Angular dependence of the upper critical field in Bi2Sr2CuO6+δ

The angular dependence of the upper critical magnetic field was investigated in a wide range of temperatures in very high-quality Bi₂Sr₂CuO_6+δ single crystals with critical temperature T _c (midpoint) ? 9 K in magnetic fields up to 28 T. Although the typical value of the normal state resistivity ratio ρ_c/ρ_ab≈10⁴, the anisotropy ratio H _c2∥ab/H _c2⊥ab of the upper critical fields is much smaller and shows an unexpected temperature dependence. A model based on strong anisotropy and small transparency between superconducting layers is proposed.     

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Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ(Bi2212)样品的Cu-O面内和Cu-O面外的电阻率ρ_c(T)和ρ_ab(T).发现ρ_c(T)和各向异性比(ρ_c(T)/ρ_ab(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,ρ_c随温度线性下降,而各向异性 关键词：     

Anisotropy of normal resistivity in oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3O7−x single crystals

Temperature dependences of the resistivity tensor components ρ_ab and ρ_c were measured for YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x single crystals with different oxygen contents. The resistivity anisotropy ρ_c/ρ_ab was found to grow exponentially with decreasing temperature. The results are compared with the predictions of different models describing transverse transport in the normal state of cuprate high-T _c superconductors.     

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.     

The large anisotropy of the magnetic and transport properties in the Ba5Co5ClO13 single crystal

In this Letter, the single crystals of Ba₅Co₅ClO₁₃ were grown by the flux method successfully. Their structure, magnetic and transport properties were studied. A large anisotropy of the magnetic and transport properties has been detected in this compound. Below the TN∼108 K, the magnetic susceptibility exhibits an antiferromagnetic peak in χc and an upturn transition in χab. We suggest that this behavior is consistent with the competition of the ferromagnetic (FM) intra-blocks coupling and antiferromagnetic (AFM) inter-blocks coupling in this compound. The temperature dependence of the resistivity displays a hump in ρab and a kink in ρc around TN, suggesting the strong coupling between the transport and magnetic properties. Above and below the transition, the transport properties in ab plane follow the three-dimensional (3D) variable range hopping (VRH) mechanism.     

Magnetotransport of lanthanum doped RuSr<Subscript>2</Subscript>GdCu<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>8</Subscript> – the role of gadolinium

Strongly underdoped RuSr_1.9La_0.1GdCu₂O₈ has been comprehensively studied by dc magnetization, microwave measurements, magnetoresistivity and Hall resistivity in fields up to 9 T and temperatures down to 1.75 K. Electron doping by La reduces the hole concentration in the CuO₂ planes and completely suppresses superconductivity. Microwave absorption, dc resistivity and ordinary Hall effect data indicate that the carrier concentration is reduced and a semiconductor-like temperature dependence is observed. Two magnetic ordering transitions are observed. The ruthenium sublattice orders antiferromagnetically at 155 K in low applied magnetic fields, and the gadolinium sublattice orders antiferromagnetically at 2.8 K. The magnetoresistivity in this compound exhibits a complicated temperature dependence due to the occurence of the two magnetic orders and spin fluctuations. It is shown that the ruthenium magnetism influences the conductivity in the RuO₂ layers while the gadolinium magnetism influences the conductivity in the CuO₂ layers. The magnetoresistivity is isotropic above 4 K, but it becomes anisotropic close to the gadolinium antiferromagnetic order temperature.     

Anomalous electrical properties of linear chain mercury compounds

The electrical resistivity of Hg_2.86AsF₆ has been studied as a function of temperature. At room temperature, the resistivity along the chain direction is 10^?4 Ω-cm with an anisotropy of about 10². This incommensurate linear chain system remains metallic at low temperatures with resistance ratio ?_ab(300 K)/ ?_ab(1.4 K) ? 3000 and still increasing with no apparent sign of residual resistivity. A large anisotropic magnetic field dependence of the resistivity is observed below 30 K. Near 4 K, the c-axis resistance drops abruptly more than three orders of magnitude, apparently to zero, while ?_ab is continuous. The c-axis transition is suppressed in a small magnetic field.     

