Relationship between superconductivity and band structures of electrons and phonons

The relationship between superconductivity and band structures of electrons and phonons is established on the basis of a generalized Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer model in which the interaction strengths (V ₁₁,V ₁₂,V ₁₂) among and between electron (1) and hole (2) Cooper pairs are differentiated. Elemental superconductors must have local hyperboloidal Fermi surfaces called necks or inverted double caps.     

Superdiamagnetics and the high-temperature superconductivity problem

The superdiamagnetism observed in CuCl and CdS, with its special features, can be explained by the electron localization in grains of polycrystalline specimens. The similarity in behavior between superdiamagnetics and high-temperature superconductors with transition temperatures near room temperature prompts one to assume that the superconductivity in the latter is connected with electron localization in grains of ceramics.     

Complementary Analysis of the Field Perturbation Theory of Superconductivity

We reexamine the Nambu–Gorkov perturbation theory of superconductivity. We suggest that any field perturbation theory of superconductivity should be based on the Bogoliubov–Valatin (BV) quasi-particles. We show that two such different fields (and two additional analogous fields) may be constructed on the basis of this suggestion. The Nambu field is only one of them. For the field that is different than Nambu’s, the coherence field, the interaction is given by means of two interaction vertices that are based on the Pauli matrices τ₁ and τ₃. Consequently, the Hartree integral for the off-diagonal pairing self-energy may be finite, and in some cases large. We interpret the results in terms of conventional superconductivity and also discuss briefly the possible implications to HTSC.     

Convergence of Theory and Experiments on Electron-Lattice Interactions in Cuprates: An Overview of SILS

A brief overview of some of main highlights of the Symposium on Localised and Itinerant States (SILS) is presented.     

Fatigue of VT20 titanium alloy with vacuum-plasma coatings at high temperatures

We study the influence of vacuum–plasma TiN, (TiAl)N, and (TiC)N coatings on the high-cycle fatigue of VT20 titanium alloy in the temperature range 350–640°C for a loading frequency of 10 kHz. It is shown that, in this temperature range, the fatigue limits of VT20 alloy with the indicated coatings 6 μm in thickness become 15–25% higher than for the material without coating. The possibility of replacement of steel blades with titanium blades with vacuum-plasma coatings is demonstrated. Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 4, pp. 101–107, July–August, 2009.     

Theory of nuclear spin relaxation in a two-dimensional disordered HTcS in the normal state

The nuclear spin relaxation rateT ₁ ^–1 is calculated for a disordered two dimensional highcritical temperature superconductor taking into consideration the inelastic scattering of the electrons on the impurities. The deviation from the Korringa law of the formT ₁ ^–1 =AT+ B has been obtained if the quantum correction to the transport is dominated by the magnetic correlations.     

Pair breaking as a probe of d-wave high-temperature superconductivity

A unified picture is obtained of the Cooper pair-breaking data by Cu-site Zn and Ni in Nd_2–z Ce _z CuO₄, La_2–SrCuO₄, Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈, Bi_1.8Pb_0.2Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀, YBa₂Cu₃O₇, and YBa₂Cu₄O₈. The data are generally inconsistent with spin-fluctuation d-wave pairing mechanisms of superconductivity and with all two-dimensional cuprate-plane models. The data are consistent with superconductivity in the charge reservoirs.     

High-T c superconductivity in thed-p electron system

The relaxation time with spin flipτ _s and the parametersξ, δ, χ of superconducting phase have been calculated on the basis of the kinematical mechanism of superconductivity in strongly correlated oxide models. An inter-relation between the superconducting gap Δ₀ and the specific heat jump Δ _c allowing the experimental verification was obtained and the Ginsburg-Landau equation derived.     

Impurity band Mott insulators: a new route to high Tc superconductivity

Last century witnessed the birth of semiconductor electronics and nanotechnology. The physics behind these revolutionary developments is certain quantum mechanical behaviour of ‘impurity state electrons’ in crystalline ‘band insulators’, such as Si, Ge, GaAs and GaN, arising from intentionally added (doped) impurities. The present article proposes that certain collective quantum behaviour of these impurity state electrons, arising from Coulomb repulsions, could lead to superconductivity in a parent band insulator, in a way not suspected before. Impurity band resonating valence bond theory of superconductivity in boron doped diamond, recently proposed by us, suggests possibility of superconductivity emerging from impurity band Mott insulators. We use certain key ideas and insights from the field of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates and organics. Our suggestion also offers new possibilities in the field of semiconductor electronics and nanotechnology. The current level of sophistication in solid state technology and combinatorial materials science is very well capable of realizing our proposal and discover new superconductors.     

