Precursor Of Superconductivity Research Articles

Ultrafast optical spectroscopy evidence of pseudogap and electron-phonon coupling in an iron-based superconductor KCa2Fe4As4F2

We use ultrafast optical spectroscopy to study the nonequilibrium quasiparticle relaxation dynamics of the iron-based superconductor KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$ with $T_c=33.5$ K. Our results reveal a possible pseudogap ($\Delta_{PG}$ = 2.4 $\pm$ 0.1 meV) below $T^*\approx 50$ K but prior to the opening of a superconducting gap ($\Delta_{SC}$(0) $\approx$ 4.3 $\pm$ 0.1 meV). Measurements under high pump fluence real two distinct, coherent phonon oscillations with 1.95 and 5.51 THz frequencies, respectively. The high-frequency $A_{1g}$(2) mode corresponds to the $c-$axis polarized vibrations of FeAs planes with a nominal electron-phonon coupling constant $\lambda_{A_{1g}(2)}$ = 0.194 $\pm$ 0.02. Our findings suggest that the pseudogap is likely a precursor of superconductivity, and the electron-phonon coupling may play an essential role in the superconducting pairing in KCa$_2$Fe$_4$As$_4$F$_2$.

The transport properties of ultrathin 2H–NbSe2

The competing orders arising in a two-dimensional limit are the key to understanding unconventional superconductivity. The monolayer NbSe2 possessing a charge density wave (CDW) and superconducting orders provides a playground to study unconventional superconductivity. Here we fabricate an ultrathin 2H–NbSe2 device based on the mechanical exfoliation method and our electrode transfer technique. Detailed four-lead and two-lead transport measurements are performed in the ultrathin sample. The superconducting transition ( T c ) at 4.3 K and CDW transition at 70 K are found in the sample, consistent with the literature report for ultrathin 2H–NbSe2. The superconducting gap (Δ) of ultrathin 2H–NbSe2 is estimated by fitting the two-lead transport spectroscopy with the Blonder–Tinkham–Klapwijk (BTK) theory. We found that Δ( T ) exhibits a BCS-like temperature dependence with Δ 1.1 meV at 0 K and . Meanwhile the gap-like features persist in the normal state and become unresolvable with the increasing temperature and magnetic field, suggesting a possible precursor superconductivity similar to the cuprate superconductors. Our results provide a new insight into superconductivity in ultrathin 2H–NbSe2.

Electron pairing in the pseudogap state revealed by shot noise in copper oxide junctions.

In the quest to understand high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides, debate has been focused on the pseudogap-a partial energy gap that opens over portions of the Fermi surface in the 'normal' state above the bulk critical temperature1. The pseudogap has been attributed to precursor superconductivity, to the existence of preformed pairs and to competing orders such as charge-density waves1-4. A direct determination of the charge of carriers as a function of temperature and bias could help resolve among these alternatives. Here we report measurements of the shot noise of tunnelling current in high-quality La2-xSrxCuO4/La2CuO4/La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO/LCO/LSCO) heterostructures fabricated using atomic layer-by-layer molecular beam epitaxy at several doping levels. The data delineate three distinct regions in the bias voltage-temperature space. Well outside the superconducting gap region, the shot noise agrees quantitatively with independent tunnelling of individual charge carriers. Deep within the superconducting gap, shot noise is greatly enhanced, reminiscent of multiple Andreev reflections5-7. Above the critical temperature and extending to biases much larger than the superconducting gap, there is a broad region in which the noise substantially exceeds theoretical expectations for single-charge tunnelling, indicating pairing of charge carriers. These pairs are detectable deep into the pseudogap region of temperature and bias. The presence of these pairs constrains current models of the pseudogap and broken symmetry states, whilephase fluctuations limit the domain of superconductivity.

