We studied the local single-particle tunneling characteristics [as observed with scanning tunnel microscopy (STM)] for N D and S D tunneling, where N is a normal metal, S is a s-wave superconductor, and D is a d-wave superconductor with a {100} | {110} grain boundary. The tunneling Hamiltonian method was used. The self-consistent order parameter is first determined using the quasiclassical Green'sfunction method, and then the tunneling characteristics at various distances from the interface, reectivity of the interface, and temperature are studied. For N D tunneling, a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) occurs near the interface with diminishing magnitude away from it. For S D tunneling, the ZBCP splits to exhibit the gap of the s-wave low-Tc superconducting tunneling tip and there is a range of negative conductance just outside the peaks when the tunneling point is near the grain boundary. The results are compared with those obtained by using a constant order parameter in each grain.

No description available.

Comprendre les propriétés des composés à électrons fortement corrélés nouvellement découverts est un important défi à la fois pour des raisons fondamentales et un impact industriel à long terme. Une activité expérimentale sur les métaux et supraconducteurs à électrons lourds a mis en évidence des effets qui se démarquent clairement de notre compréhension actuelle. Le but de cette thèse est de modéliser les effets de spin spéciaux qui ont été observés en réponse à un champ magnétique dans le supraconducteur CeCoIn(5). Elle est composée de deux parties. Dans un premier temps nous avons à faire à la distribution anormale du champ magnétique local dans le réseau de vortex révélé par les expériences de diffraction de neutrons à petits angles et rotation de spin muonique. Sur la base de a théorie de Ginzburg-Landau avec prise en compte de l'effet de spin, nous analysons l'inhomogénéité du champ local dans le réseau de vortex et calculons des expressions pour les facteurs de forme en diffraction neutronique et la largeur de raie statique en rotation de spin muonique. Nous montrons que les données expérimentales anormales sont le résultat de supercourants générés par le spin circulant autour du cœur du vortex et donnent une augmentation de l'inhomogénéité du champ sur une distance de l'ordre de la longueur de corrélation du supraconducteur à partir de l'axe du vortex. L'importance de l'effet est contrôlée par une seule quantité (le paramètre de Maki) qui permet la détermination de propriétés physiques du système à partir de données expérimentales. La seconde partie traite d'une transition d'onde de densité de spin presque commensurable dans un supraconducteur non-conventionnel. Elle est motivée par l'observation du confinement d'un ordre d'onde de densité de spin dans la phase supraconductrice de CeCoIn(5) dans un champ magnétique. Dans le cadre de la formulation spin-fermion nous proposons un mécanisme pour la transition de l'état fondamental qui consiste du ralentissement du mode collectif de fluctuation de densité de spin induit par le champ (exciton de spin) vers un ordre statique. Cela représente un scénario par lequel la transition vers l'ordre de spin est reliée intrinsèquement au supraconducteur. / Understanding the properties of newly discovered strongly correlated electron compounds is a considerable challenge for both fundamental matters and long-term industrial impact. Experimental activity on heavy electron metals and superconductors has lead to highlighting effects that depart from current knowledge. The thesis is aimed at modelling effects that have been observed in response to magnetic field in the heavy electron superconductor CeCoIn$_5$. This consists of two parts. In the first time we deal with the vortex lattice state anomalous local magnetic field space variations as highlighted by small angle neutron scattering and muon spin rotation experiment. On the basis of the Ginzburg-Landau theory with account of spin effect, we analyse the local field inhomogeneity in the vortex lattice and derive expressions for the neutron scattering form factors and muon spin rotation static linewidth. The anomalous experimental data are shown to be result of spin driven supercurrents which circulate around the vortex cores and lead to an increase with external field in the internal field inhomogeneity on a distance of the order of the superconducting coherence length from the vortex axis. The importance of the effect is controlled by a single quantity (the Maki parameter). The second part is on nearly commensurate spin density wave transition in a quasi two-dimensional superconductor. It is motivated by observation of the confinement of spin density wave ordering inside the superconducting state of CeCoIn$_5$ in magnetic field. In the frame of the spin-fermion formulation we propose a mechanism for the ground state transition consisting in the field-induced slowing down of a collective spin density fluctuation mode (spin-exciton) to static ordering. This represents a scenario by which the transition to spin ordering is intrinsically related to superconductivity

