Search

We discuss recent experiments in which fine particles of the organic superconductor Rb$_3$C$_{60}$ or the cuprate superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ are held in a polystyrene film that is spin-coated on to a silicon substrate with or without an intervening gold, or another inert metallic layer. From SQUID magnetisation data for Rb$_3$C$_{60}$ there appears to be a striking and completely unexpected increase in the superconducting transition temperature from $30$ to $45$~K, which is ascribed to coupling between the electrons in the superconductor and vacuum fluctuations in the electromagnetic field just above the metallic film. We argue that this could be a non-intrinsic effect associated with the presence of solid oxygen in the Pyrex sample tube. We suggest that the ferromagnetic SQUID signal observed for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ particles in polystyrene could be attributed to ferromagnetic particles or magnetic clusters of unknown origin.

It has long been recognized that the key to unlocking the mystery of cuprate high-Tc superconductivity lies in understanding the anomalous normal state from which pairs form and condense. While many of its defining properties have been identified, they are often considered either at a singular doping level or as an isolated phenomenon as a function of doping. As a result, their relation to each other and to the pseudogap (PG), strange metal (SM) and non-superconducting (non-SC) regimes that define the cuprate phase diagram has yet to be elucidated. Here, we report a high-field in-plane MR study on several cuprate families spanning all 3 regimes that reveal a complex yet nonetheless systematic evolution of the form of the MR, with each regime possessing its own distinct scaling behavior. In the PG regime, the MR exhibits pure H/T^2 scaling at low fields and H-linearity at the highest field strengths. While the H-linearity persists inside the SM regime, the scaling changes abruptly to H/T. The size of the H-linear slope, meanwhile, is found to be correlated with both the T-linear resistivity coefficient and Tc, strengthening the characterization of the SM regime as a quantum critical phase. We interpret the omnipresence of H-linear MR across both regimes as a signature of highly anisotropic, possibly discontinuous features on the Fermi surface. Finally, within the non-SC, Fermi-liquid regime, we observe a recovery of conventional Kohler scaling. This comprehensive study establishes the distinct nature of the magnetotransport within each regime and identifies power-law scaling of the normal state MR as a defining feature of SC hole-doped cuprates. The incompatibility of such power-law scaling with any known variant of Boltzmann transport theory motivates the quest for an altogether new theoretical framework, one in which the MR is entirely decoupled from elastic impurity scattering.

Hall effect and quantum oscillation measurements on high temperature cuprate superconductors show that underdoped compositions have a small Fermi surface pocket whereas when heavily overdoped, the pocket increases dramatically in size. The origin of this change in electronic structure has been unclear, but may be related to the high temperature superconductivity. Here we show that the clean overdoped single-layer cuprate Tl2Ba2CuO6+x (Tl2201) displays CDW order with a remarkably long correlation length $\xi \approx 200$ \r{A} which disappears above a hole concentration p_CDW ~ 0.265. We show that the evolution of the electronic properties of Tl2201 as the doping is lowered may be explained by a Fermi surface reconstruction which accompanies the emergence of the CDW below p_CDW. Our results demonstrate importance of CDW correlations in understanding the electronic properties of overdoped cuprates.

The "states-non-conserving" fermion density of states (DOS), deduced from the specific heat of hole-doped cuprates, could arise from a Kondo or heavy fermion-like DOS being suppressed by anti-ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. The large Fermi surface predicted by band theory and observed experimentally, is still expected for zero pseudogap, but with an effective mass corresponding to a Kondo temperature ~ 800 K. A finite pseudogap could divide it into Fermi arcs. Theoretical results for the asymmetric Anderson model can account for the experimental Wilson ratio., Comment: 6 pages (including references) 2 figures, 9 supplementary figures

Strange metals possess highly unconventional transport characteristics, such as a linear-in-temperature ($T$) resistivity, an inverse Hall angle that varies as $T^2$ and a linear-in-field ($H$) magnetoresistance. Identifying the origin of these collective anomalies has proved profoundly challenging, even in materials such as the hole-doped cuprates that possess a simple band structure. The prevailing dogma is that strange metallicity in the cuprates is tied to a quantum critical point at a doping $p*$ inside the superconducting dome. Here, we study the high-field in-plane magnetoresistance of two superconducting cuprate families at doping levels beyond $p*$. At all dopings, the magnetoresistance exhibits quadrature scaling and becomes linear at high $H/T$ ratios. Moreover, its magnitude is found to be much larger than predicted by conventional theory and insensitive to both impurity scattering and magnetic field orientation. These observations, coupled with analysis of the zero-field and Hall resistivities, suggest that despite having a single band, the cuprate strange metal phase hosts two charge sectors, one containing coherent quasiparticles, the other scale-invariant `Planckian' dissipators., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures and 3 tables (including Supplementary Information)

