Dataset Information

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+? single crystals with pancake vortices.

ABSTRACT: In extremely anisotropic cuprate superconductors a lattice of stacks of pancake vortices nucleates when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the copper oxide layers, while an orthogonal lattice of highly elliptical Josephson vortices forms when the applied field is parallel to the layers. Under tilted magnetic fields these sublattices can interact in complex ways to form systems of vortex chains and composite vortex lattices. Here we have used high-resolution scanning Hall microscopy (SHM) to map the rich tilted-field vortex phase diagram in an underdoped Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+? single crystal. We find that the Josephson vortex lattice spacing has an unexpected non-monotonic dependence on the pancake vortex density reflecting the delicate balance between attractive and repulsive vortex interactions, and actually undergoes a field-driven structural transformation with increasing out-of-plane fields. We also identify particularly stable composite structures composed of vortex chains separated by an integer number of rows of interstitial pancake vortex stacks and are able to establish the precise evolution of vortex-chain phases as the out-of-plane field is increased at small in-plane fields. Our results are in good semi-quantitative agreement with theoretical models and could enable the development of vortex ratchets and lenses based on the interactions between Josephson and pancake vortices.

SUBMITTER: Curran PJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6053460 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ single crystals with pancake vortices.

Curran P J PJ Mohammed H A HA Bending S J SJ Koshelev A E AE Tsuchiya Y Y Tamegai T T

Scientific reports 20180719 1

In extremely anisotropic cuprate superconductors a lattice of stacks of pancake vortices nucleates when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the copper oxide layers, while an orthogonal lattice of highly elliptical Josephson vortices forms when the applied field is parallel to the layers. Under tilted magnetic fields these sublattices can interact in complex ways to form systems of vortex chains and composite vortex lattices. Here we have used high-resolution scanning Hall microscopy (SH ...[more]

PMID: 30026498

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Project description:Superconducting phase transitions in two dimensions lie beyond the description of the Ginzburg-Landau symmetry-breaking paradigm for three-dimensional superconductors. They are Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transitions of paired-electron condensate driven by the unbinding of topological excitations, i.e. vortices. The recently discovered monolayers of layered high-transition-temperature ([Formula: see text]) cuprate superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi2212) meant that this 2D superconductor promised to be ideal for the study of unconventional superconductivity. But inhomogeneity posed challenges for distinguishing BKT physics from charge correlations in this material. Here, we utilize the phase sensitivity of scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy susceptometry to image the local magnetic response of underdoped Bi2212 from the monolayer to the bulk throughout its phase transition. The monolayer segregates into domains with independent phases at elevated temperatures below [Formula: see text]. Within a single domain, we find that the susceptibility oscillates with flux between diamagnetism and paramagnetism in a Fraunhofer-like pattern up to [Formula: see text]. The finite modulation period, as well as the broadening of the peaks when approaching [Formula: see text] from below, suggests well-defined vortices that are increasingly screened by the dissociation of vortex-antivortex plasma through a BKT transition. In the multilayers, the susceptibility oscillation differs in a small temperature regime below [Formula: see text], consistent with a dimensional crossover led by interlayer coupling. Serving as strong evidence for BKT transition in the bulk, we observe a sharp jump in phase stiffness and paramagnetism at small fields just below [Formula: see text]. These results unify the superconducting phase transitions from the monolayer to the bulk underdoped Bi2212, and can be collectively referred to as the BKT transition with interlayer coupling.

Dataset Information

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+? single crystals with pancake vortices.

Publications

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi<sub>2</sub>Sr<sub>2</sub>CaCu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>8+δ</sub> single crystals with pancake vortices.

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Dataset Information

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+? single crystals with pancake vortices.

Publications

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi<sub>2</sub>Sr<sub>2</sub>CaCu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>8+δ</sub> single crystals with pancake vortices.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets

Tuning the structure of the Josephson vortex lattice in Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+? single crystals with pancake vortices.