Inhomogeneity,dynamical symmetry,and complexity in high-temperature superconductors:Reconciling a universal phase diagram with rich local disorder

A model for high-temperature superconductors incorporating antiferromagnetism,d-wave superconductivity,and no double lattice-site occupancy can give energy surfaces delicately balanced between antiferromagnetic and superconducting order for specific ranges of doping and temperature. The resulting properties can reconcile a universal cuprate phase diagram with rich inhomogeneity,relate that inhomogeneity to pseudogaps,give a fundamental rationale for giant proximity eects and other emergent behavior,and provide an objective framework to separate essential from peripheral in the superconducting mechanism.     

高温超导体的核磁共振最新研究进展

核磁共振作为一种重要的谱学研究手段,在高温超导体的机理研究中发挥了极其重要的作用.近年来,随着新型铁基高温超导材料家族的发现以及基于强磁场下核磁共振技术的发展,相关高温超导方面的核磁共振研究也有了许多新的进展,这些工作对高温超导电性的机理研究起到了积极的推动作用.本文将就核磁共振技术在铜氧化物高温超导体和铁基高温超导体这两大类高温超导材料中的若干最新研究进展进行一个有针对性的概述和梳理,希望对后续高温超导电性的机理研究以及材料探索能起到一些启示作用.     

Signature of optimal doping in Hall-effect measurements on a high-temperature superconductor

High-temperature superconductivity is achieved by doping copper oxide insulators with charge carriers. The density of carriers in conducting materials can be determined from measurements of the Hall voltage--the voltage transverse to the flow of the electrical current that is proportional to an applied magnetic field. In common metals, this proportionality (the Hall coefficient) is robustly temperature independent. This is in marked contrast to the behaviour seen in high-temperature superconductors when in the 'normal' (resistive) state; the departure from expected behaviour is a key signature of the unconventional nature of the normal state, the origin of which remains a central controversy in condensed matter physics. Here we report the evolution of the low-temperature Hall coefficient in the normal state as the carrier density is increased, from the onset of superconductivity and beyond (where superconductivity has been suppressed by a magnetic field). Surprisingly, the Hall coefficient does not vary monotonically with doping but rather exhibits a sharp change at the optimal doping level for superconductivity. This observation supports the idea that two competing ground states underlie the high-temperature superconducting phase.     

Imaging the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms on superconductivity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta

Although the crystal structures of the copper oxide high-temperature superconductors are complex and diverse, they all contain some crystal planes consisting of only copper and oxygen atoms in a square lattice: superconductivity is believed to originate from strongly interacting electrons in these CuO2 planes. Substituting a single impurity atom for a copper atom strongly perturbs the surrounding electronic environment and can therefore be used to probe high-temperature superconductivity at the atomic scale. This has provided the motivation for several experimental and theoretical studies. Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) is an ideal technique for the study of such effects at the atomic scale, as it has been used very successfully to probe individual impurity atoms in several other systems. Here we use STM to investigate the effects of individual zinc impurity atoms in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. We find intense quasiparticle scattering resonances at the Zn sites, coincident with strong suppression of superconductivity within approximately 15 A of the scattering sites. Imaging of the spatial dependence of the quasiparticle density of states in the vicinity of the impurity atoms reveals the long-sought four-fold symmetric quasiparticle 'cloud' aligned with the nodes of the d-wave superconducting gap which is believed to characterize superconductivity in these materials.     

Magnetic carbon

The discovery of nanostructured forms of molecular carbon has led to renewed interest in the varied properties of this element. Both graphite and C60 can be electron-doped by alkali metals to become superconducting; transition temperatures of up to 52 K have been attained by field-induced hole-doping of C60 (ref. 2). Recent experiments and theoretical studies have suggested that electronic instabilities in pure graphite may give rise to superconducting and ferromagnetic properties, even at room temperature. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of strong magnetic signals in rhombohedral C60. Our intention was to search for superconductivity in polymerized C60; however, it appears that our high-pressure, high-temperature polymerization process results in a magnetically ordered state. The material exhibits features typical of ferromagnets: saturation magnetization, large hysteresis and attachment to a magnet at room temperature. The temperature dependences of the saturation and remanent magnetization indicate a Curie temperature near 500 K.     