Universal superconducting precursor in three classes of unconventional superconductors

A pivotal challenge posed by unconventional superconductors is to unravel how superconductivity emerges upon cooling from the generally complex normal state. Here, we use nonlinear magnetic response, a probe that is uniquely sensitive to the superconducting precursor, to uncover remarkable universal behaviour in three distinct classes of oxide superconductors: strontium titanate, strontium ruthenate, and the cuprate high-Tc materials. We find unusual exponential temperature dependence of the diamagnetic response above the transition temperature Tc, with a characteristic temperature scale that strongly varies with Tc. We correlate this scale with the sensitivity of Tc to local stress and show that it is influenced by intentionally-induced structural disorder. The universal behaviour is therefore caused by intrinsic, self-organized structural inhomogeneity, inherent to the oxides’ perovskite-based structure. The prevalence of such inhomogeneity has far-reaching implications for the interpretation of electronic properties of perovskite-related oxides in general.

Photoinduced dynamics of nematic order parameter in FeSe

Formation of electronic nematicity is a common thread of unconventional superconductors. In iron-based materials, the long-range nematic order is revealed by the orthorhombic lattice distortion, which importance is a highly controversial topic due the small magnitude of the distortion. Here, we study the local crystal structure of FeSe and its interaction with electronic degrees of freedom using ultrafast electron diffraction, x-ray pair distribution function analysis, and transmission electron microscopy and find a significant lattice response to local nematicity. The study demonstrates how local lattice distortions, which exist even at temperatures above the nematic phase transition, can be released by photoexcitation, leading to an enhancement of the crystalline order. The observed local atomic structures and their out-of-equilibrium behavior unravel a sophisticated coupling between the lattice and nematic order parameter in FeSe.

On the Nature of Superconducting Precursors in Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O Compositions Fabricated by Hot Shock Wave Consolidation Technology

In this paper, the possibility of critical temperature increasing of superconducting precursor Tс and the current bearing capacity in samples of Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting system fabricated using hot shock wave consolidation (HSWC) technology and investigated by the vibrating torsional magnetometry method, was studied. The advantage of HSWC technology over the traditional technologies of superconducting composites synthesis is that the high-density materials are made from the Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconducting system. After the action of explosive wave the superconductivity is retained. After the explosion a pronounced texture is formed indicating the creation of efficient pinning centers and thus, the increase of current-carrying ability of the obtained material. The critical temperature of potential superconducting precursor Tc of transition to superconducting state increased from Tc=107K for starting sample to Tc=138K, using the HSWC technology for synthesis of samples in range of pressures from P=5GPa up to P=12GPa.

Superconductivity-localization interplay and fluctuation magnetoresistance in epitaxial BaPb1−xBixO3 thin films

BaPb$_{1-x}$Bi$_x$O$_3$ is a superconductor, with transition temperature $T_c=11$ K, whose parent compound BaBiO$_3$ possess a charge ordering phase and perovskite crystal structure reminiscent of the cuprates. The lack of magnetism simplifies the BaPb$_{1-x}$Bi$_{x}$O$_3$ phase diagram, making this system an ideal platform for contrasting high-$T_c$ systems with isotropic superconductors. Here we use high-quality epitaxial thin films and magnetotransport to demonstrate superconducting fluctuations that extend well beyond $T_c$. For the thickest films (thickness above $\sim100$ nm) this region extends to $\sim27$ K, well above the bulk $T_c$ and remarkably close to the higher $T_c$ of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$BiO$_3$ ($T_c=31$ K). We drive the system through a superconductor-insulator transition by decreasing thickness and find the observed $T_c$ correlates strongly with disorder. This material manifests strong fluctuations across a wide range of thicknesses, temperatures, and disorder presenting new opportunities for understanding the precursor of superconductivity near the 2D-3D dimensionality crossover.