Topological semimetals are systems in which the conduction and the valence bands cross each other and this crossing is protected by topological constraints. These materials provide an intriguing test of fundamental theory and their exceptional physical properties promise a wide range of possible applications. Here we report a study of the thermoelectric power (S) for a single crystal of ZrSiS that is believed to be a topological nodal-line semimetal. We detect multiple quantum oscillations in the magnetic field dependence of S that are still visible at temperature as high as T = 100 K. Two of these oscillation frequencies are shown to arise from 3D and 2D bands, each with linear dispersion and the additional Berry phase expected theoretically., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures

We report measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of twinned single crystals of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+x}$ from just above their superconducting transition temperatures to 300 K with magnetic fields of up to 5 T applied parallel and perpendicular to the CuO$_2$ planes at 7 values of $x$. Appropriate analysis allows the relatively small, but still important, Curie terms to be separated from other contributions to the susceptibility. Our data support a picture in which the Curie terms arise from oxygen disorder in the Cu-O chains. This agrees with published work on polycrystalline samples where the sample cooling rate was varied, but here we show that the Curie plots flatten out above 200 K. We identify small effects of charge density wave (CDW) instabilities in the temperature ($T$) derivative of the in-plane susceptibility $d\chi_{ab}(T)/dT$ and discuss their $x$-dependence. For $x=$0.67 we make a detailed comparison with published high energy X-ray diffraction data using a minimal model involving Fermi arcs, thereby obtaining values for the CDW energy gap and the Helmholtz free energy in a coherence volume. At 80 and 100 K the latter is comparable with, or smaller than $k_BT$ respectively, highlighting the probable importance of thermal fluctuations. We note that the effect of the Lorentz force on charge carriers in the Fermi arcs could provide a simple mechanism for enhancing the CDWs in high magnetic fields, as suggested by recent experiments., Comment: 11 pages, 10 Figures, accepted by Phys. Rev. B. References corrected

Torque magnetization measurements on YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{y}$ (YBCO) at doping $y=6.67$($p=0.12$), in DC fields ($B$) up to 33 T and temperatures down to 4.5 K, show that weak diamagnetism persists above the extrapolated irreversibility field $H_{\rm irr} (T=0) \approx 24$ T. The differential susceptibility $dM/dB$, however, is more rapidly suppressed for $B\gtrsim 16$ T than expected from the properties of the low field superconducting state, and saturates at a low value for fields $B \gtrsim 24$ T. In addition, torque measurements on a $p=0.11$ YBCO crystal in pulsed field up to 65 T and temperatures down to 8 K show similar behaviour, with no additional features at higher fields. We discuss several candidate scenarios to explain these observations: (a) superconductivity survives but is heavily suppressed at high field by competition with CDW order; (b) static superconductivity disappears near 24 T and is followed by a region of fluctuating superconductivity, which causes $dM/dB$ to saturate at high field; (c) the stronger 3D ordered CDW that sets in above 15 T may suppress the normal state spin susceptibility sufficiently to give an apparent diamagnetism of the magnitude observed., Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures

We report intrinsic tunnelling data for mesa structures fabricated on three over- and optimally-doped $\rm{Bi_{2.15}Sr_{1.85}CaCu_{2}O_{8+\delta}}$ crystals with transition temperatures of 86-78~K and 0.16-0.19~holes per CuO$_2$ unit, for a wide range of temperature ($T$) and applied magnetic field ($H$), primarily focusing on one over-doped crystal(OD80). The differential conductance above the gap edge shows clear dip structure which is highly suggestive of strong coupling to a narrow boson mode. Data below the gap edge suggest that tunnelling is weaker near the nodes of the d-wave gap and give clear evidence for strong $T$-dependent pair breaking. These findings could help theorists make a detailed Eliashberg analysis and thereby contribute towards understanding the pairing mechanism. We show that for our OD80 crystal the gap above $T_c$ although large, is reasonably consistent with the theory of superconducting fluctuations., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures plus supplemental material, 1 table and 47 ASCII files with raw data. Corrected files for Fig. 12a

