Over the past twenty-five years, condensed matter physics has been developing materials with novel electronic characteristics for a wide range of future applications. Two research directions have shown particular promise: topological insulators, and high temperature copper based superconductors (cuprates). Topological insulators are a newly discovered class of materials that can be manipulated for spintronic or quantum computing devices. However there is a poor spectroscopic understanding of the current topological insulators and emerging topological insulator candidates. In cuprate superconductors, the challenge lies in raising the superconducting transition temperature to temperatures accessible in non-laboratory settings. This effort has been hampered by a poor understanding of the superconducting mechanism and its relationship with a mysterious pseudogap phase. In this thesis, I will describe experiments conducted on topological insulators and cuprate superconductors using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, which provide nanoscale spectroscopic information in these materials. / Physics

The Bi2Sr2CaCu2O7+d, i.e. Bi2212 phase of bismuth derived high temperature superconductors (HTS), powder precursor were synthesized via sol – gel technique using ethylendiamintetraacetic acid (Chelaton II) as a chelating agent. Metal nitrate’s solutions were mixed with EDTA suspension. The pH value was adjusted to 9 by NH4OH by reason forming of stable metal’s complexes. The mixture was heated to 80 °C for gelation. Solution taken before solid gel was form is used for preparation of Bi2212 layer on to a-Al2O3 surface via spin coating deposition’s technique. Reactive powder used for bulk sample preparation was made by calcination (800 °C) of pyrolyzed xerogel (500 °C). Sintering in oxygen atmosphere was proceeding at temperature from 850 to 880 °C. Bulk sample properties were compared with sample prepared by common ceramic method. Simultaneous TG-DTA, IR spectroscopy and heating microscopy were used for sample characterization. Furthermore, construction of furnace for sintering in O2 atmosphere was described.

High-temperature superconductors belong to the group of strongly correlated materials. In these compounds, complex repulsive electron interactions and a large number of degrees of freedom lead to a rich variety of states of matter. Exotic phases like the pseudogap, charge-, spin- and pair-density waves, but also the remarkable phenomenon of superconductivity emerge, depending on doping level and temperature. However, up to now it is unclear what exactly causes these states, to what extent they are coexisting or competing, and where their borders in the phase diagram lie. A better understanding could help in finding the mechanism behind high-temperature superconductivity, but would also provide a better insight into the puzzling behavior of strongly correlated materials. This thesis tries to resolve some of these questions with focus on the underdoped pseudogap regime. Mesa structures of bismuth-based cuprate superconductors were studied using intrinsic tunneling, which allows spectroscopic characterizations of electronic density of states inside the material. A micro/nano fabrication method was developed to further reduce mesa areas into the sub square-micrometer range, in order to minimize the effect of crystal defects and measurement artifacts caused by heating induced by the measurement current. The comparison of energy scales in Bi-2201 and Bi-2212 cuprates shows that the pseudogap phenomenon is not connected to superconductivity, but possibly represents a competing spin-singlet order that is universal to all cuprates. The analysis of the upper critical field in Bi-2201 reveals a low anisotropy, which gives evidence of paramagnetically limited superconductivity. Furthermore, a new electrical doping method is demonstrated, which enables the reversible tuning the doping level of Bi-2212 and study a broad doping range upon a single sample. Using this method, two distinct critical points were observed under the superconducting dome in the phase diagram: one at the overdoped side, associated with the onset of the pseudogap and a metal to insulator transition, and one at optimal doping, associated with an enhanced "dressed" electron energy. Finally, a novel angular-dependent magnetotunneling technique is introduced, which allows for the separation of the superconducting and non-superconducting contributions to the pseudogap phenomenon. The method reveals that after an abrupt decay of the energy gap for T→Tc, weak superconducting correlations persist up to several tens of degrees above Tc.

The thesis is focused on high-temperature superconducting (HTS) ceramics series of bismuth. Specifically, there is studied Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x phase, known as the 2212 phase. The theoretical part describes the basic properties of superconductivity and superconductors, the properties of cuprate ceramics and description of LBCO, YBCO and BSCCO structures. The experimental part deals with the preparation of the precursor own Bi-2212 phase. It is synthesized by a process called sol-gel. Feedstock Bi2O3, CaCO3, SrCO3 and CuSO4 was dissolved in HNO3 and transferred to a complex with ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA, Chelaton II). With NH3 pH > 9 was maintained due to the stability of complex. The obtained gel was concentrated, calcinated in a furnace at 860 °C and crushed into powder. Pure powder was subjected to analysis dipping microscope, SEM, XRD, FT-IR, TG-DTA at different atmospheres argon, oxygen and air. Then 1 wt.% of the oxide (La, Y, Sc, Sm) was added to part of the powder precursor and the samples were examined using TG-DTA.