Magnetic properties of the high Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O7−δ

Magnetic measurements have been performed on the YBa₂Cu₆O_7−δ superconducting system in the temperature range 4.2–320 K. A hystereris loop indicating a coexistence of the superconducting and magnetic ordering below H_c1 at 4.2 K has been recorded.     

Quasi-two-dimensional transport properties of the layered superconductor Nd2−xCe x CuO4+δ

The temperature dependences of resistivities ρ_ab in the ab plane and ρ_c along the c axis have been studied for single-crystal Nd_{2 ? x} Ce_xCuO_{4 + δ} (x = 0.12, 0.15, 0.17, 0.20) films with (001) and (1 $\bar 1$ 0) orientations. The superconducting transition temperature and anisotropy coefficient are shown to be maximal in optimally annealed samples (the oxygen content is close to the stoichiometric content, δ → 0). A combination of the metallic behavior of the ρ_ab(T) dependence and the nonmetallic behavior of the ρ_c(T) dependence for the optimally annealed samples is an intrinsic property of the substance and an indication of the fact that the system is quasi-two-dimensional. This layered quasi-two-dimensional system is an Anderson dielectric with a strongly anisotropic localization radius (R _loc ^ab ? R _loc ^c ). An increase in the oxygen content and, hence, in the degree of disorder in the Nd_{2 ? x} Ce_xCuO_{4 + δ} system is found to decrease the resistivity anisotropy coefficient. Thus, a disorder-induced Anderson transition takes place in this quasi-two-dimensional system.     

Introduction of bismuth into the highT c superconductor La2−x Sr x CuO4−y

Novel high-T _c superconductors La_2–x Bi _x Sr _x–x CuO_4–y have been isolated and studied. The influence of the experimental conditions of synthesis on the superconductivity has been especially studied for the composition La_1.7Bi_0.1Sr_0.2CuO_4–y ; it is shown thatT _c decreases as oxygen is introduced into the matrix, likely due to the partial oxidation of Bi(III) to Bi(V). The highT _c value observed for one sample (T _c 42 K), as compared withT _c 38 K of La_1.8Sr_0.2CuO_4–y suggests that bismuth is also a potential candidate for improving the superconducting properties in these oxides.     

Lattice dynamics of the high-Tc superconductor La2−xMxCuO4

The phonon dispersion curves, the one-phonon density of states and the specific heat of the high-T_c superconductor La_2−xM_xCuO₄ have been calculated in the framework of a shell model. The zone center frequencies are classified according to their vibrational character and compared with the available IR and Raman data. A slight adjustment of the parameters obtained from the known interaction potentials of oxides with perovskite and rock salt structure yields reasonable agreement with the IR, Raman, specific heat, and inelastic neutron scattering data of the polycrystalline material.     

Far-infrared spectroscopy of the high Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-δ

We report measurements of the far-infrared reflectivity of polycrystalline samples of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ which have their superconducting transition temperatures in the 90 K range. The measurements performed between 300 K and 10 K reveal temperature-dependent structures attributed to optical phonons in the 150 cm^-1 – 350 cm^-1 range, and excitation of the electrons across the energy gap. Complicated structures make unambiguous fitting with the Mattis-Bardeen theory difficult, but it seems that the energy gap is around 3.5 kT_c for T⪡T_c. Additionally, our results indicate the possibility of a second gap at an energy corresponding to 5.4 kT_c.     

Two-dimensional weak localization effects in high temperature superconductor Nd2−x CexCuO4−δ

A systematic study of the resistivity and Hall effect in single-crystal films Nd_2−x Ce_xCuO_4−δ (0.12⩽x⩽0.20) is presented, with special emphasis on the low-temperature dependence of the normal state conductance. Two-dimensional weak localization effects are found both in a normally conducting underdoped sample (x=0.12) and in situ superconducting optimally doped (x=0.15) or overdoped (x=0.18) samples in a high magnetic field B>B _c2. The phase coherence time τ _ϒ (5.4 · 10⁻¹¹ s at 2 K) and the effective thickness of a CuO₂ conducting layer d (≃1.5Å) have been estimated by fitting 2D weak localization theory expressions to magnetoresistivity data for magnetic fields perpendicular to the ab plane and in plane. Estimates of the parameter d ensure strong carrier confinement and justify a model consisting of almost decoupled 2D metallic sheets for the Nd_2−x Ce_xCuO_4−δ single crystal. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 116, 1723–1734 (November 1999) Published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Hg L3 edge absorption study of the HgBa2CuO4＋δsuperconductor

