Anisotropy of the superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7−x single crystals with reduced oxygen content

In an investigation of the resistivity anisotropy of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x single crystals with suboptimal oxygen content it is observed that the superconducting transition for the component ρc of the resistivity tensor is shifted to lower temperatures with respect to the transition for the component ρab. A similar shift is also observed for the transition in the temperature dependence of the dynamic magnetic susceptibility. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 68, No. 4, 309–313 (25 August 1998)     

Temperature dependence of oxygen content and phase transition in Y1Ba2Cu3O9−x compounds

Systematic TGA (Thermogravimetric analysis), magnetic susceptibility measurements and X-ray diffraction investigations have been made on the temperature dependence of oxygen content and phase transition in Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_9–x compounds. The experimental results show that reversible oxygen relief and absorption appeared during heating and cooling in the temperature range of 400–950°C. A low cooling rate leads to higher oxygen content and quenching can suppress oxygen absorption. The deoxidation process is accompanied by a change of the cell constants,a andb increase whilec decreases with reduced oxygen content while the phase transition from the ortorhombic to the tetragonal system appeares. Nevertheless, this transition is a gradually changing process, no critical point of transition exists. Quenching stress and defects have a pronounced influence on the absorption and relief of oxygen. Maximum rates of oxygen relief and absorption were obtained at about 650°C. Oxygen absorption and desorption can be obtained only in an athermal process. Magnetic susceptibility measurements show that diamagnetic and paramagnetic suceptibilities increase obviously with increasing oxygen content. Deoxidation and oxygen absorption can be restrained by adding Fe to the Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_9–x phase, which suggests that deoxidation and oxygen absorption are very sensitive to crystal structure and lattice distortions.     

Positron annihilation measurements across the superconducting transition in Y1Ba2Cu3O7−x

Positron lifetime and Doppler broadened annihilation radiation lineshape measurements have been carried out in Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_7−x as a function of temperature in the range of 300 K to 58 K. The positron lifetime and the peak parameter of the annihilation radiation lineshape are observed to decrease on lowering the temperature without showing any discontinuous change across the superconducting transition temperature of 90 K as determined by susceptibility measurements. The variation of positron annihilation parameters with temperature in the superconducting state is significantly larger than that in the normal state. This is qualitatively explained in terms of the dimerization of oxygen ions in the superconducting state of Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_7−x .     

Features of the spin fluctuations and superconductivity of Tl2Ba2CaCu2O8−δ according to 63Cu and 17O NMR data

Data on the NMR line shifts, the spin-lattice relaxation rate of ⁶³Cu and ¹⁷O nuclei, and the spin-spin relaxation rate of ⁶³Cu are obtained for Tl₂Ba₂CaCu₂O_8−δ (T _c =112 K) in the normal and superconducting states. The hyperfine constants at the copper and oxygen atoms in a CuO₂ plane are estimated from an analysis of the temperature dependence of the Knight shift. The temperature-dependent behavior of the long-and short-wavelength parts of the dynamic spin susceptibility is discussed by modeling an antiferromagnetic Fermi liquid. The possible relation between the characteristics of the spin-fluctuation spectrum and the superconducting transition temperature is analyzed for the oxide investigated. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 115, 991–1001 (March 1999)     

Effect of substitution of Ce on superconducting properties of Bi1.7Pb0.3Sr2Ca2−x Ce x Cu3O10+δ system

We have investigated the superconducting properties of the Bi_1.7 Pb_0.3Sr₂Ca_2−xCe _x Cu₃O_10+δ system with x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.1 by X-ray diffraction and magnetic susceptibility. The substitution of Ce for Ca has been found to drastically change the superconducting properties of the system. X-ray diffraction studies on these compounds indicate decrease in the c-parameter with increased substitution of Ce at Ca site and volume fraction of high T _c (2 : 2 : 2 : 3) phase decreases and low T _c phase increases. The magnetic susceptibility of this compound shows that the diamagnetic on set superconducting transition temperature (onset) varies from 109 K to 51 K for x=0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.08 and 0.1. These results suggest the possible existence of Ce in a tetravalent state rather than a trivalent state in this system; that is, Ca²⁺ → Ce⁴⁺ replacement changes the hole carrier concentration. Hole filling is the cause of lowering T _c of the system.     

