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Title: Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped SrTiO 3

Abstract

Strontium titanate is a low-temperature, non–Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor that superconducts to carrier concentrations lower than in any other system and exhibits avoided ferroelectricity at low temperatures. Neither the mechanism of superconductivity in strontium titanate nor the importance of the structure and dielectric properties for the superconductivity are well understood. We studied the effects of twin structure on superconductivity in a 5.5-nm-thick layer of niobium-doped SrTiO3 embedded in undoped SrTiO3. We used a scanning superconducting quantum interference device susceptometer to image the local diamagnetic response of the sample as a function of temperature. We observed regions that exhibited a superconducting transition temperature Tc ≳ 10% higher than the temperature at which the sample was fully superconducting. The pattern of these regions varied spatially in a manner characteristic of structural twin domains. Some regions are too wide to originate on twin boundaries; therefore, we propose that the orientation of the tetragonal unit cell with respect to the doped plane affects Tc. Finally, our results suggest that the anisotropic dielectric properties of SrTiO3 are important for its superconductivity and need to be considered in any theory of the mechanism of the superconductivity.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [1];  [4];  [3];  [5];  [5];  [2];  [1];  [1]
  1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
  2. Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA (United States)
  3. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
  4. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States); Univ. of Bristol, Bristol (United Kingdom)
  5. Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1328993
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1333608
Report Number(s):
SLAC-PUB-16840
Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950; PRBMDO
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-76SF00515; AC02-06CH11357
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review B
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 94; Journal Issue: 17; Journal ID: ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; MATSCI

Citation Formats

Noad, Hilary, Spanton, Eric M., Nowack, Katja C., Inoue, Hisashi, Kim, Minu, Merz, Tyler A., Bell, Christopher, Hikita, Yasuyuki, Xu, Ruqing, Liu, Wenjun, Vailionis, Arturas, Hwang, Harold Y., and Moler, Kathryn A.. Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped SrTiO3. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174516.
Noad, Hilary, Spanton, Eric M., Nowack, Katja C., Inoue, Hisashi, Kim, Minu, Merz, Tyler A., Bell, Christopher, Hikita, Yasuyuki, Xu, Ruqing, Liu, Wenjun, Vailionis, Arturas, Hwang, Harold Y., & Moler, Kathryn A.. Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped SrTiO3. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174516
Noad, Hilary, Spanton, Eric M., Nowack, Katja C., Inoue, Hisashi, Kim, Minu, Merz, Tyler A., Bell, Christopher, Hikita, Yasuyuki, Xu, Ruqing, Liu, Wenjun, Vailionis, Arturas, Hwang, Harold Y., and Moler, Kathryn A.. Mon . "Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped SrTiO3". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174516. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1328993.
@article{osti_1328993,
title = {Variation in superconducting transition temperature due to tetragonal domains in two-dimensionally doped SrTiO3},
author = {Noad, Hilary and Spanton, Eric M. and Nowack, Katja C. and Inoue, Hisashi and Kim, Minu and Merz, Tyler A. and Bell, Christopher and Hikita, Yasuyuki and Xu, Ruqing and Liu, Wenjun and Vailionis, Arturas and Hwang, Harold Y. and Moler, Kathryn A.},
abstractNote = {Strontium titanate is a low-temperature, non–Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer superconductor that superconducts to carrier concentrations lower than in any other system and exhibits avoided ferroelectricity at low temperatures. Neither the mechanism of superconductivity in strontium titanate nor the importance of the structure and dielectric properties for the superconductivity are well understood. We studied the effects of twin structure on superconductivity in a 5.5-nm-thick layer of niobium-doped SrTiO3 embedded in undoped SrTiO3. We used a scanning superconducting quantum interference device susceptometer to image the local diamagnetic response of the sample as a function of temperature. We observed regions that exhibited a superconducting transition temperature Tc ≳ 10% higher than the temperature at which the sample was fully superconducting. The pattern of these regions varied spatially in a manner characteristic of structural twin domains. Some regions are too wide to originate on twin boundaries; therefore, we propose that the orientation of the tetragonal unit cell with respect to the doped plane affects Tc. Finally, our results suggest that the anisotropic dielectric properties of SrTiO3 are important for its superconductivity and need to be considered in any theory of the mechanism of the superconductivity.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.94.174516},
journal = {Physical Review B},
number = 17,
volume = 94,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Nov 28 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Nov 28 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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Cited by: 26 works
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