Pseudogap temperature T* of cuprate superconductors from the Nernst effect

We use the Nernst effect to delineate the boundary of the pseudogap phase in the temperature-doping phase diagram of cuprate superconductors. New data for the Nernst coefficient $\nu(T)$ of YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{y}$ (YBCO), La$_{1.8-x}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (Eu-LSCO) and La$_{1.6-x}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (Nd-LSCO) are presented and compared with previous data including La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO). The temperature $T_\nu$ at which $\nu/T$ deviates from its high-temperature behaviour is found to coincide with the temperature at which the resistivity deviates from its linear-$T$ dependence, which we take as the definition of the pseudogap temperature $T^\star$- in agreement with gap opening detected in ARPES data. We track $T^\star$ as a function of doping and find that it decreases linearly vs $p$ in all four materials, having the same value in the three LSCO-based cuprates, irrespective of their different crystal structures. At low $p$, $T^\star$ is higher than the onset temperature of the various orders observed in underdoped cuprates, suggesting that these orders are secondary instabilities of the pseudogap phase. A linear extrapolation of $T^\star(p)$ to $p=0$ yields $T^\star(p\to 0)\simeq T_N(0)$, the N\'eel temperature for the onset of antiferromagnetic order at $p=0$, suggesting that there is a link between pseudogap and antiferromagnetism. With increasing $p$, $T^\star(p)$ extrapolates linearly to zero at $p\simeq p_{\rm c2}$, the critical doping below which superconductivity emerges at high doping, suggesting that the conditions which favour pseudogap formation also favour pairing. We also use the Nernst effect to investigate how far superconducting fluctuations extend above $T_{\rm c}$, as a function of doping, and find that a narrow fluctuation regime tracks $T_{\rm c}$, and not $T^\star$. This confirms that the pseudogap phase is not a form of precursor superconductivity.

Magnetic states of MnP: muon-spin rotation studies

Muon-spin rotation data collected at ambient pressure (p) and at p = 2.42 GPa in MnP were analyzed to check their consistency with various low- and high-pressure magnetic structures reported in the literature. Our analysis confirms that in MnP the low-temperature and low-pressure helimagnetic phase is characterised by an increased value of the average magnetic moment compared to the high-temperature ferromagnetic phase. An elliptical double-helical structure with a propagation vector , an a-axis moment elongated by approximately 18% and an additional tilt of the rotation plane towards c-direction by –8° leads to a good agreement between the theory and the experiment. The analysis of the high-pressure μSR data reveals that the new magnetic order appearing for pressures exceeding 1.5 GPa can not be described by keeping the propagation vector . Even the extreme case—decoupling the double-helical structure into four individual helices—remains inconsistent with the experiment. It is shown that the high-pressure magnetic phase which is a precursor of superconductivity is an incommensurate helical state with .

Investigation of Precursor Superconducting State in YBa2Cu3O7−δthrough In-Plane Optical Spectroscopy

A precursor of superconductivity has been searched in the in-plane optical spectra of underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_y$, in which the previous $c$-axis optical spectra showed the presence of superconducting carriers at a temperature far above $T_c$ [Uykur $et al$., Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 127003 (2014)][Dubroka $et al$., Phys. Rev. Lett. 106, 047006 (2011)]. By carefully subtracting the normal component from the imaginary part of conductivity $\sigma_2$($\omega$), we found a clear in-plane response of superconducting condensate at the temperature consistent with the $c$-axis optical data. This confirms that the precursory superconductivity developing with reducing a doping level is an intrinsic phenomenon in the cuprates.

Ultrafast dynamics of quasiparticles and coherent acoustic phonons in slightly underdoped (BaK)Fe2As2

We have utilized ultrafast optical spectroscopy to study carrier dynamics in slightly underdoped (BaK)Fe2As2 crystals without magnetic transition. The photoelastic signals due to coherent acoustic phonons have been quantitatively investigated. According to our temperature-dependent results, we found that the relaxation component of superconducting quasiparticles persisted from the superconducting state up to at least 70 K in the normal state. Our findings suggest that the pseudogaplike feature in the normal state is possibly the precursor of superconductivity. We also highlight that the pseudogap feature of K-doped BaFe2As2 is different from that of other iron-based superconductors, including Co-doped or P-doped BaFe2As2.