Impurity band Mott insulators: a new route to high Tc superconductivity

Abstract

Last century witnessed the birth of semiconductor electronics and nanotechnology. The physics behind these revolutionary developments is certain quantum mechanical behaviour of ‘impurity state electrons’ in crystalline ‘band insulators’, such as Si, Ge, GaAs and GaN, arising from intentionally added (doped) impurities. The present article proposes that certain collective quantum behaviour of these impurity state electrons, arising from Coulomb repulsions, could lead to superconductivity in a parent band insulator, in a way not suspected before. Impurity band resonating valence bond theory of superconductivity in boron doped diamond, recently proposed by us, suggests possibility of superconductivity emerging from impurity band Mott insulators. We use certain key ideas and insights from the field of high-temperature superconductivity in cuprates and organics. Our suggestion also offers new possibilities in the field of semiconductor electronics and nanotechnology. The current level of sophistication in solid state technology and combinatorial materials science is very well capable of realizing our proposal and discover new superconductors.     

Recent progress of applied superconductivity in China

China has been involved for many years in the development of superconducting magnets for high energy physics, fusion research, magnetohydrodynamic power generation, magnetic separator, magnetic resonance imaging and other applications. The research activity in superconducting magnets has been intensified and diversified at the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Academia Sinica and other laboratories. This paper reviews the recent progress of applied superconductivity in China. A possible future programme is also outlined in this paper.     

Superconductivity at higher temperatures in the Hg-Ba-Ca-Cu-O compound system

Our recent systematic examination of the pressure effect on high-temperature superconductors revealed that the highest achievable superconducting transition temperature (T _c) in the layered cuprates may lie between 150 and 180 K. We propose that the newly discovered Hg-Ba-Ca-Cu-O (HBCCO) compound system may be one of the most promising candidates for such a high-T _c superconductor, because of the possible large range of modulation doping associated with the linear oxygen coordination of divalent Hg in HBCCO. A record-high magnetically determined transition at 135 K with a zero resistivity at 134 K has been obtained by us in HgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₈₊ . TheT _c of HgBa₂Ca₂Cu₃O₈₊ was found to increase continuously with pressure at an increasing rate up to 17 kbar without any sign of saturation. The thermo-power shows an underdoped characteristic. These observations suggest that theT _c of HBCCO can be further enhanced with proper modulation doping without inducing any structural instabilities. The results together with the synthesis steps of HBCCO are summarized and discussed.     

On the Possibility of s+d Wave Superconductivity Within a Two-Band Scenario for High Tc Cuprates

A variety of different experimental results show substantial evidence that the order parameter in high-temperature superconducting copper oxides is not of pure d-wave symmetry, but that an s-wave component exists, which especially shows up in experiments that test the c-axis properties. These findings are modeled theoretically within a two-band model with interband interactions, where the superconducting order parameters in the two bands are allowed to differ in symmetry. It is found that the coupling of order parameters with different symmetries (s+d) leads to substantial enhancements of the superconducting transition temperature T _c as compared to order parameters with only s-wave symmetry. An additional enhancement factor of T _c is obtained from the coupling of the bands to the lattice where moderate couplings favor superconductivity while too strong couplings lead to electron (hole) localization and consequently suppress superconductivity.     

Theory of superconductivity. 3. 2D conduction bands for high Tc. Bose-Einstein condensation transition of the third order

A general theory of superconductivity is developed, starting with a BCS Hamiltonian in which the interaction strengths (V ₁₁,V ₂₂,V ₁₂) among and between electron (1) and hole (2) Cooper pairs are differentiated, and identifying electrons (holes) with positive (negative) masses as those Bloch electrons moving on the empty (filled) side of the Fermi surface. The supercondensate is shown to be composed of equal numbers of electron and hole ground (zero-momentum) Cooper pairs with charges ±2e and different masses. This picture of a neutral supercondensate naturally explains the London rigidity and the meta-stability of the supercurrent ring. It is proposed that for a compound conductor the supercondensate is formed between electron and hole Fermi energy sheets with the aid of optical phonons having momenta greater than the minimum distance (momentum) between the two sheets. The proposed model can account for the relatively short coherence lengths observed for the compound superconductors including intermetallic compound, organic, and cuprous superconductors. In particular, the model can explain why these compounds are type II superconductors in contrast with type I elemental superconductors whose condensate is mediated by acoustic phonons. A cuprous superconductor has 2D conduction bands due to its layered perovskite lattice structure. Excited (nonzero momentum) Cooper pairs (bound by the exchange of optical phonons) aboveT _c are shown to move like free bosons with the energy-momentum relation=1/2v_Fq. They undergo a Bose-Einstein condensation atT _c = 0.977v _F k _b ^–1 n ^1/2, wheren is the number density of the Cooper pairs. The relatively high value ofT _c (100 K) arises from the fact that the densityn is high:n ^1/2–1 10⁷ cm^–1. The phase transition is of the third order, and the heat capacity has a reversed lambda ()-like peak atT _c .     