Radiation damages under irradiation of the BCS superconductor MgB<Subscript>2</Subscript> by high-energy electrons

This paper reports on the results of investigations of the influence of irradiation of the two-band BCS superconductor MgB₂ by electrons with an average energy $ \bar {\rm E} $ \bar {\rm E} ∼ 10 MeV at high doses (0 ≤ ϕt ≤ ∼2.5 × 10¹⁸ cm⁻²) on the temperature and width of the transition to the superconducting state, the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity in the normal state, the crystal lattice parameters, and the diffraction line intensity. An increase in the electron irradiation dose ϕt leads to the following effects: a decrease in the critical temperature T _c ; an increase in the width of the superconducting transition ΔT _c ; and a decrease in the “residual electrical resistivity” ρ_{273 K}/ρ_{40 K}, in the parameters a and c of the hexagonal crystal lattice, and in the ratio between the diffraction line intensities I ₁₁₀/I ₁₀₀. From analyzing the results obtained, it has been established that the main type of radiation damages under irradiation of the BCS superconductor MgB₂ by high-energy electrons is the formation of vacancies in the B sublattice, which leads to a narrowing of the large band gap Δ_σ on the Fermi surface.     

Features of the melting dynamics of a vortex lattice in a high-T c superconductor in the presence of pinning centers

The phase transition “triangular lattice-vortex liquid” in layered high-T _c superconductors in the presence of pinning centers is studied. A two-dimensional system of vortices simulating the superconducting layers in a high-T _c Shubnikov phase is calculated by the Monte Carlo method. It was found that in the presence of defects the melting of the vortex lattice proceeds in two stages: First, the ideal triangular lattice transforms at low temperature (≃3 K)into islands which are pinned to the pinning centers and rotate around them and then, at a higher temperature (≃8 K for T _c 584 K), the boundaries of the “islands” become smeared and the system transforms into a vortex liquid. As the pinning force increases, the temperatures of both phase transitions shift: The temperature of the point “triangular lattice-rotating lattice” decreases slightly (to ≃2 K)and the temperature of the phase transition “rotating lattice-vortex liquid” increases substantially (≃70 K). Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 4, 269–274 (25 August 1997)     

X-ray microanalysis of quaternary semiconductor solid solutions and its application to the (SnTe-SnSe):In system

A reliable technique of local chemical characterization of multicomponent semiconductor solid solutions has been developed, and the possibility of its application to the SnTe-SnSe quaternary solid solutions doped with 16 at.% In verified. The behavior of the electrical resistivity of samples of these solid solutions at low temperatures, 0.4–4.2 K, has been studied. The critical temperature T _c and the second critical magnetic field H _c2 of the superconducting transition and their dependences on the solid-solution composition have been determined. The superconducting transition at T _c≈2–3 K is due to hole filling of the In-impurity resonance states, and the observed variation of the superconducting transition parameters with increasing Se content in the solid solution is related to the extrema in the valence band and the In band of resonance states shifting with respect to one another. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 612–617 (April 1999)     

Transport properties of NdBa2Cu3O6+x ceramics at the edge of the superconducting region upon a decrease in carrier density as a result of oxygen disordering in the Cu-O x planes

An initially nonsuperconducting ceramic sample with the composition NdBa₂Cu₃O_6+x is brought, by means of pressure and quenching, to a state with a high carrier density and a superconducting transition, after which it is returned to the initial state by gradual annealing in several steps. The evolution of the magnetoresistance of the sample showed that even in the most resistive state realized in the experiment the superconducting interaction influences the resistance of the sample at fields all the way up to 5–6 T. In an 8 T field the change in resistance in this state in the temperature interval from 0.4 K to 20 K is described well by a logarithmic law ΔR∝ logT. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 65, No. 6, 475–480 (25 March 1997)     

