High-magnetic-field induced charge order in high-T_c cuprate superconductors

In the last few years, charge order and its entanglement with superconductivity are under hot debate in high-Tc community due to the new progress on charge order in high-Tc cuprate superconductors YBa2Cu3O6+x. Here, we will briefly introduce the experimental status of this field and mainly focus on the experimental progress of high-field nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) study on charge order in YBa2Cu3O6+x. The pioneering high-field NMR work in YBa2Cu3O6+x sets a new stage for studying charge order which has become a ubiquitous phenomenon in high-Tc cuprate superconductors.

Model of Preformed Hole-Pairs in c-Axis Transport in Cuprate Superconductors

Model of hole-pairs in electrical transport along ab plane in cuprate superconductors has already been proposed. It has been found to be in the shape of 3dx2–y2 orbital of an electron in an atom. This time, model of hole-pairs in transport along c-axis in cuprate superconductors is proposed. In ab-plane, hole-pairs are formed along CuO2 plane;one hole-pair covering 9 - 10 two dimensional CuO2 unit cells in 3dx2–y2 configuration. In the investigation of c-axis hole-pairs, cuprate superconductors have been sub-divided into three categories depending on the number of CuO2 planes/formula unit. There is a little different treatment for finding out the order parameter in each category. Coherence lengths along ab-planes are of the order of a few tens of Angstroms, whereas along c-axis, they are less than even their a-, b-lattice constants. In cuprates with 2 or 3 CuO2 planes, the order parameter is of 3dz2–x2 type in zx-plane with lobes along both the axes much constrained. For cuprates with a single CuO2 layer, the order parameter is of 3dx2–y2 type, but its dimensions are less than a-, b-lattice constants.

Electron-phonon coupling in cuprate and iron-based superconductors revealed by Raman scattering

Electron-phonon coupling （EPC） in cuprate and iron-based superconducting systems, as revealed by Raman scat- tering, is briefly reviewed. We introduce how to extract the coupling information through phonon lineshape. Then we discuss the strength of EPC in different high-temperature superconductor （HTSC） systems and possible factors affecting the strength. A comparative study between Raman phonon theories and experiments allows us to gain insight into some crucial electronic properties, especially superconductivity. Finally, we summarize and compare EPC in the two existing HTSC systems, and discuss what role it may play in the HTSC.

Relevance of 3d multiplet structure in nickelate and cuprate superconductors

The recent discovery of superconductivity in doped rare-earth infinite-layer nickelates RNiO_(2),R=Nd,Pr as a new family of unconventional superconductors has inspired extensive research on their intriguing properties.One of the major motivation to explore the nickelate superconductors originated from their similarities with and differences from the cuprate superconductors,which have been extensively studied over the last decades but are still lack of the thorough understanding.In this short review,we summarized our recent investigation of the relevance of Ni/Cu-3d multiplet structure on the hole doped spin states in cuprate and recently discovered nickelate superconductors via an impurity model incorporating all the 3d orbitals.Further plausible explorations to be conducted are outlined as well.Our presented work provides an insightful framework for the investigation of the strongly correlated electronic systems in terms of the multiplet structure of transition metal compounds.

Hybrid crystals of cuprates and iron-based superconductors

We propose two possible new compounds, Ba2CuO2Fe2As2and K2CuO2Fe2Se2, which hybridize the building blocks of two high temperature superconductors, cuprates and iron-based superconductors. These compounds consist of square CuO2 layers and antifluorite-type Fe2X2（X = As, Se） layers separated by Ba/K. The calculations of binding energies and phonon spectra indicate that they are dynamically stable, which ensures that they may be experimentally synthesized. The Fermi surfaces and electronic structures of the two compounds inherit the characteristics of both cuprates and iron-based superconductors. These compounds can be superconductors with intriguing physical properties to help to determine the pairing mechanisms of high Tc superconductivity.

