Weak-link behavior of grain boundaries in superconducting Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 bicrystals
S. Lee, J. Jiang, J. D. Weiss, C. M. Folkman, C. W. Bark, C. Tarantini, A. Xu, D. Abraimov, A. Polyanskii, C. T. Nelson, Y. Zhang, S. H. Baek, H. W. Jang, A. Ya… 展开作者
S. Lee, J. Jiang, J. D. Weiss, C. M. Folkman, C. W. Bark, C. Tarantini, A. Xu, D. Abraimov, A. Polyanskii, C. T. Nelson, Y. Zhang, S. H. Baek, H. W. Jang, A. Yamamoto, F. Kametani, X. Q. Pan, E. E. Hellstrom, A. Gurevich, C. B. Eom, D. C. Larbalestier
We show that despite the low anisotropy, strong vortex pinning and high irreversibility field Hirr close to the upper critical field Hc2 of Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2, the critical current density Jgb across [001] tilt grain boundaries (GBs) of thin film Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 bicrystals is strongly depressed, similar to high-Tc cuprates. Our results suggest that weak-linked GBs are characteristic of both cuprates and pnictides because of competing orders, low carrier density, and unconventional pairing symmetry.
Co-doped BaFe2As2 (Ba-122) can be realized on both MgO and SrTiO3 bicrystal substrates with [001]-tilt grain boundary by employing Fe buffer layers. However, an additional spinel (i.e. MgAl2O4) buffer between Fe and SrTiO3 is necessary since an epitaxial, smooth surface of Fe layer can not be grown on bare SrTiO3. Both types of bicrystal films show good crystalline quality.
DC superconducting quantum interference devices (dc-SQUIDs) were fabricated in Co-doped BaFe2As2 epitaxial films on (La, Sr)(Al, Ta)O3 bicrystal substrates with 30deg misorientation angles. The 18 x 8 micro-meter^2 SQUID loop with an estimated inductance of 13 pH contained two 3 micro-meter wide grain boundary junctions. The voltage-flux characteristics clearly exhibited periodic modulations with deltaV = 1.4 micro-volt at 14 K, while the intrinsic flux noise of dc-SQUIDs was 7.8 x 10^-5 fai0/Hz^1/2 above 20 Hz. The rather high flux noise is mainly attributed to the small voltage modulation de…
We report on the fabrication and characterization of nanopatterned dc SQUIDs with grain boundary Josephson junctions based on heteroepitaxially grown YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ (YBCO)/ SiTrO$_3$ (STO) superlattices on STO bicrystal substrates. Nanopatterning is performed by Ga focused-ion-beam milling. The electric transport properties and thermal white flux noise of superlattice nanoSQUIDs are comparable to single layer YBCO devices on STO bicrystals. However, we find that the superlattice nanoSQUIDs have more than an order of magnitude smaller low-frequency excess flux noise, with root-mean-square s…
The response of YBCO bicrystal grain-boundary junctions to small dc magnetic fields (0 - 10 Oe) has been probed with a low-power microwave (rf) signal of 4.4 GHz in a microwave-resonator setup. Peaks in the microwave loss at certain dc magnetic fields are observed that result from individual Josephson vortices penetrating into the grain-boundary junctions under study. The system is modeled as a long Josephson junction described by the sine-Gordon equation with the appropriate boundary conditions. Excellent quantitative agreement between the experimental data and the model has been obtained. Hy…
We have studied the electric transport properties of symmetrical [001] tilt NdCeCuO bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions (GBJs) fabricated on SrTiO bicrystal substrates with misorientation angles of 24 and 36.8 degree. The superconducting properties of the NdCeCuO-GBJs are similar to those of GBJs fabricated from the hole doped high temperature superconductors (HTS). The critical current density Jc decreases strongly with increasing misorientation angle. The products of the critical current Ic and the normal resistance Rn (about 0.1 mV at 4.2 K) are small compared to the gap voltage an…
We observe a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) in the ab-plane quasiparticle tunneling spectra of thin film grain-boundary Josephson junctions made of the electron doped cuprate superconductor LaCeCuO. An applied magnetic field reduces the spectral weight around zero energy and shifts it non-linearly to higher energies consistent with a Doppler shift of the Andreev bound states (ABS) energy. For all magnetic fields the ZBCP appears simultaneously with the onset of superconductivity. These observations strongly suggest that the ZBCP results from the formation of ABS at the junction interfaces, …