离子液体调控超导研究

载流子在超导材料中扮演关键角色,其浓度调控对研究超导特性及相关量子器件至关重要.然而载流子浓度通常与其他自由度相互耦合,难以做到单一物理量变化,例如,化学掺杂同时会导致晶格等发生变化.最近迅速发展的离子液体调控技术,兼具了传统的化学掺杂和场效应晶体管优点——大范围、原位、可逆地调节载流子浓度.随着这项技术的发展,逐渐演变出两类调控思路:静电场效应和电化学调控.本文从这两个方面,回顾了离子液体调控在诱导新奇超导态和调控高温超导薄膜物性上的应用:静电场效应对绝缘或半导体体系十分有效,而对于本身载流子浓度较高的材料(如高温超导体等),电化学调控则发挥了重要作用.离子液体因其强大的原位调控能力和易于与其他手段结合的特点,正逐渐成为超导研究中不可或缺的手段,在构建精确相图、突破高温超导机理等方面发挥不可替代的作用.     

Structural and Chemical Diversity of Tl－Based Cuprate Superconductors

The Tl-based cuprate superconductor family is the largest family in crystal structure and chemical composition among all high Tc cuprate superconductors. The Tl family can be divided into two sub-families, the Tl single layer family and the Tl double layer family, based on their crystal structural characteristics. The Tl single layer family is an ideal material for investigating the evolution of crystalline formation, charge carrier density, chemical composition, transport properties, superconductivity and their relationships. The Tl family contains almost all possible crystal structures discovered in high-Tc cuprate superconductors. Tl cuprate superconductors are of great importance not only in studying high-temperature superconductivity but also in commercial applications.     

电-声机制致高温超导特性随掺杂量演变

利用极性晶体中慢电子的运动规律提出基于BCS机理的分析模型.分析发现,掺杂导致铜氧化物的费米面电子分为低能费米电子和高能电子,并产生快电子效应.欠掺杂区高能电子与晶格振动发生作用形成赝隙,费米电子与晶格作用形成超导隙.赝隙和超导隙的竞争平衡导致欠掺杂区超导隙2Δ0和κBTc比值与高能费米电子速度vF^＊成正比,与费米速度vF成反比.掺杂量（x）与高能费米速度（vF^＊）相图是解释高温超导相图的基础.利用模型和（x-vF^＊）相图能够对欠掺杂区赝隙温度、能隙与κBTc比例随掺杂量增加而线性下降的现象给出简单解释,即最佳掺杂区2Δ0和κBTc比值为7.6、过掺杂区为4.3的常数.显示系统随掺杂量增加由＂非传统＂行为向接近传统行为再到金属行为演变的规律.     

Superconductivity at 43 K in SmFeAsO1-xFx

Since the discovery of high-transition-temperature (high-T(c)) superconductivity in layered copper oxides, extensive effort has been devoted to exploring the origins of this phenomenon. A T(c) higher than 40 K (about the theoretical maximum predicted from Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory), however, has been obtained only in the copper oxide superconductors. The highest reported value for non-copper-oxide bulk superconductivity is T(c) = 39 K in MgB(2) (ref. 2). The layered rare-earth metal oxypnictides LnOFeAs (where Ln is La-Nd, Sm and Gd) are now attracting attention following the discovery of superconductivity at 26 K in the iron-based LaO(1-x)F(x)FeAs (ref. 3). Here we report the discovery of bulk superconductivity in the related compound SmFeAsO(1-x)F(x), which has a ZrCuSiAs-type structure. Resistivity and magnetization measurements reveal a transition temperature as high as 43 K. This provides a new material base for studying the origin of high-temperature superconductivity.     

Microscopic electronic inhomogeneity in the high-Tc superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x

The parent compounds of the copper oxide high-transition-temperature (high-Tc) superconductors are unusual insulators (so-called Mott insulators). Superconductivity arises when they are 'doped' away from stoichiometry. For the compound Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x, doping is achieved by adding extra oxygen atoms, which introduce positive charge carriers ('holes') into the CuO2 planes where the superconductivity is believed to originate. Aside from providing the charge carriers, the role of the oxygen dopants is not well understood, nor is it clear how the charge carriers are distributed on the planes. Many models of high-Tc superconductivity accordingly assume that the introduced carriers are distributed uniformly, leading to an electronically homogeneous system as in ordinary metals. Here we report the presence of an electronic inhomogeneity in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x, on the basis of observations using scanning tunnelling microscopy and spectroscopy. The inhomogeneity is manifested as spatial variations in both the local density of states spectrum and the superconducting energy gap. These variations are correlated spatially and vary on the surprisingly short length scale of approximately 14 A. Our analysis suggests that this inhomogeneity is a consequence of proximity to a Mott insulator resulting in poor screening of the charge potentials associated with the oxygen ions left in the BiO plane after doping, and is indicative of the local nature of the superconducting state.     

