Superconducting energy gap and normal-state conductivity of a single-domain YBa sub 2 Cu sub 3 O sub 7 crystal

Journal Article · Mon Aug 06 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Physical Review Letters; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.65.801· OSTI ID:6430000

Schlesinger, Z; Collins, R T; Holtzberg, F; Feild, C; Blanton, S H ^[1]; Welp, U; Crabtree, G W; Fang, Y ^[2]; Liu, J Z ^[3]

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1. IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY (USA)
2. Science and Technology Center for Superconductivity, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (USA) Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL (USA)
3. Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, CA (USA)

Using polarized reflectivity measurements of single-domain crystals, we are able to distinguish chain and plane contributions to the infrared conductivity of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7}. A substantial chain contribution to {sigma}({omega}) persisting to low frequency and temperature is observed. For the intrinsic conductivity of the CuO{sub 2} planes a superconducting energy gap of 500 cm{sup {minus}1} (2{Delta}/{ital kT}{sub {ital c}}{congruent}8) is evident in the infrared data, while the normal-state conductivity drops much more slowly with {omega} than the ordinary Drude form, and can be described in terms of a scattering rate {h bar}/{tau}{sup *}{similar to}{ital kT}+{h bar}{omega} at low frequency. The former result (2{Delta}/{ital kT}{sub {ital c}}{congruent}8) suggests suppression of {Tc}; the latter, that YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} is not an ordinary Fermi liquid.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38; W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 6430000
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters; (USA), Journal Name: Physical Review Letters; (USA) Vol. 65:6; ISSN PRLTA; ISSN 0031-9007
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
360204* -- Ceramics
Cermets
& Refractories-- Physical Properties
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
BARIUM OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER OXIDES
DATA
EFFECTIVE MASS
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ENERGY GAP
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE
INFORMATION
INFRARED RADIATION
INHIBITION
LOW TEMPERATURE
MASS
NUMERICAL DATA
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
POLARIZATION
RADIATIONS
REFLECTIVITY
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY
SURFACE PROPERTIES
TEMPERATURE DEPENDENCE
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
VERY LOW TEMPERATURE
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM OXIDES