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Atomically Defined Templates for Epitaxial Growth of Complex Oxide Thin Films
Published on: December 4, 2014
Enhanced superconducting properties of Bi[Formula: see text]Sr[Formula: see text]CaCu[Formula: see text]O[Formula:
Bernd Aichner1, Sandra Keppert2, Johannes D Pedarnig2
1Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Abstract:
Few-unit cell thick Bi[Formula: see text]Sr[Formula: see text]CaCu[Formula: see text]O[Formula: see text] (Bi-2212) layers have recently attracted much interest due to their extreme anisotropy and two-dimensional superconductivity, although they are typically susceptible to ambient conditions. In this study, we report on thin films approximately 13 unit cells thick that are stable in air, exhibit high anisotropy, and demonstrate extraordinarily high critical currents. By examining the superconducting transition under magnetic fields applied in both out-of-plane and in-plane orientations, we estimate key parameters such as pinning potentials, coherence lengths, London penetration depth, anisotropy factor, and the Ginzburg-Landau parameter. The volume pinning force is better described by a model incorporating an exponential decay term attributed to pronounced thermally-assisted flux flow. The Hall effect in the Bi-2212 films exhibits an extensive anomaly with a double sign change that may challenge existing theoretical explanations for this poorly understood phenomenon in copper-oxide superconductors.