Hole-Pair Formation in Cuprate Superconductors despite Antiferromagnetic Fluctuations

We have earlier proposed models of preformed hole pairs based on the results of our electron paramagnetic resonance experiments. A hole doped in a cuprate superconductor causes ferromagnetic alignment of the spins of the holes of 4 Cu2+ ions of the plaquette (CuO)4 in which it enters. Spin alignments undergo oscillations from vertically upward to vertically downward of the CuO2 plane. Vertical projections of spins go on changing when they pass through different plaquettes going to zero when they pass through the CuO2 plane. Ferromagnetic alignments of spins produce magnetic fields on the plane proportional to their vertical projections. When two holes travelling in CuO2 plane come across each other at a certain distance between them, they are attracted towards each other by Heisenberg exchange interaction and their path is decided by the magnetic field produced due to spin alignments. Their path is similar to 3dx2 - y2 atomic orbital. Y-123 has been chosen as an example. Due to plethora of evidence of antiferromagnetic fluctuations in cuprates, hole-pair formation has been tried in Y-123 assuming antiferromagnetic fluctuations in it. It has been found that hole-pair formation in spite of AFM fluctuations can be explained on the same lines as done earlier. Hole-pair formation was tried in Tl-2201 to test whether the same rules apply in cuprates with very high coherence lengths. Coherence length in Tl-2201 = 52 &Aring, whereas in Y-123 = 15 20 &Aring in CuO2 plane. It has been reported that in Tl-2201 the CuO2 plane is very flat and smooth. From this it was concluded that high coherence length is the result of the smoothness of the plane. Further it was concluded that the smoothness of the CuO2 plane depends upon the nature of the near neighbors of the CuO2 plane. Near neighbors of Y-123 and Tl-2201 have been compared.

Study of High-Temperature Superconductor Diplexers for Satellite Communications

The high-temperature superconductor （HTSC） resonator and diplexer are simulated by full-wave tools. A newly developed miniature HTSC diplexer is designed and fabricated on double sided YBa2Cu3O7 （YBCO） film （YBCO/LaAlO3/YBCO）, the thickness of which is 400 nm for YBCO and 0.5 mm for the LaAlO3. The measured results show a good agreement with the simulation. The volume and mass of the diplexers are greatly reduced by miniaturized configuration.

Angular dependence of vertical force and torque when magnetic dipole moves vertically above flat high-temperature superconductor

The interaction between a permanent magnet(PM)assumed as a magnetic dipole and a flat high-temperature superconductor(HTS)is calculated by the advanced frozen-image model.When the dipole vertically moves above the semiinfinite HTS,the general analytical expression of vertical force and that of torque are obtained for an arbitrary angle between the magnetization direction of the PM and the c axis of the HTS.The variations of the force and torque are analyzed for angle and vertical movements in both zero-field cooling(ZFC)condition and field cooling(FC)condition.It is found that the maximum vertical repulsive or attractive force has the positive or negative cosine relation with the angle.However,the maximum torque has the positive or negative sine relation.From the viewpoint of the rotational equilibrium,the orientation of the magnetic dipole with zero angle is deemed to be an unstable equilibrium point in ZFC,but the same orientation is considered as a stable equilibrium point in FC.In addition,both of the variation cycles of the maximum force and torque with the angle areπ.

Lateral magnetic stiffness under different parameters in a high-temperature superconductor levitation system

Magnetic stiffness determines the stability of a high-temperature superconductor(HTS)magnetic levitation system.The quantitative properties of the physical and geometrical parameters that affect the stiffness of HTS levitation systems should be identified for improving the stiffness by some effective methods.The magnetic stiffness is directly related to the first-order derivative of the magnetic force with respect to the corresponding displacement,which indicates that the effects of the parameters on the stiffness should be different from the relationships between the forces and the same parameters.In this paper,we study the influences of some physical and geometrical parameters,including the strength of the external magnetic field(B0)produced by a rectangular permanent magnet(PM),critical current density(Jc),the PM-to-HTS area ratio(α),and thickness ratio(β),on the lateral stiffness by using a numerical approach under zero-field cooling(ZFC)and field cooling(FC)conditions.In the first and second passes of the PM,the lateral stiffness at most of lateral positions essentially increases with B0 increasing and decreases withβincreasing in ZFC and FC.The largest lateral stiffness at every lateral position is almost produced by the minimum value of Jc,which is obviously different from the lateral force–Jc relation.Theα-dependent lateral stiffness changes with some parameters,which include the cooling conditions of the bulk HTS,lateral displacement,and movement history of the PM.These findings can provide some suggestions for improving the lateral stiffness of the HTS levitation system.

