Energy-dependent enhancement of the electron-coupling spectrum of the underdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) superconductor

We have determined the electron-coupling spectrum of superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) from high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectra by two deconvolution-free robust methods. As hole concentration decreases, the coupling spectral weight at low energies ?15 meV shows a twofold and nearly band-independent enhancement, while that around ～65 meV increases moderately, and that in ?130 meV decreases leading to a crossover of dominant coupling excitation between them. Our results suggest the competition among multiple screening effects, and provide important clues to the source of sufficiently strong low-energy coupling, λ(LE)≈1, in an underdoped system.     

Evidence for anisotropic atomic displacements and orbital distribution in the inhomogeneous CuO2 plane of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ system

We have used a combination of the Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS), and the Cu L-edge X-ray absorption measurements, with polarization vector parallel to the two orthogonal Cu–O–Cu bonds, to explore the directional instantaneous atomic displacements and the orbital distribution within the heterogeneaous CuO₂ plane of the Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ (Bi2212) system. The results show an anisotropic Cu–O bond distribution, measured by the EXAFS in the two directions, and reveal large anisotropy of the unoccupied Cu 3d orbitals. The outcome of the present measurements is consistent with the nanoscale heterogeneities with coexisting electronic components.     

Scaling of the energy gap withT c in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

The results of a high-resolution photoemission study using synchrotron radiation of two single crystals of Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊, with different critical temperaturesT _c due to a variation in oxygen stoichiometry are reported. Within experimental accuracy, the energy gap 2 is found to scale withT _c , amounting to a reduced gap parameter of 2/k _BT_c7.4. Employing resonant photoemission at the O–2s and Cu–3p thresholds, two spectral peaks at binding energies of 180 meV and 320 meV were identified as predominantly O–2p-and Cu–3d 4s-derived states, respectively.     

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ单晶超导临界温度的各向异性

研究了具有不同氧含量的Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 δ单晶超导临界温度的各向异性,通过测量沿ab面和c轴的电阻率发现,在轻欠掺杂到过掺杂区域,单晶沿ab面和c轴的Tc值是比较接近的,但在重欠掺杂区,沿ab面的Tc值比c轴的Tc明显高,从平衡态的相位涨落模型可以得到,由于涨落效应对 c轴的临界电流密度的压制作用比对ab面的要强,导致了Tc的各向异性,但这种模型无法解释重欠掺杂超导体中ab面和c轴的Tc如此大的差别,我们认为重欠掺杂超导体中的相位涨落行为不同于其他掺杂超导体中的行为,实验和理论上都值得进一步深入研究。     

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δAu界面性质的研究

采用高真空下(2～3×10-5Pa)原位,低温(77K)解理,高速原位蒸发金膜的方法,我们得到了接近"本征"的CuO2/Au接触界面.测量结果显示接触界面为欧姆接触.四端法测量的结果显示这样的界面有着较小的电阻率(<1.5×10-8Ωcm2).我们认为,一种可能是因为临近效应的影响造成了CuO2/Au接触界面电阻的消失,而所测量到的剩余电阻实际应为外电路引入的电阻,而另一种可能是界面仍然存在一极小的欧姆接触电阻.这将对研究高温超导体与金属接触的界面性质有着积极的意义.     

Lamellar solid-liquid mesophase nucleated by Josephson vortices at the melting of the vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) superconductor

The local effect of the Josephson vortices on the vortex lattice melting process in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ) crystals in the presence of an in-plane field H(ab) is studied by differential magneto-optical imaging. The melting process is found to commence along the Josephson vortex stacks, forming a mesomorphic phase of periodic liquid and solid lamellas, the direction and spacing of which are controlled by H(ab). The reduction of the local melting field H(m) along the Josephson vortex stacks is more than an order of magnitude larger than the reduction of the average bulk H(m) by HH(ab).     

