Magnetic breakdown and quantum interference in the quasi-two-dimensional superconductor in high magnetic fields

Abstract

Magnetic breakdown phenomena have been investigated in the longitudinal magnetoresistance of the quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) superconductor in magnetic fields of up to 50 T, well above the characteristic breakdown field. The material is of great interest because its relatively simple Fermi surface, consisting of a closed Q2D pocket and an open Q1D band, is almost identical to the initial hypothetical breakdown network proposed by Pippard. Two frequencies are expected to dominate the magnetoresistance oscillations: the frequency, corresponding to orbits around the closed pocket, and the frequency, corresponding to the simplest classical breakdown orbit. However, a frequency is in fact found to be the dominant high-frequency oscillation in the magnetoresistance. Numerical simulations, employing standard theories for calculating the density of states, indicate that a significant presence of the frequency (forbidden in the standard theories) can result simply from the frequency-mixing effects associated with the pinning of the chemical potential in a quasi-two-dimensional system. While this effect is able to account for the previous experimental observation of frequency oscillations of small amplitude in the magnetization, it cannot explain why such a frequency dominates the high-field magnetotransport spectrum. Instead we have extended the numerical simulations to include a quantum interference model adapted for longitudinal magnetoresistance in a quasi-two-dimensional conductor. The modified simulations are then able to account for most of the features of the experimental magnetoresistance data.