Wave-vector-dependent tunneling in novel superconductors

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Project objective

We will investigate the k-space dependence of the superconducting energy gap A in thin films of the high-temperature superconductors Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+E and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3010+E. The special interest in this study arises from the fact that Bi-2212 is a candidate for the unconventional d-wave pairing state through a coupling mechanism different from the usual BCS concept. The proposed experiment implies the fabrication of Josephson tunnel junctions. In a first step we will prepare epitaxial films and pattern them into microbridges along well defined crystallographic axes. Tunnel junctions along the different directions will be produced either by narrowing the microbridges to nanobridges or by the deposition of a ferromagnetic layer across the microbridges. In order to study the anisotropy of the energy gap A(k,T), current-voltage characteristics will be measured, since the critical current is related to A(T). The assumption of a d-wave state predicts the vanishing of A for specific crystallographic directions.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

• KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN · LEUVENCoordinatorBelgium
• Not availableCity levelGermany

Links

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