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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 811 records · Page 45
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Nodeless multiband superconductivity in stoichiometric single-crystalline CaKFe 4 As 4

Measurements of the London penetration depth Δλ(T) and tunneling conductance in single crystals of the recently discovered stoichiometric iron-based superconductor CaKFe 4 As 4 (CaK1144) show nodeless, two-effective-gap superconductivity with a larger gap of about 6–10 meV and a smaller gap of about 1–4 meV. Having a critical temperature T c,onset ≈ 35.8 K, this material behaves similar to slightly overdoped (Ba 1–x K x )Fe 2 As 2 (e.g., x = 0.54,T c ≈ 34 K), a known multigap s ± superconductor. Here, we conclude that the superconducting behavior of stoichiometric CaK1144 demonstrates that two-gap s± superconductivity is an essential property of high-temperature superconductivity in iron-based superconductors, independent of the degree of substitutional disorder.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Non-Fermi-liquid superconductivity: Eliashberg approach versus the renormalization group

Here, we address the problem of superconductivity for non-Fermi liquids using two commonly adopted, yet apparently distinct, methods: (1) the renormalization group (RG) and (2) Eliashberg theory. The extent to which both methods yield consistent solutions for the low-energy behavior of quantum metals has remained unclear. We show that the perturbative RG beta function for the 4-Fermi coupling can be explicitly derived from the linearized Eliashberg equations, under the assumption that quantum corrections are approximately local across energy scales. We apply our analysis to the test case of phonon-mediated superconductivity and show the consistency of both the Eliashberg and RG treatments. We next study superconductivity near a class of quantum critical points and find a transition between superconductivity and a “naked” metallic quantum critical point with finite , critical BCS couplings. We speculate on the applications of our theory to the phenomenology of unconventional metals.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Static charge-density-wave order in the superconducting state of La 2 - x Ba x CuO 4

Charge-density-wave (CDW) correlations feature prominently in the phase diagram of the cuprates, motivating competing theories of whether fluctuating CDW correlations aid superconductivity or whether static CDW order coexists with superconductivity in inhomogeneous or spatially modulated states. Here we report Cu L -edge resonant x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy measurements of CDW correlations in superconducting La 2–x Ba x CuO 4 , x = 0.11. Static CDW order is shown to exist in the superconducting state at low temperatures and to persist up to at least 85% of the CDW transition temperature. As a result, we discuss the implications of our observations for how nominally competing order parameters can coexist in the cuprates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Vertical temperature boundary of the pseudogap under the superconducting dome in the phase diagram of Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + δ

We combine electronic Raman scattering experiments with cellular dynamical mean field theory and present evidence of the pseudogap in the superconducting state of various hole-doped cuprates. In Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8 + δ we also track the superconducting pseudogap hallmark, a peak-dip feature, as a function of temperature T and doping p , well beyond the optimal one. We show that, at all temperatures under the superconducting dome, the pseudogap disappears at the doping p c , between 0.222 and 0.226, where also the normal-state pseudogap collapses at a Lifshitz transition. This demonstrates that the superconducting pseudogap boundary forms a vertical line in the T - p phase diagram.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Direct visualization of phase separation between superconducting and nematic domains in Co-doped CaFe 2 As 2 close to a first-order phase transition

We show that biaxial strain induces alternating tetragonal superconducting and orthorhombic nematic domains in Co substituted CaFe 2 As 2 . We use Atomic Force, Magnetic Force and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (AFM, MFM and STM) to identify the domains and characterize their properties, nding in particular that tetragonal superconducting domains are very elongated, more than several tens of μm long and about 30 nm wide, have the same Tc than unstrained samples and hold vortices in a magnetic eld. Thus, biaxial strain produces a phase separated state, where each phase is equivalent to what is found at either side of the rst order phase transition between antiferromagnetic orthorhombic and superconducting tetragonal phases found in unstrained samples when changing Co concentration. Having such alternating superconducting domains separated by normal conducting domains with sizes of order of the coherence length opens opportunities to build Josephson junction networks or vortex pinning arrays and suggests that first order quantum phase transitions lead to nanometric size phase separation under the influence of strain.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Absence of Local Fluctuating Dimers in Superconducting Ir 1-x (Pt,Rh) x Te 2

