Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Far-infrared transmittance and reflectance studies of oriented YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7 minus. delta. thin films

Journal Article · · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (USA)
; ; ;  [1]; ; ;  [2]; ;  [3]; ;  [4]
  1. Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611 (USA)
  2. Bell Communications Research, Red Bank, New Jersey 07701 (USA)
  3. Department of Physics, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855 (USA)
  4. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973 (USA)

We have measured both the transmittance ({ital scrT}) and reflectance ({ital scrR}) for several YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7{minus}{delta}} thin films over the frequency range from 20 to 360 cm{sup {minus}1} at temperatures between 20 and 300 K. The films, grown on MgO substrates by pulsed laser ablation, are highly {ital a}-{ital b}-plane oriented. We use {ital scrT} and {ital scrR} to extract the optical conductivity, and find good agreement with results from Kramers-Kronig analysis of reflectance measurements alone. The transmittance is consistent with a two-component dielectric function consisting of Drude (free-carrier) and midinfrared (bound-carrier) absorption. The Drude relaxation rate varies linearly with temperature, and compares well with values obtained from the measured dc resistivity. We use a two-fluid model for the superconducting state and obtain a BCS-like temperature dependence for the superfluid density. A superconducting gap is not observed in our spectra.

DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76CH00016
OSTI ID:
5561783
Journal Information:
Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (USA) Vol. 43:13; ISSN PRBMD; ISSN 0163-1829
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English