高温超导体中的赝隙与超导位相涨落

高温超导体赝隙态与超导态之间的关系一直是研究的焦点.交流电导和能斯特（Nernst）效应测量相继探测到超导转变温度Tc0以上温区一定范围内存在磁通涡旋激发,利用力矩技术的磁化率测量则探测到超导涨落引起的弱抗磁性.这些发现都支持了高温超导体赝隙相中存在有限的超导序参量振幅和强烈的位相涨落的图像,说明Tc0处的相变是由库珀对之间长程位相关联的消失所驱动的.文章首先简短地介绍高温超导体的电子态相图和赝隙态,以及能斯特效应的原理和测量方法,然后对能斯特效应的测量结果作一评述性介绍,还讨论了相关的理论模型.     

Critical temperature of a trapped Bose gas: comparison of theory and experiment

We apply the projected Gross-Pitaevskii equation (PGPE) formalism to the experimental problem of the shift in critical temperature Tc of a harmonically confined Bose gas as reported in Gerbier et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 030405 (2004). The PGPE method includes critical fluctuations and we find the results differ from various mean-field theories, and are in best agreement with experimental data. To unequivocally observe beyond mean-field effects, however, the experimental precision must either improve by an order of magnitude, or consider more strongly interacting systems. This is the first application of a classical field method to make quantitative comparison with experiment.     

Disordered RKKY lattice mean field theory for ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductors

We develop a lattice mean field theory for ferromagnetic ordering in diluted magnetic semiconductors by taking into account the spatial fluctuations associated with random disorder in the magnetic impurity locations and the finite mean free path associated with low carrier mobilities. Assuming a carrier-mediated indirect RKKY exchange interaction among the magnetic impurities, we find substantial deviation from the extensively used continuum Zener model Weiss mean field predictions. Our theory allows accurate analytic predictions for Tc and provides simple explanations for a number of observed anomalies, including the non-Brillouin function magnetization curves, the suppressed low-temperature magnetization saturation, and the dependence of Tc on conductivity.     

Field-enhanced diamagnetism in the pseudogap state of the cuprate Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta) superconductor in an intense magnetic field

In hole-doped cuprates, Nernst experiments imply that the superconducting state is destroyed by spontaneous creation of vortices which destroy phase coherence. Using torque magnetometry on Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta), we uncover a field-enhanced diamagnetic signal M above the transition temperature Tc that increases with applied field to 32 Tesla and scales just like the Nernst signal. The magnetization results above Tc distinguish M from conventional amplitude fluctuations and strongly support the vortex scenario for the loss of phase coherence at Tc.     

Contraction and reswelling of a polymer chain near the critical point of a binary liquid mixture

We have studied the conformation change of a flexible linear polymer chain near the critical point of a binary liquid mixture using fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, which measured the hydrodynamic radius of the chains. Our results indicate that as the critical temperature (Tc) is approached, the chain size decreases. The polymer attains its most compact conformation when the correlation length of the critical fluctuations becomes comparable to the coil size. At very close to Tc, the polymer reexpands dramatically. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence supporting the prediction of Brochard and de Gennes that a polymer chain will collapse and subsequently reswell on approaching Tc.     

Superconductivity-related insulating behavior

We present the results of an experimental study of superconducting, disordered, thin films of amorphous indium oxide. These films can be driven from the superconducting phase to a reentrant insulating state by the application of a perpendicular magnetic field (B). We find that the high-B insulator exhibits activated transport with a characteristic temperature, TI. TI has a maximum value (TpI) that is close to the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) at B=0, suggesting a possible relation between the conduction mechanisms in the superconducting and insulating phases. Tp(I) and Tc display opposite dependences on the disorder strength.     

Origin of ferromagnetism and its pressure and doping dependence in Tl2Mn2O7

Using the Nth order muffin-tin obital downfolding technique, we investigate the origin of ferromagnetism in pyrochlore Tl2Mn2O7. It is found to be driven by a hybridization induced spin polarization of delocalized charge carriers derived from Tl-s and O-p states. The mean-field estimate of the ferromagnetic transition temperature Tc estimated using computed exchange integrals are found to be in good agreement with measurements. We find an enhancement of Tc for moderate doping with nonmagnetic Sb and a suppression of Tc upon application of pressure, both in agreement with experimental findings.     

Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Bose-Einstein Condensation in Harmonic Traps

A simple and direct approach to handle summation is presented. With this approach, we analytically investigate Bose-Einstein condensation of ideal Bose gas trapped in an isotropic harmonic oscillator potential. We get the accurate expression of Tc which is very close to (0.43% larger than) the experimental data. We find the curve of internal energy of the system vs. temperature has a turning point which marks the beginning of a condensation. We also find that there exists specific heat jump at the transition temperature, no matter whether the system is macroscopic or finite. This phenomenon could be a manifestation of a phase transition in finite systems.     

Evolution of the Fermi surface of d-wave superconductors in the presence of thermal phase fluctuations

One of the most puzzling aspects of the high Tc superconductors is the appearance of Fermi arcs in the normal state of the underdoped cuprate materials. These are loci of low energy excitations covering part of the Fermi surface that suddenly appear above Tc instead of the nodal quasiparticles. Based on a semiclassical theory, we argue that partial Fermi surfaces arise naturally in a d-wave superconductor that is destroyed by thermal phase fluctuations. Specifically, we show that the electron spectral function develops a square root singularity at low frequencies for wave vectors positioned on the bare Fermi surface. We predict a temperature dependence of the arc length that can partially account for the results of recent angle resolved photoemission experiments.     

Coexistence of magnetic fluctuations and superconductivity in the pnictide high temperature superconductor SmFeAsO1-xFx measured by muon spin rotation

Muon spin rotation experiments were performed on the pnictide high temperature superconductor SmFeAsO1-xFx with x=0.18 and 0.3. We observed an unusual enhancement of slow spin fluctuations in the vicinity of the superconducting transition which suggests that the spin fluctuations contribute to the formation of an unconventional superconducting state. An estimate of the in-plane penetration depth lambda ab(0)=190(5) nm was obtained, which confirms that the pnictide superconductors obey an Uemura-style relationship between Tc and lambda ab(0);(-2).     

Observation of the crossover from two-gap to single-gap superconductivity through specific heat measurements in neutron-irradiated MgB2

We report specific heat measurements on neutron-irradiated MgB2 samples, for which the critical temperature is lowered to 8.7 K, but the superconducting transition remains extremely sharp, indicative of a defect structure extremely homogeneous. Our results evidence the presence of two superconducting gaps in the temperature range above 21 K, while single-gap superconductivity is well established as a bulk property, not associated with local disorder fluctuations, when Tc decreases to 11 K.     

Competitive coexistence of superconductivity with antiferromagnetism in CeRhIn5

We carried out ac magnetic susceptibility measurements under pressures P on the heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeRhIn5. We report bulk superconductivity (SC) at ambient pressure with a transition temperature Tc approximately or equal to 90 mK. The degraded SC in a powdered or polished sample was restored by annealing, showing that the SC state is sensitive to inhomogeneity. In a coexistence region of the SC with antiferromagnetism (AF), we find that Tc(P)(n)TN(P)(1-n) = const where TN indicates a Néel temperature and n denotes a ratio of electronic specific heat coefficients below and above TN, indicating the competition of the SC and the AF for states at the Fermi surface.     

Electron interactions and transport between coupled quantum Hall edge states

We examine the effects of electron-electron interactions on transport between edge states in a multilayer integer quantum Hall system. The edge states of such a system, coupled by interlayer tunneling, form a two-dimensional, chiral metal at the sample surface. We calculate the temperature-dependent conductivity and the amplitude of conductance fluctuations in this chiral metal, treating Coulomb interactions and disorder exactly in the weak-tunneling limit. We find that the conductivity increases with increasing temperature, as observed in recent experiments, and we show that the correlation length characterizing conductance fluctuations varies inversely with temperature.     