We discuss a recent resonant ultrasound spectroscopy (RUS) study of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+\delta}$, which infers a line of phase transitions bounding the pseudogap phase and argue that this scenario is not supported by thermodynamic evidence. We show that the anomalies in RUS, heat capacity and thermal expansion at the superconducting transition temperatures agree well. But there are large discrepancies between RUS and thermodynamic measurements at $T^*$ where the pseudogap phase transitions are purported to occur. Moreover, the frequency and temperature dependence of the RUS data for the crystal with $\delta = 0.98$, interpreted in terms of critical slowing down near an electronic phase transition, is five orders of magnitude smaller than what is expected. For this crystal the RUS data near $T^*$ are more consistent with non-equilibrium effects such as oxygen relaxation., Comment: Published version

Using a high-resolution differential technique we have determined the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma(T) of Ba1-xKxFe2As2 with x=0 to 1.0, at temperatures (T) from 2K to 380K and in magnetic fields H=0 to 13T. In the normal state gamma_n(x,T) increases strongly with x at low temperature, compatible with a mass renormalisation ~12 at x=1, and decreases weakly with x at high temperature. A superconducting transition is seen in all samples from x=0.2 to 1, with transition temperatures and condensation energies peaking sharply at x=0.4. Superconducting coherence lengths xi_{ab}~20{\AA} and xi_c~3{\AA} are estimated from an analysis of Gaussian fluctuations. For many dopings we see features in the H and T-dependences of gamma_s(T,H) in the superconducting state that suggest superconducting gaps in three distinct bands. A broad "knee" and a sharp mean-field-like peak are typical of two coupled gaps. However, several samples show a shoulder above the sharp peak with an abrupt onset at T_{c,s} and a T-dependence gamma_s(T)\propto\sqrt{1-T/T_{c,s}}. We provide strong evidence that the shoulder is not due to doping inhomogeneity and suggest it is a distinct gap with an unconventional T-dependence Delta_s(T)\propto(1-T/T_{c,s})^{0.75} near T_{c,s}. We estimate band fractions and T=0 gaps from 3-band alpha-model fits to our data and compare the x-dependences of the band fractions with spectroscopic studies of the Fermi surface., Comment: 20 pages, 23 figures, published in Physical Review B

The magnetization of three high-quality single crystals of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{6+x}$, from slightly overdoped to heavily underdoped,has been measured using torque magnetometry. Striking effects in the angular dependence of the torque for the two underdoped crystals, a few degrees above the superconducting transition temperature ($T_c$) are described well by the theory of Gaussian superconducting fluctuations using a single adjustable parameter. The data at higher temperatures ($T$) are consistent with a strong cut-off in the fluctuations for $T\gtrsim1.1T_c$. Numerical estimates suggest that inelastic scattering could be responsible for this cut-off., Comment: 4 pages 3 Figures

We present a detailed study of quantum oscillations in the antiferromagnetically ordered pnictide compound SrFe$_2$As$_2$ as the angle between the applied magnetic field and crystalline axes is varied. Our measurements were performed on high quality single crystals in a superconducting magnet, and in pulsed magnetic fields up to 60 T, allowing us to observe orbits from several small Fermi surface pockets. We extract the cyclotron effective mass $m^{\star}$ and frequency $F$ for these orbits and track their values as the field is rotated away from the c-axis. While a constant ratio of $m^{\star}/F$ is observed for one orbit as expected for a parabolic band, a clear deviation is observed for another. We conclude that this deviation points to an orbit derived from a band with Dirac dispersion near the Fermi level., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We report an angular quantum oscillation study of Tl_2Ba_2CuO_{6+delta} for two different doping levels (Tc = 10K and 26 K) and determine the Fermi surface size and topology in considerable detail. Our results show that Fermi liquid behavior is not confined to the edge of the superconducting dome and is robust up to at least T_c^{max}/3.5. Superconductivity is found to survive up to a larger doping p_c = 0.31 than in La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4. Our data imply that electronic inhomogeneity does not play a significant role in the loss of superconductivity and superfluid density in overdoped cuprates, and point towards a purely magnetic or electronic pairing mechanism, Comment: 4 pages