Comparative Study of 10-MW High-Temperature Superconductor Wind Generator with Overlapped Field Coil Arrangement

The electromagnetic characteristics and iron loss of a high-temperature superconductor wind generator(HWG)equipped with an overlapped field coil arrangement(OFCA)are studied by comparing with the one equipped with the conventional field coil arrangement(CFCA).Through a quantitative analysis,it was found that HWG with OFCA exhibits better electromagnetic characteristics than HWG with CFCA and can reduce the iron loss by eliminating the magnetic flux sag caused by the adjacent field coil sides with the same current flow direction.In addition,the OFCA topology can further reduce the volume of the wind generator.

Magnetic levitation performance of high-temperature superconductor over three magnetic hills of permanent magnet guideway with iron shims of different thicknesses

Superconducting magnetic levitation performance, including levitation force and guidance force, is important for the application of high-temperature super- conducting maglev. Both of them are not only affected by different arrays of superconductors and magnets, but also by the thickness of the iron shim between permanent magnets. In order to obtain the best levitation performance, the magnetic field distribution, levitation force, and guidance force of a new type of three magnetic hills of permanent magnet guideway with iron shim of different thicknesses （4, 6, and 8 mm） are discussed in this paper. Simulation analysis and experiment results show that the guideway with iron shim of 8 mm thickness possesses the strongest magnetic field and levitation performance when the suspension gap is larger than 10 mm. However, with the decreasing of suspension gap, the guideway with iron shim of 4 mm thickness possesses the best levitation performance. The phenomena can be attributed to the density distribution of flux and magnetization of iron shim.

Crossover from Two-to Three-dimensional Superconducting States in Bismuth-based Cuprate Superconductor

To decipher the mechanism of high temperature superconductivity(SC),it is important to know how the superconducting pairing emerges from the unusual normal states of cuprate superconductors,including pseudogap,anomalous Fermi liquid and strange metal(SM).A long-standing issue under debate is how the superconducting pairing is formed and condensed in the SM phase because the superconducting transition temperature is the highest in this phase.

Vibration characteristics of a multi-block high-temperature superconducting maglev system

The multi-block high-temperature superconducting （HTS） maglev system has more complicated dynamic characteristics than the single-block HTS maglev system. To study its vibration characteristics, we designed a maglev measurement system. The system responses at the excitation frequencies of 2, 3 and 15 Hz were examined. Results show that the responses under excitation frequencies of 2 and 3 Hz include a 6 Hz component, which means that the maglev system is a critical nonlinear system. Moreover, the 6 Hz component is much stronger than the 2 Hz or 3 Hz components in the response spectra. There is the interaction between excitation and response. Under an excitation frequency of 15 Hz, intensified low-frequency perturbations were observed.

Study of Pseudogap in Underdoped Cuprate

A mean-field spin-density wave (SDW) analysis of pseudogap in the underdoped cuprates is proposed on the dependence of the energy gap which mimics the pseudogap near (π, 0) point at least. It implies that the pseudogap structure near (π, 0) is not sensitive to the long-range order and will survive leading to the pseudogap phenomenon in the underdoped metallic phase. On the other hand, in the long-range ordering antiferromagnetic region, the mean-field SDW theory holds and the pseudogap structure predicated by the theory should be observable experimentallyv. Then one prediction is that the pseudogap would smoothly extrapolate between itinerant antiferromagnetic phase and underdoped metallic phase.

Specific heat in superconductors

Specific heat is a powerful tool to investigate the physical properties of condensed materials.Superconducting state is achieved through the condensation of paired electrons,namely,the Cooper pairs.The condensed Cooper pairs have lower entropy compared with that of electrons in normal metal,thus specific heat is very useful in detecting the low lying quasiparticle excitations of the superconducting condensate and the pairing symmetry of the superconducting gap.In this brief overview,we will give an introduction to the specific heat investigation of the physical properties of superconductors.We show the data obtained in cuprate and iron based superconductors to reveal the pairing symmetry of the order parameter.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE HEAT CAPACITIES OF THE PHASES IN Y-Ba-Cu-O SYSTEM

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An Overview of the Multi-Band and the Generalized BCS Equations-Based Approaches to Deal with Hetero-Structured Superconductors