Doping Dependencies of Onset Temperatures for the Pseudogap and Superconductive Fluctuation in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ, Studied from Both In-Plane and Out-of-Plane Magnetoresistance Measurements

To investigate the relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity, we measured both the in-plane ($\rho_{ab}$) and out-of-plane ($\rho_c$) resistivity for oxygen-controlled Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+\delta}$ single crystals subject to magnetic fields (parallel to the $c$ axis) of up to 17.5 T. The onset temperature for the superconductive fluctuation, $T_{scf}$, is determined by the large positive in-plane magnetoresistance (MR) and negative out-of-plane MR observed near $T_c$, whereas the pseudogap opening temperature $T^*$ is determined by the semiconductive upturn of the zero-field $\rho_c$. $T_{scf}$ was found to scale roughly as $T_c$, with a decreasing temperature interval between them upon doping. On the other hand, $T^*$ starts out much higher than $T_{scf}$ but decreases monotonically upon doping; finally, at a heavily overdoped state, it is not observed above $T_{scf}$. These results imply that the pseudogap is not a simple precursor of superconductivity, but that further study is needed to determine whether or not $T^*$ exists below $T_{scf}$ in the heavily overdoped state.

Coexistence of the Pseudogap and the Superconducting Gap Revealed by thec-Axis Optical Study of YBa2(Cu1-xZnx)3O7-δ

To address the issue of the pseudogap in the superconducting state of the high temperature superconducting cuprates, we studied the temperature dependent redistribution of the spectral weight in the \textit{c}-axis polarized optical spectra for underdoped YBa$_{2}$(Cu$_{1-x}$Zn$_{x}$)$_{3}$O$_{7-\delta}$ single crystals with $x=0,0.007,$ 0.012, and 0.04. It was found that for Zn substituted samples, the spectral weight transfer to the high energy region, which characterizes the pseudogap state, continues even below the superconducting transition temperature (\textit{T}$_{c}$), indicating the coexistence of the pseudogap and the superconducting gap. Moreover, the observation of the pseudogap in the Zn-doped non-superconducting sample gives evidence that the pseudogap is not a precursor of superconductivity.

Precursor Superconductivity and Superconducting Fluctuation Regime Revealed by the C-axis Optical Spectra of YBa2(Cu1-xZnx)3Oy

To clarify recent discussions on the precursor superconducting state in high- T c cuprates, we performed a temperature dependent c - axis optical study on YBa2(Cu1-xZnx)Oy single crystals in the pseudogap region for several different Zn-contents ( x = 0, 0.007, 0.012, and 0.04) and doping levels. The superfluid density calculation revealed a third temperature scale ( T p) for a precursor superconducting state in between the superconducting transition temperature, T c, and the pseudogap opening temperature, T *. We observed the suppression and the disappearance of T p with increasing Zn-content, which is further evidence of the close relation between the origin of T c and T p.

Theory of terahertz conductivity in the pseudogap phase of the cuprates: A preformed pair perspective

In this paper we deduce transport properties in the presence of a pseudogap associated with precursor superconductivity. Our theoretical analysis is based on the widely adopted self-energy expression reflecting this normal state gap, which has appeared in interpretations of photoemission and in other experiments. Thus, it should be generally applicable. Here we address THz conductivity $\ensuremath{\sigma}(\ensuremath{\omega})={\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{1}(\ensuremath{\omega})+i{\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{2}(\ensuremath{\omega})$ measurements in the underdoped high-temperature superconductors and arrive at reasonable agreement between theory and recent experiment for both ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{1}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{2}$ above and below ${T}_{c}$.

