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Anomalous independence of interface superconductivity from carrier density

Nature Materials volume 12, pages 877–881 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

The recent discovery of superconductivity at the interface of two non-superconducting materials has received much attention1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12. In cuprate bilayers, the critical temperature (Tc) can be significantly enhanced compared with single-phase samples2,7,9. Several explanations have been proposed, invoking Sr interdiffusion2, accumulation and depletion of mobile charge carriers2,8,10, elongation of the copper-to-apical-oxygen bond length11,12, or a beneficial crosstalk between a material with a high pairing energy and another with a large phase stiffness13,14,15,16. From each of these models, one would predict Tc to depend strongly on the carrier density in the constituent materials. Here, we study combinatorial libraries of La2−xSrxCuO4–La2CuO4 bilayer samples—an unprecedentedly large set of more than 800 different compositions. The doping level x spans a wide range, 0.15 < x < 0.47, and the measured Hall coefficient varies by one order of magnitude. Nevertheless, across the entire sample set, Tc stays essentially constant at about 40 K. We infer that doping up to the optimum level does not shift the chemical potential, unlike in ordinary Fermi liquids. This result poses a new challenge to theory—cuprate superconductors have not run out of surprises.

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Figure 1: Bilayer heterostructure, calculated charge distribution and expected Tc evolution.
Figure 2: The doping dependence of resistivity (ρ) and Hall coefficient (RH) in La2−xSrxCuO4–La2CuO4 bilayer films.
Figure 3: Combinatorial transport measurements.
Figure 4: The doping dependence of Tc in La2−xSrxCuO4–La2CuO4 bilayer films.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank A. Gozar, J. A. Clayhold and R. Sundling for valuable technical help at early stages of this work. Research supported by the US Department of Energy, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is supported by the US National Science Foundation award DMR-1157490. Z.R. and M.V. also acknowledge Project No.171027 of the Serbian Ministry of Science and Education

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA

    J. Wu, O. Pelleg, G. Logvenov, A. T. Bollinger, Y-J. Sun, M. Vanević, Z. Radović & I. Božović

  2. National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida 32310, USA

    J. Wu & G. S. Boebinger

  3. Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, DE-70569, Stuttgart, Germany

    G. Logvenov

  4. Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics and Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

    Y-J. Sun

  5. Department of Physics, University of Belgrade, 11158 Belgrade, Serbia

    M. Vanević & Z. Radović

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  1. J. Wu
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Contributions

The experiment was devised by I.B. The films were synthesized and characterized by I.B., G.L. and Y-J.S., and patterned by A.T.B. The transport measurements were done by O.P. and J.W, and theoretical modeling by M.V. and Z.R. All authors contributed to the analysis and the manuscript.

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Correspondence to I. Božović.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Wu, J., Pelleg, O., Logvenov, G. et al. Anomalous independence of interface superconductivity from carrier density. Nature Mater 12, 877–881 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3719

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