We trace the conceptual basis of the Multi-Band Approach (MBA) and recall the reasons for its wide following for composite superconductors (SCs). Attention is then drawn to a feature that MBA ignores: the possibility that electrons in such an SC may also be bound via simultaneous exchanges of quanta with more than one ion-species—a lacuna which is addressed by the Generalized BCS Equations (GBCSEs). Based on several papers, we give a concise account of how this approach: 1) despite employing a single band, meets the criteria satisfied by MBA because a) GBCSEs are derived from a temperature-incorporated Bethe-Salpeter Equation the kernel of which is taken to be a “superpropagator” for a composite SC-each ion-species of which is distinguished by its own Debye temperature and interaction parameter and b) the band overlapping the Fermi surface is allowed to be of variable width. GBCSEs so-obtained reduce to the usual equations for the Tc and Δ of an elemental SC in the limit superpropagator → 1-phonon propagator;2) accommodates moving Cooper pairs and thereby extends the scope of the original BCS theory which restricts the Hamiltonian at the outset to terms that correspond to pairs having zero centre-of-mass momentum. One can now derive an equation for the critical current density (j0) of a composite SC at T = 0 in terms of the Debye temperatures of its ions and their interaction parameters— parameters that also determine its Tc and Δs;3) transforms the problem of optimizing j0 of a composite SC, and hence its Tc, into a problem of chemical engineering;4) provides a common canopy for most composite SCs, including those that are usually regarded as outside the purview of the BCS theory and have therefore been called “exceptional”, e.g., the heavy-fermion SCs;5) incorporates s±-wave superconductivity as an in-built feature and can therefore deal with the iron-based SCs, and 6) leads to presumably verifiable predictions for the values of some relevant parameters, e.g., the effective mass of electrons, for the SCs for which it has been employed.

Electron Correlation in High Temperature Cuprates

Electron correlation plays a key role in high-temperature cuprate superconductors. Material-parameter dependence of cuprates is important to clarify the mechanism of high temperature superconductivity. In this study, we examine the ground state of the three-band Hubbard model (d-p model) that explicitly includes oxygen p orbitals. We consider the half-filled case with the large on-site Coulomb repulsion Ud by using the variational Monte Carlo method. The ground state is insulating when Ud is large at half-filling. The ground state undergoes a transition from a metal to a Mott insulator when the level difference εp-εd is increased.

Oxygen Isotope Effects on T_(c) Related to Polaronic Superconductivity in Underdoped Cuprates

The planar oxygen isotope effect on Tc observed in copper oxide superconductors is remarkable in that it increases from near nil at optimal doping to a value twice that derived from BCS theory in the underdoped region. This behavior is quantitatively followed by a formula proposed by Kresin and Wolf in 1994 for polarons along the c-axis. Herein it is revisited in a more transparent way, and it is pointed out that the heterogeneity of pairing is relevant and has to be taken into account to explain the unusual planar isotope effects on Tc in underdoped cuprates.

Theoretical understanding of correlation between magnetic phase transition and the superconducting dome in high-Tc cuprates

Many issues concerning the origin of high-temperature superconductivity(HTS)are still under debate.For example,how the magnetic order varies with doping and its relationship with the superconducting temperature(Tc);and why Tcalways peaks near the quantum critical point.In this paper,taking hole-doped La_(2)CuO_(4)as a classical example,we employ the first-principles band structure and total energy calculations with Monte Carlo simulations to explore how the symmetry-breaking magnetic ground state evolves with hole doping and the origin of a dome-shaped superconductivity region in the phase diagram.We demonstrate that the local antiferromagnetic order and doping play key roles in determining the electron-phonon coupling,thus Tc.Initially,the La_(2)CuO_(4)possesses a checkerboard local antiferromagnetic ground state.As the hole doping increases,Tcincreases with the enhanced electron-phonon coupling strength.But as the doping increases further,the strength of the antiferromagnetic interaction weakens and spin fluctuation increases.At the critical doping level,a magnetic phase transition occurs that reduces the local antiferromagnetism-assisted electron-phonon coupling,thus diminishing the Tc.The superconductivity disappears in the heavily overdoped region when the ferromagnetic order dominates.These observations could account for why cuprates have a dome-shaped superconductivity region in the phase diagram.Our study,thus,contributes to a fundamental understanding of the correlation between doping,local magnetic order,and superconductivity of HTS.