Using a differential technique, we have measured the specific heats of polycrystalline Ba1-xKxFe2As2 samples with x=0, 0.1 and 0.3, between 2K and 380K and in magnetic fields 0 to 13 Tesla. From this data we have determined the electronic specific heat coefficient, gamma, over the entire range for the three samples. The most heavily doped sample (x=0.3) exhibits a large superconducting anomaly Delta gamma(Tc)~48mJ/molK^2 at Tc=35K, and we determine the energy gap, condensation energy, superfluid density and coherence length. In the normal state for the x=0.3 sample, gamma~47 mJ/molK^2 is constant from Tc to 380K. In the parent compound (x=0) there is a large almost first order anomaly at the spin density wave (SDW) transition at To=136K. This anomaly is smaller and broader for x=0.1. At low T, gamma is strongly reduced by the SDW gap for both x=0 and 0.1, but above To, gamma for all three samples are similar., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Physical Review B

We report measurements of the Hall coefficient $R_H$ for single crystals of AFe$_2$As$_2$ with $A = Ba, Ca$ or $Sr$ which are the anti-ferromagnetic parent compounds of some high temperature pnictide superconductors. We show that $R_H$ of Sr-122 is consistent with high field quantum oscillation data. Our $R_H(T)$ data can also be used to estimate values of the spin density wave gap, giving $\Delta_{SDW}(0) = 710\pm 70$ K for Sr-122 and $435\pm 20$ K for Ba-122., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

We report measurements of the thermoelectric power (TEP) for a series of Pb(1-x)Tl(x)Te crystals with x = 0.0 to 1.3%. Although the TEP is very large for x = 0.0, using a single band analysis based on older work for dilute magnetic alloys we do find evidence for a Kondo contribution of 11 - 18 uV/K. This analysis suggests that Tk is ~ 50 - 70 K, a factor 10 higher than previously thought., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures

We report measurements of AC susceptibility and hence the in-plane London penetration depth on the same samples of Bi:2212 and Bi(Y):2212 for many values of the planar hole concentration/CuO2 unit (p). These support the scenario in which the pseudogap weakens the superconducting response only for p less than approximately 0.19., Comment: 5 journal pages 4 figures

We have studied the Nernst coefficient, v(T), of epitaxial thin films of the superconductor Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3Oy with x =0.05 and x = 0.1. The x = 0.1 sample has been measured at three different values of y, in the over- (OV), optimally- (OP), and under-doped (UD) states. As the doping level is reduced, v(T) starts to fall linearly with T at the temperature (T*) where we expect to see the influence of the pseudogap. The onset temperature of the superconducting fluctuation contribution to v(T) was found to vary slowly with the hole concentration (p) between p = 0.118 and 0.197. For the OP and UD samples, v(T>T*) is unusually large, being comparable with |S tan(Theta)| where S is the Seebeck coefficient and Theta the Hall angle., Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures

We report Nernst effect measurements for some crystalline films of Ca and Zn-doped yttrium barium copper oxide grown by pulsed laser deposition. We argue that our results and most of the published data for LSCO are consistent with the theory of Gaussian superconducting fluctuations., Comment: 4 pages 4 figures

The effects of planar hole content, p (= x), on the static magnetic susceptibility, chi(T), of polycrystalline La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4 compounds were investigated over a wide range of Sr (x) and Zn (y) contents. The magnetic behavior caused by Zn was found to depend strongly on the hole content. The apparent magnetic moment induced by Zn was larger in underdoped La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4, decreased quite sharply around p ~ 0.19, and did not change much for further overdoping. This is interpreted in terms of the effect of the pseudogap on the Zn-induced magnetic behavior, as there is growing evidence that the pseudogap vanishes quite abruptly at p ~ 0.19 +/- 0.01. From a detailed analysis of chi(T) data the Zn-induced magnetic contribution was found to be rather complex and showed non-Curie-like features over a wide range of temperature. The observed behavior was scrutinized in terms of two scenarios (a) that of independent localized-moments and (b) low energy quasiparticle resonances associated with each Zn atom. Our study points towards the latter scenario and more generally suggests that there is a re-distribution of quasiparticle spectral weight due to Zn substitution, the features of which are greatly influenced by the presence and magnitude of the pseudogap., Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. B