Insulator-metal transition in the single-crystal high-T c superconductor Bi-2201

Variations in the temperature behavior of resistivity, ρ(T), in the ab plane of the anisotropic single-crystal high-T _c superconductor BiSrCuO (2201 phase) have been observed at the insulator-metal (IM) transition. At low temperatures, as one approaches the transition, the Mott relation for two dimensions, ln ρ ∝ T ^−1/3, changes to ln ρ ∝ T ^−1/2, which corresponds to hopping conduction with a Coulomb gap in the density of states. Negative temperature slopes were revealed in the samples near the transition. Estimates suggest that superconductivity in these samples sets in from the Anderson insulator state. The behavior of the width of the superconducting transition and of the temperature of its onset, T _con, at the IM transition has been studied from measurements of the ac magnetic susceptibility. It is shown that in the vicinity of the IM transition the superconducting transition becomes broader, and the onset of the transition T _con shifts toward higher temperatures. This behavior is attributed to nonuniform superconductivity resulting from formation in the crystal of superconducting droplets with different values of T _c , which is caused by fluctuations in the local density of states due to the inherent disorder in the crystal. In these conditions, superconductivity has a percolation character. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1190–1194 (July 1998)     

Superconductivity in the Ti-D system under pressure

The pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature in TiD_0.74 has been measured up to 30 GPa in a diamond high-pressure chamber. It is found that the deuteride TiD_0.74 becomes a superconductor at pressures corresponding to the transition to the high-pressure ζ phase, with a transition temperature that increases from 4.17 to 4.43 K in the interval P=14–30 GPa. The value extrapolated to atmospheric pressure T _c (0)=4.0 K is significantly lower than the superconducting transition temperature (T _c =5.0 K) measured earlier in the metastable state obtained by quenching TiD_0.74 under pressure. It is assumed that the significant difference of the extrapolated value from the superconducting transition temperature in the metastable state after quenching under pressure is caused by a phase transition on the path from the stability region of the ζ phase under pressure to the region of the metastable state at atmospheric pressure. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 2153–2155 (December 1998)     

Study of highT c superconductivity in Y1Ba2Cu3O7−x by PAC

HighT _c superconductivity in the YBaCuO superconductor has been investigated through the quadrupole interaction of the probe nuclei⁹⁹Tc. The quadrupole interactions were measured by the TDPAC method from 77 to 296 K. The probe nuclei⁹⁹Tc were introduced into the YBaCuO superconducting specimen by diffusion. The derived electric quadrupole interaction parameters show that the probe nuclei are subject to a unique EFG interaction and occupy a substitutional lattice site in the YBaCuO superconductor. A strong EFG of 10¹⁹ V/cm² was observed. The temperature dependence of the EFG exhibits a linear decrease with temperature increase. Anomalies of both EFG and ν were found in the superconducting transition temperature region. The role of the oxygen vacancies in the Cu−O chains is discussed.     

Anomalous behavior of the structural parameters of YBa2Cu4O8 single crystals at the transition to the superconducting state

High-precision x-ray crystallographic studies of YBa₂Cu₄O₈ single crystals (T _c =70 K) are performed at eight temperatures in the interval 20–295 K. It is found that a number of structural parameters exhibit anomalous behavior near the superconducting transition of the crystal. A characteristic effect near the phase transition is the displacement of the O1 bridge atom that joins the Cu1 atom of the cuprate chain to the Cu2 atom of the cuprate plane. The shift of this oxygen toward the Cu2 atom is indicative of a change in the Cu2-O1 chemical bond and of charge transfer to the cuprate plane in the process of the transition of the crystal to the superconducting state. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 66, No. 7, 502–506 (10 October 1997)     

