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arXiv · cond-mat/0304495

Field-induced thermal metal-to-insulator transition in underdoped LSCO

Abstract

The transport of heat and charge in cuprates was measured in undoped and heavily-underdoped single crystal La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_{4+delta} (LSCO). In underdoped LSCO, the thermal conductivity is found to decrease with increasing magnetic field in the T --> 0 limit, in striking contrast to the increase observed in all superconductors, including cuprates at higher doping. The suppression of superconductivity with magnetic field shows that a novel thermal metal-to-insulator transition occurs upon going from the superconducting state to the field-induced normal state.

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D. G. Hawthorn, R. W. Hill, F. Ronning, Mike Sutherland, Etienne Boaknin, M. A. Tanatar, Johnpierre Paglione, S. Wakimoto, H. Zhang, Louis Taillefer. 2003-04-22. Field-induced thermal metal-to-insulator transition in underdoped LSCO. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physc.2004.03.054

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