The compound IrTe2 is known to exhibit a transition to a modulated state featuring Ir-Ir dimers, with large associated atomic displacements. Partial substitution of Pt or Rh for Ir destabilizes the modulated structure and induces superconductivity. It has been proposed that quantum critical dimer fluctuations might be associated with the superconductivity. Here we test for such local dimer correlations and demonstrate their absence. X-ray pair distribution function approach reveals that the local structure of Ir 0.95 Pt 0.05 Te 2 and Ir 0.8 Rh 0.2 Te 2 dichalcogenide superconductors with compositions just past the dimer/superconductor boundary is explained well by a dimer-free model down to 10 K, ruling out the possibility of there being nanoscale dimer fluctuations in this regime. This is inconsistent with the proposed quantum-critical-point-like interplay of the dimer state and superconductivity, and precludes scenarios for dimer fluctuations mediated superconducting pairing.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Superconducting and magnetic phase diagram of RbEuFe 4 As 4 and CsEuFe 4 As 4 at high pressure

The recently discovered (Rb,Cs)EuFe 4 As 4 compounds exhibit an unusual combination of superconductivity ( T c ~35K) and ferromagnetism ( T m ~15K). We have performed a series of x-ray diffraction, ac magnetic susceptibility, dc magnetization, and electrical resistivity measurements on both RbEuFe 4 As 4 and CsEuFe 4 As 4 to pressures as high as ~30GPa. We find that the superconductivity onset is suppressed monotonically by pressure while the magnetic transition is enhanced at initial rates of dT m /dP~1.7K/GPa and 1.5K/GPa for RbEuFe 4 As 4 and CsEuFe 4 As 4 , respectively. Near 7 GPa, T c onset and T m become comparable. At higher pressures, signatures of bulk superconductivity gradually disappear. Room-temperature x-ray diffraction measurements suggest the onset of a transition from tetragonal (T) to a half-collapsed-tetragonal (hcT) phase at ~10GPa (RbEuFe 4 As 4 ) and ~12GPa (CsEuFe 4 As 4 ). In conclusion, the ability to tune T c and T m into coincidence with relatively modest pressures highlights (Rb,Cs)EuFe 4 As 4 compounds as ideal systems to study the interplay of superconductivity and ferromagnetism.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Nodeless superconductivity in the type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe 2 : London penetration depth and pairing-symmetry analysis

Superconducting gap structure was probed in type-II Dirac semimetal PdTe 2 by measuring the London penetration depth using the tunnel diode resonator technique. At low temperatures, the data for two samples are well described by a weak-coupling exponential fit yielding λ( T = 0) = 230 nm as the only fit parameter at a fixed Δ(0)/ T c ≈ 1.76, and the calculated superfluid density is consistent with a fully gapped superconducting state characterized by a single gap scale. Electrical resistivity measurements for in-plane and inter-plane current directions find very low and nearly temperature-independent normal-state anisotropy. The temperature dependence of resistivity is typical for conventional phonon scattering in metals. Here, we compare these experimental results with expectations from a detailed theoretical symmetry analysis and reduce the number of possible superconducting pairing states in PdTe 2 to only three nodeless candidates: a regular, topologically trivial s-wave pairing, and two distinct odd-parity triplet states that both can be topologically nontrivial depending on the microscopic interactions driving the superconducting instability.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Low-energy antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations limit the coherent superconducting gap in cuprates

Motivated by recent attention to a potential antiferromagnetic quantum critical point at x c ~ 0.19, we have used inelastic neutron scattering to investigate the low-energy spin excitations in crystals of La 2–x Sr x CuO 4 bracketing x c . We observe a peak in the normal-state spin-fluctuation weight at ~ 20 meV for both x = 0.21 and 0.17, inconsistent with quantum critical behavior. The presence of the peak raises the question of whether low-energy spin fluctuations limit the onset of superconducting order. Empirically evaluating the spin gap Δ spin in the superconducting state, we find that Δ spin is equal to the coherent superconducting gap Δ c determined by electronic spectroscopies. To test whether this is a general result for other cuprate families, we have checked through the literature and find that Δ c ≤ Δ spin for cuprates with uniform d-wave superconductivity. Furthermore, we discuss the implications of this result.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Anomalous connection between antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases in the pressurized noncentrosymmetric heavy-fermion compound CeRhG e 3