We have systematically investigated the grain boundary (GB) angle dependence of transport properties for NdFeAs(O,F) fabricated on [001]-tilt symmetric MgO bicrystal substrates. In our previous study, NdFeAs(O,F) bicrystal films showed a weak-link behaviour even at a GB angle of 6°. However, this was caused by an extrinsic effect originating from the damage to both NdFeAs(O,F) and MgO substrate by excess F-diffusion along the grain boundary. To investigate the intrinsic nature of grain boundaries, we minimized the damage to NdFeAs(O,F) and MgO by reducing the deposition temperature of NdOF ove…
Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 superconducting thin films have been grown on SrTiO3, (La,Sr)(Al,Ta)O3, LaAlO3 and YAlO3 (YAO) single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition. All the films, except on YAO, have been grown epitaxially without buffer layers. The films deposited on YAO contained 45 degree in-plane rotated grains and showed a broad superconducting transition. The onset Tc of the films is observed to increase from 16.2 K to 24.5 K with increasing c/a, mainly due to a slight distortion of the AsFe4 tetrahedron. From this correlation, we expect that higher superconducting transition temperatur…
High critical temperature superconductors have zero power consumption and could be used to produce ideal electric power lines. The principal obstacle in fabricating superconducting wires and tapes is grain boundaries-the misalignment of crystalline orientations at grain boundaries, which is unavoidable for polycrystals, largely deteriorates critical current density. Here, we report that High critical temperature iron pnictide superconductors have advantages over cuprates with respect to these grain boundary issues. The transport properties through well-defined bicrystal grain boundary junction…
The implementation of an Fe buffer layer is a promising way to obtain epitaxial growth of Co-doped BaFe2As2 (Ba-122). However, the crystalline quality and the superconducting properties of Co-doped Ba-122 are influenced by the Fe buffer layer thickness, dFe. The well-textured growth of the Fe/Ba-122 bilayer with dFe = 15 nm results in a high Jc of 0.45 MAcm$^{-2}$ at 12 K in self-field, whereas a low Jc value of 61000 Acm$^{-2}$ is recorded for the bilayer with dFe = 4 nm at the corresponding reduced temperature due to the presence of grain boundaries.
We report on transport properties of grain boundaries fabricated in YBa2Cu3O7-x thin films grown by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique on MgO asymmetrical bicrystal substrate with 45o misorientation angle. In total around 10 samples have been studied. Substantial scatter of zero field values of the critical current density at 5K has been observed. The upper limit of Jc of the order of 104 A/cm2 found in our study is close to previously reported data for 45o bicrystals grown by various physical vapour deposition methods while the minimal value of Jc for the LPE grown bicrystals in strikin…
We report on the growth of NdFeAs(O,F) thin films on [001]-tilt MgO bicrystal substrates with misorientation angle theta_GB=6°, 12°, 24° and 45°, and their inter- and intra-grain transport properties. X-ray diffraction study confirmed that all our NdFeAs(O,F) films are epitaxially grown on the MgO bicrystals. The theta_GB dependence of the inter-grain critical current density Jc shows that, unlike Co-doped BaFe2As2 and Fe(Se,Te), its decay with theta_GB is rather significant. As a possible reason of this result, fluorine may have diffused preferentially to the grain boundary region and eroded …
Grain boundary bicrystal Josephson junctions of the electron-doped infinite-layer superconductor Sr$_{1-x}$La$_x$CuO$_2$ ($x = 0.15$) were grown by pulsed laser deposition. BaTiO$_3$-buffered $24\,^\circ$ [001]-tilt symmetric SrTiO$_3$ bicrystals were used as substrates. We examined both Cooper pair (CP) and quasiparticle (QP) tunneling by electric transport measurements at temperatures down to 4.2\,K. CP tunneling revealed an extraordinary high critical current density for electron-doped cuprates of $j_c > 10^3\,$A/cm$^2$ at 4.2\,K. Thermally activated phase slippage was observed as dissipati…
The dependence of the critical current density Jc on hydrostatic pressure to 0.6 GPa is determined for a single 25-degree [001]-tilt grain boundary in a bicrystalline ring of nearly optimally doped melt-textured YBa2Cu3Ox. Jc is found to increase rapidly under pressure at +20 %/GPa. A new diagnostic method is introduced (pressure-induced Jc relaxation) which reveals a sizeable concentration of vacant oxygen sites in the grain boundary region. Completely filling such sites with oxygen anions should lead to significant enhancements in Jc.
