scholarly journals Disorder raises the critical temperature of a cuprate superconductor

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (22) ◽  
pp. 10691-10697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxime Leroux ◽  
Vivek Mishra ◽  
Jacob P. C. Ruff ◽  
Helmut Claus ◽  
Matthew P. Smylie ◽  
...  

With the discovery of charge-density waves (CDWs) in most members of the cuprate high-temperature superconductors, the interplay between superconductivity and CDWs has become a key point in the debate on the origin of high-temperature superconductivity. Some experiments in cuprates point toward a CDW state competing with superconductivity, but others raise the possibility of a CDW-superconductivity intertwined order or more elusive pair-density waves (PDWs). Here, we have used proton irradiation to induce disorder in crystals of La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 and observed a striking 50% increase of Tc, accompanied by a suppression of the CDWs. This is in sharp contrast with the behavior expected of a d-wave superconductor, for which both magnetic and nonmagnetic defects should suppress Tc. Our results thus make an unambiguous case for the strong detrimental effect of the CDW on bulk superconductivity in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4. Using tunnel diode oscillator (TDO) measurements, we find indications for potential dynamic layer decoupling in a PDW phase. Our results establish irradiation-induced disorder as a particularly relevant tuning parameter for the many families of superconductors with coexisting density waves, which we demonstrate on superconductors such as the dichalcogenides and Lu5Ir4Si10.

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor D. Lakhno

A correlation is established between the theories of superconductivity based on the concept of charge density waves (CDWs) and the translation invariant (TI) bipolaron theory. It is shown that CDWs are originated from TI-bipolaron states in the pseudogap phase due to the Kohn anomaly and form a pair density wave (PDW) for wave vectors corresponding to nesting. Emerging in the pseudogap phase, CDWs coexist with superconductivity at temperatures below those of superconducting transition, while their wave amplitudes decrease as a Bose condensate is formed from TI bipolarons, vanishing at zero temperature.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.J. Emery

There is a widespread feeling that the discovery of high temperature superconductors will force us to change our way of thinking about superconductivity in solids. It has steadily emerged that the simple free-electron picture is inadequate, that a new mechanism of superconductivity is most likely at work, and that modifications (if not outright revisions of the many-body theory) are needed. The situation is not entirely without precedent: much the same could have been said of superfluidity in liquid He. That, however, did not cause such a stir: it had been anticipated some 12 years before its eventual discovery, and the transition temperature of liquid He is so low that experiments have been confined to the few laboratories around the world with a milli-kelvin capability. Finally, the normal state of He was already wellunderstood, so that theorists were poised and ready to tackle the problems posed by the superfluid.Contrast the oxides. Even the rather extensive earlier studies of Ba1-x PbxBiO3 and other superconducting oxides did not prepare us for the advances of the past two years. Laboratories all over the world have been able to prepare and study the new superconductors rather easily, although well-characterized samples and incisive experiments have not been so easy to come by. The flood of new information poses a particular challenge for condensed matter theory — to distil the essence of these complicated multicomponent materials and to explain how the genie of high temperature superconductivity has escaped after so many years. Despite the existing understanding of the properties of oxides, much work remains to be done before we have a good grip on the many-body theory of these strongly correlated systems.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 315-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel Bertinshaw ◽  
Y.K. Kim ◽  
Giniyat Khaliullin ◽  
B.J. Kim

Over the past few years, Sr2IrO4, a single-layer member of the Ruddlesden–Popper series iridates, has received much attention as a close analog of cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Although there is not yet firm evidence for superconductivity, a remarkable range of cuprate phenomenology has been reproduced in electron- and hole-doped iridates including pseudogaps, Fermi arcs, and d-wave gaps. Furthermore, many symmetry-breaking orders reminiscent of those decorating the cuprate phase diagram have been reported using various experimental probes. We discuss how the electronic structures of Sr2IrO4 through strong spin-orbit coupling leads to the low-energy physics that had long been unique to cuprates, what the similarities and differences between cuprates and iridates are, and how these advance the field of high-temperature superconductivity by isolating essential ingredients of superconductivity from a rich array of phenomena that surround it. Finally, we comment on the prospect of finding a new high-temperature superconductor based on the iridate series.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 60-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Brian Maple

Since the discovery of high temperature superconductivity in layered copper-oxide compounds in the latter part of 1986, an enormous amount of research has been carried out on these remarkable materials. Prior to 1989, the prevailing view was that the charge carriers responsible for superconductivity in these materials were holes that move through conducting CuO2 planes. The CuO2 planes are the basic building blocks of the crystal structures of all the presently known oxides with superconducting critical temperatures Tc greater than ~30 K. Recently, new superconducting materials have been discovered in Japan and the United States in which the charge carriers involved in the superconductivity appear to be electrons, rather than holes, that reside within the conducting CuO2 planes. These findings could have important implications regarding viable theories of high temperature superconductivity as well as strategies for finding new high temperature superconductors.The new electron-doped materials have the chemical formula Ln2-xMxCuO4-y and exhibit superconductivity with superconducting critical temperatures Tc as high as ~25 K for x ≍ 0.15 and y ≍ 0.02. Superconductivity has been discovered for M = Ce and Ln = Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu, and for M = Th and Ln = Pr, Nd, and Sm. A related compound with the identical crystal structure, Nd2CuO4-x-y Fx, has also been found to display superconductivity withTc ≍ 25 K. Recently, it has been observed that superconductivity with Tc ≍ 25 K can even be induced in nonsuperconducting Nd2-xCexCuO4-y compounds by substituting Ga or In for Cu. Thus, it appears that the CuO2 planes can be doped with electrons, rendering the Ln2CuO4-y parent compounds metallic and superconducting, by substituting electron donor elements at sites within, as well as outside, the CuO2 planes; i.e., by substituting (1) Ce4+ or Th4+ ions for Ln3+ ions; (2) F1- ions for O2- ions; and (3) Ga3+ or In3+ ions for Cu2+ ions.


2005 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 571-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
TAKAO MORINARI

It is argued that in two-dimension duality connects the CP1 representation of the S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model with the Schwinger model in which Dirac fermions are interact via a U(1) gauge field. Application of this duality to underdoped high-temperature superconductors suggests that the high-energy fermionic excitation at the Mott insulating parent compound turns out to be a low-lying excitation in the spin disordered regime. A picture for high-temperature superconductivity is proposed.


MRS Bulletin ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 56-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Scheel ◽  
F. Licci

The discovery of high temperature superconductivity (HTSC) in oxide compounds has confronted materials scientists with many challenging problems. These include the preparation of ceramic samples with critical current density of about 106 A/cm2 at 77 K and sufficient mechanical strength for large-scale electrotechnical and magnetic applications and the preparation of epitaxial thin films of high structural perfection for electronic devices.The main interest in the growth of single crystals is for the study of physical phenomena, which will help achieve a theoretical understanding of HTSC. Theorists still do not agree on the fundamental mechanisms of HTSC, and there is a need for good data on relatively defect-free materials in order to test the many models. In addition, the study of the role of defects like twins, grain boundaries, and dislocations in single crystals is important for understanding such parameters as the critical current density. The study of HTSC with single crystals is also expected to be helpful for finding optimum materials for the various applications and hopefully achieving higher values of the superconducting transition temperature Tc than the current maximum of about 125 K. It seems unlikely at present that single crystals will be used in commercial devices, but this possibility cannot be ruled out as crystal size and quality improve.


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