The effects of planar hole content, p, on the static magnetic susceptibility, chi(T), of Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-delta polycrystalline samples were investigated over a wide range of Ca (x) and oxygen contents. Non-magnetic Ca2+, in the 3p6 state, induces a Curie-like contribution to chi(T) that increases systematically and non-linearly with x but is almost independent of p. We argue that this arises from statistical clusters containing two or more nearest neighbor Ca atoms. We have again found that the pseudogap in the quasi-particle spectral weight appears abruptly below a planar hole content p = 0.190 +/- 0.005., Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. B

We report the observation of quantum oscillations in the underdoped cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu4O8 using a tunnel-diode oscillator technique in pulsed magnetic fields up to 85T. There is a clear signal, periodic in inverse field, with frequency 660+/-15T and possible evidence for the presence of two components of slightly different frequency. The quasiparticle mass is m*=3.0+/-0.3m_e. In conjunction with the results of Doiron-Leyraud et al. for YBa2Cu3O6.5, the present measurements suggest that Fermi surface pockets are a general feature of underdoped copper oxide planes and provide information about the doping dependence of the Fermi surface., Comment: Contains revisions addressing referees' comments including a different Fig 1b. 4 pages, 4 figures

The results of a computer analysis of a simple 2D quantum mechanical tunnelling model are reported. These suggest that the spatial dependence of the superconducting energy gap observed by Scanning Tunnelling Spectroscopy (STS) studies of single crystals of the high Tc superconductor Bi:2212 is not necessarily caused by nanoscale inhomogeneity. Instead the spatial dependence of the STS data could arise from the momentum (k) dependence of the energy gap, which is a defining feature of a d-wave superconductor. It is possible that this viewpoint could be exploited to obtain k-dependent information from STS studies., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

Understanding the superconducting properties of MgB_2 is based strongly on knowledge of its electronic structure. In this paper we review experimental measurements of the Fermi surface parameters of pure and Al-doped MgB_2 using the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect. In general, the measurements are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions of the electronic structure, including the strength of the electron-phonon coupling on each Fermi surface sheet. For the Al doped samples, we are able to measure how the band structure changes with doping and again these are in excellent agreement with calculations based on the virtual crystal approximation. We also review work on the dHvA effect in the superconducting state., Comment: Contribution to the special issue of Physica C "Superconductivity in MgB2: Physics and Applications" (10 Pages with figures)

The effects of planar hole content, p (= x), on the uniform (q = 0) magnetic susceptibility, c(T), of La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4 were investigated over a wide range of Sr (x) and Zn (y) contents. A strongly p-dependent Zn-induced magnetic behavior was observed. The apparent Zn-induced magnetic moment is larger in underdoped La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4 and it decreases quite sharply around p ~ 0.19. It does not change much for further overdoping. This indicates a possible role of the pseudogap on the Zn induced magnetic behavior, as there is growing evidence that pseudogap vanishes quite abruptly at p ~ 0.19., Comment: Submitted to Physica C (Proceedings of the M2S-HTSC-VIII Conference)

The effects of planar hole content, p, on the temperature-dependent uniform (q = 0) magnetic susceptibility, c(T), of polycrystalline Y1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-d compounds with 0.0

We have studied the magnetic field dependence of the temperature derivative of the resistivity, dr(H,T)/dT, of a number of Y1-xCaxBa2(Cu1-yZny)3O7-d crystalline thin films over a wide range of sample compositions. From the analysis of the temperature derivative data we have been able to distinguish quite clearly between two characteristic temperature scales, (a) the onset of strong superconducting fluctuation temperature, Tscf and (b) the pseudogap temperature, TPG. Significantly different characteristic features of dr(H,T)/dT at Tscf and at TPG imply that Tscf and TPG have different physical origins., Comment: Submitted to Physica C (M2S-HTSC 2006 Proceedings)

We report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) study of the electronic structure of Al doped crystals of MgB$_2$. We have measured crystals with $\sim 7.5$% Al which have a $T_c$ of 33.6 K, ($\sim 14$% lower than pure MgB$_2$). dHvA frequencies for the $\sigma$ tube orbits in the doped samples are lower than in pure MgB$_2$, implying a $16\pm2%$ reduction in the number of holes in this sheet of Fermi surface. The mass of the quasiparticles on the larger $\sigma$ orbit is lighter than the pure case indicating a reduction in electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda$. These observations are compared with band structure calculations, and found to be in excellent agreement., Comment: 4 pages with figures