No mixing of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in a high-temperature superconductor

There is still no universally accepted theory of high-temperature superconductivity. Most models assume that doping creates 'holes' in the valence band of an insulating, antiferromagnetic 'parent' compound, and that antiferromagnetism and high-temperature superconductivity are intimately related. If their respective energies are nearly equal, strong antiferromagnetic fluctuations (temporally and spatially restricted antiferromagnetic domains) would be expected in the superconductive phase, and superconducting fluctuations would be expected in the antiferromagnetic phase; the two states should 'mix' over an extended length scale. Here we report that one-unit-cell-thick antiferromagnetic La2CuO4 barrier layers remain highly insulating and completely block a supercurrent; the characteristic decay length is 1 A, indicating that the two phases do not mix. We likewise found that isolated one-unit-cell-thick layers of La1.85Sr0.15CuO4 remain superconducting. The latter further implies that, on doping, new electronic states are created near the middle of the bandgap. These two findings are in conflict with most proposed models, with a few notable exceptions that include postulated spin-charge separation.     

Interplay of magnetism and high-Tc superconductivity at individual Ni impurity atoms in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta.

Magnetic interactions and magnetic impurities are destructive to superconductivity in conventional superconductors. By contrast, in some unconventional macroscopic quantum systems (such as superfluid 3He and superconducting UGe2), the superconductivity (or superfluidity) is actually mediated by magnetic interactions. A magnetic mechanism has also been proposed for high-temperature superconductivity. Within this context, the fact that magnetic Ni impurity atoms have a weaker effect on superconductivity than non-magnetic Zn atoms in the high-Tc superconductors has been put forward as evidence supporting a magnetic mechanism. Here we use scanning tunnelling microscopy to determine directly the influence of individual Ni atoms on the local electronic structure of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta. At each Ni site we observe two d-wave impurity states of apparently opposite spin polarization, whose existence indicates that Ni retains a magnetic moment in the superconducting state. However, analysis of the impurity-state energies shows that quasiparticle scattering at Ni is predominantly non-magnetic. Furthermore, we show that the superconducting energy gap and correlations are unimpaired at Ni. This is in strong contrast to the effects of non-magnetic Zn impurities, which locally destroy superconductivity. These results are consistent with predictions for impurity atom phenomena derived from a magnetic mechanism.     

Coupling strength of charge carriers to spin fluctuations in high-temperature superconductors

In conventional superconductors, the most direct evidence of the mechanism responsible for superconductivity comes from tunnelling experiments, which provide a clear picture of the underlying electron-phonon interactions. As the coherence length in conventional superconductors is large, the tunnelling process probes several atomic layers into the bulk of the material; the observed structure in the current-voltage characteristics at the phonon energies gives, through inversion of the Eliashberg equations, the electron-phonon spectral density alpha2F(omega). The situation is different for the high-temperature copper oxide superconductors, where the coherence length (particularly for c-axis tunnelling) can be very short. Because of this, methods such as optical spectroscopy and neutron scattering provide a better route for investigating the underlying mechanism, as they probe bulk properties. Accurate reflection measurements at infrared wavelengths and precise polarized neutron-scattering data are now available for a variety of the copper oxides, and here we show that the conducting carriers (probed by infrared spectroscopy) are strongly coupled to a resonance structure in the spectrum of spin fluctuations (measured by neutron scattering). The coupling strength inferred from those results is sufficient to account for the high transition temperatures of the copper oxides, highlighting a prominent role for spin fluctuations in driving superconductivity in these materials.     

Enhanced supercurrent density in polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) at 77 K from calcium doping of grain boundaries

With the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity, it seemed that the vision of superconducting power cables operating at the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K) was close to realization. But it was soon found that the critical current density Jc of the supercurrents that can pass through these polycrystalline materials without destroying superconductivity is remarkably small. In many materials, Jc is suppressed at grain boundaries, by phenomena such as interface charging and bending of the electronic band structure. Partial replacement ('doping') of the yttrium in YBa2Cu3O(7-delta) with calcium has been used to increase grain-boundary Jc values substantially, but only at temperatures much lower than 77 K (ref. 9). Here we show that preferentially overdoping the grain boundaries, relative to the grains themselves, yields values of Jc at 77 K that far exceed previously published values. Our results indicate that grain-boundary doping is a viable approach for producing a practical, cost-effective superconducting power cable operating at liquid-nitrogen temperatures.     

