arXiv subjects

F. F. Balakirev

Publications and source records attributed to F. F. Balakirev.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Weak anisotropy of the superconducting upper critical field in Fe1.11Te0.6Se0.4 single crystals

We have determined the resistive upper critical field Hc2 for single crystals of the superconductor Fe1.11Te0.6Se0.4 using pulsed magnetic fields of up to 60T. A rather high zero-temperature upper critical field of mu0Hc2(0) approx 47T is obtained, in spite of the relatively low superconducting transition temperature (Tc approx 14K). Moreover, Hc2 follows an unusual temperature dependence, becoming almost independent of the magnetic field orientation as the temperature T=0. We suggest that the isotropic superconductivity in Fe1.11Te0.6Se0.4 is a consequence of its three-dimensional Fermi-surface topology. An analogous result was obtained for (Ba,K)Fe2As2, indicating that all layered iron-based superconductors exhibit generic behavior that is significantly different from that of the high-Tc cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Doping dependence of upper critical field and Hall resistivity in LaFeAsO1-xFx

The electrical resistivity (Rxx) and Hall resistivity (Rxy) of LaFeAsO1-xFx have been measured over a wide fluorine doping range 0 =< x =< 0.14 using 60 T pulsed magnets. While the superconducting phase diagram (Tc, x) displays the classic dome-shaped structure, we find that the resistive upper critical field (Hc2) increases monotonically with decreasing fluorine concentration, with the largest Hc2 >= 75 T for x = 0.05. This is reminiscent of the composition dependence in high-Tc cuprates and might correlate with opening of a pseudo-gap in the underdoped region. Further, the temperature dependence of Hc2(T) for superconducting samples can be understood in terms of multi-band superconductivity. Rxy data for non-superconducting samples show non-linear field dependence, which is also consistent with a multi-carrier scenario.

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arXiv2009

Anisotropy of the upper critical field in a Co-doped BaFe2As2 single crystal

The temperature dependence of the upper critical magnetic field (Hc2) in a BaFe1.84Co0.16As2 single crystal was determined via resistivity, for the inter-plane (H^ab) and in-plane (H//ab) directions in pulsed and static magnetic fields of up to 60 T. Suppressing superconductivity in a pulsed magnetic field at 3He temperatures permits us to construct an H-T phase diagram from quantitative Hc2(0) values and determine its behavior in low temperatures. Hc2(0) with H//ab (Hc2//(0)) and H^ab (Hc2^(0)) are ~ 55 T and 50 T respectively. These values are ~ 1.2 - 1.4 times larger than the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limit (Hp = 1.84 Tc), indicating that enhanced paramagnetic limiting is essential and this superconductor is unconventional. While Hc2//ab is saturated at low temperature, Hc2 with H^ab (Hc2^) exhibits almost linear temperature dependence towards T = 0 K which results in reduced anisotropy of Hc2 in low temperature. The anisotropy of Hc2 was ~ 3.4 near Tc, and decreases rapidly with lower temperatures reaching ~ 1.1 at T = 0.7 K.

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arXiv2009

Psuedo-isotropic upper critical field in cobalt-doped SrFe2As2 epitaxial films

The temperature and angular dependence of the upper critical field (Hc2) is reported for cobalt-doped SrFe2As2 epitaxial films between Tc and 0.5 K in pulsed magnetic fields up to 50 T. For H parallel c, Hc2 is close to a linear function of temperature, while in the perpendicular direction there is significant downward curvature that results in an Hc2 ratio (gamma = Hc2(perpendicular)/Hc2(parallel) that decreases nearly linearly with temperature, approaching gamma = 1 at low temperature with Hc2(0) = 47 T. We measure the complete upper-critical field phase diagram including angular dependence and model the data using a two band theory allowing us to determine the anisotropy of both bands, their relative diffusivities, and the relationship between BCS coupling constant matrix elements. We find an unusual relationship between the diffusivities of the two bands, with two anisotropic and opposite bands. This relationship is supported by the observation of a local maximum for Hc2(parallel) at low temperature.

