Observation of a Three-Dimensional Quasi-Long-Range Electronic Supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7-x/La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 Heterostructures
Authors:
Junfeng He,
Padraic Shafer,
Thomas R. Mion,
Vu Thanh Tra,
Qing He,
J. Kong,
Y. -D. Chuang,
W. L. Yang,
M. J. Graf,
J. -Y. Lin,
Y. -H. Chu,
E. Arenholz,
Rui-Hua He
Abstract:
Recent developments in high-temperature superconductivity highlight a generic tendency of the cuprates to develop competing electronic (charge) supermodulations. While coupled to the lattice and showing different characteristics in different materials, these supermodulations themselves are generally conceived to be quasi-two-dimensional, residing mainly in individual CuO2 planes, and poorly correl…
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Recent developments in high-temperature superconductivity highlight a generic tendency of the cuprates to develop competing electronic (charge) supermodulations. While coupled to the lattice and showing different characteristics in different materials, these supermodulations themselves are generally conceived to be quasi-two-dimensional, residing mainly in individual CuO2 planes, and poorly correlated along the c-axis. Here we observed with resonant elastic x-ray scattering a distinct type of electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially on La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO). This supermodulation has a periodicity nearly commensurate with four lattice constants in-plane, eight out-of-plane, with long correlation lengths in three dimensions. It sets in far above the superconducting transition temperature and competes with superconductivity below this temperature for electronic states predominantly in the CuO2 plane. Our finding sheds new light on the nature of charge ordering in cuprates as well as a reported long-range proximity effect between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in YBCO/LCMO heterostructures.
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Submitted 28 January, 2016;
originally announced January 2016.
Selective interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between the Cu spins in YBa$_2$ Cu$_3$ O$_{7-x}$ grown on top of La$_{0.7}$ Ca$_{0.3}$ MnO$_3$
Authors:
S. W. Huang,
L. Andrew Wray,
Horng-Tay Jeng,
V. T. Tra,
J. M. Lee,
M. C. Langner,
J. M. Chen,
S. Roy,
Y. H. Chu,
R. W. Schoenlein,
Y. -D. Chuang,
J. -Y Lin
Abstract:
Studies to date on ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor heterostructures focus mainly on the effects at or near the interfaces while the response of bulk properties to heterostructuring is overlooked. Here we use resonant soft x-ray scattering spectroscopy to reveal a novel c-axis ferromagnetic coupling between the in-plane Cu spins in YBa$_2$ Cu$_3$ O$_{7-x}$ (YBCO) superconductor when it is grown o…
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Studies to date on ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor heterostructures focus mainly on the effects at or near the interfaces while the response of bulk properties to heterostructuring is overlooked. Here we use resonant soft x-ray scattering spectroscopy to reveal a novel c-axis ferromagnetic coupling between the in-plane Cu spins in YBa$_2$ Cu$_3$ O$_{7-x}$ (YBCO) superconductor when it is grown on top of ferromagnetic La$_{0.7}$ Ca$_{0.3}$ MnO$_3$ (LCMO) manganite layer. This coupling, present in both normal and superconducting states of YBCO, is sensitive to the interfacial termination such that it is only observed in bilayers with MnO_2but not with La$_{0.7}$ Ca$_{0.3}$ interfacial termination. Such contrasting behaviors, we propose, are due to distinct energetic of CuO chain and CuO$_2$ plane at the La$_{0.7}$ Ca$_{0.3}$ and MnO$_2$ terminated interfaces respectively, therefore influencing the transfer of spin-polarized electrons from manganite to cuprate differently. Our findings suggest that the superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayers with proper interfacial engineering can be good candidates for searching the theorized Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state in cuprates and studying the competing quantum orders in highly correlated electron systems.
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Submitted 17 December, 2015; v1 submitted 7 April, 2015;
originally announced April 2015.