Anharmonicity and superconductivity in Ba0.6K0.4BiO3

The temperature dependence of the x-ray absorption spectra above the L ₃ absorption edge of bismuth in the superconducting oxide Ba_0.6K_0.4BiO₃ are investigated. It is found that the local structure is different from the simple cubic structure indicated by x-ray and neutron-diffraction data. It is shown that the oxygen atoms move in an anharmonic double-well potential arising as a result of the existence of two nonequivalent types of octahedral environments of bismuth. Vibrations in such potential modulate the Bi-O bond lengths at the low frequency of the rotational (“tilting” type) mode of the oxygen octahedra and thus give rise to a strong electron-phonon interaction, which explains the quite high superconducting transition temperatures T _c ∼30 K. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 67, No. 12, 977–982 (25 June 1998)     

The phase diagram of the superconducting state of superconductor-band-antiferromagnet superlattices

The formation of the superconducting phase in short-period proximity-effect layered superlattices of the superconductor-band-antiferromagnetic-metal (SC/AF) type is studied. The exact solution of the Usadel equations is used to discuss the possibility of formation in such structures of a ground state in which the order parameters of the adjacent superconducting layers have opposite signs (the “π-phase”). The dependence of the superconducting transition temperature and the upper critical field normal to the layers on the lattice period, the intensity of magnetic interaction in the antiferromagnetic layer, and the state of the interface between the layers is examined. It is found that there exists a nonlinear dependence of the conditions for the appearance of the superconducting state in a layered SC/AF system on the system’s parameters. Finally, the conditions for the appearance of the superconducting phase in proximity-effect superlattices consisting of a superconductor with nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic, and antiferromagnetic metals are compared. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 111, 547–561 (February 1997)     

Different path of pressure-induced oxygen ordering and disordering processes in YBa2Cu3O6+x near a metal-insulator transition

The relaxation of the superconducting transition temperature T _c in YBa₂Cu₃O_6.38 is investigated with increasing oxygen order in the CuO_x plane under 1 GPa pressure and with decreasing oxygen order after the pressure is relieved. It is established that the oxygen disordering process is more rapid than the pressure-induced ordering process: The ratio of the relaxation times of T _c in these processes τ _ord/τ _disord≈5. This behavior could be caused by different mechanisms of the pressure-induced increase in the Cu-O chain length and decrease of this length after pressure relief. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1968–1973 (November 1998)     

Diamagnetic susceptibility near the surface or twinning plane at the transition to the superconducting state

Besides the well-known bulk fluctuation contribution to the diamagnetic susceptibility there is an additional surface contribution with the singularity at T_SH exceeding the superconducting bulk transition temperature T_c(H). The results obtained allow to explain the anomalous behavior of the diamagnetic susceptibility found by Khaikin and Khlyustikov.     

Role of anisotropy of the coupling constant in a superconductor model with singularities near the Fermi surface

The role of anisotropy of the coupling constant in the influence of nonmagnetic impurities on the behavior of the superconducting transition temperature T _c is investigated in the high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) model, where high values of T _c result from an increase in the density of states near the Fermi surface. It is shown that this model is more sensitive to impurities than the BCS model; Anderson compensation does not occur in the HTSC model, even for identical distributions of the densities of states in the superconducting and impurity channels, and the impurity contributions are no longer linear with respect to the impurity concentration in the vicinity of T _c. Anisotropy of the superconducting gap Δ and the possibility of its disappearance at certain points on the Fermi surface due to various types of pairing are manifested in the stability of the superconducting phase against the influence of impurities. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1940–1942 (November 1997)     

Investigation of superconductivity and magnetism in ceramic YBa2Cu3O6+x

In this work the magnetic and superconducting properties of YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x , ceramic samples are studied with regard to there preparations technology and oxygen content. It is shown that at 0.41≤x≤0.45 the magnetic and superconducting states coexist.