Unconventional superconductivity frequently emerges as the transition temperature of a magnetic phase, typically antiferromagnetic (AFM), is suppressed continuously toward zero temperature. Here in this paper, we report contrary behavior in pressurized CeRhGe 3 , a noncentrosymmetric heavy-fermion compound. We find that its pressure-tuned AFM transition temperature (T N ) appears to avoid a continuous decrease to zero temperature by terminating abruptly above a dome of pressure-induced superconductivity. Near 21.5 GPa, evidence for T N suddenly vanishes, the electrical resistance becomes linear in temperature, and the superconducting transition reaches a maximum. Analysis of high-pressure resistance and x-ray-absorption spectroscopy measurements suggest that the anomalous connection between antiferromagnetic and superconducting phases in pressurized CeRhGe 3 is associated with proximity to a critical valence instability.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Nematic superconductivity stabilized by density wave fluctuations: Possible application to twisted bilayer graphene

Nematic superconductors possess unconventional superconducting order parameters that spontaneously break rotational symmetry of the underlying crystal. In this work we propose a mechanism for nematic superconductivity stabilized by strong density wave fluctuations in two dimensions. While the weak-coupling theory finds the fully gapped chiral state to be energetically stable, we show that strong density wave fluctuations result in an additional contribution to the free energy of a superconductor with multicomponent order parameters, which generally favors nematic superconductivity. Finally, our theory sheds light on the recent observation of rotational symmetry breaking in the superconducting state of twisted bilayer graphene.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Glass-induced enhancement of superconducting T c : Pairing via dissipative mediators

With substantial evidence of glassy behavior in the phase diagram of high- T c superconductors and its coexistence with superconductivity, we attempt to answer the following question: what are the properties of a superconducting state where the force driving Cooper pairing becomes dissipative? We discover that when the bosonic mediator is local, dissipation acts to reduce the superconducting critical temperature ( T c ) . On the other hand, contrary to naïve expectations, T c behaves nonmonotonically with dissipation for a nonlocal mediator—weakly dissipative bosons at different energy scales act coherently to give rise to an increase in T c and eventually destroy superconductivity when the dissipation exceeds a critical value. The critical value occurs when dissipative effects become comparable to the energy scale associated with the spatial stiffness of the mediator, at which point T c acquires a maximum. We outline consequences of our results here to recent proton-irradiation experiments (M. Leroux et al. , arXiv:1808.05984 ) on the cuprate superconductor La 2 - x Ba x CuO 4 (LBCO), which observe a disorder-induced increase in T c even when the transition temperature of the proximate charge density wave (CDW) seems to be unaffected by irradiation. Our mechanism is a way to raise T c that does not require a “tug-of-war” type scenario between two competing phases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Bulk Superconductivity and Role of Fluctuations in the Iron-Based Superconductor FeSe at High Pressures

The iron-based superconductor FeSe offers a unique possibility to study the interplay of superconductivity with purely nematic as well magnetic-nematic order by pressure (p) tuning. By measuring specific heat under p up to 2.36 GPa, we study the multiple phases in FeSe using a thermodynamic probe. We conclude that superconductivity is bulk across the entire p range and competes with magnetism. In addition, whenever magnetism is present, fluctuations exist over a wide temperature range above both the bulk superconducting and the magnetic transitions. Whereas the magnetic fluctuations are likely temporal, the superconducting fluctuations may be either temporal or spatial. Finally, these observations highlight similarities between FeSe and underdoped cuprate superconductors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multiple Charge Density Waves and Superconductivity Nucleation at Antiphase Domain Walls in the Nematic Pnictide Ba 1– x Sr x Ni 2 As 2

How superconductivity interacts with charge or nematic order is one of the great unresolved issues at the center of research in quantum materials. Ba 1– x Sr x Ni 2 As 2 (BSNA) is a charge ordered pnictide superconductor recently shown to exhibit a sixfold enhancement of superconductivity due to nematic fluctuations near a quantum phase transition (at $x_c$ = 0.7). The superconductivity is, however, anomalous, with the resistive transition for $0.4 < x < x_c$ occurring at a higher temperature than the specific heat anomaly. Here, using x-ray scattering, we discovered a new charge density wave (CDW) in BSNA in this composition range. The CDWis commensurate with a period of two lattice parameters, and is distinct from the two CDWs previously reported in this material. We argue that the anomalous transport behavior arises from heterogeneous superconductivity nucleating at antiphase domain walls in this CDW. We also present new data on the incommensurate CDW, previously identified as being unidirectional, showing that it is a rotationally symmetric “4$\textit{Q}$” state with $C_4$ symmetry. Our study establishes BSNA as a rare material containing three distinct CDWs, and an exciting test bed for studying coupling between CDW, nematic, and SC orders.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Growth and structural characterization of large superconducting crystals of La 2 - x Ca 1 + x Cu 2 O 6

