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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10

High transition temperature superconductor/insulator bilayers for the development of ultra-fast electronics

High transition temperature superconductor (HTc)/SrTiO{sub 3} (STO) bilayers were fabricated by sputtering deposition on (100) STO substrates. Their transport and morphological properties were characterized using conductive atomic force microscopy. The STO barriers present good insulating properties, with long attenuation lengths (λ ∼ 1 nm) which reduce the junction resistance and increase the operating critical current. The samples present roughness values smaller than 1 nm, with an extremely low density of surface defects (∼5 × 10{sup −5} defects/μm{sup 2}). The high control of the barrier quality over large defect free surfaces is encouraging for the development of microelectronics devices based in HTc Josephson junctions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Wave equation for superconductor.

Wave equation for electron pairs under self consisting field in interacting fermions system, obtaining Landau-Ginzberg type equation

Heims, S. P.↗

Carrier density and disorder tuned superconductor-metal transition in a two-dimensional electron system

Quantum ground states that arise at atomically controlled oxide interfaces provide an opportunity to address key questions in condensed matter physics, including the nature of two-dimensional metallic behaviour often observed adjacent to superconductivity. At the superconducting LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface, a metallic ground state emerges upon the collapse of superconductivity with field-effect gating and is accompanied with a pseudogap. Here we utilize independent control of carrier density and disorder of the interfacial superconductor using dual electrostatic gates, which enables the comprehensive examination of the electronic phase diagram approaching zero temperature. We find that the pseudogap corresponds to precursor pairing, and the onset of long-range phase coherence forms a two-dimensional superconducting dome as a function of the dual-gate voltages. In conclusion, the gate-tuned superconductor–metal transitions are driven by macroscopic phase fluctuations of Josephson coupled superconducting puddles.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Signatures of two-dimensional superconductivity emerging within a three-dimensional host superconductor

Significance We report signatures of a new phenomenon wherein a hidden “interdimensional” order emerges from a bulk three-dimensional superconductor tuned to approach a phase transition to an insulator. Prior electrical transport measurements found that the superconductor–insulator transition of BaPb 1− x Bi x O 3 demonstrated critical scaling behavior but inexplicably required parameters consistent only with two dimensions. Here, we directly image the three-dimensional superconducting state as it approaches an insulating phase and discover that signatures of a two-dimensional granular superconducting phase spontaneously emerge at the transition. Moreover, the properties of this phase precisely match the theory of emergent electronic granularity specific to two-dimensional materials. These findings posit that a three-dimensional superconductor electronically reorganizes itself into a two-dimensional granular superconductor before ultimately transforming to an insulator.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

4-fold enhancement in the critical current density of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} films by practical ion irradiation

We report an up-to-4-fold enhancement in the in-magnetic-field critical current density at 77 K of epitaxial YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7} films on CeO{sub 2}-buffered SrTiO{sub 3} substrates by 3-MeV Au{sup 2+} irradiation. This indicates that irradiation using an industrially practical ion beam, which generally has kinetic energy less than 5 MeV, can provide a substantial increase in the in-field current performance of high-temperature superconductor films. Transmission electron microscopy results show that point-like defects smaller than 6 nm in diameter were created in the films by the irradiation.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Tailoring coherent charge transport in graphene by deterministic defect generation

Harnessing the wave-nature of charge carriers in solid state devices, electron optics investigates and exploits coherent phenomena, in analogy with optics and photonics. Typically, this requires complex electronic devices leveraging macroscopically coherent charge transport in two-dimensional electron gases and superconductors. Here, collective coherent effects are induced in a simple counterintuitive architecture by defect engineering. Deterministically introduced lattice defects in graphene enable the phase coherent charge transport by playing the role of potential barriers, instead of scattering centres as conventionally considered. Thus, graphene preserves its quasi-ballistic quantum transport and can support phase-matched charge carrier waves. Based on this approach, multiple electronic Fabry-Pèrot cavities are formed by creating periodically alternating defective and pristine nano-stripes through low energy electron-beam irradiation. Indeed, defective stripes behave as partially reflecting mirrors and resonantly confine the charge carrier waves within the pristine areas, giving rise to Fabry-Pèrot resonant modes. These modes experimentally manifest as sheet resistance oscillations, as also confirmed by Landauer-Büttiker simulations. Moreover, these coherent phenomena survive up to 30 K for both polarities of charge carriers, contrarily to traditional monopolar electrostatically created Fabry-Pèrot interferometers. Our study positions defective graphene as an innovative platform for coherent electronic devices, with potential applications in nano and quantum technologies.