基于累积前景理论的突发事件下轨道交通乘客路径选择研究

城市轨道交通网络中突发事件经常发生且影响巨大。本文基于累积前景理论,建立了突发事件下城市轨道交通乘客路径选择行为模型,分析了突发事件对轨道交通出行行为的影响。结果表明,累积前景理论可以较好地描述突发事件下轨道交通乘客的路径选择行为。     

Electron-phonon coupling reflecting dynamic charge inhomogeneity in copper oxide superconductors

The attempt to understand copper oxide superconductors is complicated by the presence of multiple strong interactions in these systems. Many believe that antiferromagnetism is important for superconductivity, but there has been renewed interest in the possible role of electron-lattice coupling. The conventional superconductor MgB2 has a very strong electron-lattice coupling, involving a particular vibrational mode (phonon) that was predicted by standard theory and confirmed quantitatively by experiment. Here we present inelastic scattering measurements that show a similarly strong anomaly in the Cu-O bond-stretching phonon in the copper oxide superconductors La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO4 (with x = 0.07, 0.15). Conventional theory does not predict such behaviour. The anomaly is strongest in La(1.875)Ba(0.125)CuO4 and La(1.48)Nd(0.4)Sr(0.12)CuO4, compounds that exhibit spatially modulated charge and magnetic order, often called stripe order; it occurs at a wave vector corresponding to the charge order. These results suggest that this giant electron-phonon anomaly, which is absent in undoped and over-doped non-superconductors, is associated with charge inhomogeneity. It follows that electron-phonon coupling may be important to our understanding of superconductivity, although its contribution is likely to be indirect.     

Evidence for ubiquitous strong electron-phonon coupling in high-temperature superconductors

Coupling between electrons and phonons (lattice vibrations) drives the formation of the electron pairs responsible for conventional superconductivity. The lack of direct evidence for electron-phonon coupling in the electron dynamics of the high-transition-temperature superconductors has driven an intensive search for an alternative mechanism. A coupling of an electron with a phonon would result in an abrupt change of its velocity and scattering rate near the phonon energy. Here we use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to probe electron dynamics-velocity and scattering rate-for three different families of copper oxide superconductors. We see in all of these materials an abrupt change of electron velocity at 50-80 meV, which we cannot explain by any known process other than to invoke coupling with the phonons associated with the movement of the oxygen atoms. This suggests that electron-phonon coupling strongly influences the electron dynamics in the high-temperature superconductors, and must therefore be included in any microscopic theory of superconductivity.     

Scanning-tunnelling spectra of cuprates

The study of bosonic modes that couple to the charge carriers is a key element in understanding superconductivity. Using atomic-resolution scanning-tunnelling microscopy (STM) to extract the spectrum of these modes in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8+delta), Lee et al. find a mode whose frequency does not depend on doping but that changes on isotopic substitution of 16O with 18O. From this, they infer a role for lattice modes (phonons). However, examination of their data reveals a weaker, but distinct, feature that has all the characteristics of the magnetic excitation identified as the bosonic mode in other competing experiments. We therefore suggest that the lattice mode seen by Lee et al. is not relevant to superconductivity and is due to inelastic tunnelling through the insulating oxide layer.     

YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-y)体系高温超导电性的理论研究Ⅱ——CuO_3链对决定体系超导转变温度Tc诸因素的影响

本文用量子化学计算方法探讨了 YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-y)(y=0.19)正交相中CuO_3链的存在在对决定其高温超导电性的各种因素的影响。结果表明:CuO_3链的存在有助于增大晶格振动德拜频率 W_D、Fermi 面电子态密度 N(e)及电一声子相互作用能,从而在理论上说明了造成正交相和四方相 YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-y)超导体超导电性差别的原因。     

Electric field effect in correlated oxide systems

Semiconducting field-effect transistors are the workhorses of the modern electronics era. Recently, application of the field-effect approach to compounds other than semiconductors has created opportunities to electrostatically modulate types of correlated electron behaviour--including high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistance--and potentially tune the phase transitions in such systems. Here we provide an overview of the achievements in this field and discuss the opportunities brought by the field-effect approach.