Searcharxiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Lei Shan

Publications and source records attributed to Lei Shan.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Nodal Superconductivity with Multiple Gaps in SmFeAsO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$

We report the observation of two gaps in the superconductor SmFeAsO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$ (F-SmFeAsO) with $T_c=51.5K$ as measured by point-contact spectroscopy. Both gaps decrease with temperature and vanish at $T_c$ and the temperature dependence of the gaps are described by the theoretical prediction of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) theory. A zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) was observed, indicating the presence of Andreev bound states at the surface of F-SmFeAsO. Our results strongly suggest an unconventional nodal superconductivity with multiple gaps in F-SmFeAsO.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Evidence for Two Gaps and Breakdown of the Uemura Plot in Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ Single Crystals

We report a detailed investigation on the lower critical field $H_{c1}$ of the superconducting Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ (FeAs-122) single crystals. A pronounced kink is observed on the $H_{c1}(T)$ curve, which is attributed to the existence of two superconducting gaps. By fitting the data $H_{c1}(T)$ to the two-gap BCS model in full temperature region, a small gap of $Δ_a(0)=2.0\pm 0.3$ meV and a large gap of $Δ_b(0)=8.9\pm 0.4$ meV are obtained. The in-plane penetration depth $λ_{ab}(0)$ is estimated to be 105 nm corresponding to a rather large superfluid density, which points to the breakdown of the Uemura plot in FeAs-122 superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Point-Contact Spectroscopy of Iron-Based Layered Superconductor LaO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1-δ}$FeAs

We present point-contact spectroscopy data for junctions between a normal metal and the newly discovered F-doped superconductor LaO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1-δ}$FeAs (F-LaOFeAs). A zero-bias conductance peak was observed and its shape and magnitude suggests the presence of Andreev bound states at the surface of F-LaOFeAs, which provides a possible evidence of an unconventional pairing symmetry with a nodal gap function. The maximum gap value $Δ_0\approx3.9\pm0.7$meV was determined from the measured spectra, in good agreement with the recent experiments on specific heat and lower critical field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Angular dependence of resistivity in the superconducting state of NdFeAsO$_{0.82}$F$_{0.18}$ single crystals

We report the results of angle dependent resistivity of NdFeAsO$_{0.82}$F$_{0.18}$ single crystals in the superconducting state. By doing the scaling of resistivity within the frame of the anisotropic Ginzburg-Landau theory, it is found that the angle dependent resistivity measured under different magnetic fields at a certain temperature can be collapsed onto one curve. As a scaling parameter, the anisotropy $Γ$ can be determined for different temperatures. It is found that $Γ(T)$ increases slowly with decreasing temperature, varying from $Γ\simeq$ 5.48 at T=50 K to $Γ\simeq$ 6.24 at T=44 K. This temperature dependence can be understood within the picture of multi-band superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Critical Fields and Anisotropy of NdO0.82F0.18FeAs Single Crystals

The newly discovered iron-based superconductors have stimulated enormous interests in the field of superconductivity. Since the new superconductor is a layered system, the anisotropy is a parameter with the first priority to know. Meanwhile any relevant message about the critical fields (upper critical field and irreversibility line) are essentially important. By using flux method, we have successfully grown the single crystals NdO0.82F0.18FeAs at ambient pressure. Resistive measurements reveal a surprising discovery that the anisotropy Γ= (mc/mab)^{1/2} is below 5, which is much smaller than the theoretically calculated results. The data measured up to 400 K show a continuing curved feature which prevents a conjectured linear behavior for an unconventional metal. The upper critical fields determined based on the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg formula are H_{c2}^{H||ab}(T=0 K) = 304 T and H_{c2}^{H||c}(T=0 K)=62-70 T, indicating a very encouraging application of the new superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Linear Temperature Dependence of the Lower Critical Field $H_{c1}$ in F-Doped LaOFeAs Superconductors