Pseudogap in underdoped Ba1−xKxFe2As2as seen via optical conductivity

We report the observation of a pseudogap in the \emph{ab}-plane optical conductivity of underdoped Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ ($x = 0.2$ and 0.12) single crystals. Both samples show prominent gaps opened by a spin density wave (SDW) order and superconductivity at the transition temperatures $T_{\it SDW}$ and $T_c$, respectively. In addition, we observe an evident pseudogap below $T^{\ast} \sim$ 75 K, a temperature much lower than $T_{\it SDW}$ but much higher than $T_{c}$. A spectral weight analysis shows that the pseudogap is closely connected to the superconducting gap, indicating the possibility of its being a precursor of superconductivity. The doping dependence of the gaps is also supportive of such a scenario.

Pseudogap and precursor superconductivity in underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors: A far-infrared ellipsometry study

With the technique of infrared ellipsometry we performed a detailed study of the temperature- and doping dependence of the c-axis response of a series of YBa2Cu3O7−δ single crystals. In particular, we explored the anomalous electronic properties at temperatures above the macroscopic superconducting transition temperature, T c, whose conflicting explanations range from a precursor superconducting state to electronic correlations that compete with superconductivity. We show that the c-axis spectra provide evidence that both kinds of correlations are present and that their contributions can be disentangled based on an analysis with a so-called multilayer-model. We find that the onset temperature, T *, and the energy scale, ΔPG, of the competing pseudogap increase rapidly towards the underdoped side whereas they vanish on the overdoped side. In addition, we provide evidence that in a strongly underdoped sample the precursor superconducting correlations develop below an onset temperature, T ons, that is considerably lower than T * but still much higher than T c.

Contrasting nodal and antinodal behavior in the cuprates via multiple gap spectroscopies

Using a precursor superconductivity scenario for the cuprates we present a theory for the temperature dependent behavior of the spectral gaps associated with four distinct spectroscopies: angle-resolved photoemission, differential conductance $dI/dV$, quasiparticle interference spectroscopy, and the autocorrelated ARPES pattern. We find reasonable agreement for a range of existing experiments and make predictions for others. Our theory, which incorporates the necessary (observed) contrast between the nodal and antinodal response, shows how different nodal gap shapes are associated with these alternative spectroscopies.

Persistent photoconductivity and magnetoresistance in YBa2Cu3O6.34 thin film

We have used persistent photoconductivity to smoothly tune the hole-doping in an underdoped cuprate in the critical doping region and studied its transverse magnetoresistance (MR). A series of YBa2Cu3O6+x (0.02 ≤ x ≤ 1) thin films of thickness ∼50 nm were grown by sputtering and the oxygen contents were estimated from the c-axis lattice constant. The film YBa2Cu3O6.34, with composition at the critical doping regime for the insulator-metal-superconductor transition (Tc < 0.13 K), was chosen for studying persistent photoconductivity and MR. The sample was illuminated at 0.8 K using an ultraviolet stroboscope with wavelength range of 220–700 nm for several hours. Resistivity down to 0.13 K and MR in a field up to 9T were measured in intermittent stages. The sample resistance was found to decrease exponentially with the illumination time. The field dependence of MR changed from quadratic to linear behavior after shining light on the sample for ∼ 13 h. This cross-over in the field dependence of transverse MR clearly shows that the topology of the Fermi surface was changed drastically by shining light. Our observations suggest a pseudogap state as a precursor of superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O6+x.

Josephson current noise aboveTcin superconducting tunnel junctions

Tunnel junction between two superconductors is considered in the vicinity of the critical temperature. Superconductive fluctuations above ${T}_{c}$ give rise to the noise of the ac Josephson current although the current itself is zero in average. As a result of fluctuations, current noise spectrum is peaked at the Josephson frequency, which may be considered as precursor of superconductivity in the normal state. Temperature dependence and shape of the Josephson current noise resonance line is calculated for various junction configurations.