Anisotropic low-temperature in-plane magnetoresistance in electron doped Nd<Subscript>2−<Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>Ce<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript>CuO<Subscript>4+δ</Subscript>

Nominally electron doped antiferromagnetic tetragonal nonsuperconducting Nd_2?xCe _x CuO_4+δ(x=0.12) has been shown to manifest strong angular dependence of the in-plane magnetoresistance on the orientation of the external magnetic field within the ab plane in many aspects similar to that observed in hole doped YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ and La_2?xSr_xCuO₄. Specific fourfold angular magnetoresistance anisotropy amounting to several percents was observed in oxygen annealed films at low temperatures and in an external magnetic field up to 5.5 T. The strong temperature dependence and fourfold symmetry observed in our sample points to a specific role of rare-earth (Nd) ions in magnetoresistance anisotropy. At low temperature T = 1.4 K, we observed the unusual transformation of magnetoresistance response with increasing the external magnetic field, which seems to be a manifestation of a combined effect of a crossover between first and second order spin-flop transitions and a field-dependent rare-earth contribution to quasiparticle magnetotransport.     

Vortex structure and anisotropy of electric resistance in Bi2Sr1.65La0.35CuO6 + δ single crystals

The vortex structure of Bi₂Sr_1.65La_0.35CuO_6+δ single crystals in tilted magnetic fields has been studied by the decoration method. From the observed pattern of vortex chains in the basal plane, the parameter of anisotropy in the superconducting state has been estimated as γ_S = 460 ± 40. The electric resistance of Bi₂Sr_1.65La_0.35CuO_6+δ single crystals has been studied in a broad range of temperatures (T _c < T < 300 K) and magnetic fields (up to 16 T). The ratio of resistivities in the direction perpendicular to the basal plane and in plane near the critical temperature T _c amounted to ρ⊥/ρ‖ = 3.2 × 10⁵. A possible relationship between the anisotropy in the normal and superconducting states is discussed.     

Transport properties of the single-crystal La2−xBaxCuO4 (0≤x≤0.11)

We report on the temperature dependence of the in-plane electrical resistivity ρ_ab and the in-plane Hall coefficient R_H in various magnetic fields of the single-crystal La_2−xBa_xCuO₄ with x=0.083 and 0.11. In x=0.11, which is close to x=1/8, where the superconductivity is strongly suppressed, a clear jump in ρ_ab and a drop in R_H have been observed at T_d2∼53 K, where the structural phase transition between the orthorhombic mid-temperature and tetragonal low-temperature phases occurs. Moreover, a sign reversal of R_H has been observed below ∼25 K and the magnitude of the sign reversal increases with increasing magnetic field. In x=0.083, on the other hand, there is neither jump in ρ_ab nor drop in R_H at T_d2, and also no sign reversal in R_H at low temperatures even in magnetic fields up to 9 T. In conclusion, there is no doubt that a static stripe order of holes and spins, observed in La_1.6−xNd_0.4Sr_xCuO₄ with x∼1/8, is formed below T_d2 also in La_2−xBa_xCuO₄ with x∼1/8. The R_H in the stripe-ordered state has a negative value, which is consistent with the recent theory by Prelovšek et al.     

Magnetic anisotropy of an extended double exchange model for layered manganites: A Monte Carlo study

The magnetic ground state properties of layered manganites are investigated on the basis of an anisotropic double exchange model using a Monte Carlo technique. The temperature dependence of magnetization and spin-spin correlations are calculated in a highly anisotropic hopping integral t _c/t _ab regime. The ferromagnetic ordering temperature (T_c) is suppressed by introducing t _c/t _ab, and eventually a layered ferromagnetic structure appears along the c-axis, but there are block-walls. The significant change of magnetic anisotropy is also observed for the antiferromagnetic superexchange integral J _c/t _ab. We discuss the connection of these results to the magnetic anisotropy observed in the La_1.4Sr_1.6Mn₂O₇.     

