Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Observation of a Square Abrikosov Lattice in LuNi{sub 2}B{sub 2}C
- Material Science Division-Science and Technology Center for Superconductivity, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439 (United States)
- Ames Laboratory and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011 (United States)
We present scanning tunneling microscopy measurements of the (001) surface of a LuNi{sub 2}B {sub 2}C borocarbide single crystal at 4.2K. In zero field, the conductance versus voltage characteristics recorded at various locations on the sample reproducibly provide a gap value of 2.2meV. In a magnetic field of 1.5 and 0.375T, the recordings of the conductance as a function of position reveal a regular square vortex lattice tilted by 45{degree} with respect to the crystalline a axis. This unusual result is correlated with an in-plane anisotropy of the upper critical field H{sup {parallel}}{sub c2}(45{degree})/H{sup {parallel}}{sub c2}(0)=0.92 at 4.2K and is analyzed within the framework of Ginzburg-Landau theory. {copyright} {ital 1997} {ital The American Physical Society}
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31-109-ENG-38; W-7405-ENG-82
- OSTI ID:
- 656098
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review Letters, Vol. 78, Issue 22; Other Information: PBD: Jun 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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