We report here an atomic resolution study of the structure and composition of the grain boundaries in polycrystalline Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 superconductor. A large fraction of grain boundaries contain amorphous layers larger than the coherence length, while some others contain nanometer-scale particles sandwiched in between amorphous layers. We also find that there is significant oxygen enrichment at the grain boundaries. Such results explain the relatively low transport critical current density (Jc) of polycrystalline samples with respect to that of bicrystal films.
The ability of single grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3Ox bicrystalline rings to carry electrical current is found to be significantly enhanced under hydrostatic pressure. Nearly hydrostatic pressures are applied to the alkali metals Li, Na, and K. in a search for superconductivity. Whereas Li becomes superconducting above 20 GPa at temperatures as high as 15 K, no superconductivity was observed above 4 K in Na to 65 GPa nor in K above 4 K to 43.5 GPa or above 1.5 K to 35 GPa.
The critical current density flowing across low angle grain boundaries in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ thin films has been studied magnetometrically. Films (200 nm thickness) were deposited on SrTiO$_3$ bicrystal substrates containing a single [001] tilt boundary, with angles of 2, 3, 5, and 7 degrees, and the films were patterned into rings. Their magnetic moments were measured in applied magnetic fields up to 30 kOe at temperatures of 5 - 95 K; current densities of rings with or without grain boundaries were obtained from a modified critical state model. For rings containing 5 and 7 degree boundar…
We have investigated the transport and noise properties of submicron YBCO bicrystal grain-boundary junctions prepared using electron beam lithography. The junctions show an increased conductance for low voltages reminiscent of Josephson junctions having a barrier with high transmissivity. The voltage noise spectra are dominated by a few Lorentzian components. At low temperatures clear two-level random telegraph switching (RTS) signals are observable in the voltage vs time traces. We have investigated the temperature and voltage dependence of individual fluctuators both from statistical analysi…
A theoretical model of high-T_c Josephson Field Effect Transistors (JoFETs) based on a Ginzburg-Landau free energy expression whose parameters are field- and spatially- dependent is developed. This model is used to explain experimental data on JoFETs made by the hole-overdoped Ca-SBCO bicrystal junctions (three terminal devices). The measurements showed a large modulation of the critical current as a function of the applied voltage due to charge modulation in the bicrystal junction. The experimental data agree with the solutions of the theoretical model. This provides an explanation of the lar…
The results of dc, microwave and magnetic measurements of YBCO bicrystal junctions on r-cut sapphire are presented. The junctions with high resistance 10-20 W and IcRN= 1-2 mV and tolerance of RNS around 30% on chip allow to create microwave circuits with low integration (up to 10 junctions on chip). The microwave dynamics of the junction with superconducting current-phase relation fits with sin j relation better than 5%, that clear indicates on tunnel conductivity between two YBCO electrodes. It was found that critical current density depends as square root on the interface transparency in ac…
We show that low-angle grain boundaries (GB) in high-temperature superconductors exhibit intermediate Abrikosov vortices with Josephson cores, whose length $l$ along GB is smaller that the London penetration depth, but larger than the coherence length. We found an exact solution for a periodic vortex structure moving along GB in a magnetic field $H$ and calculated the flux flow resistivity $R_F(H)$, and the nonlinear voltage-current characteristics. The predicted $R_F(H)$ dependence describes well our experimental data on $7^{\circ}$ unirradiated and irradiated $YBa_2Cu_3O_7$ bicrystals, from …
