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Tunneling spectroscopy of c -axis epitaxial cuprate junctions

Journal Article · · Physical Review B
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [1]
  1. Rice Univ., Houston, TX (United States)
  2. Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)
  3. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  4. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Atomically precise epitaxial structures are unique systems for tunneling spectroscopy that minimize extrinsic effects of disorder. We present a systematic tunneling spectroscopy study, over a broad doping, temperature, and bias range, in epitaxial c-axis La2-xSrxCuO4/La2CuO4/La2-xSrxCuO4 heterostructures. The behavior of these superconductor/insulator/superconductor (SIS) devices is unusual. Down to 20 mK there is complete suppression of c-axis Josephson critical current with a barrier of only 2 nm of La2CuO4, and the zero-bias conductance remains at 20–30% of the normal-state conductance, implying a substantial population of in-gap states. Tunneling spectra show greatly suppressed coherence peaks. Furthermore, as the temperature is raised, the superconducting gap fills in rather than closing at Tc. For all doping levels, the spectra show an inelastic tunneling feature at ~80 meV, suppressed as T exceeds Tc. These nominally simple epitaxial cuprate junctions deviate markedly from expectations based on the standard Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory.
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Materials Sciences & Engineering Division; Welch Foundation
Grant/Contract Number:
FG02-06ER46337; SC0012704
OSTI ID:
1635466
Report Number(s):
BNL--216075-2020-JAAM
Journal Information:
Physical Review B, Journal Name: Physical Review B Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 101; ISSN 2469-9950; ISSN PRBMDO
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
Coherent length
Josephson effect
cuprates
d-wave
heterostructures
high-temperature superconductors
impurities in superconductors
multilayer thin films
quasiparticles & collective excitations
scanning tunneling spectroscopy
superconducting gap
superconducting phase transition