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arXiv2008

Nearly Isotropic superconductivity in (Ba,K)Fe2As2

Superconductivity was recently observed in the iron-arsenic-based compounds with a superconducting transition temperature (Tc) as high as 56K [1-7], naturally raising comparisons with the high Tc copper oxides. The copper oxides have layered crystal structures with quasi-two-dimensional electronic properties, which led to speculations that reduced dimensionality (that is, extreme anisotropy) is a necessary prerequisite for superconductivity at temperatures above 40 K [8,9]. Early work on the iron-arsenic compounds seemed to support this view [7,10]. Here we report measurements of the electrical resistivity in single crystals of (Ba,K)Fe2As2 in a magnetic field up to 60 T. We find that the superconducting properties are in fact quite isotropic, being rather independent of the direction of the applied magnetic fields at low temperature. Such behaviour is strikingly different from all previously-known layered superconductors [9,11], and indicates that reduced dimensionality in these compounds is not a prerequisite for high-temperature superconductivity. We suggest that this situation arises because of the underlying electronic structure of the iron-arsenide compounds, which appears to be much more three dimensional than that of the copper oxides. Extrapolations of low-field single-crystal data incorrectly suggest a high anisotropy and a greatly exaggerated zero-temperature upper critical field.

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arXiv2008

Upper critical fields and thermally-activated transport of Nd(O_0.7F_0.3)FeAs single crystal

We present measurements of the resistivity and the upper critical field H_c2 of Nd(O_0.7F_0.3)FeAs single crystals in strong DC and pulsed magnetic fields up to 45 T and 60 T, respectively. We found that the field scale of H_c2 is comparable to ~100 T of high T_c cuprates. H_c2(T) parallel to the c-axis exhibits a pronounced upward curvature similar to what was extracted from earlier measurements on polycrystalline samples. Thus this behavior is indeed an intrinsic feature of oxypnictides, rather than manifestation of vortex lattice melting or granularity. The orientational dependence of H_c2 shows deviations from the one-band Ginzburg-Landau scaling. The mass anisotropy decreases as T decreases, from 9.2 at 44K to 5 at 34K. Spin dependent magnetoresistance and nonlinearities in the Hall coefficient suggest contribution to the conductivity from electron-electron interactions modified by disorder reminiscent that of diluted magnetic semiconductors. The Ohmic resistivity measured below T_c but above the irreversibility field exhibits a clear Arrhenius thermally activated behavior over 4-5 decades. The activation energy has very different field dependencies for H||ab and H\perp ab. We discuss to what extent different pairing scenarios can manifest themselves in the observed behavior of H_{c2}, using the two-band model of superconductivity. The results indicate the importance of paramagnetic effects on H_c2(T),which may significantly reduce H_c2(0) as compared toH_c2(0)~200-300 T based on extrapolations of H_c2(T) near T_c down to low temperatures.

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arXiv2008

Doping-Driven Collapse of the SDW Correlation Gap in SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_{x}$

We report the Hall resistivity, $ρ_{xy}$ of polycrystalline SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_{x}$ for four different fluorine concentrations from the onset of superconductivity through the collapse of the structural phase transition. For the two more highly-doped samples, $ρ_{xy}$ is linear in magnetic field up to 50 T with only weak temperature dependence, reminiscent of a simple Fermi liquid. For the lightly-doped samples with $x<0.15$, we find a low temperature regime characterized $ρ_{xy}(H)$ being both non-linear in magnetic field and strongly temperature dependent even though the Hall angle is small. The onset temperature for this non-linear regime is in the vicinity of the structural phase (SPT)/spin density wave (SDW) transitions. The temperature dependence of the Hall resistivity is consistent with a thermal activation of carriers across an energy gap. The evolution of the energy gap with doping is reported.

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arXiv2008

Quantum Phase Transition in the Normal State of High-Tc Cuprates at Optimum Doping

By using a 60 T magnetic field to suppress superconductivity in La2-pSrpCuO4, (LSCO) we reveal an anomalous peak in the Hall number, located at optimum doping and developing at temperatures below the zero-field superconducting transition temperature, Tc. The anomaly bears a striking resemblance to observations in Bi2Sr2-xLaxCuO6+delta (BSLCO) [F. F. Balakirev et al., Nature (London) 424, 912 (2003)], suggesting a normal state phenomenology common to the cuprates that underlies the high-temperature superconducting phase. The peak is ascribed to the transformation of the "Fermi arcs" into a conventional FS, the signature of a Fermi surface reconstruction associated with a quantum phase transition (QPT) near optimum doping and co-incident with the collapse of the pseudogap state.