One of the challenges facing condensed matter physics nowadays is to understand the electronic structure of high temperature superconductors. This dissertation compiles our contribution to the experimental information concerning this subject. Tunneling conductance spectroscopy a technique capable of probing the electronic density of states in hybrid structures was used to study the current and spin transport properties across junctions between metallic counterelectrodes and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8- (BSCCO) crystals. Since in these structures the transport is mediated by transmission channels depending on superconductive characteristics, the energy resolved density of states is a signature of the mechanism of superconductivity. For instance, one can observe the superconductive energy gap and the behavior of subgap bound states due to phase sensitive Andreev reflections at the junction interface. In particular, tunneling spectroscopy makes possible the observation of the LOFF state characterized by the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism. Cuprates like BSCCO are highly anisotropic materials and their superconductivity is almost two dimensional, being confined in the CuO2 planes. Therefore, our junctions combine monocrystals of underdoped samples of BSCCO with various thin film counterelectrodes normal metal (Ag), conventional superconductor (Pb) and ferromagnetic metal (Fe) deposited perpendicular onto the cuprate ab-plane (CuO2 plane). We performed measurements on Ag/BSCCO junctions for two current injection directions into the same crystal. We observed that, near the 110 crystal surface, the conductance spectra show a high zero bias peak (ZBCP) which is a manifestation of zero energy Andreev bound states due to an anisotropic superconductive order parameter. Near the 100 surface, the ZBCP is largely suppressed. This is consistent with a predominantly 2 2 x y d - -wave pairing symmetry. In some cases, the ZBCP splits or decreases in amplitude at low temperatures. This is consistent with the existence of a subdominant s-wave (or xy d ) resulting in a mixed d is + state which breaks time reversal symmetry (BTRS). Since we observe this phenomenon in the underdoped case, we do not confirm the possibility of a quantum critical point close to the optimal doping. Our Pb/BSCCO spectra contradict the theory explaining the BTRS by proximity effect. The Fe/BSCCO junctions measure the effect of spin polarization. We explain the recorded 4-peak asymmetric structure by the combined effect of a spin independent BTRS state and a spin filtering exchange energy in the barrier responsible for a large ZBCP splitting. The LOFF state was observed in the proximity region induced on the ferromagnetic side of multilayered-Fe/Ag/BSCCO structures. As expected for the LOFF order parameter, the spectra develops coherent damped oscillations with the Fe layer thickness probing different regions. The magnitude and sign of the oscillation depends on the energy. The conductances at energy zero or equal to the superconductive gap are modulated in antiphase proving that the order parameters takes successively positive and negative values. Changing the junction orientation with 4 p , results in an opposite behavior for the same distance. The maximal amplitudes in one direction is replaced by minima, showing that, besides space, the LOFF state modulation depends on the phase of the high temperature order parameter inducing the proximity

No description available.

The performances of two D-Wave 2 machines (476 and 496 qubits) and of a 1097-qubit D-Wave 2X were investigated. Each chip has a Chimera interaction graph G. Problem input consists of values for the fields hj and for the two-qubit interactions Ji,j of an Ising spin-glass problem formulated on G. Output is returned in terms of a spin configuration {sj}, with sj = +1 or -1. We generated random spanning trees (RSTs) uniformly distributed over all spanning trees of G. On the 476-qubit D-Wave 2, RSTs were generated on the full chip with Ji,j = -1 and hj = 0 and solved one thousand times. The distribution of solution energies and the average magnetization of each qubit were determined. On both the 476- and 1097-qubit machines, four identical spanning trees were generated on each quadrant of the chip. The statistical independence of the these regions was investigated.

No description available.

