Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
- Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of Bristol, Bristol (United Kingdom)
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Strontium titanate is a low-temperature, non–Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor that superconducts to carrier concentrations lower than in any other system and exhibits avoided ferroelectricity at low temperatures. Neither the mechanism of superconductivity in strontium titanate nor the importance of the structure and dielectric properties for the superconductivity are well understood. We studied the effects of twin structure on superconductivity in a 5.5-nm-thick layer of niobium-doped SrTiO3 embedded in undoped SrTiO3. We used a scanning superconducting quantum interference device susceptometer to image the local diamagnetic response of the sample as a function of temperature. We observed regions that exhibited a superconducting transition temperature Tc ≳ 10% higher than the temperature at which the sample was fully superconducting. The pattern of these regions varied spatially in a manner characteristic of structural twin domains. Some regions are too wide to originate on twin boundaries; therefore, we propose that the orientation of the tetragonal unit cell with respect to the doped plane affects Tc. Finally, our results suggest that the anisotropic dielectric properties of SrTiO3 are important for its superconductivity and need to be considered in any theory of the mechanism of the superconductivity.
- Research Organization:
- SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-76SF00515; AC02-06CH11357
- OSTI ID:
- 1328993
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1333608
- Report Number(s):
- SLAC-PUB-16840; PRBMDO
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review B, Vol. 94, Issue 17; ISSN 2469-9950
- Publisher:
- American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Inhomogeneous energy landscape in LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 nanostructures
|
journal | January 2019 |
Physics of SrTiO 3 -based heterostructures and nanostructures: a review
|
journal | February 2018 |
Correlation between superconductivity, band filling, and electron confinement at the interface
|
journal | June 2018 |
Physics of SrTiO$_3$-based heterostructures and nanostructures: a review | text | January 2017 |
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