A universal scaling relation, $\rho_s \propto \sigma(T_c)\times T_c$ has been reported by Homes $et$ $al$. (Nature (London) {\bf 430}, 539 (2004)) where $\rho_s$ is the superfluid density and $\sigma(T)$ is the DC conductivity. The relation was shown to apply to both c-axis and in-plane dynamics for high-$T_c$ superconductors as well as to the more conventional superconductors Nb and Pb, suggesting common physics in these systems. We show quantitatively that the scaling behavior has several possible origins including, marginal Fermi-liquid behavior, Josephson coupling, dirty-limit superconductivity and unitary impurity scattering for a d-wave order parameter. However, the relation breaks down seriously in overdoped cuprates, and possibly even at lower doping., Comment: Paper in press as Rapid Comm in Phys. Rev. B. 4 pages, 1 figure, in response to the Nature paper by Homes et al

The role of substantial in-plane disorder (Zn) on the transport and AC susceptibility of Y1-xCaxBa2(Cu1-yZny)3O7-delta was investigated over a wide range of planar hole concentration, p. Resistivity, r(T), for a number of overdoped to underdoped samples with y equals/greater than 0.055 showed clear downturns at a characteristic temperature similar to that found at T* in Zn-free underdoped samples because of the presence of the pseudogap. Contrary to the widely observed behavior for underdoped cuprates at lower Zn contents (where the pseudogap energy increases almost linearly with decreasing p in the same way as for the Zn-free compounds), this apparent pseudogap temperature at high Zn content showed very little or no p-dependence. It also increases systematically with increasing Zn concentration in the CuO2 planes. This anomalous behavior appears quite abruptly, e.g., samples with y less than/equals 0.05 exhibit the usual T*(p) behavior. AC susceptibility of these heavily disordered samples showed the superfluid density to be extremely low. Magneto-transport, r(T,H), measurements are provisionally interpreted in terms of high-strength pinning centers for vortices in these samples. We also discuss various possible scenarios that might lead to a Zn induced pseudogap in the cuprates.

Underdoped cuprates exhibit a normal-state pseudogap, and their spins and doped carriers tend to spatially separate into 1- or 2-D stripes. Some view these as central to superconductivity, others as peripheral and merely competing. Using La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$Cu$_{1-y}$Zn$_y$O$_4$ we show that an oxygen isotope effect in $T_c$ and in the superfluid density can be used to distinguish between the roles of stripes and pseudogap and also to detect the presence of impurity scattering. We conclude that stripes and pseudogap are distinct, and both compete and coexist with superconductivity., Comment: Revised submission to PRL with added appendix on a possible isotope effect in the effective mass, 4 pages, 3 figures

Ca- and Zn-subsituted Y1-xCaxBa2(Cu1-yZny)O7-delta (x = 0, 0.05 and y = 0, 0.02, 0.04, 0.05) thin films were grown on SrTiO3 (100) substrates using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Effects of various growth parameters on the quality of the film were studied via X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and in-plane resistivity, rhoab(T), measurements. The deposition temperature and oxygen partial pressure were gradually increased to 820C and 1.20 mbar respectively. Films grown under these conditions exhibited good c-axis orientation (primarily limited by the grain size) and low values of the extrapolated residual resistivity, rho(0), at zero temperature. The planar hole content, p, was determined from the room temperature thermopower, S[290K], measurements and the effects of oxygen annealing were also studied. Fully oxygenated samples were found to be overdoped with p ~ 0.195. The Superconducting transition temperature Tc(p), and rho(T,p) showed the expected systematic variations with changing Zn content., Comment: Submitted to Physica C (2003)

The effects of planar hole concentration, p, and magnetic field on the resistivity, rho(T), of high-quality c-axis oriented crystalline thin films and sintered Y1-xCaxBa2(Cu1-yZny)3O7-delta samples were investigated over a wide range of Ca, Zn, and oxygen contents. Zn was used to suppress superconductivity and this enabled us to extract the characteristic pseudogap temperature, T*(p) below Tc0(p) [ = Tc (x =0, y = 0)]. We have also located the characteristic temperature, Tscf, marking the onset of significant superconducting fluctuations above Tc, from the analysis of rho(T,H,p) and rho(T,p) data. This enabled us to identify T*(p) near the optimum doping level where the values of T*(p) and Tscf(p) are very close and hard to distinguish. We again found that T*(p) depends only on the hole concentration p, and not on the level of disorder associated with Zn or Ca substitutions. We conclude that (i) T*(p) (and therefore, the pseudogap) persists below Tc0(p) on the overdoped side and does not merge with the Tc0(p) line and (ii) T*(p) and the pseudogap energy extrapolate to zero at the doping p = 0.19 +/- 0.01., Comment: submitted to Phys.Rev.B, an updated version of cond-mat/0301375 with new data