We present the first experimental results of the lower critical field $H_{c1}$ of the newly discovered F-doped superconductor LaO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$FeAs (F-LaOFeAs) by global and local magnetization measurements. It is found that $H_{c1}$ showed an clear linear-$T$ dependence down to a temperature of 2 K, indicative of an unconventional pairing symmetry with a nodal gap function. Based on the d-wave model, we estimated a maximum gap value $Δ_0=4.0 \pm 0.6$ meV, in consistent with the recent specific heat and point-contact tunneling measurements. Taking the demagnetization factor into account, the absolute value of $H_{c1}(0)$ is determined to be about 54 Oe, manifesting a low superfluid density for LaO$_{0.9}$F$_{0.1}$FeAs.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Nodal Gap in Fe-Based Layered Superconductor LaO_0.9F_{0.1-delta}FeAs Probed by Specific Heat Measurements

We report the specific heat measurements on the newly discovered Fe-based layered superconductor LaO_0.9F_{0.1-delta}FeAs with the onset transition temperature T_c \approx 28 K. A nonlinear magnetic field dependence of the electronic specific heat coefficient gamma(H) has been found in the low temperature limit, which is consistent with the prediction for a nodal superconductor. The maximum gap value Delta_0 \approx 3.4$\pm$0.5 meV was derived by analyzing gamma(H) based on the d-wave model. We also detected the electronic specific heat difference between 9 T and 0 T in wide temperature region, a specific heat anomaly can be clearly observed near T_c. The Debye temperature of our sample was determined to be about 315.7 K. Our results suggest an unconventional mechanism for this new superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

$S$-wave pairing symmetry in non-centrosymmetric superconductor Re$_3$W

The alloys of non-centrosymmetric superconductor, Re$_3$W, which were reported to have an $α$-Mn structure [P. Greenfield and P. A. Beck, J. Metals, N. Y. \textbf{8}, 265 (1959)] with $T_\mathrm{c}=9 $K were prepared by arc melting. The ac susceptibility and low-temperature specific heat were measured on these alloys. It is found that there are two superconducting phases coexisting in the samples with $T_\mathrm{c1}\sim9 $K and $T_\mathrm{c2}\sim7 $K, both of which have a non-centrosymmetric structure as reported previously. By analyzing the specific heat data measured in various magnetic fields, we found that the absence of the inversion symmetry does not lead to the deviation from a s-wave pairing symmetry in Re$_3$W.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Scaling of Hall Resistivity in the Mixed State of MgB2 Films

The longitudinal resistivity (rho_{xx}) and transverse resistivity (rho_{xy}) of MgB2 thin films in the mixed state were studied in detail. We found that the temperature dependencies of rho_{xx} and ρ_{xy} at a fixed magnetic field (H) satisfy the scaling law of $ρ_{xy}=Aρ_{xx}^β$, where the exponent beta varies around 2.0 for different fields. In the low field region (below 1T), beta maintains a constant value of 2.0 due to the weak pinning strength of the vortices, mainly from the superfluid of the pi band. When H>1T, beta drops abruptly to its lowest value at about 2T because of the proliferation of quasiparticles from the pi-band and, hence, the motion of the vortices from the superfluid of the sigma-band dominates the dissipation. As the field is increased further, the vortex pinning strength is weakened and beta increases monotonically towards 2.0 at a high field. All the results presented here are in good agreement with the expectation of the vortex physics of a multi-band superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

I-V characteristics of the vortex state in MgB2 thin films

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of various MgB2 films have been studied at different magnetic fields parallel to c-axis. At fields \mu0H between 0 and 5T, vortex liquid-glass transitions were found in the I-V isotherms. Consistently, the I-V curves measured at different temperatures show a scaling behavior in the framework of quasi-two-dimension (quasi-2D) vortex glass theory. However, at \mu0 H >= 5T, a finite dissipation was observed down to the lowest temperature here, T=1.7K, and the I-V isotherms did not scale in terms of any known scaling law, of any dimensionality. We suggest that this may be caused by a mixture of σband vortices and πband quasiparticles. Interestingly, the I-V curves at zero magnetic field can still be scaled according to the quasi-2D vortex glass formalism, indicating an equivalent effect of self-field due to persistent current and applied magnetic field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Nodeless Superconductivity in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor $Mg_{10}Ir_{19}B_{16}$

