Highly anisotropic anomaly in the dispersion of the copper-oxygen bond-bending phonon in superconducting YBa2Cu3O7 from inelastic neutron scattering

Motivated by predictions of a substantial contribution of the "buckling" vibration of the CuO(2) layers to d-wave superconductivity in the cuprates, we have performed an inelastic neutron scattering study of this phonon in an array of untwinned crystals of YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7). The data reveal a pronounced softening of the phonon at the in-plane wave vector q=(0,0.3) upon cooling below ~105 K, but no corresponding anomaly at q=(0.3,0). Based on the observed in-plane anisotropy, we argue that the electron-phonon interaction responsible for this anomaly supports an electronic instability associated with a uniaxial charge-density modulation and does not mediate d-wave superconductivity.     

Fast neutron irradiation of YBa2Cu3O7

The influence of fast neutron irradiation on the superconducting transition temperature,T _c , the transition width, upper critical field,B _c2 , and critical current density,j _c , has been investigated in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ up to a fluence of 10¹⁹ cm^–2 (E>1 MeV). TheT _c degradation with fluence is slightly less than in PbMo₆S₈, but larger than in A 15 compounds. The irradiation induced increase of the normal state resistivity is accompanied by a remarkable decrease of both the intergrainj _c and the superconducting volume fraction.     

A study of the mixed state of the YBa2Cu3O6.9 superconducting ceramics by neutron depolarization

The mixed state of the YBaCu₂O_6.9 superconducting ceramics is investigated by neutron depolarization (ND). The magnetic flux penetration into superconductor's granules can be described in terms of Bean's critical state model. The field and temperature dependence of the average angle of the vortex line deflection from the direction of the applied magnetic field are determined. In particular, this angle is zero atT/T _c 0.5 andH/H _c20.015, which is at the sameT/T _c nearH/H _c20.017 for the metalloceramic SnMo₆S₈ superconductor. The latter is also studied in the present work for comparison with the YBa₂Cu₃O_6.9 sample. TheseH/H _c2 are far below the corresponding values ofH/H _c2 for Nb, Nb–Ta. The creep of the flux line misalignments from the applied field direction is examined.     

Far-infrared reflectivity of sintered YBa2Cu3O7 in the normal and superconducting state

We report on a study of the far-infrared reflection for a sintered YBa₂Cu₃O₇ sample that contained a large portion of preferentially oriented crystallites with thea–b plane parallel to the surface and that showed extraordinary high far-infrared reflectivity. From experimental reflection data we determined, by Kramers-Kronig analysis, the dynamical conductivity and extracted the contributions due to free charge carriers and phonons, respectively. We find evidence for an anomalous behavior of the dynamical conductivity at temperatures aboveT _c ; the dynamical conductivity increases strongly for temperatures approachingT _c and is strongly frequency dependent. By use of the Mattis-Bardeen theory we obtain an estimate for the superconducting energy gap of 2/kT _c 4.6 (forTT _c ). We find that the lowest frequency infrared-active phonon mode is less damped in the superconducting state than in the normal state.     

Mott gap excitations in twin-free YBa2Cu3O7-delta (Tc=93 K) studied by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Mott gap excitations in the optimally doped high-T(c) superconductor YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) (T(c)=93 K) have been studied by the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering method. Anisotropic spectra in the ab plane are observed in a twin-free crystal. The excitation from the one-dimensional CuO chain is enhanced at 2 eV near the zone boundary of the b* direction, while the excitation from the CuO2 plane is broad at 1.5-4 eV and almost independent of the momentum transfer. Theoretical calculations based on the one-dimensional and two-dimensional Hubbard model reproduces the observed spectra when different values of the on-site Coulomb energy are assumed. The Mott gap of the CuO chain site is found to be much smaller than that of the CuO2 plane site.     

Thermal expansion of a YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting ceramic

The thermal expansion of the High T_c superconducting ceramic YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ has been measured from 50 K up to room temperature by means of a capacitance dilatometer. No detectable anomalous change in lenght is observed at the critical temperature T_c, within the resolution of our experimental set up: Δl/l = 5 10⁻⁸. This indicates a weak dependence of T_c on pressure, contrarily to the one measured on (LaBa)CuO lower T_c superconducting ceramics. The Debye temperature is also estimated.     

Muon spin rotation evidence for a glassy superconducting state in YBa2Cu3O7-y

We report on muon spin rotation (μSR) measurements of the internal magnetization in polycrystalline samples of the high T_c superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O_7-y. The mean value as well as the mean square deviation of the internal magnetic field seen by the muons undergo large variations with temperature. This effect shows a marked dependence on the magnetic history of the sample, which is what is expected of a glassy superconducting state.     

Impurity-induced local magnetism and density of states in the superconducting state of YBa2Cu3O7

17O NMR is used to probe the local influence of nonmagnetic Zn and magnetic Ni impurities in the superconducting state of optimally doped high TC YBa2Cu3O7. Zn and Ni induce a staggered paramagnetic polarization, similar to that evidenced above TC, with a typical extension xi=3 cell units for Zn and xi>or=3 for Ni. In addition, Zn is observed to induce a local density of states near the Fermi energy in its neighborhood, which also decays over about 3 cell units. Its magnitude decreases sharply with increasing temperature. This allows direct comparison with the STM observations done in BiSCCO.     

Low-flux neutron irradiation of ceramic YBa2 Cu3O7−δ

Summary Pellets of sintered YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ with three different oxygen contents have been irradiated with fast neutron beams of energies 6.5, 3.3 and 4.4 MeV at fluences of 7.7·10⁴, 1.3·10⁵ and 1.4·10⁹ n/cm², respectively. The radiation damage has been investigated by comparing the critical temperature (T _c ^mid ), the zero resistivity and the onset temperature before and after neutron irradiation. The critical current has been measured for a few samples in the same experimental conditions. In all transport measurements two different responses to the neutron radiation are observed and discussed.