We report measurements of the de Haas-van Alphen effect for single crystals of MgB$_2$, in magnetic fields up to 32 Tesla. In contrast to our earlier work, dHvA orbits from all four sheets of the Fermi surface were detected. Our results are in good overall agreement with calculations of the electronic structure and the electron-phonon mass enhancements of the various orbits, but there are some small quantitative discrepancies. In particular, systematic differences in the relative volumes of the Fermi surface sheets and the magnitudes of the electron-phonon coupling constants could be large enough to affect detailed calculations of T$_{c}$ and other superconducting properties., Comment: 4 pages, 2 column with figures

We have studied the doping dependence of the in-plane and out-of-plane superfluid density, \rho^s(0), of two monolayer high-Tc superconductors, HgBa_2CuO_{4+\delta} and La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4, using the low frequency ac-susceptibility and the muon spin relaxation techniques. For both superconductors, \rho^s(0) increases rapidly with doping in the under- and optimally doped regime and becomes nearly doping independent above a critical doping, p_c = 0.20., Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures

RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$, in which magnetic order and superconductivity coexist with $T_{Magnetic}$$\gg$$T_c$, is a complex material which poses new and important questions to our understanding of the interplay between magnetic and superconducting (SC) order. Resistivity, Hall effect and thermopower measurements on sintered ceramic RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$ are presented, together with results on a broad range of substituted analogues. The Hall effect and thermopower both show anomalous decreases below $T_{Magnetic}$ which may be explained within a simple two-band model by a transition from localized to more itinerant behavior in the RuO$_2$ layer at $T_{Magnetic}$., Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B., correspondence to J.Tallon@irl.cri.nz

The effects of planar hole concentration, p, on the resistivity, r(T), of sintered Y1-xCaxBa2(Cu1-yZny)3O7-d samples were investigated over a wide range of Ca, Zn, and oxygen contents. Zn was used to suppress superconductivity and this enabled us to extract the characteristic pseudogap temperature, T*(p), from r(T,p) data below Tco(p) [ = Tc (y = 0)]. We have also located the characteristic temperature, Tscf, marking the onset of significant superconducting fluctuations above Tc, from the analysis of r(T,H,p) and r(T,p) data. This enabled us to identify T*(p) near the optimum doping level where the values of T*(p) and Tscf(p) are very close and hard to distinguish. We again found that T*(p) depends only on the hole concentration p, and not on the level of disorder associated with Zn or Ca substitutions. We conclude that (i) T*(p) (and therefore, the pseudogap) persists below Tco(p) on the overdoped side and does not merge with the Tco(p) line and (ii) T*(p), and thus the pseudogap energy, extrapolates to zero at the doping p = 0.19 +/- 0.01. PACS numbers: 74.25.Dw, 74.25. 74.62.Dh, 74.72.-h Key words: Pseudoap, Superconducting fluctuations, Comment: 14 pages (Text), 7 figures

The doping dependence of the superfluid density, r_s, of high-Tc superconductors is usually considered in the context of the Uemura relation, namely Tc proportional to rs, which is generally assumed to apply in the underdoped regime. We show that a modified plot of Tc/Do versus rs, where Do is the maximum d-wave gap at T=0, exhibits universal features that point to an alternative interpretation of the underlying physics. In the underdoped region this plot exhibits the canonical negative curvature expected when a ground-state correlation competes with superconductivity (SC) by opening up a gap in the normal-state DOS. In particular rs is suppressed much faster than Tc/Do or indeed Tc. The pseudogap is found to strongly modify the SC ground state., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, submitted Phys. Rev. Lett

We study the spin fluctuations of pure and Zn-substituted high temperature superconductors (HTS) using the muon spin relaxation (muSR) technique. Superconductivity is found to coexist with low frequency spin fluctuations over a large region of the superconducting phase diagram. The characteristic temperature of spin fluctuations detected by muSR decreases with increasing doping and vanishes above a critical doping pc=0.19 where the normal state pseudogap vanishes. Furthermore, it is at pc that our penetration depth studies show an abrupt change in the doping dependence of the superfluid density. For p>pc the absolute value of the superfluid density is large and nearly independent of carrier concentration whereas for p

