Origin of the [ital T][sub [ital c]] depression and the role of charge transfer and dimensionality in ultrathin YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7[minus][delta]]

Journal Article · Mon Oct 31 23:00:00 EST 1994 · Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.50.12876· OSTI ID:6946753

Cieplak, M Z ^[1]; Guha, S; Vadlamannati, S ^[2]; Giebultowicz, T ^[3]; Lindenfeld, P ^[2]

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1. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855 (United States) Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw (Poland)
2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08855 (United States)
3. Department of Physics, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia 22030 (United States)

We describe measurements on trilayers and multilayers of YBa[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7[minus][delta]] (YBCO) with intervening layers of Y[sub 1[minus][ital x]]Pr[sub [ital x]]Ba[sub 2]Cu[sub 3]O[sub 7[minus][delta]], with thicknesses [ital d] of YBCO down to that of a single unit cell. The zero-resistance transition temperature [ital T][sub [ital c][ital o]] decreases as [ital d] decreases, and increases as [ital x] decreases, and we show that a single unit-cell layer is still superconducting. We describe a transition from a bulk regime'' in the interior of the YBCO to a surface regime'' near the interfaces, and show that the [ital T][sub [ital c][ital o]] depression is correlated with a depressed conductance in the region adjacent to the interfaces. The results indicate that the changes are related to the presence of the interfaces, primarily to charge transfer between the layers, with only minor indications of a change in the intrinsic properties of the YBCO from the bulk down to the thickness of a single unit cell. The values of [ital T][sub [ital c][ital o]] in multilayers are consistent with those on trilayers, and so rule out any contributions from very long-range interactions, but they indicate the presence of interactions with length scales of several hundred angstroms across the barrier layers.

• OSTI ID: 6946753
• Journal Information: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States), Journal Name: Physical Review, B: Condensed Matter; (United States) Vol. 50:17; ISSN PRBMDO; ISSN 0163-1829
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

665411* -- Basic Superconductivity Studies-- (1992-)
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
ALLOY SYSTEMS
BARIUM COMPOUNDS
BARIUM OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
COPPER COMPOUNDS
COPPER OXIDES
CRITICAL TEMPERATURE
ELECTRON TRANSFER
FILMS
HIGH-TC SUPERCONDUCTORS
LAYERS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUATERNARY ALLOY SYSTEMS
SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS
SUPERCONDUCTORS
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES
THIN FILMS
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION TEMPERATURE
YTTRIUM COMPOUNDS
YTTRIUM OXIDES