Evidence of a Precursor Superconducting Phase at Temperatures as High as 180 K in RBa2Cu3O7-delta (R=Y,Gd,Eu) Superconducting Crystals from Infrared Spectroscopy

• Authors: DUBROKA Adam; ROESSLE M.; KIM K. W.; MALIK V. K.; MUNZAR Dominik; BASOV D. N.; SCHAFGANS A. A.; MOON S. J.; LIN C. T.; HAUG D.; HINKOV V.; KEIMER B.; WOLF Th.; STOREY J. G.; TALLON J. L.; BERNHARD C.
• Year of publication: 2011
• Type: Article in Periodical
• Magazine / Source: Physical Review Letters
• MU Faculty or unit: Faculty of Science
• Web: http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v106/i4/e047006
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.047006
• Field: Solid matter physics and magnetism
• Keywords: High-Tc superconductors; infrared response; precursor superconductivity above Tc
• Description: We show that a miltilayer analysis of the infrared c-axis response of RBa2Cu3O7-delta (R=Y,Gd,Eu) provides important new information about the anomalous normal-state properties of underdoped curprate high temperature superconductors. In addition to competing correlations which give rise to a pseudogap that depletes the low-energy electronic states below T*>>Tc, it enables us to identify the onset of a precursor superconducting state below Tons>Tc. We map out the doping phase diagram of Tons which reaches a maximum of 180K at strong underdoping and present magnetic field dependent data which confirm our conclusions.

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