Melchioni, Nicola↗

Information about Practicums at Los Alamos

The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center is the premier facility for neutron science experiments ranging from cross section measurements, neutron scattering experiments, proton radiography, cold neutrons, actinide neutronic properties, and many other exciting topics. The National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is home to several powerful magnets, including the one that created the first non-destructive 100 Tesla field in March 2012. They probe the electronic structure of superconductors, magnetic properties of materials (including magneto-quantum effects). Research is also conducted in correlated materials, thermoacoustics, and magnetic properties of actinides. The Trident Laser has a unique niche with very high power, short pulse experiments, with a peak power of 10{sup 20} W in short pulse mode. Discoveries range from production of monoenergetic MeV ion beam, nonlinear kinetic plasma waves, the transition between kinetic and fluid nonlinear behavior and other laser-plasma interaction processes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Structural, electronic and thermal properties of Mo{sub 3}Ir superconductors

Self consistent first principle calculations on superconducting material Mo{sub 3}Ir of A15 phase have been performed to understand their fundamental characteristics of the structural, electronic and thermal properties. The bulk modulus (B{sub 0}), Debye temperature (θ{sub D}), density of states (N (E{sub F})) and electronic specific heat coefficient (γ) have been computed in terms of the electronic structure results obtained by using the tight-binding linear muffin tin orbital (TB-LMTO) method based on the density functional theory (DFT) within the local density approximation (LDA). Structural, electronic and thermal properties calculated here are found to corroborate well with the experimental and theoretical results of literature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Gutzwiller charge phase diagram of cuprates, including electron–phonon coupling effects

Besides significant electronic correlations, high-temperature superconductors also show a strong coupling of electrons to a number of lattice modes. Combined with the experimental detection of electronic inhomogeneities and ordering phenomena in many high-T c compounds, these features raise the question as to what extent phonons are involved in the associated instabilities. Here we address this problem based on the Hubbard model including a coupling to phonons in order to capture several salient features of the phase diagram of hole-doped cuprates. Charge degrees of freedom, which are suppressed by the large Hubbard U near half-filling, are found to become active at a fairly low doping level. We find that possible charge order is mainly driven by Fermi surface nesting, with competition between a near-(π, π) order at low doping and antinodal nesting at higher doping, very similar to the momentum structure of magnetic fluctuations. The resulting nesting vectors are generally consistent with photoemission and tunneling observations, evidence for charge density wave order in YBa₂Cu₃O 7-δ including Kohn anomalies, and suggestions of competition between one- and two-q-vector nesting.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

The electronic heat capacity of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7−δ} superconductor

The contributions due to the point defects or disorder and anharmonicities which play deterministic role in the understanding of electronic heat capacity (EHC) of high temperature superconductors (HTS) have been investigated via electron density of states (EDOS) approach on the basis of quantum dynamical many body theory. The evaluation of EDOS has been carried out with the help of most versatile method of double time temperature dependent electron Green’s functions (GF) via a Hamiltonian (non BCS type) which includes the effects of electrons, phonons, defects, anharmonicity, and electron-phonon interactions which enables to account the effects of cubic anharmonicity besides with both the force constant changes and mass difference caused by the impurities in developing the results for EDOS and EHC. The new results reveal some striking features of EHC of HTS.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Competing Electronic Ground States in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeRh 2 As 2

CeRh 2 ⁢As 2 is rare among superconductors, in that the magnetic field tunes it between two distinct superconducting phases. Combined with a lack of local inversion symmetry and an upper critical field exceeding the Pauli paramagnetic limit, this excitingly suggests triplet multicomponent superconductivity. Preceding the superconducting onset, 𝑓-electron correlations cause long-range order, attributed both to local antiferromagnetism and itinerant (quadrupole) density waves. A magnetic field provides a significant perturbation of the 𝑓 electrons and may reveal the nature of the many-body correlations. Therefore, we report comprehensive magnetization and magnetotransport studies on microstructured devices in fields of up to 73 T. Applied along the 𝑐 axis, the field causes a low-temperature change of majority (hole) carrier density at 𝜇 0⁢ 𝐻 ≈ 2⁢4 T. By contrast, in-plane fields produce a cascade of phase transitions; the field-induced in-plane conductivity anisotropy and lack of accompanying magnetic features, plus the closed-dome nature of the overall phase boundary is consistent with a hierarchy of field-induced density-wave states.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

In-Plane Electronic Anisotropy of Underdoped ___122___ Fe-Arsenide Superconductors Revealed by Measurements of Detwinned Single Crystals

The parent phases of the Fe-arsenide superconductors harbor an antiferromagnetic ground state. Significantly, the Neel transition is either preceded or accompanied by a structural transition that breaks the four fold symmetry of the high-temperature lattice. Borrowing language from the field of soft condensed matter physics, this broken discrete rotational symmetry is widely referred to as an Ising nematic phase transition. Understanding the origin of this effect is a key component of a complete theoretical description of the occurrence of superconductivity in this family of compounds, motivating both theoretical and experimental investigation of the nematic transition and the associated in-plane anisotropy. Here we review recent experimental progress in determining the intrinsic in-plane electronic anisotropy as revealed by resistivity, reflectivity and ARPES measurements of detwinned single crystals of underdoped Fe arsenide superconductors in the '122' family of compounds.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