Ultrafast infrared nano-spectroscopy and nano-imaging of unconventional superconductivity in cuprate and pnictide high-Tc systems
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). Dept. of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
High-Tc superconductivity is surpassed by few, if any, other unsolved problems in contemporary physics in terms of its richness, complexity, impact on other fields, and potential technological importance. Before 2008, the term “high-Tc superconductivity” was reserved for copper oxides or cuprates (maximum Tc~160 K). The discovery of superconductivity in Fe-based pnictides compounds with Tc almost as high as 60 K has prompted a renewed surge of research activity. Systematic studies have revealed both common and contrasting trends in the cuprate and pnictide superconductors. In both classes of materials, superconductivity occurs in close proximity with other electronic phases: an antiferomagnetic (AF) Mott insulator state in the case of the (hole-doped) cuprates and metallic spin density wave (SDW) phase in the case of the pnictides. One common aspect of Fe- and Cu-based systems is a propensity towards electronic and magnetic self-organization, leading to dynamic inhomogeneities at nano-to-mesoscopic length scales. The inhomogeneities have so far been documented with quasi-static probes such as nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron and x-ray scattering along with scanning tunneling microscopies. In contrast, ultrafast infrared/optical studies enable characterization of dynamics and fluctuations in superconductors. However, such experiments have been carried out using diffraction-limited optics and therefore probe length scales that inform us of a “mixed” response involving contributions from the multiple electronic, chemical and structural phases occurring in real materials while averaging over nanoscale heterogeneities. As a result, the interpretation of area-averaged ultrafast optics data has often remained both complicated and ambiguous.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0012592
- OSTI ID:
- 1495215
- Report Number(s):
- FINAL TECHNICAL
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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