation existing in the “123” and the Bi-“2212” and “2223” systems seems to play an important role in sustaining the high temperature superconductivity and weakening the detrimental effect of impurity elements on superconductivity in these two systems.     

Iron doping effect on superconducting properties of MgB2

Iron-doped MgB₂ bulks are prepared by hybridized diffusion method using nano-powder and macro-powder of pure iron as iron source. The doping effect on superconductivity transition temperature, T_c, and critical current J_c have been investigated. It is found that both T_c and J_c of MgB₂ show quite different features depending on the particle size of the dopant powders. It is demonstrated that different from iron bulk or large size powders, iron nano-powders are active dopant for MgB₂ which suppresses both T_c and J_c of MgB₂.