The temperature dependence of the electron spin-lattice relaxation SLR was studied in Er0.01Y0.99Ba2Cu3Ox compounds. The data derived from the electron spin resonance ESR and SLR measurements were compared to those from inelastic neutron scattering studies. SLR of Er3+ ions in the temperature range from 20 K to 65 K can be explained by the resonant phonon relaxation process with the involvement of the lowest excited crystalline-electric-field electronic states of Er3+. These results are consistent with a local phase separation effects. Possible mechanisms of the ESR line broadening at lower temperatures are discussed. Keywords: YBCO; EPR; ESR; Electron spin-lattice relaxation time, T ; Crystalline-electric-field
The electron spin-lattice relaxation (SLR) times T1 of Yb3+‡ ions were measured from the temperature dependence of electron spin resonance linewidth in Y0.99Yb0.01Ba2Cu3Ox with different oxygen contents. Raman relaxation processes dominate the electron SLR. Derived from the temperature dependence of the SLR rate, the Debye temperature (Td) increases with the critical temperature Tc and oxygen content x. Keywords: EPR; ESR; Electron spin-lattice relaxation; Debye temperature; Critical temperature
Muon-spin-relaxation (muSR) measurements have been performed for the partially Zn-substituted electron-doped high-T_c_ superconductor Pr_0.86_LaCe_0.14_Cu_1-y_Zn_y_O_4+alpha-delta_ with y=0-0.05 and the reduced oxygen content delta=0-0.09, in order to investigate nonmagnetic Zn-impurity effects on the Cu-spin dynamics. For all the measured samples with delta=0.01-0.09, it has been found that a fast depolarization of muon spins is observed below 100 K due to the effect of Pr^3+^ moments and that the muSR time spectrum in the long-time region above 5 mu-sec increases with decreasing temperature at low temperatures below 30 K possibly due to slowing down of the Cu-spin fluctuations assisted by Pr^3+^ moments. No Zn-induced slowing down of the Cu-spin fluctuations has been observed for moderately oxygen-reduced samples with delta=0.04-0.09, which is very different from the muSR results of La_2-x_Sr_x_Cu_1-y_Zn_y_O_4_. The possible reason may be that there are no dynamical stripe correlations of spins and electrons in the electron-doped high-T_c_ cuprates or that the effect of Pr^3+^ moments on the muSR spectra is stronger than that of a small amount of Zn impurities.
In order to investigate the low-energy antiferromagnetic Cu-spin correlation and its relation to the superconductivity, we have performed muon spin relaxation (muSR) measurements using single crystals of the electron-doped high-Tc cuprate Pr_1-x_LaCe_x_CuO_4_ in the overdoped regime. The muSR spectra have revealed that the Cu-spin correlation is developed in the overdoped samples where the superconductivity appears. The development of the Cu-spin correlation weakens with increasing x and is negligibly small in the heavily overdoped sample where the superconductivity almost disappears. Considering that the Cu-spin correlation also exist in the superconducting electron-doped cuprates in the undoped and underdoped regimes [T. Adachi et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 85, 114716 (2016)], our findings suggest that the mechanism of the superconductivity is related to the low-energy Cu-spin correlation in the entire doping regime of the electron-doped cuprates.
The spatially averaged density of states, <N(0)>, of an unconventional d-wave superconductor is magnetic field dependent, proportional to $H^{1/2}$, owing to the Doppler shift of quasiparticle excitations in a background of vortex supercurrents[1,2]. This phenomenon, called the Volovik effect, has been predicted to exist for a sign changing $spm$ state [3], although it is absent in a single band s-wave superconductor. Consequently, we expect there to be Doppler contributions to the NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate, $1/T_1 propto <N(0)^2>$, for an $spm$ state which will depend on magnetic field. We have measured the $^{75}$As $1/T_1$ in a high-quality, single crystal of Ba$_{0.67}$K$_{0.33}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ over a wide range of field up to 28 T. Our spatially resolved measurements show that indeed there are Doppler contributions to $1/T_1$ which increase closer to the vortex core, with a spatial average proportional to $H^2$, inconsistent with recent theory [4]
We use femtosecond optical spectroscopy to systematically measure the primary energy relaxation rate k1 of photoexcited carriers in cuprate and pnictide superconductors. We find that k1 increases monotonically with increased negative strain in the crystallographic a-axis. Generally, the Bardeen-Shockley deformation potential theorem and, specifically, pressure-induced Raman shifts reported in the literature suggest that increased negative strain enhances electron-phonon coupling, which implies that the observed direct correspondence between a and k1 is consistent with the canonical assignment of k1 to the electron-phonon interaction. The well-known non-monotonic dependence of the superconducting critical temperature Tc on the a-axis strain is also reflected in a systematic dependence Tc on k1, with a distinct maximum at intermediate values (~16 ps-1 at room temperature). The empirical non-monotonic systematic variation of Tc with the strength of the electron-phonon interaction provides us with unique insight into the role of electron-phonon interaction in relation to the mechanism of high-Tc superconductivity as a crossover phenomenon.