We measured the resistivity, diamagnetization and low temperature specific heat of the newly discovered noncentrosymmetric superconductor $Mg_{10}Ir_{19}B_{16}$. It is found that the superconducting gap has an s-wave symmetry with a value of about $Δ_0 \approx$ 0.6 meV, and the ratio $Δ_0/k_BT_c\approx1.86$ indicates a weak coupling for the superconductivity. The correlations among the normal state Sommerfeld constant $γ_n$, the slope $-dμ_0H_{c2}(T)/dT$ near Tc and the condensation energy Ec are all consistent with the weak coupling picture. The separated phonon contribution from the specific heat shows that the conduction electrons of the $Ir$ atoms interact most strongly with the vibrations of themselves, instead of with that of the light element boron.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Reversible magnetization and critical fluctuations in systematically doped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ single crystals

The temperature and field dependence of reversible magnetization have been measured on a YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ single crystal at six different doping concentrations. It is found that the data above 2 T can be described by the scaling law based on the GL-LLL (lowest Landau level approach based on Ginzburg-Landau theory) critical fluctuation theory yielding the values of the slope of upper critical field $-\mathrm{d}H_{\mathrm{c2}}(T)/\mathrm{d}T$ near $T_\mathrm{c}$. This set of values is self-consistent with that obtained in doing the universal scaling for the six samples. Based on a simple Ginzburg-Landau approach, we determined the doping dependence of the coherence length $ξ$ which behaves in a similar way as that determined from $ξ= \hbar v_\mathrm{F}/E_\mathrm{sc}$ with $E_\mathrm{sc}$ the superconducting energy scale. Our results may suggest a growing coherence length towards more underdoping.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Pseudogap, Superconducting Energy Scale, and Fermi Arcs in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors

Through the measurements of magnetic field dependence of specific heat in $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ in zero temperature limit, we determined the nodal slope $v_Δ$ of the quasiparticle gap. It is found that $v_Δ$ has a very similar doping dependence of the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ or value $Δ_p$. Meanwhile the virtual maximum gap at ($π,0$) derived from $v_Δ$ is found to follow the simple relation $Δ_q=0.46k_BT^*$ upon changing the doping concentration. This strongly suggests a close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. It is further found that the superconducting transition temperature is determined by both the residual density of states of the pseudogap phase and the nodal gap slope in the zero temperature limit, namely, $T_c \approx βv_Δγ_n(0)$, where $γ_n(0)$ is the extracted zero temperature value of the normal state specific heat coefficient which is proportional to the size of the residual Fermi arc $k_{arc}$. This manifests that the superconductivity may be formed by forming a new gap on the Fermi arcs near nodes below $T_c$. These observations mimic the key predictions of the SU(2) slave boson theory based on the general resonating-valence-bond (RVB) picture.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Pseudogap, Superconducting Gap, and Fermi Arcs in Underdoped Cuprate Superconductors

Through the measurements of magnetic field dependence of specific heat in $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ in zero temperature limit, we find that the nodal slope $v_Δ$ of the superconducting gap has a very similar doping dependence of the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ or value $Δ_p$. Meanwhile the maximum quasiparticle gap derived from $v_Δ$ is quite close to $T^*$. Both indicate a close relationship between the pseudogap and superconductivity. It is also found that $T_c \approx βv_Δγ_n(0)$, where $γ_n(0)$ is the extracted zero temperature value of the normal state specific heat coefficient which is proportional to the size of the residual Fermi arc $k_{arc}$. These observations mimic the key predictions of the SU(2) slave boson theory based on the general resonating-valence-bond (RVB) picture.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Inherent Relation between Nernst Signal and Nodal Quasiparticle Transport in Pseudogap Region of Underdoped High Temperature Superconductors

In-plane Nernst signal and resistivity have been measured for three $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ single crystals (x=0.09, 0.11 and 0.145) with the magnetic field parallel to c-axis. A quadratic temperature dependence of resistivity, i.e., $ρ=ρ_0+aT^2$ is observed below a certain temperature $T_R$. It is found that the upper boundary of the Nernst signal $T_n$ coincides with $T_R$, which points to an inherent relation between the anomalous Nernst signal and the nodal quasiparticle transport in the pseudogap region. Finally a phase diagram together with the pseudogap temperature $T^*$ is presented, which suggests a second energy scale in the pseudogap region.

cond-mat.supr-con↗