Galvanomagnetic properties of atomically disordered Sr<Subscript>2</Subscript>RuO<Subscript>4</Subscript> single crystals

The effect of neutron-bombardment-induced atomic disorder on the galvanomagnetic properties of Sr₂RuO₄ single crystals has been experimentally studied in a broad range of temperatures (1.7–380 K) and magnetic fields (up to 13.6 T). The disorder leads to the appearance of negative temperature coefficients for both the in-plane electric resistivity (ρ_a) and that along the c axis (ρ_c), as well as the negative magnetoresistance Δρ, which is strongly anisotropic to the magnetic field orientation (H ∥ a and H ∥ c), with the easy magnetization direction along the c axis and a weak dependence on the probing current direction in the low-temperature region. The experimental ρ_a(T) and ρ_c(T) curves obtained for the initial and radiation-disordered samples can be described within the framework of a theoretical model with two conductivity channels. The first channel corresponds to the charge carriers with increased effective masses (～10m _e , where m _e is the electron mass) and predominantly electron-electron scattering, which leads to the quadratic temperature dependences of ρ_a and ρ_c. The second channel corresponds to the charge carriers with lower effective masses exhibiting magnetic scattering at low temperatures, which leads to the temperature dependence of the ρ_{a, c}(T) ∝ 1/T type.     

Modeling of the out-of-plane resistivity of cuprate superconductors

The out-of-plane (c-axis) resistivity, ρ_c(T), of high-T_c cuprates have been modeled in this study. The non-Fermi liquid like temperature dependence of ρ_c(T) has been described by considering (i) the full impact of the pseudogap (PG) in the electronic density of states (EDOS) and (ii) the presence of a quantum critical point (QCP) beneath the superconducting dome at slightly overdoped region. This simple phenomenological model describes the experimental ρ_c(T) data over a wide range of hole content (from the underdoped to slightly overdoped regions) remarkably well. The PG energy scale, ε_g (dominated by the anti-nodal parts of the Brillouin zone) extracted from the analysis of ρ_c(T) data was found to decrease almost linearly with increasing hole concentration, p, in the CuO₂ planes. We have also discussed about the possible origin of more conventional behavior of ρ_c(T) observed in the deeply overdoped side of the T–p phase diagram in this paper.     

Transport properties and the anisotropy of Ba1 − x K x Fe2As2 single crystals in normal and superconducting states

The transport and superconducting properties of Ba_{1 ? x} K _x Fe₂As₂ single crystals with T _c ≈ 31 K were studied. Both in-plane and out-of-plane resistivity was measured by a modified Montgomery method. The in-plane resistivity is almost the same for all studied samples, unlike the out-of-plane resistivity, which differs considerably. We have found that the resistivity anisotropy γ = ρ _c /ρ _ab is almost independent of temperature and lies in the range 10–30 for the studied samples. This indicates the extrinsic nature of high out-of-plane resistivity, which may be due to the presence of flat defects along Fe-As layers in the samples. This statement is supported by comparatively small effective mass anisotropy, obtained from the upper critical field measurements, and from the observation of the so-called “Friedel transition,” which indicates the existence of some disorder in the samples in the c-direction.     

New insights in the T dependence of the electrical resistivity in size-effect dominated pure metal foils from measurements on high-purity Au at low T

Analysis of Soffer's size-effect theory for electrical resistivity shows, for measurements in such a T range for which the temperature dependent portion of the resistivity, ρ_i, is always much smaller than the residual bulk resistivity ρ_∞(0) of the metal studied, that while size-effects leave the essential T dependence of ρ_i unchanged, it may increase its absolute value and the observed residual resistivity ρ(0), thus explaining recent results of Caplin et al. This also corrects the general conclusion arrived at by the latter authors, i.e. that the T dependence of ρ of a metal foil of given residual resistivity is the same as that of a bulk sample of the same residual resistivity provided that the latter is governed by impurity scattering, as being true for a narrow T range only, i.e. for which ρ_i(T) ? ρ_∞(0). However, for this T range a procedure is outlined which allows one to extract values of the surface specularity parameter p_S and also ρ_∞ of the metal foils studied.     

