No Arabic abstract
The mechanism of superconductivity in cuprates remains one of the big challenges of condensed matter physics.High Tc cuprates crystallize into layered perovskite structure featuring copper oxygen octahedral coordination. Due to the Jahn Teller effect in combination with the strong static Coulomb interaction, the octahedra in high Tc cuprates are elongated along the c axis, leading to a 3dx2-y2 orbital at the top of the band structure wherein the doped holes reside.This scenario gives rise to two dimensional characteristics in high Tc cuprates that favor d wave pairing symmetry. Here we report superconductivity in a cuprate Ba2CuO4-y wherein the local octahedron is in a very exceptional compressed version.The Ba2CuO4-y compound was synthesized at high pressure at high temperatures, and shows bulk superconductivity with critical temperature Tc above 70 K at ambient conditions. This superconducting transition temperature is more than 30 K higher than the Tc for the isostructural counterparts based on classical La2CuO4. X-ray absorption measurements indicate the heavily doped nature of the Ba2CuO4-y superconductor. In compressed octahedron the 3d3z2-r2 orbital will be lifted above the 3dx2-y2 orbital, leading to significant three dimensional nature in addition to the conventional 3dx2-y2 orbital. This work sheds important new light on advancing our comprehensive understanding of the superconducting mechanism of high Tc in cuprate materials.
Since the discovery of n-type copper oxide superconductors, the evolution of electron- and hole-bands and its relation to the superconductivity have been seen as a key factor in unveiling the mechanism of high-Tc superconductors. So far, the occurrence of electrons and holes in n-type copper oxides has been achieved by chemical doping, pressure, and/or deoxygenation. However, the observed electronic properties are blurred by the concomitant effects such as change of lattice structure, disorder, etc. Here, we report on successful tuning the electronic band structure of n-type Pr2-xCexCuO4 (x = 0.15) ultrathin films, via the electric double layer transistor technique. Abnormal transport properties, such as multiple sign reversals of Hall resistivity in normal and mixed states, have been revealed within an electrostatic field in range of -2 V to +2 V, as well as varying the temperature and magnetic field. In the mixed state, the intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity invokes the contribution of both electron and hole-bands as well as the energy dependent density of states near the Fermi level. The two-band model can also describe the normal state transport properties well, whereas the carrier concentrations of electrons and holes are always enhanced or depressed simultaneously in electric fields. This is in contrast to the scenario of Fermi surface reconstruction by antiferromagnetism, where an anti-correlation between electrons and holes is commonly expected. Our findings paint the picture where Coulomb repulsion plays an important role in the evolution of the electronic states in n-type cuprate superconductors.
High-temperature (high-Tc) superconductivity in the copper oxides arises from electron or hole doping of their antiferromagnetic (AF) insulating parent compounds. The evolution of the AF phase with doping and its spatial coexistence with superconductivity are governed by the nature of charge and spin correlations and provide clues to the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity. Here we use a combined neutron scattering and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) to study the Tc evolution of electron-doped superconducting Pr0.88LaCe0.12CuO4-delta obtained through the oxygen annealing process. We find that spin excitations detected by neutron scattering have two distinct modes that evolve with Tc in a remarkably similar fashion to the electron tunneling modes in STS. These results demonstrate that antiferromagnetism and superconductivity compete locally and coexist spatially on nanometer length scales, and the dominant electron-boson coupling at low energies originates from the electron-spin excitations.
A topological superconductor features at its boundaries and vortices Majorana fermions, which are potentially applicable for topological quantum computations. The scarcity of the known experimentally verified physical systems with topological superconductivity, time-reversal invariant ones in particular, is giving rise to a strong demand for identifying new candidate materials. In this research, we study a heterostructure consisting of a transition metal oxide two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) sandwiched by insulators near the paraelectric (PE) / ferroelectric (FE) phase transition. Its relevant characteristics is the combination of the transition metal spin-orbit coupling and the soft odd-parity phonons arising from the ferroelectric fluctuation; it gives rise to the fluctuating Rashba effect, which can mediate the pairing interaction for time-reversal invariant topological superconductivity. As the PE / FE phase transition can be driven by applying strain on the heterostructure, this system provides a tunable electron-phonon coupling. Through the first-principle calculations on the (001) [BaOsO3][BaTiO3]4, we find such electron-phonon coupling to be strong over a wide range of applied tensile bi-axial strain in the monolayer BaOsO3 sandwiched between the (001) BaTiO3, hence qualifying it as a good candidate material. Furthermore, the stability of topological superconductivity in this material is enhanced by its orbital physics that gives rise to the anisotropic dispersion.
In this article, we report the occurrence of superconductivity in Sn0.4Sb0.6 single crystal at below 4K. Rietveld refined Powder XRD data confirms the phase purity of as grown crystal, crystallizing in rhombohedral R-3m space group with an elongated (2xc) unit cell in c-direction. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image and EDAX measurement confirm the laminar growth and near to desired stoichiometry ratio. Raman Spectroscopy data shows the vibrational modes of Sn-Sb and Sb-Sb modes at 110 and 135cm-1. ZFC (Zero-Field-Cooled) magnetization measurements done at 10Oe showed sharp superconducting transitions at 4K along with a minor step at 3.5K. On the other hand, Paramagnetic Meissner Effect (PME) is observed in FC measurements. Magnetization vs applied field (M-H) plots at 2, 2.2, 2.5, 2.7, 3, 3.2, 3.5, and 3.7K shows typical Type-II nature of observed superconductivity with lower and upper critical fields (Hc1 and Hc2) at 69.42Oe and 630Oe respectively at 2K. Type-II superconductivity is also confirmed by calculated Ginzburg-Landau Kappa parameter value of 3.55. Characteristics length viz. coherence length and penetration depth are also calculated. Weak granular coupling is observed from R-T plot, in which resistance is not dropping to zero down to 2K.
The structure of the layered transition-metal Borides $A$B$_2$ ($A =$ Os, Ru) is built up by alternating $T$ and B layers with the B layers forming a puckered honeycomb. Here we report superconducting properties of RuB$_2$ with a $T_c approx 1.5$K using measurements of the magnetic susceptibility versus temperature $T$, magnetization $M$ versus magnetic field $H$, resistivity versus $T$, and heat capacity versus $T$ at various $H$. We observe a reduced heat capacity anomaly at $T_c$ given by $Delta C/gamma T_c approx 1.1$ suggesting multi-gap superconductivity. Strong support for this is obtained by the successful fitting of the electronic specific heat data to a two-gap model with gap values $Delta_1/k_BT_c approx 1.88$ and $Delta_2/k_BT_c approx 1.13$. Additionally, $M$ versus $H$ measurements reveal a behaviour consistent with Type-I superconductivity. This is confirmed by estimates of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter $kappa approx 0.1$--$0.66$. These results strongly suggest multi-gap Type-I superconductivity in RuB$_2$. We also calculate the band structure and obtain the Fermi surface for RuB$_2$. The Fermi surface consists of one quasi-two-dimensional sheet and two nested ellipsoidal sheets very similar to OsB$_2$. An additional small $4^{rm th}$ sheet is also found for RuB$_2$. RuB$_2$ could thus be a rare example of a multi-gap Type-I superconductor.