Geometry dependent resistivity behavior in mesoscopic Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ single crystals

In order to investigate the interaction between Josephson vortices and pancake vortices in a layered Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ superconductor, c-axis resistivity measurements were carried out on fabricated mesoscopic single crystals for two experimental geometries, when an applied high magnetic field of 14 T is perpendicular (B_ex⊥L) and parallel (B_ex∥L) to the width of sample. In the first case, the angular dependence of the resistance obtained near the ab-plane at T = 30 K exhibited hysteretic non-monotonic behavior with local maxima at θ = 0.6° away from the ab-plane and dips and spikes at θ = 0.2° marking a vortex lock-in transition. In the second geometry (B_ex∥L), instead of a local maximum, peculiar resistance shoulders were observed. At higher temperatures, hysteresis is reduced, while the vortex lock-in transition becomes considerably broader indicating the interaction of pancake and Josephson vortices.     

Momentum-resolved ultrafast electron dynamics in superconducting Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+δ)

The nonequilibrium state of the high-T(c) superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+δ) and its ultrafast dynamics have been investigated by femtosecond time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy well below the critical temperature. We probe optically excited quasiparticles at different electron momenta along the Fermi surface and detect metastable quasiparticles near the antinode, since their decay toward the nodal region through e-e scattering is blocked by phase space restrictions. The observed lack of momentum dependence in the decay rates is in agreement with relaxation dynamics dominated by Cooper pair recombination in a boson bottleneck limit.     

Break junction tunnelling on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ-single crystals

Break junction tunnelling experiments on Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊-single crystals were performed at different temperatures. Carefully adjusted samples exhibited conductance curves showing only one large peak at positive and negative bias voltages. From these measurements a gap value =(21.2±2.8) meV, i.e. 2/k _B T _c =(5.5±0.8), was inferred. The behaviour of the conductance curves is similar to that of conventional superconductors but with a much larger broadening of the tunnelling characteristic. Therefore, several models which could explain this smearing are compared with the experimental data. However, it is found that none of them is capable of fitting the conductance curves convincingly. In some cases tunnel characteristics similar to those predicted by a charging effect model or a multigap model were obtained.This work was supported financially by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through SFB 252.     

不同氧含量Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ单晶电阻率的各向异性

精确测量了在不同氧压下退火的单晶Ｂｉ２Ｓｒ２ＣａＣｕ２Ｏ８＋δ（Ｂｉ２２１２）样品的ＣｕＯ面内和ＣｕＯ面外的电阻率ρｃ（Ｔ）和ρａｂ（Ｔ）．发现ρｃ（Ｔ）和各向异性比（ρｃ（Ｔ）／ρａｂ（Ｔ））随着载流子浓度增加而迅速下降．在过掺杂样品中，高于１２０Ｋ时，ρｃ随温度线性下降，而各向异性比与温度仅有微弱的依赖关系．ρｃ（Ｔ）和ρｃ（Ｔ）／ρａｂ（Ｔ）的值可以用Ａｌｅｘａｎｄｒｏｖ和Ｍｏｔ建立的双极化子模型很好地加以拟合     

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8中输运特性研究新发现

Ｂｉ２Ｓｒ２ＣａＣｕ２Ｏ８中输运特性研究新发现高温超导（ＨＴＳ）的研究热潮，从１９８６年ＩＢＭ苏黎世实验室发现Ｔｃ＝３５Ｋ的镧钡铜氧化物超导体起，至今已持续１２年．世界各国数以千计的科学家参与了这一科学竞赛，目的是：（１）寻找更高Ｔｃ的新材料；（２）...     

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8单晶的穿透深度研究

从Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8(Bi-2212)单晶临界温度下的可逆磁化强度数据中,考虑高温超导混合态涡旋线涨落对磁化强度的影响,得到穿透深度λab(T,H)的温度和磁场依赖关系.发现在温度远低于Tc时λab与温度存在T2关系.λab随磁场的增加而增加,且绝对零度下的穿透深度λab(0,H)随磁场H的变化符合经验式λab(0,H)=λ0[1+(H/H0)β] ,这里λ0、H0和β为常数.     