Energy scale of the pairing model with energy-dependent density of state

The critical temperature of a pairing model for HT _c S has been calculated using an energy-dependent density of states. We showed that the problem which is connected with the van Hove scenario is very sensitive to the energy scale and to the behavior of the density of states at low and high energy.     

The pressure-induced superconductivity of iodine

The superconductivity of metallic iodine is observed at temperatures below 1.2 K under pressures above 28 GPa by magnetization and electrical resistance measurements. The pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature is studied up to 74 GPa. This is the first observation of the superconductivity of the molecular-dissociated monatomic metal.     

Structure and superconductivity of isotope-enriched boron-doped diamond

Abstract

Superconducting boron-doped diamond samples were synthesized with isotopes of ¹⁰B, ¹¹B, ¹³C and ¹²C. We claim the presence of a carbon isotope effect on the superconducting transition temperature, which supports the ‘diamond-carbon’-related nature of superconductivity and the importance of the electron–phonon interaction as the mechanism of superconductivity in diamond. Isotope substitution permits us to relate almost all bands in the Raman spectra of heavily boron-doped diamond to the vibrations of carbon atoms. The 500 cm^?1 Raman band shifts with either carbon or boron isotope substitution and may be associated with vibrations of paired or clustered boron. The absence of a superconducting transition (down to 1.6 K) in diamonds synthesized in the Co–C–B system at 1900 K correlates with the small boron concentration deduced from lattice parameters.     

Structure and superconductivity of isotope-enriched boron-doped diamond

Superconducting boron-doped diamond samples were synthesized with isotopes of ¹⁰B, ¹¹B, ¹³C and ¹²C. We claim the presence of a carbon isotope effect on the superconducting transition temperature, which supports the ‘diamond-carbon’-related nature of superconductivity and the importance of the electron–phonon interaction as the mechanism of superconductivity in diamond. Isotope substitution permits us to relate almost all bands in the Raman spectra of heavily boron-doped diamond to the vibrations of carbon atoms. The 500 cm⁻¹ Raman band shifts with either carbon or boron isotope substitution and may be associated with vibrations of paired or clustered boron. The absence of a superconducting transition (down to 1.6 K) in diamonds synthesized in the Co–C–B system at 1900 K correlates with the small boron concentration deduced from lattice parameters.     

Pairing, Stripes, Lattice Distortions, and Superconductivity in Cuprate Oxides

We propose a model for a spatially modulated collective state of superconducting cuprates in which the electronic properties vary locally in space. In this model, the regions of higher hole density (called stripes) are described as Luttinger liquids and the regions of lower density (antiferromagnetic ladders) as an interacting bosonic gas of hole pairs. We show that the transition to the superconducting state is topologic and driven by decay processes among these elementary excitations in the presence of vibrations.     

Sulphidation of cobalt at high temperatures

The kinetics and mechanism of cobalt sulphidation have been studied as a function of temperature (773–1023 K) and sulphur partial pressure (1–104 Pa) by means of thermogravimetric, SEM and X-ray techniques, and also using inert-marker and ratio-tracer methods. It has been shown that the sulphidation process is diffusion controlled, the rate-determining step being the outward volume diffusion of cations. According to the phase diagram of the Co–S system, the sulphide scale on cobalt is heterogeneous. At sulphur pressures higher than the dissociation pressure of the CoS2 phase, the sulphidation rate is pressure independent, and at lower pressures it increases with rising pressure, in agreement with theoretical predictions. The apparent activation energy of sulphidation is considerably higher for multilayer than for double-layer scale formation, because the main part of multilayer scale is growing at the dissociation pressure of the CoS2 phase, which increases with increasing temperature. Over the whole temperature and pressure range studied, the rate of cobalt sulphidation is more than three orders of magnitude higher than the oxidation rate of this metal. Rapid degradation of cobalt in a sulphur atmosphere results mainly from a very high defect concentration in Co1-yS and Co9S8 sulphides, participating in comparable amounts in the scale formation on this metal at T>900 K. The only sulphide of cobalt in which the defect concentration may be very low is CoS2, the growth rate of this sulphide layer being more than two orders of magnitude lower than that of other cobalt sulphides. © 1998 Chapman & Hall