The HgBa2CuO4 δ superconductor has been studied by high resolution Hg L3 x-ray absorption near-edge structure(XANES)spectroscopy.The XANES spectrum has been simulated by full multiple-scattering calculations in order to xplore the origin of different features in the experimental spectrum.The experimental Hg L3-edge spectrum could be ewll reproduced by considering a cluster of 85 atoms,containing 10 shell,within a radius of about 7 A from the central Hg atom.The low energy spectral feature in the XANES spectrum is found to be due to aransition from the Hg p states to the electronic states hybridized with higher shell Ba atoms.This implies that the transition features in the Hg L3-edge XANES are strongly influenced by medium range order effects unlike the case of L3 edge of 3d transition metals where short-range order is enough to describe the main transition feansition featrues.     

Correlation betweenT c and elastic constants of (La−M)2CuO4

By an ultrasonic method, we measured the elastic constants of polycrystalline La_1.85M_0.15CuO₄ withM=Ca, Ba, Sr. These materials show zero-resistance normal-superconductive transition temperatures of 19, 28, and 36K. VersusT _c , all the elastic stiffnesses-bulk modulus, Young modulus, shear modulus-increase. Derived from the elastic constants and average atomic volume, the Debye temperature increases linearly withT _c . In conventional BCS superconductors,T _c decreases with increasing _D .     

（La1—xSrx）2CuO4高Tc单晶样品中Sr对其性质的影响

实验上研究了（Ｌａ１－ｘＳｒｘ）２ＣｕＯ４）高Ｔｃ单晶样品的ｃ－轴正常态电阻同温度的关系以及Ｔｃ附近ｃ－轴电阻作为磁场和磁场取向的函数，结果表明，（１）随着Ｓｒ含量的增加，ｃ－轴正常态电阻从半导体行为变为金属行为，和（２）固有的各向异性随Ｓｒ含量的增加而逐渐变弱，这些意味着Ｓｒ掺杂在Ｌａ基系统中有利于Ｃｕ－Ｏ面间耦合的改善。     

Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering studies on the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase transition of La2−x Sr x CuO4±δ

The phase transition from the tetragonal to the orthorhombic structure in La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄₊ has been studied combining elastic and inelastic neutron scattering and specific heat measurements on the same well characterized crystals. This analysis focusses on the comparison between undoped and doped compounds. The proportionality between the orderparameter and the orthorhombic strain, predicted by the Landau theory, can be confirmed in La_2–x Sr _x CuO₄₊ in a wide concentration and temperature range. We observe different values for the critical exponent for doped superconducting and undoped insulating crystals. The temperature dependent study of the soft modes on a metallic superconducting crystal reveals an extremely large temperature range where this mode is strongly anharmonic. The comparison with previously published data shows that the frequencies of the soft modes at low temperatures decrease with doping, i.e. with increasing charge carrier concentration.     

Local density theory of X-ray and photoemission from YBa2Cu3O7−δ: The high Tc superconductor

Photoemission, inverse photoemission and X-ray emission spectra have been calculated using results of a highly precise local density energy band study. Compared to experiment, we find a shift of ∼2 eV to higher binding energy for the Cu-d and the O-pπ bonding states. This shift is attributed to the lack of metallic screening for the Cu-d holes which leaves only charge transfer screening by O ligand electrons. The larger shift of the O-pπ states close to E_F compared to those lying lower in energy is attributed to different degrees of localization. By contrast, the lower lying O-pσ bonding states, which show greater itinerant character than the higher lying pπ states, are less affected by relaxation effects.     

Critical fields of (La.925Ba.075)2CuO4−y

We have measured the upper critical field of (La_.925Ba_.075)₂CuO_4-y in the range from 0 to 30 Tesla in the hybrid magnet at the Francis Bitter National Magnet Lab. The resistive transition in zero field onsets above 3 OK, with .9R_n at 29K, .1R_n at 27K and 0 below 24K (R_n = R(3 4K). Following the II-T curves for different fractions of R_n we find substantial differences in the temperature dependence of the apparent critical field. However, for (H,T)=.9R_n there is good agreement with simple pairbreaking behavior with an extrapolated H_c2(0) of 46 Tesla. At 4K there is no measurable resistance to 30 Tesla.     