Zn-substitution effects on the low-energy quasiparticles in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

We have performed high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on Bi₂Sr₂Ca(Cu_1−xZn_x)₂O_8+δ (x=0.0, 0.05) to study the Zn-substitution effects on the low-energy quasiparticles. We found that the Zn substitution causes the reduction of the quasiparticle intensity and the superconducting gap, while it does not affect the normal-state band dispersion, the Fermi surface, or the quasiparticle lifetime. This indicates that the Zn substitution locally destroys or hinders the superconducting pairing and as a result decreases the superfluid density, but does not affect the long-range coherence among quasiparticles.     

Statistical correlations on the BiO surface in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8−x single crystals

Low temperature scanning tunneling microscope techniques are applied to study statistical properties of the BiO plane in 2212 high-T_c single crystals. The correlation functions of height deviations in x and k -spaces have been numerically obtained. Long range power law correlations have been found and attributed to half lattice cell jumps of known height in the c direction. Analysis of the correlation function in k-space reveals two modulating superstructures in the b direction. The most pronounced structure is the well known superstructure with period a₁ ≈ 27 Å. The other one has period a₂ ≈ 58 Å which is a little more than twice the period of the main superstructure.     

Angle-resolved photoemission experiments on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ(001)

Core-level X-ray photoelectron-diffraction patterns have been measured from cleaved Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈₊ (001) surfaces for all elements present in this compound. The incommensurate modulation alongb ([010]) leads to a strong inequivalence ofa- andb-directions for Bi, Sr and Cu photoelectrons, while Ca and O emission show less effect. Ultraviolet-photoemission experiments recording the emission intensity at the Fermi energy over a large solid angle are also presented, providing a direct mapping of the Fermi surface. Ac(2×2) superstructure is observed on the Fermi surface suggesting antiferromagnetic correlations within the Cu–O planes. The effects of the lattice modulation are clearly observable at the Fermi energy, and they are enhanced for binding energies higher than a few tens of meV.     

Microstructure and flux distribution in both pure and carbon-nanotube-embedded Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ superconductors

In order to improve pinning properties of bulk Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ (Bi-2212) materials, samples of both pure Bi-2212 and Bi-2212 with carbon nanotubes embedded (CNTE Bi-2212) have been prepared by partial-melting processing. The preparation conditions are chosen so that a significant fraction of carbon nanotubes can be successfully embedded in the material, as indicated by thermogravimetric analysis. The microstructure and composition of non-superconducting second phases are found to be different in these two types of samples. By means of magneto-optical (MO) imaging, flux distributions in both types of samples are investigated up to T=77 K. The MO investigation reveals the propagation of a flux front in both pure and CNTE Bi-2212, showing that there is a strong coupling between grains (clusters) which enables the flow of inter-granular currents. This grain coupling persists in our field range of ±180 mT. In bulk non-textured ceramic high-T_c superconductors, the flux fronts caused by currents flowing through the entire sample are observed for the first time. Intra-granular current densities are obtained from the images as a function of grain size. The MO investigations have revealed the differences in the current densities caused by the presence of carbon nanotubes, showing that the carbon nanotubes are indeed functioning like columnar defects produced by heavy-ion irradiation. The increase of the flux penetration field is also a manifestation of the increase of the transport current density in the CNTE Bi-2212. The superconducting properties in our samples are very well reproducible.     

Oxygen isotope effect in optimally doped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ studied by low-energy ARPES

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) with low-energy tunable photons, we studied the oxygen isotope effect in optimally doped Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ (Bi2212). We found the oxygen isotope shift in the real part of the electron self-energies [ReΣ(ω)s] along the nodal direction derived not only from the momentum distribution curves (MDCs) but also from the energy distribution curves (EDCs). Present results indicate straightforwardly the coupling between the nodal electrons and the phonons.     

反常输运性质Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8单晶的生长

使用自助熔剂融化法成功的制备了Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8超导单晶。在对所得单晶进行输运性质的研究时,我们发现一种反常扔物理特征：在超导涨落区观察到反常的电阻峰,从Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8单晶的颗粒超导电性方面我们给出了合理的解释。