No Arabic abstract
Irradiation with electrons is an efficient approach to inducing a large number of defects with a minimal impact on the material itself. Analysis of the energy transfer from an accelerated particle smashing into the crystal lattice shows that only electrons with MeV energies produce point defects in the form of interstitial ions and vacancies that form perfect scattering centers. Here, we investigate the changes in the resistive characteristics of YBCO single crystals from the 1-2-3 system after several steps of low-temperature irradiation with $0.5-2.5$,MeV electrons and irradiation doses of up to $8.8times10^{18}$,cm$^{-2}$. The penetration depth of such electrons is much larger than the crystal thickness. We reveal that defects appearing in consequence of such electron irradiation not only increase the residual resistance, but they affect the phonon spectrum of the system and lower the superconducting transition temperature linearly with increase of the irradiation dose. Furthermore, the irradiation-induced defects are distributed non-uniformly, that manifests itself via a broadening of the superconducting transition. Interestingly, the excess conductivity remains almost unaffected after such electron irradiation.
The influence of irradiation by electrons with energies of $0.5-2.5$,MeV at temperatures of about $10$,K on the basal-plane resistivity of the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-delta}$ single crystals is investigated in the range from $T_c$ to $300$,K. The resistivity temperature dependence is determined by defects arising due to the irradiation. These defects directly affect the superconducting transition, decreasing $T_c$ and increasing the transition width without significant distortions of its shape. The resulting defects also lead to an increase in the Debye temperature due to a reduction of the anisotropy, and a noticeable increase in the scattering by phonons in the sample. The excess conductivity does not change with the irradiation used.
We measured the first and third harmonic of the complex AC susceptibility in YBCO single crystals with different oxygen content. The amplitude of the AC field was varied in presence of an external DC field both applied parallel to the c axis of the crystals. We show evidence that deoxygenation leads to a reduction of bulk pinning strength and consequently to a stronger contribution of geometrical barriers.
The Abricosov vortex and bundles dynamics was experimentally investigated in Earths magnetic field range. Isothermal relaxation features in YBCO single crystal samples with strong pinning centers were studied for different sample-field orientation. The normalized relaxation rate S obtained allowed to estimate the effective pinning potential U in the bulk of the YBCO sample and its temperature dependence, as well as the critical current density Jc. A comparison between the data obtained and the results for similar measurements in significantly higher magnetic fields was performed. To compare different Jc measuring techniques magnetization loop M(H) measurements, were made. These measurements provide many important parameters of the sample under study (penetration field Hp, first critical field Hc1, etc.) that contain the geometrical configuration of the samples.
The effect of annealing on the basal-plane electrical resistivity of the YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-delta}$ single crystals is studied in a broad range of oxygen contents. Within the framework of s-d scattering of electrons by phonons, an increase in the oxygen deficit index, $delta$, leads to a significant increase in the Debye temperature, $theta$, which is associated with the isotropization of the phonon spectrum as the concentration of oxygen vacancies increases. Near the optimal doping, the role of the paraconductivity becomes crucial, whereas its contribution decreases with increasing $delta$. At large values of $delta$ some deviations from the s-d model of electron scattering by phonons are observed at room temperature, while no paraproductivity is observed. In the superconducting transition region, a 2D-3D crossover is observed, which shifts in the direction of $T_c$ with increasing $delta$. The estimate for the transverse coherence length is about $1$,AA.
Strain is a powerful experimental tool to explore new electronic states and understand unconventional superconductivity. Here, we investigate the effect of uniaxial strain on the nematic and superconducting phase of single crystal FeSe using magnetotransport measurements. We find that the resistivity response to the strain is strongly temperature dependent and it correlates with the sign change in the Hall coefficient being driven by scattering, coupling with the lattice and multiband phenomena. Band structure calculations suggest that under strain the electron pockets develop a large in-plane anisotropy as compared with the hole pocket. Magnetotransport studies at low temperatures indicate that the mobility of the dominant carriers increases with tensile strain. Close to the critical temperature, all resistivity curves at constant strain cross in a single point, indicating a universal critical exponent linked to a strain-induced phase transition. Our results indicate that the superconducting state is enhanced under compressive strain and suppressed under tensile strain, in agreement with the trends observed in FeSe thin films and overdoped pnictides, whereas the nematic phase seems to be affected in the opposite way by the uniaxial strain. By comparing the enhanced superconductivity under strain of different systems, our results suggest that strain on its own cannot account for the enhanced high $T_c$ superconductivity of FeSe systems.