Searching for 2D Superconductivity in La2−xSrxCuO4 Single Crystals

• Main Author: Kapon, Itzik (Author, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut)
• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Series: Springer Theses, Recognizing Outstanding Ph.D. Research,
• Subjects: Superconductivity.; Superconductors.; Physical measurements.; Measurement .; Optical materials.; Electronic materials.; Materials science.; Strongly Correlated Systems, Superconductivity.; Measurement Science and Instrumentation.; Optical and Electronic Materials.; Characterization and Evaluation of Materials.

 A new experimental method - the "Stiffnessometer", is developed to measure elementary properties of a superconductor, including the superconducting stiffness and the critical current. This technique has many advantages over existing methods, such as: the ability to measure these properties while minimally disturbing the system; the ability to measure large penetration depths (comparable to sample size), as necessary when approaching the critical temperature; and the ability to measure critical currents without attaching contacts and heating the sample. The power of this method is demonstrated in a study of the penetration depth of LSCO, where striking evidence is found for two separate critical temperatures for the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The results in the thesis are novel, important and currently have no theoretical explanation. The stiffnessometer in a tool with great potential to explore new grounds in condensed matter physics. . 

 Introduction -- Stiffnessometer, a Magnetic-Field-Free Superconducting Stiffness Meter and Its Application -- The Nature of the Phase Transition in the Cuprates as Revealed by the Stffnessometer -- Opening a Nodal Gap by Fluctuating Spin-Density-Wave in Lightly Doped La2-xSrxCuO4 -- Conclusions.