The effects of planar hole concentration, p, and in-plane disorder, Zn (y), on the DC resistivity, r(T), of sintered samples of Y_{1-x}Ca_xBa_2(Cu_{1-y}Zn_y)_3O_{7-d} were investigated over a wide doping range by changing both the oxygen deficiency (d) and Ca content (x). From the r(T,p) data we extracted characteristic crossover temperatures on the underdoped and overdoped sides, T* and T_m respectively, above which r(T) is linear. We compare our results with a number of other polycrystalline, thin film and single crystal cuprate superconductors and find similar behavior in the p-dependence of T*(p), T_m(p), and the resistivity exponent, m(p), in fits to r(T) = r_0 + aT^m on the overdoped side. Our findings point towards the possible existence of a quantum critical point (QCP) at the doping p=0.19 +/- 0.01., Comment: Text in pdf (12 pages)and six ps figures

We study the low-energy spin fluctuations and superfluid density of a series of pure and Zn-substituted high-$T_c$ superconductors (HTS) using the muon spin relaxation and $ac$-susceptibility techniques. At a critical doping state, $p_c$, we find (i) simultaneous abrupt changes in the magnetic spectrum in the superconducting ground state and (ii) that the slowing down of spin fluctuations becomes singular at T=0. These results provide experimental evidence for a novel quantum transition that separates the superconducting phase diagram of HTS into two distinct ground states., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures

We report observations of quantum oscillations in single crystals of the high temperature superconductor MgB_2. Three de Haas-van Alphen frequencies are clearly resolved. Comparison with band structure calculations strongly suggests that two of these come from a single warped Fermi surface tube along the c direction, and that the third arises from cylindrical sections of an in-plane honeycomb network. The measured values of the effective mass range from 0.44-0.68 m_e. By comparing these with band masses calculated recently by three groups, we find that the electron-phonon coupling strength lambda, is a factor \~3 larger for the c-axis tube orbits than for the in-plane network orbit, in accord with recent microscopic calculations., Comment: 4 pages (revtex 4) including figures. Accepted for Publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

We have measured the electronic specific heat of $Y_{0.8}Ca_{0.2}Ba_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta}$ using a high-resolution differential technique from liquid helium temperature to room temperature in an applied magnetic field up to 13T. The field dependence of the electronic specific heat at low temperatures in the superconducting state behaves differently in the overdoped and underdoped regimes, varing as $\sqrt{H}$ in the overdoped regime but as $H$ in the underdoped regime. An entropy loss is observed in the normal state in optimal and underdoped samples, which can be attributed to the opening of a normal state psuedogap. From the temperature and field dependences of the free energy, the temperature dependence of the upper critical field $H_{c2}$ is determined. For the overdoped sample ($x=0.79$), we find $H_{c2}$ to have a negative curvature., Comment: 7 pages, 10 figures

A empirical model is proposed for the observed variation of the London penetration depth of cuprate superconductors with applied magnetic field $H$ below the lower critical field H_c1. It is suggested that the Doppler shift of the quasi-particle energies near the d-wave nodes could cause pair-breaking and that this could be responsible for the non-linear Meissner effect (NLME) investigated in recent experiments. This picture gives a somewhat better description of the observed temperature and field dependencies than the original theory proposed by Yip and Sauls. A calculation based on weak-coupling BCS theory suggests that when there is a finite supercurrent, the state for which pairs are broken in a small angular range around the nodes can have a lower free energy than the d_x^2-y^2 state., Comment: 6 pages, 2 column with postscript figures

We study the doping dependence of low frequency spin fluctuations and the zero-temperature superfluid density of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ using the muon spin relaxation ($\mu$SR) and ac-susceptibility techniques. Superconductivity is found to coexist with low frequency spin fluctuations over a large region of the superconducting phase diagram. The characteristic temperature of spin fluctuations detected by $\mu$SR decreases with increasing $x$ and vanishes above a critical doping $x_c\sim 0.19$. This value of $x_c$ coincides with the doping at which the normal state pseudogap extrapolates to zero. The superfluid density behaves in the opposite way to the low frequency spin fluctuations. It increases with $x$ and becomes nearly doping-independent for $x>x_c$. These results are consistent with predictions involving quantum criticality at $x_c$., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, minor corrections and references added