Large crystals of La 2 - x Ca 1 + x Cu 2 O 6 (La-Ca-2126) with x = 0:10 and 0.15 have been grown and converted to bulk superconductors by high-pressure oxygen annealing. The superconducting transition temperature, T c , is as high as 55 K; this can be raised to 60 K by post-annealing in air. Here we present structural and magnetic characterizations of these crystals using neutron scattering and muon spin rotation techniques. While the as-grown, non-superconducting crystals are single phase, we nd that the superconducting crystals contain 3 phases forming coherent domains stacked along the c axis: the dominant La-Ca-2126 phase, very thin (1.5 unit-cell) intergrowths of La 2 CuO 4 , and an antiferromagnetic La 8 Cu 8 O 20 phase. We propose that the formation and segregation of the latter phases increases the Ca concentration of the La-Ca-2126, thus providing the hole-doping that supports superconductivity.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Pressure-Induced Superconductivity In Polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ

We synthesized polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ ( δ ≈ 0.0 7 ) samples by using the sol-gel method without postannealing under high oxygen pressure, and then measured temperature-dependent resistivity under various hydrostatic pressures up to 18 GPa by using the cubic anvil and two-stage multianvil apparatus. We find that the density-wave-like anomaly in resistivity is progressively suppressed with increasing pressure and the resistivity drop corresponding to the onset of superconductivity emerges at pressure as low as ∼ 6 GPa . Zero resistivity is achieved at 9 GPa below T c zero ≈ 6.6 K , which increases quickly with pressure to 41 K at 18 GPa. However, the diamagnetic response was not detected in the ac magnetic susceptibility measurements up to 15 GPa, indicating a filamentary nature of the observed superconductivity in the studied pressure range. The constructed T − P phase diagram reveals an intimate relationship between superconductivity, density-wave-like order, and the strange-metal-like behaviors. The observation of zero-resistance state in the polycrystalline La 3 Ni 2 O 7 − δ samples under high pressures not only corroborates the recent report of superconductivity in the pressurized La 3 Ni 2 O 7 crystals but also facilitates further studies on this emerging family of nickelate high- T c superconductors. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2026

Ultrafast Raman probe of the photoinduced superconducting to normal state transition in the cuprate Bi 2 ⁢Sr 2 ⁢CaCu 2 ⁢O 8+𝛿

Here, we report an ultrafast Time-Resolved Raman scattering study of the out-of-equilibrium photoinduced dynamics across the superconducting to normal state phase transition of the cuprate Bi 2 ⁢Sr 2⁢ CaCu 2 ⁢O 8+𝛿 . Using the polarization-resolved momentum space selectivity of Raman scattering, we track the superconducting condensate destruction and recovery dynamics with subpicoseconds time resolution in the antinodal region of the Fermi surface where the superconducting gap is maximum. Leveraging ultrafast Raman thermometry, we find a significant dichotomy between the superconducting condensate and the quasiparticle temperature dynamics near the antinodes, which cannot be framed in terms of a single effective electron temperature. The present work demonstrates the ability of Time-Resolved Raman scattering to selectively probe out-of-equilibrium pathways of different electronic subdegrees of freedom during a photoinduced phase transition.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

On the Development of Compact HTS Coil Modules for Large Bore High Field Superconducting Magnets

Lower cost, high current density superconducting coil modules producing higher magnetic fields and cooled affordably are crucial for obtaining cost-effective, compact commercial fusion reactors. Accessibility to low cost, higher field magnets (>30 T) is also critical for the discovery of new quantum phenomena in materials, cosmic frontier and other topics in basic science research. The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) is working with Princeton University to develop unique large bore, compact superconducting magnets to support science experiments including the development of new instrumentation for condensed matter physics and Axion dark matter search in the cosmic frontier. Core elements of these experiments are unique for access to lower cost, simple fabrication of compact superconducting magnets that can be cooled affordably, while integrated with dedicated science instruments. Conductor qualification and coil design concepts are discussed in support of needs for these experiments. PPPL has the unique expertise and experimental facilities to design, construct and test subscale coil modules for these projects. Compact high field coil modules were fabricated and tested to validate coil design concepts and coil performance. Finally, the design and model coil integration challenges are discussed to identify performance risks and demonstrate feasibility for deploying full scale large bore compact superconducting magnets for cost effective operations of multiple laboratory experiments.

axion dark matter↗