O. Kizilaslan

Adjustable tunneling barrier in bi-based high-T c cross-whisker junctions

We present a study of cross-whisker junctions with electronically modified tunneling barriers. Cross-whisker junctions were successfully prepared by annealing two crossed Bi-based whisker bars at temperatures of around 840 °C. In addition to the artificially produced junction at the interface, intrinsic Josephson junctions in the respective bars of the cross were observed. The artificial junction exhibited reproducible and almost ideal junction characteristics. The tunneling barrier/interface properties were controlled by carrier injection in c-axis direction. Using this process, we were able to reduce the tunneling resistance from 408 Ω to 30 Ω. At the same time, the critical current did rise by a factor of 4. Subsequently, the critical current was doubled while the tunneling resistance stayed constant. We interpret this observation in terms of the counterplay between transparency of the barrier and the carrier concentration of the electrodes. In this sense, we can consider the current injection procedure as an electronic gluing process of the two cross-junction whisker bars.

Grain alignment and its relationship with superconductivity and thermal transport of Ni-substituted Bi-2212 textured rods fabricated at two different growth rates

The microstructure, grain alignment, superconducting and thermal transport properties of Ni-substituted Bi-2212 rods grown at two different speeds (15 and 30xa0mmxa0h−1) through the Laser Floating Zone method, have been evaluated. Significant variations in grain size, grain alignment, electrical and thermoelectric power properties have been observed for the rods depending on the growth and substitution rates. The highest aligned structure was obtained on unsubstituted rods grown at 15xa0mmxa0h−1. Both increased substitution and growth rates degraded the grain alignment. The presence of Ni-based secondary phases showed that Ni is not totally incorporated into the crystal structure, which, in turn, caused a decrease on the average grain size of the rods. With increasing Ni concentration, peak values of thermoelectric power of the rods, which lie between 3.8 and 6.4xa0μVK−1, monotonically decreased while thermal conductivity values did not show any systematic change. The activation energy of flux motion, Uo, was calculated from the field dependent resistivity–temperature curves in a range of 0–8xa0T. Superconducting transition temperatures, Tconset and Tcoffset, and activation energy, Uo, were found to decrease with increasing Ni contents and applied magnetic field. It has been estimated from the magnetic field dependence of activation energy of the samples that plastic creep of the collective vortices is dominant in the rods.

Interlayer tunneling spectroscopy of mixed-phase BSCCO superconducting whiskers

In this work, we present a study on the interlayer tunneling spectroscopy (ITS) of mixed-phase BiSrCaCuO (BSCCO) superconducting whiskers. The tunneling experiments were carried out on the artificial cross-whisker (twist angle of 90?) junctions. A multiple superconducting energy gap in the cross-whisker junctions was observed, which is attributed to the presence of different doping levels of two Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+? phases (Bi-2212), rather than two different phases, in the BSCCO whiskers, namely Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+? and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O8+? (Bi-2212 and Bi-2223). The temperature dependence of the energy gaps was discussed in the framework of the BCS T-dependence. On the other hand, the carrier concentration of the cross-whisker junction was changed by the carrier injection process. The effects of the carrier injection on the critical current, I c, and the ITS of intrinsic Josephson junctions were investigated in details.

Enhancement of the critical current of intrinsic Josephson junctions by carrier injection

We present a study of the doping effect by carrier injection of high-Tc superconducting Bi-based whiskers. The current was injected in the c-axis direction, i.e., perpendicular to the superconducting planes. Superconducting properties were investigated systematically as a function of the doping level. The doping level of one and the same sample was changed by current injection in very small steps from an underdoped state up to a slightly overdoped state. We have observed that Tc versus log (jc) exhibits a dome-shaped characteristic, which can be fitted by a parabola. As Tc versus carrier concentration has a parabolic form, too, it can be concluded that the critical current density jc increases exponentially with the doping level. The electron-trapping mechanism is interpreted in the framework of Phillips microscopic theory. In addition, the Joule heating effect in the intrinsic Josephson junction (IJJ) was controlled by carrier injection, and the effect of the non-equilibrium quasiparticle on the I–V curves of the IJJs was also discussed.