We have performed a detailed study of the tunneling spectra of bicrystal grain boundary junctions (GBJs) fabricated from the HTS YBCO, BSCCO, LSCO, and NCCO. In all experiments the tunneling direction was along the CuO planes. With the exception of NCCO, for all materials a pronounced zero bias conductance peak was observed which decreases with increasing temperature and disappears at the critical temperature. These results can be explained by the presence of a dominating d-wave symmetry of the order parameter resulting in the formation of zero energy Andreev bound states at surfaces and inter…
The K- and Co-doped BaFe2As2 (Ba-122) superconducting compounds are potentially useful for applications because they have upper critical fields (Hc2) of well over 50 T, Hc2 anisotropy Gamma < 2, and thin film critical current densities exceeding 1 MAcm-2 at 4.2 K. However, thin-film bicrystals of Co-doped Ba-122 clearly exhibit weak link behavior for [001] tilt misorientations of more than about 5 degrees, suggesting that textured substrates would be needed for applications, as in the cuprates. Here we present a contrary and very much more positive result in which untextured polycrystalline (B…
YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ 24$^\circ$ (30$^\circ$) bicrystal grain boundary junctions (GBJs), shunted with 60\,nm (20\,nm) thick Au, were fabricated by focused ion beam milling with widths $80\,{\rm nm} \le w \le 7.8\,μ$m. At 4.2\,K we find critical current densities $j_c$ in the $10^5\,{\rm A/cm^2}$ range %\dkc{\#1} (without a clear dependence on $w$) and an increase in resistance times junction area $ρ$ with an approximate scaling $ρ\propto w^{1/2}$. For the narrowest GBJs $j_cρ\approx 100\,μ$V, which is promising for the realization of sensitive nanoSQUIDs for the detection of small spin systems. W…
We study temperature dependence of the critical current modulation Ic(H) for two types of planar Josephson junctions: a low-Tc Nb/CuNi/Nb and a high-Tc YBa2Cu3O7 bicrystal grain-boundary junction. At low T both junctions exhibit a conventional behavior, described by the local sine-Gordon equation. However, at elevated T the behavior becomes qualitatively different: the Ic(H) modulation field deltaH becomes almost T-independent and neither deltaH nor the critical field for penetration of Josephson vortices vanish at Tc. Such an unusual behavior is in good agreement with theoretical predictions …
Andreev bound states (ABS) at the surface of superconductors are expected for any pair potential showing a sign change in different k-directions with their spectral weight depending on the relative orientation of the surface and the pair potential. We report on the observation of ABS in HTS employing tunneling spectroscopy on bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions (GBJs). The tunneling spectra were studied as a function of temperature and applied magnetic field. The tunneling spectra of GBJ formed by YBCO, BSCCO, and LSCO show a pronounced zero bias conductance peak that can be interpret…
We have measured the temperature dependence of the in-plane London penetration depth lambda(T) and the maximum Josephson current Ic(T) using bicrystal grain boundary Josephson junctions of the electron-doped cuprate superconductor Nd(1.85)Ce(0.15)CuO(4-y). Both quantities reveal an anomalous temperature dependence below about 4 K. In contrast to the usual monotonous decrease (increase) of lambda(T) (Ic(T)) with decreasing temperature, lambda(T) and Ic(T) are found to increase and decrease, respectively, with decreasing temperature below 4 K resulting in a non-monotonous overall temperature dep…