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arXiv2008

Comparative High Field Magneto-Transport of Rare Earth Oxypnictides with Maximum Transition Temperatures

The recent discovery of a new class of superconducting oxypnictides with high transition temperatures may have profound implications for understanding unconventional high-temperature superconductivity. Like the cuprates, the oxypnictides seem to manifest an interleaving of charge donor and superconducting layers emerging upon doping of an antiferromagnetic parent semi-metal. Here we report magneto-transport measurements of three rare earth (Re = La, Nd, Sm) oxypnicide compounds with the transition temperatures near the maximum reported to date, in very high DC and pulsed magnetic fields up to 45 and 54 T, respectively. Our resistivity, Hall coefficient and critical magnetic fields data suggest that these oxypnictide superconductors bridge the gap between MgB$_2$ and YBaCu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ as far as electromagnetic and vortex properties are concerned.

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arXiv2008

Hall coefficient and Hc2 in underdoped LaFeAsO0.95F0.05

The electrical resistivity and Hall coefficient of LaFeAsO0.95F0.05 polycrystalline samples were measured in pulsed magnetic fields up to m0H = 60 T from room temperature to 1.5 K. The resistance of the normal state shows a negative temperature coefficient (dr/dT < 0) below 70 K for this composition, indicating insulating ground state in underdoped LaFeAsO system in contrast to heavily doped compound. The charge carrier density obtained from Hall effect can be described as constant plus a thermally activated term with an energy gap DE = 630 K. Upper critical field, Hc2, estimated from resistivity measurements, exceeds 75 T with zero-field Tc = 26.3 K, suggesting an unconventional nature for superconductivity.

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arXiv2008

Log-T divergence and Insulator-to-Metal Crossover in the normal state resistivity of fluorine doped SmFeAsO1-xFx

We report the resistivity of a series of fluorine-doped SmFeAsO1-xFx polycrystalline superconductors in magnetic fields up to 60T. For underdoped samples (x < 0.15), the low temperature resistive state is characterized by pronounced magneto-resistance and a resistive upturn at low temperatures. The "insulating behavior" is characterized by a log-T divergence observed over a decade in temperature. In contrast, the normal state for samples with doping x > 0.15 display metallic behavior with little magnetoresistance, where intense magnetic fields broaden the superconducting transition rather than suppress Tc. The location of the insulator-to metal crossover coincides with the reported suppression of the structural phase transition (SPT)in the phase diagram for SmFeAsO1-xFx series.

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arXiv2008

Quantum Oscillations in the Underdoped Cuprate YBa2Cu4O8

We report the observation of quantum oscillations in the underdoped cuprate superconductor YBa2Cu4O8 using a tunnel-diode oscillator technique in pulsed magnetic fields up to 85T. There is a clear signal, periodic in inverse field, with frequency 660+/-15T and possible evidence for the presence of two components of slightly different frequency. The quasiparticle mass is m*=3.0+/-0.3m_e. In conjunction with the results of Doiron-Leyraud et al. for YBa2Cu3O6.5, the present measurements suggest that Fermi surface pockets are a general feature of underdoped copper oxide planes and provide information about the doping dependence of the Fermi surface.

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arXiv2007

Fragile three-dimensionality in the quasi-one-dimensional cuprate PrBa_2Cu_4O_8

In this article we report on the experimental realization of dimensional crossover phenomena in the chain compound PrBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ using temperature, high magnetic fields and disorder as independent tuning parameters. In purer crystals of PrBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$, a highly anisotropic three-dimensional Fermi-liquid state develops at low temperatures. This metallic state is extremely susceptible to disorder however and localization rapidly sets in. We show, through quantitative comparison of the relevant energy scales, that this metal/insulator crossover occurs precisely when the scattering rate within the chain exceeds the interchain hopping rate(s), i.e. once carriers become confined to a single conducting element.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Upper critical field of electron-doped Pr$_{2-x}$Ce$_x$CuO$_{4-δ}$ in parallel magnetic fields

We report a systematic study of the resistive superconducting transition in the electron-doped cuprates Pr$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_{4-δ}$ down to 1.5 K for magnetic field up to 58 T applied parallel to the conducting ab-planes. We find that the zero temperature parallel critical field (H$_{c2\parallel ab}$(0)) exceeds 58 T for the underdoped and optimally-doped films. For the overdoped films, 58 T is sufficient to suppress the superconductivity. We also find that the Zeeman energy $μ_B$H$_{c2\parallel ab}$(0) reaches the superconducting gap ($\triangle_0$), i.e. $μ_B$H$_{c2\parallel ab}(0)\simeq \triangle_0$, for all the dopings, strongly suggesting that the parallel critical field is determined by the Pauli paramagnetic limit in electron-doped cuprates.

