Angular dependence of the Josephson critical current in c-axis twist junctions of high-temperature superconductors
- Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
- Fachbereich Physik, Universitaet Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 11, D-20355 Hamburg (Germany)
We have investigated theoretically the case of a highly anisotropic layered superconductor consisting of two identical parts that are twisted with respect to each other by an angle {phi}{sub 0} about the c axis. This work was motivated by recent high-quality c-axis twist Josephson junctions prepared with Bi{sub 2}Sr{sub 2}CaCu{sub 2}O{sub 8+{delta}} by Li {ital et al.} Our interest lies in studying whether the Josephson critical voltage I{sub c}R{sub n} measured along the c axis in high-temperature superconductors as a function of {phi}{sub 0} could give valuable information regarding the orbital symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. We assume both coherent and incoherent interlayer tunneling processes, and ordinary intralayer impurity scattering. We have derived and studied the effective Lawrence-Doniach model appropriate for the cases of pure s-wave and d{sub x{sup 2}{minus}y{sup 2}}-wave order parameters, a dominant d{sub x{sup 2}{minus}y{sup 2}} and subdominant d{sub xy} mixed order parameter, and a dominant d{sub x{sup 2}{minus}y{sup 2}} with a subdominant s-wave mixed order parameter. Our results suggest that Josephson tunneling across the c-axis twist junctions can indeed be a useful tool for probing the superconducting order-parameter symmetry. Further experiments to clarify the situation are suggested. {copyright} {ital 1998} {ital The American Physical Society}
- OSTI ID:
- 638789
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter, Vol. 58, Issue 2; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1998
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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