Magnetic and Mössbauer studies of the superconductor Eu(Dy,Gd)Ba2Cu3O7−δ

The changes of the microstructures of bulk single-phase Eu_1–x Dy _x Ba₂Cu₃O_7– and Eu_1–y Gd _y Ba₂Cu₃O_7– superconductors due to (Dy, Gd)-doping were investigated by the Mössbauer effect. The pinning potentials of the samples were calculated by magnetization relaxation analysis. The interaction between the magnetic moment of magnetic rare-earth cations and flux lines in these samples was considered as a predominant pinning mechanism in highT _c superconductors in this paper.     

Study of magnetic ordering of the high Tc superconductor GdBa2Cu3O7−y by muon spin rotation

Muon spin rotation experiments were performed on the high T_c superconductor GdBa₂Cu₃O_7−y in the temperature range from 30 mK to 130 K. Below 2.3 K, we observe in zero external field well defined muon spin precession showing clearly the presence of magnetic ordering in the sample. Two different frequencies could be distinguished which correspond to internal magnetic fields of 33 and 52 mT, respectively. Above 2.3 K up to about 10 K a fast depolarization of the muon spin is observed indicating the persistance of correlations among the Gd moments well above the Néel temperature.     

Pressure Effects in the Raman Spectra of La 2−x Sr x CuO 4

Micro-Raman measurements under hydrostatic pressures up to 6 GPa have been carried out on high-quality La 2 m x Sr x CuO 4 polycrystalline compounds with Sr concentration up to x =0.45. The zz scattering polarization has been investigated, where two strong modes due to La/Sr and the apex oxygen, and (in the low Sr concentrations) the soft mode at ～100 cm m 1 are observed. The frequency of the strong modes increases almost linearly with pressure for the Sr concentrations studied. Modifications in the increment rate d y /d p and the phonon width have been detected depending on the amount of doping. For x =0.45 a considerable increase in the width of both strong phonons with pressure was found, which must reflect a separation into phases, since this concentration is close to the solubility limit. The relative intensity of the strong phonons was investigated in connection with its correlation to the transition temperature.     

高Tc氧化物La2CuO4+δ低频弛豫内耗峰的激活能研究

采用全自动多功能内耗测试仪（ＭＦＩＦＡ），对高Ｔｃ氧化物Ｌａ２ＣｕＯ４＋δ的低频内耗作了细致的研究。发现Ｌａ２ＣｕＯ４＋δ在１６０Ｋ－４３０Ｋ温区有三个弛豫峰ｐ１、ｐ２、ｐ３，并由变频实验求出它们的驰豫激活能。在激活能分析基础上，我们认为：ｐ１、ｐ２峰源于氧空位的驰豫跃迁，ｐ３峰则源于氧间隙原子的驰豫跃迁。     

Effect of disorder on the transport properties of the high-T c superconductor Nd2− x CexCuO4+δ

The temperature dependences ρ_ab(T) of Nd_2?x Ce_xCuO_4+δ single crystals with 0≤x≤0.20 are studied and analyzed on the basis of the concepts in the theory of disordered 2D systems. The results are compared with the data obtained for other copper-oxide HTSC. It is found that a transition to the superconducting state in the optimal doping region 0.14≤x≤0.18 occurs only in crystals with a fairly small degree of disorder (k _Fl≥2, where l is the mean free path). This transition is compatible with the weak 2D-localization mode as long as the localization radius is longer than the characteristic size of a Cooper pair. The superconducting transition temperature in the optimal doping region increases monotonically with the parameter k _Fl characterizing the degree of disorder in the crystal. The degradation of superconducting properties upon a further increase in the doping level (x>0.18) is apparently associated with a transition from 2D to 3D conductivity in the single crystal.     

Superconductivity characteristics of the system Y1.2Ba0.8CuO4−δ

Abstract

Superconducting behaviour of the multiphase system Y_1.2Ba_0.8CuO_4?δ has been studied, as a function of annealing conditions. These investigations strongly suggest the existence of an underlying superconducting phase with T_C = 90K. A series of annealings lead to a successive sharpening of the superconducting transition, the suppression of the localization effects (in the normal state) and the enhancement of the Meissner effect.