No Arabic abstract
The mutual interaction between Cooper pairs is proposed as a mechanism for the superconducting state. Above $T_c$, pre-existing but fluctuating Cooper pairs give rise to the unconventional {it pseudogap} (PG) state, well-characterized by experiment. At the critical temperature, the pair-pair interaction induces a Bose-like condensation of these preformed pairs leading to the superconducting (SC) state. Below $T_c$, both the condensation energy and the pair-pair interaction $beta$ are proportional to the condensate density $N_{oc}(T)$, whereas the usual Fermi-level spectral gap $Delta_p$ is independent of temperature. The new order parameter $beta(T)$, can be followed as a function of temperature, carrier concentration and disorder - i.e. the phase diagrams. The complexity of the cuprates, revealed by the large number of parameters, is a consequence of the {it coupling of quasiparticles to Cooper-pair excitations}. The latter interpretation is strongly supported by the observed quasiparticle spectral function.
Based on the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we have investigated the mechanism of high $T_c$ superconductivity in stoichiometric LiFeAs. The calculated spectrum is in excellent agreement with the observed ARPES measurement. The Fermi surface (FS) nesting, which is predicted in the conventional density functional theory method, is suppressed due to the orbital-dependent correlation effect with the DMFT method. We have shown that such marginal breakdown of the FS nesting is an essential condition to the spin-fluctuation mediated superconductivity, while the good FS nesting in NaFeAs induces a spin density wave ground state. Our results indicate that fully charge self-consistent description of the correlation effect is crucial in the description of the FS nesting-driven instabilities.
Non-trivial topology and unconventional pairing are two central guiding principles in the contemporary search for and analysis of superconducting materials and heterostructure compounds. Previously, a topological superconductor has been predominantly conceived to result from a topologically non-trivial band subject to intrinsic or external superconducting proximity effect. Here, we propose a new class of topological superconductors which are uniquely induced by unconventional pairing. They exhibit a boundary-obstructed higher-order topological character and, depending on their dimensionality, feature unprecedently robust Majorana bound states or hinge modes protected by chiral symmetry. We predict the 112-family of iron pnictides, such as Ca$_{1-x}$La$_x$FeAs$_2$, to be a highly suited material candidate for our proposal, which can be tested by edge spectroscopy. Because of the boundary-obstruction, the topologically non-trivial feature of the 112 pnictides does not reveal itself for a bulk-only torus band analysis without boundaries, and as such had evaded previous investigations. Our proposal not only opens a new arena for highly stable Majorana modes in high-temperature superconductors, but also provides the smoking gun evidence for extended s-wave order in the iron pnictides.
The resistive transition of granular high-T$_c$ superconductors, characterized by either weak (YBCO-like) or strong (MgB$_2$-like) links, occurs through a series of avalanche-type current density rearrangements. These rearrangements correspond to the creation of resistive layers, crossing the whole specimen approximately orthogonal to the current density direction, due to the simultaneous transition of a large number of weak-links or grains. The present work shows that exact solution of the Kirchhoff equations for strongly and weakly linked networks of nonlinear resistors, with Josephson junction characteristics, yield the subsequent formation of resistive layers within the superconductive matrix as temperature increases. Furthermore, the voltage noise observed at the transition is related to the resistive layer formation process. The noise intensity is estimated from the superposition of voltage drop elementary events related to the subsequent resistive layers. At the end of the transition, the layers mix-up, the step amplitude decreases and the resistance curve smoothes. This results in the suppression of noise, as experimentally found. Remarkably, a scaling law for the noise intensity with the network size is argued. It allows to extend the results to networks with arbitrary size and, thus, to real specimens.
We conducted a systematic study of the disorder dependence of the termination of superconductivity, at high magnetic fields (B), of amorphous indium oxide films. Our lower disorder films show conventional behavior where superconductivity is terminated with a transition to a metallic state at a well-defined critical field, Bc2. Our higher disorder samples undergo a B-induced transition into a strongly insulating state, which terminates at higher Bs forming an insulating peak. We demonstrate that the B terminating this peak coincides with Bc2 of the lower disorder samples. Additionally we show that, beyond this field, these samples enter a different insulating state in which the magnetic field dependence of the resistance is weak. These results provide crucial evidence for the importance of Cooper-pairing in the insulating peak regime.
The cuprate material BSCCO-2212 is believed to be doped by a combination of cation switching and excess oxygen. The interstitial oxygen dopants are of particular interest because scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) experiments have shown that they are positively correlated with the local value of the superconducting gap, and calculations suggest that the fundamental attraction between electrons is modulated locally. In this work, we use density functional theory to try to ascertain which locations in the crystal are energetically most favorable for the O dopant atoms, and how the surrounding cage of atoms deforms. Our results provide support for the identification of STM resonances at -1eV with dopant interstitial O atoms, and show how the local electronic structure is modified nearby.