Influence of strong electron irradiation on fluctuation conductivity and pseudogap in YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_7$--$\delta$ single crystals

Abstract

The effect of high-energy electron irradiation on the temperature dependences of the resistivity $\rho (T)$, fluctuation conductivity (FLC), and pseudogap (PG) ${\Delta }^{\ast }(T)$ of YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_7$--$\delta$ (YBCO) single crystals without twins was studied. Irradiation causes a linear increase in $\rho (T)$ and a decrease in the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ with dose $\varphi$. For small $\varphi$, the reduction of $T_c$ follows the Abrikosov--Gorkov (AG) pair-breaking theory, while for large $\varphi$ it is described by the Emery--Kivelson (EK) model, where quantum phase fluctuations dominate. At ${\varphi }_3=2.5\times 10^{19}$ e/cm${}^2$, which corresponds to the AG--EK crossover, the spacing between CuO${}_2$ planes $d_{01}$, the coherence length ${\xi }_c(0)$, and the fluctuation region $T_{\mathrm{fl}}$ increase sharply, and the two-dimensional Maki--Thompson (2D--MT) contribution is replaced by the Aslamazov--Larkin (2D--AL) term. Surprisingly, no signatures of the crossover appear in $\rho (\varphi )$ or $T_c(\varphi )$. At the same ${\varphi }_3$, a sharp rise in the pseudogap opening temperature $T^{\ast }$ and in ${\Delta }^{\ast }$ indicates a possible reduction of the density of states. With further increase in $\varphi$, both PG parameters and their energy scale decrease markedly, and ${\Delta }^{\ast }(T)$ acquires an unusual form. However, at ${\varphi }_5=5.6\times 10^{19}$ e/cm${}^2$, the temperature dependences of FLC and PG again show behavior typical of well-structured YBCO, regardless of defect density.

14 pages, 8 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Resonant X-ray Scattering Study of Charge Density Wave Correlations in YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{6+x}$
• Competing charge, spin, and superconducting orders in underdoped YBa2Cu3Oy
• Pseudogap from ARPES experiment: three gaps in cuprates and topological superconductivity
• Visualizing the Energy-gap Modulations of the Cuprate Pair Density Wave State
• Superconducting Fluctuations, Pseudogap and Phase Diagram in Cuprates
• Hydrostatic-pressure effects on the pseudogap in slightly doped YBa2Cu3O7-δ single crystals
• Linking the pseudo-gap in the cuprates with local symmetry breaking: a commentary
• Effect of electron irradiation and Pr doping on the charge transport in YBCO single crystals
• Investigation of Precursor Superconducting State in YBa${}_2$Cu${}_3$O${}_{7-\delta }$ through In-plane Optical Spectroscopy
• Influence of electron irradiation on fluctuation conductivity and pseudogap in $YB{a}_{2}C{u}_3{O}_{7-\delta }$ single crystals

Cited by in corpus (2)

• Cuprates, Pnictides and Sulfosalts: Lessons in Functional Materials
• Hydrostatic pressure effect on the pseudogap in Y0.77Pr0.23Ba2Cu3O7-δsingle crystals