Quantum Size Effects in Ultra-thin YBaCuO Films

Overview

Journal Sci Rep

Specialty Science

Date 2024 Sep 28

PMID 39333745

Authors

M Lyatti

I Gundareva

T Roper

Z Popovic

A R Jalil

D Grutzmacher

T Schapers

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The d-wave symmetry of the order parameter with zero energy gap in nodal directions stands in the way of using high-temperature superconductors for quantum applications. We investigate the symmetry of the order parameter in ultra-thin YBaCuO (YBCO) films by measuring the electrical transport properties of nanowires aligned at different angles relative to the main crystallographic axes. The anisotropy of the nanowire critical current in the nodal and antinodal directions reduces with the decrease in the film thickness. The Andreev reflection spectroscopy of the nanoconstrictions shows the presence of a thickness-dependent energy gap that does not exist in bulk YBCO. We find that the thickness-dependent energy gap appears due to the quantum size effects in ultra-thin YBCO films that open the energy gap along the entire Fermi surface. The fully gapped state of the ultra-thin YBCO films makes them a promising platform for quantum applications, including quantum computing and quantum communications.

References

Kummel , Gunsenheimer , Nicolsky . Andreev scattering of quasiparticle wave packets and current-voltage characteristics of superconducting metallic weak links. Phys Rev B Condens Matter. 1990; 42(7):3992-4009. DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.42.3992. View

Zgirski M, Riikonen K, Touboltsev V, Arutyunov K . Size dependent breakdown of superconductivity in ultranarrow nanowires. Nano Lett. 2005; 5(6):1029-33. DOI: 10.1021/nl050321e. View

Jorgensen , Veal , Paulikas , Nowicki , Crabtree , CLAUS . Structural properties of oxygen-deficient YBa2Cu3O7- delta. Phys Rev B Condens Matter. 1990; 41(4):1863-1877. DOI: 10.1103/physrevb.41.1863. View

Gedik N, Orenstein J, Liang R, Bonn D, Hardy W . Diffusion of nonequilibrium quasi-particles in a cuprate superconductor. Science. 2003; 300(5624):1410-2. DOI: 10.1126/science.1083038. View

Stangl A, Palau A, Deutscher G, Obradors X, Puig T . Ultra-high critical current densities of superconducting YBaCuO thin films in the overdoped state. Sci Rep. 2021; 11(1):8176. PMC: 8047038. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-87639-4. View

Lyatti M, Wolff M, Gundareva I, Kruth M, Ferrari S, Dunin-Borkowski R . Energy-level quantization and single-photon control of phase slips in YBaCuO nanowires. Nat Commun. 2020; 11(1):763. PMC: 7005758. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14548-x. View

Lu D, Feng D, Armitage N, Shen K, Damascelli A, Kim C . Superconducting gap and strong in-plane anisotropy in untwinned YBa2Cu3O(7-delta). Phys Rev Lett. 2001; 86(19):4370-3. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.86.4370. View

Bose S, Ayyub P . A review of finite size effects in quasi-zero dimensional superconductors. Rep Prog Phys. 2014; 77(11):116503. DOI: 10.1088/0034-4885/77/11/116503. View

Mallik A, Gupta G, Shenoy V, Krishnamurthy H . Surprises in the t-J Model: Implications for Cuprates. Phys Rev Lett. 2020; 124(14):147002. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.147002. View

10.

Gustafsson D, Golubev D, Fogelstrom M, Claeson T, Kubatkin S, Bauch T . Fully gapped superconductivity in a nanometre-size YBa2Cu3O(7-δ) island enhanced by a magnetic field. Nat Nanotechnol. 2012; 8(1):25-30. DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2012.214. View

11.

Cadorim L, de Oliveira Junior A, Sardella E . Ultra-fast kinematic vortices in mesoscopic superconductors: the effect of the self-field. Sci Rep. 2020; 10(1):18662. PMC: 7596518. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-75748-5. View

12.

Peng Y, Meng J, Mou D, He J, Zhao L, Wu Y . Disappearance of nodal gap across the insulator-superconductor transition in a copper-oxide superconductor. Nat Commun. 2013; 4:2459. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms3459. View

13.

Razzoli E, Drachuck G, Keren A, Radovic M, Plumb N, Chang J . Evolution from a nodeless gap to d(x(2)-y(2))-wave in underdoped La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO4. Phys Rev Lett. 2014; 110(4):047004. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.047004. View

14.

Atkinson W, Bazak J, Andersen B . Robust nodal d-wave spectrum in simulations of a strongly fluctuating competing order in underdoped cuprate superconductors. Phys Rev Lett. 2013; 109(26):267004. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.109.267004. View

15.

Lyatti M, Kraiem I, Roper T, Gundareva I, Mussler G, Jalil A . In-Plane Anisotropy of Electrical Transport in YTbBaCuO Films. Materials (Basel). 2024; 17(3). PMC: 10856356. DOI: 10.3390/ma17030558. View

16.

Ando Y, Segawa K . Magnetoresistance of untwinned YBa(2)Cu(3)O(y) single crystals in a wide range of doping: anomalous hole-doping dependence of the coherence length. Phys Rev Lett. 2002; 88(16):167005. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.88.167005. View

17.

Tsuei , Kirtley . Phase-sensitive evidence for d-wave pairing symmetry in electron-doped cuprate superconductors. Phys Rev Lett. 2000; 85(1):182-5. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.85.182. View

18.

Basov , Liang , Bonn , Hardy , Dabrowski , Quijada . In-Plane Anisotropy of the Penetration Depth in YBa2Cu3O7-x and YBa2Cu4O8 Superconductors. Phys Rev Lett. 1995; 74(4):598-601. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.74.598. View

19.

Charaev I, Bandurin D, Bollinger A, Phinney I, Drozdov I, Colangelo M . Single-photon detection using high-temperature superconductors. Nat Nanotechnol. 2023; 18(4):343-349. DOI: 10.1038/s41565-023-01325-2. View