No Arabic abstract
We use coherent pump-probe spectroscopy to measure the photoinduced reflectivity DeltaR, and complex dielectric function, {delta}in, of the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd_{2-x}Ce_xCuO_{4+delta} at a value of x near optimal doping, as a function of time, temperature, and laser fluence. We observe the onset of a negative DeltaR at T=85 K, above the superconducting transition temperature, T_c, of 23 K, that exhibits a form of scaling consistent with critical fluctuations in the time domain. A positive Delta R onsets at T_c that we associate with superconducting order. We find that the two signals are strongly coupled below T_c, in a manner that suggests a repulsive interaction between superconductivity and antiferromagnetic correlations.
Low energy polarized electronic Raman scattering of the electron doped superconductor Nd_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4 (T_c=22 K) has revealed a nonmonotonic d_{x^2-y^2} superconducting order parameter. It has a maximum gap of 4.4 k_BT_c at Fermi surface intersections with antiferromagnetic Brillouin zone (the ``hot spots) and a smaller gap of 3.3 k_BT_c at fermionic Brillouin zone boundaries. The gap enhancement in the vicinity of the ``hot spots emphasizes role of antiferromagnetic fluctuations and similarity in the origin of superconductivity for electron- and hole-doped cuprates.
Recently we proposed a theory of point-contact spectroscopy and argued that the splitting of zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in electron-doped cuprate superconductor point-contact spectroscopy is due to the coexistence of antiferromagnetic (AF) and d-wave superconducting orders [Phys. Rev. B {bf 76}, 220504(R) (2007)]. Here we extend the theory to study the tunneling in the ferromagnetic metal/electron-doped cuprate superconductor (FM/EDSC) junctions. In addition to the AF order, the effects of spin polarization, Fermi-wave vector mismatch (FWM) between the FM and EDSC regions, and effective barrier are investigated. It is shown that there exits midgap surface state (MSS) contribution to the conductance to which Andreev reflections are largely modified due to the interplay between the exchange field of ferromagnetic metal and the AF order in EDSC. Low-energy anomalous conductance enhancement can occur which could further test the existence of AF order in EDSC. Finally, we propose a more accurate formula in determining the spin polarization value in combination with the point-contact conductance data.
The pairing state symmetry of the electron-doped cuprate superconductors is thought to be s-wave in nature, in contrast with their hole-doped counterparts which exhibit a d-wave symmetry. We re-examine this issue based on recent improvements in our electron-doped materials and our measurement techniques. We report microwave cavity perturbation measurements of the temperature dependence of the penetration depth of Pr_(2-x)Ce_(x)CuO_(4-y) and Nd_(2-x)Ce_(x)CuO_(4-y) crystals. Our data strongly suggest that the pairing symmetry in these materials is not s-wave.
The microscopic details of flux line lattice state studied by muon spin rotation is reported in an electron-doped high-$T_{rm c}$ cuprate superconductor, Sr$_{1-x}$La$_{x}$CuO$_{2}$ (SLCO, $x=0.10$--0.15). A clear sign of phase separation between magnetic and non-magnetic phases is observed, where the effective magnetic penetration depth [$lambdaequivlambda(T,H)$] is determined selectively for the latter phase. The extremely small value of $lambda(0,0)$ %versus $T_{rm c}$ and corresponding large superfluid density ($n_s propto lambda^{-2}$) is consistent with presence of a large Fermi surface with carrier density of $1+x$, which suggests the breakdown of the doped Mott insulator even at the optimal doping in SLCO. Moreover, a relatively weak anisotropy in the superconducting order parameter is suggested by the field dependence of $lambda(0,H)$. These observations strongly suggest that the superconductivity in SLCO is of a different class from hole-doped cuprates.
It was recently demonstrated that the anisotropic phonon heat transport behavior is a good probe of the stripe formation in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4 (LSCO) [X. F. Sun {it et al.}, Phys. Rev. B {bf 67}, 104503 (2003)]. Using this probe, we examined an electron-doped cuprate Pr_{1.3-x}La_{0.7}Ce_xCuO_4 (PLCCO) and found that essentially the same features as those in LSCO are observed. Moreover, the in-plane resistivity rho_{ab} of lightly-doped PLCCO shows metallic behavior (drho_{ab}/dT > 0) in the Neel ordered state with a mobility comparable to that in LSCO. It is discussed that these peculiar properties in common with LSCO signify the existence of stripes in electron-doped cuprates.