The nature of anomalies in the magnetoresistance of antiferromagnetic YBa2Cu3O6+x

The characteristic d-type angular dependence of the in-plane magnetoresistance on the orientation of the external magnetic field in the (ab) plane for the antiferromagnetic tetragonal crystal YBa₂Cu₃O_6+x (x ～ 0.3) is considered theoretically. This dependence is interpreted in terms of the efficient hole transfer through the low-lying purely oxygen O 2pe _u doublet, which is not hybridized with the $b_{1g} (d_{{}_x2_ - {}_y2} )$ ground state. The external magnetic field determines the orientation of the strong exchange field acting on the b _1g e _u : ³ E _u triplet state of the hole-type CuO₄ center. The spin-orbit interaction results in orbital polarization of the E _u doublet, which is responsible for the d-type spatial anisotropy of the hole transport. The available experimental data make it possible to evaluate the parameter of the effective spin Hamiltonian. The influence of spin-vibronic effects on the hole transfer is analyzed.     

High-field phase-diagram of Fe arsenide superconductors

Here, we report an overview of the phase-diagram of single-layered and double-layered Fe arsenide superconductors at high magnetic fields. Our systematic magneto-transport measurements of polycrystalline SmFeAsO_1-xF_x at different doping levels confirm the upward curvature of the upper critical magnetic field H_c2(T) as a function of temperature T defining the phase boundary between the superconducting and metallic states for crystallites with the ab planes oriented nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field. We further show from measurements on single-crystals that this feature, which was interpreted in terms of the existence of two superconducting gaps, is ubiquitous among both series of single- and double-layered compounds. In all compounds explored by us the zero temperature upper critical field H_c2(0), estimated either through the Ginzburg–Landau or the Werthamer–Helfand–Hohenberg single gap theories, strongly surpasses the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limiting field. This clearly indicates the strong-coupling nature of the superconducting state and the importance of magnetic correlations for these materials. Our measurements indicate that the superconducting anisotropy, as estimated through the ratio of the effective masses γ =  (m_c/m_ab)^1/2 for carriers moving along the c-axis and the ab-planes, respectively, is relatively modest as compared to the high-T_c cuprates, but it is temperature, field and even doping dependent. Finally, our preliminary estimations of the irreversibility field H_m(T), separating the vortex-solid from the vortex-liquid phase in the single-layered compounds, indicates that it is well described by the melting of a vortex lattice in a moderately anisotropic uniaxial superconductor.     

Terahertz electromagnetic wave emission by using intrinsic Josephson junctions of high-Tc superconductors

High-Tc cuprate superconductors like Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+y (Bi-2212) show very large anisotropy in the electrical conduction. Inside the CuO₂ plan the conduction looks like that in good metals, while the block layers located between CuO₂ planes behave like insulating barriers. Thus, neighboring CuO₂ layers are linked by the Josephson coupling in superconducting states, and the Bi-2212 single crystal can be regarded as a natural serial array of Josephson junctions along the c-axis. It has been found out that in such a system a unique excitation mode called the collective Josephson plasma exists. The mode collectively oscillates along the c-axis, while it propagates along any direction ranged from the ab-plane to the c-axis. If the mode can be coherently excited, the system should be very useful as a device generating strong electromagnetic wave emission. In this paper we review a theoretical framework describing the Josephson plasma modes. The Josephson vortex penetrates into the sample under the magnetic field parallel to the CuO₂ plane and it moves along the ab-plane under an external current parallel to the c-axis. In the vortex flow state, the vortex speed can reach and exceed the propagating velocities of the Josephson plasma modes due to very weak dissipation. Then, the vortices strongly couple with the plasma modes and change their flowing lattice configurations into patterns dependent on the interacting plasma mode profiles. Among many expected flow patterns, we pay attention to a special state resonating with a plasma mode in-phase along the c-axis because all junctions synchronize in such a state. Large-scale numerical simulations by Machida et al. confirmed that the special state characterized by the rectangular lattice stably appears in a wide range of I–V characteristics. In this paper, we report their recent simulation results.     

Charge transfer near the Néel temperature in La2CuO4+x

The electrical resistance and the thermoelectric power in the ab plane of a weakly oxygen-doped La₂CuO_4+x crystal (0.001<x<0.007) and its static magnetic susceptibility were studied in the vicinity of antiferromagnetic transition. The electrical resistance and the thermoelectric power behave anomalously near the Néel temperature, indicating that the transport is strongly affected by the establishment of long-range antiferromagnetic order. Analysis of the obtained data allows the conclusion to be drawn that the doping gives rise to a conduction band as a result of the overlap between the wave functions of deep impurity states that are strongly renormalized due to the correlation and polaron effects.