From E2g to other modes: effects of pressure on electron-phonon interaction in MgB2

We study the effects of pressure on the electron-phonon interaction in MgB2 using density-functional-based methods. Our results show that the superconductivity in MgB2 vanishes by 100 GPa, and then reappears at higher pressures. In particular, we find a superconducting transition temperature Tc approximately 2 K for mu*=0.1 at a pressure of 137 GPa.     

Measurement of temperature fluctuations and anomalous transport in the SINP tokamak

Temperature fluctuations have been measured in the edge region of the SINP tokamak. We find that these fluctuations have a comparatively high level (30–40%) and a broad spectrum. The temperature fluctuations show a quite high coherence with density and potential fluctuations and contribute considerably to the anomalous particle flux.     

The hot nonperturbative gluon plasma is an almost ideal colored liquid

We study properties of a gluon plasma above the critical temperature Tc in a generalized quasiparticle approach with a Lorentz spectral function. The model parameters are determined by a fit of the entropy s to lattice QCD data. The effective degrees of freedom are found to be rather heavy and of a sizable width. With the spectral width being closely related to the interaction rate, we find a large effective cross section, which is comparable to the typical distance squared of the quasiparticles. This suggests that the system should be viewed as a liquid as also indicated by an estimate of the plasma parameter Gamma. Furthermore, within the quasiparticle approach we find a very low viscosity to entropy ratio, eta/s approximately 0.2 for T > 1.05 Tc, supporting the recent conjecture of an almost ideal quark-gluon liquid seen at RHIC.     

Critical temperature and enhanced isotope effect in the presence of paramagnons in phonon-mediated superconductors

We reconsider the long-standing problem of the effect of spin fluctuations on the critical temperature and isotope effect in a phonon-mediated superconductor. Although the general physics of the interplay between phonons and paramagnons has been rather well understood, the existing approximate formulas fail to describe the correct behavior of Tc for general phonon and paramagnon spectra. Using a controllable approximation, we derive an analytical formula for Tc which agrees well with exact numerical solutions of the Eliashberg equations for a broad range of parameters. Based on both numerical and analytical results, we predict a strong enhancement of the isotope effect when the frequencies of spin fluctuation and phonons are of the same order. This effect may have important consequences for near-magnetic superconductors such as MgCNi3.     

Disorder-induced inhomogeneities of the superconducting state close to the superconductor-insulator transition

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy at very low temperatures on homogeneously disordered superconducting titanium nitride thin films reveals strong spatial inhomogeneities of the superconducting gap Delta in the density of states. Upon increasing disorder, we observe suppression of the superconducting critical temperature Tc towards zero, enhancement of spatial fluctuations in Delta, and growth of the Delta/Tc ratio. These findings suggest that local superconductivity survives across the disorder-driven superconductor-insulator transition.     

Domain-enhanced interlayer coupling in ferroelectric/paraelectric superlattices

We investigate the ferroelectric phase transition and domain formation in a periodic superlattice consisting of alternate ferroelectric (FE) and paraelectric (PE) layers of nanometric thickness. We find that the polarization domains formed in the different FE layers can interact with each other via the PE layers. By coupling the electrostatic equations with those obtained by minimizing the Ginzburg-Landau functional, we calculate the critical temperature of transition Tc as a function of the FE/PE superlattice wavelength Lambda and quantitatively explain the recent experimental observation of a thickness dependence of the ferroelectric transition temperature in KTaO3/KNbO3 strained-layer superlattices.     

Interacting random Dirac fermions in superconducting cuprates

We study the effects of quasiparticle interactions on disorder-induced localization of Dirac-like nodal excitations in superconducting high- Tc cuprates. As suggested by the experimental angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and terahertz conductivity data in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta), we focus on the interactions mediated by the order parameter fluctuations near an incipient second pairing transition d --> d + is(id'). We find interaction corrections to the density of states, specific heat, and conductivity as well as phase and energy relaxation rates and assess the applicability of the recent localization scenarios for noninteracting random Dirac fermions to the cuprates.