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arXiv2007

High-field Hall resistivity and magnetoresistance in electron-doped Pr_2-xCe_xCuO_{4-δ}

We report resistivity and Hall effect measurements in electron-doped Pr$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$CuO$_{4-δ}$ films in magnetic field up to 58 T. In contrast to hole-doped cuprates, we find a surprising non-linear magnetic field dependence of Hall resistivity at high field in the optimally doped and overdoped films. We also observe a crossover from quadratic to linear field dependence of the positive magnetoresistance in the overdoped films. A spin density wave induced Fermi surface reconstruction model can be used to qualitatively explain both the Hall effect and magnetoresistance.

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arXiv2004

Spin reorientation and in-plane magnetoresistance of lightly doped La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} in magnetic fields up to 55 T

The magnetoresistance (MR) in the in-plane resistivity is measured in magnetic fields up to 55 T in lightly doped La_{2-x}Sr_{x}CuO_{4} in the Néel state (x = 0.01) and in the spin-glass state (x = 0.03) using high-quality untwinned single crystals. In both cases, a large negative MR is observed to appear when the magnetic order is established. For x = 0.01, it is found that the MR is indicative of a one-step transition into a high-field weak-ferromagnetic state at around 20 T when the magnetic field is applied from the spin easy axis (b axis), which means that there is no spin-flop transition in the Néel state of this material; this is contrary to a previous report, but is natural in light of the peculiar in-plane magnetic susceptibility anisotropy recently found in this system. In the spin-glass state, we observe that the large (up to \sim20%) negative MR saturates at around 40 T, and this MR is found to be essentially isotropic when the magnetic field is rotated within the ab plane. Our data show that the large negative MR is inherent to LSCO in a magnetically ordered state, in which the weak-ferromagnetic (WF) moment becomes well-defined; we discuss that the observed MR is essentially due to the reorientation of the WF moments towards the magnetic field direction both in the Néel state and in the spin-glass state.

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arXiv2004

Examination of the c-axis resistivity of Bi_{2}Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+δ} in magnetic fields up to 58 T

We measure the magnetic-field dependence of the c-axis resistivity, ρ_c(H), in a series of Bi_{2}Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+δ} (BSLCO) single crystals for a wide range of doping using pulsed magnetic fields up to 58 T. The behavior of ρ_c(H) is examined in light of the recent determination of the upper critical field H_{c2} for this material using Nernst effect measurements. We find that the peak in ρ_c(H) shows up at a field H_p that is much lower than H_{c2} and there is no discernable feature in ρ_c(H) at H_{c2}. Intriguingly, H_p shows a doping dependence similar to that of T_c, and there is an approximate relation k_{B}T_c \simeq {1/2}gμ_{B}H_p. Moreover, we show that the data for the lowest-T_c sample can be used to estimate the pseudogap closing field H_{pg}, but the method to estimate H_{pg} proposed by Shibauchi {\it et al.} [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 86}, 5763 (2001)] must be modified to apply to the BSLCO system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Quantum Phase Transitions in a Cuprate Superconductor Bi_{2}Sr_{2-x}La_{x}CuO_{6+δ}

To elucidate a quantum phase transition (QPT) in Bi_2Sr_{2-x}La_xCuO_{6+δ}, we measure charge and heat transport properties at very low temperatures and examine the following characteristics for a wide range of doping: normal-state resistivity anisotropy under 58 T, temperature dependence of the in-plane thermal conductivity K_{ab}, and the magnetic-field dependence of K_{ab}. It turns out that all of them show signatures of a QPT at the 1/8 hole doping. Together with the recent normal-state Hall measurements under 58 T that signified the existence of a QPT at optimum doping, the present results indicate that there are two QPTs in the superconducting doping regime of this material.

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