The present thesis is devoted to the investigation of novel superconductors by phase-sensitive terahertz transmission and infrared to ultraviolet spectroscopy. In particular, a nominally undoped Pr2CuO4 superconducting thin film, an FeTe0.5Se0.5 thin film, and a LiFeAs single crystal have been investigated. The emphasis is on the low-frequency part of the optical spectrum (i.e., the terahertz and infrared spectrum), as the goal of the study was to shed light on the size and symmetry of the superconducting gaps and also to determine the temperature dependences as well as the absolute values of the penetration depth, which are key input parameters for models applicable for new superconductors. In addition, niobium has been investigated as a reference, so as to see what is expected from conventional superconductors and to clarify the electrodynamics of niobium. A superconducting Nb thin film with Tc of 8.04 K has been investigated by backward wave oscillator-based (BWO-based) and time-domain terahertz (TDT) spectrometers in the frequency range between 4 and 100 cm−1 for temperatures ranging from 2 to 10 K. From these measurements an energy gap of 22.50 cm−1 = 2.79 meV = 4.02kBTc have been determined. The optical conductivity below Tc could nicely be described by calculations according to the Eliashberg theory, with the electron-phonon interaction evaluated from tunneling measurements. Absolute values of the penetration depth have been calculated from phase-sensitive terahertz measurements. The zero-temperature limit of at T = 0 is found to be 115 ± 5 nm. From this value, a London penetration depth of 43 ± 2 nm has been obtained. The overall temperature dependence of the penetration depth follows a behavior typical for conventional s-wave superconductors. A superconducting Pr2CuO4 film with T0 structure and Tc of 27 K has been investigated by use of optical methods in a wide frequency (5 – 55000 cm−1) and temperature (2 – 300 K) range. A Drude-like peak centered at zero frequency is observed in the optical conductivity below 150 K, above which it shifts to finite frequencies. The detailed analysis of the low-frequency conductivity reveals that the Drude peak and a far-infrared (FIR) peak centered at about 300 cm−1 persist at all temperatures. The FIR spectral weight is found to grow at the expense of the Drude spectral weight with increasing temperature. Absolute values of the penetration depth have been obtained from temperature and frequency-dependent measurements. The zero-temperature limit of is estimated to be 1600 ± 100 nm. The overall temperature dependence of follows a behaviour typical for cuprate superconductors. However, a closer look at the penetration depth at T 12 K reveals a flattening in the temperature dependence. A superconducting FeTe0.5Se0.5 thin film with Tc = 19 K has been investigated using a combination of BWO and TDT spectroscopy in the frequency range 4 - 80 cm−1 and between 3 and 150 K. From such measurements, a superconducting energy gap of 30 cm−1, representing a coupling strength = 2.27, is observed. Further, the penetration depth has been derived from the temperature dependence of the imaginary part of complex conductivity with the penetration depth = 530 ± 10 nm at lowest measured temperature. The temperature-dependent normalized superfluid density, just as is the case with most iron-based superconductors, could nicely be described by the so-called two-gap gamma model. Finally, a superconducting LiFeAs single crystal with Tc = 18 K has been investigated by optical spectroscopy in the frequency range 15 - 55000 cm−1 between 5 and 300 K. From these measurements, no clear signature of the superconducting energy-gap opening could be identified in spite of the spectral weight been suppressed in the infrared frequency regime below Tc. This indicates that LiFeAs single crystal is in a clean limit. With the aid of the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham (FGT) sum rule, an absolute penetration depth of 215 nm has been calculated from the missing area at 5 K.

The present thesis is devoted to the investigation of novel superconductors by phase-sensitive terahertz transmission and infrared to ultraviolet spectroscopy. In particular, a nominally undoped Pr2CuO4 superconducting thin film, an FeTe0.5Se0.5 thin film, and a LiFeAs single crystal have been investigated. The emphasis is on the low-frequency part of the optical spectrum (i.e., the terahertz and infrared spectrum), as the goal of the study was to shed light on the size and symmetry of the superconducting gaps and also to determine the temperature dependences as well as the absolute values of the penetration depth, which are key input parameters for models applicable for new superconductors. In addition, niobium has been investigated as a reference, so as to see what is expected from conventional superconductors and to clarify the electrodynamics of niobium. A superconducting Nb thin film with Tc of 8.04 K has been investigated by backward wave oscillator-based (BWO-based) and time-domain terahertz (TDT) spectrometers in the frequency range between 4 and 100 cm−1 for temperatures ranging from 2 to 10 K. From these measurements an energy gap of 22.50 cm−1 = 2.79 meV = 4.02kBTc have been determined. The optical conductivity below Tc could nicely be described by calculations according to the Eliashberg theory, with the electron-phonon interaction evaluated from tunneling measurements. Absolute values of the penetration depth have been calculated from phase-sensitive terahertz measurements. The zero-temperature limit of at T = 0 is found to be 115 ± 5 nm. From this value, a London penetration depth of 43 ± 2 nm has been obtained. The overall temperature dependence of the penetration depth follows a behavior typical for conventional s-wave superconductors. A superconducting Pr2CuO4 film with T0 structure and Tc of 27 K has been investigated by use of optical methods in a wide frequency (5 – 55000 cm−1) and temperature (2 – 300 K) range. A Drude-like peak centered at zero frequency is observed in the optical conductivity below 150 K, above which it shifts to finite frequencies. The detailed analysis of the low-frequency conductivity reveals that the Drude peak and a far-infrared (FIR) peak centered at about 300 cm−1 persist at all temperatures. The FIR spectral weight is found to grow at the expense of the Drude spectral weight with increasing temperature. Absolute values of the penetration depth have been obtained from temperature and frequency-dependent measurements. The zero-temperature limit of is estimated to be 1600 ± 100 nm. The overall temperature dependence of follows a behaviour typical for cuprate superconductors. However, a closer look at the penetration depth at T 12 K reveals a flattening in the temperature dependence. A superconducting FeTe0.5Se0.5 thin film with Tc = 19 K has been investigated using a combination of BWO and TDT spectroscopy in the frequency range 4 - 80 cm−1 and between 3 and 150 K. From such measurements, a superconducting energy gap of 30 cm−1, representing a coupling strength = 2.27, is observed. Further, the penetration depth has been derived from the temperature dependence of the imaginary part of complex conductivity with the penetration depth = 530 ± 10 nm at lowest measured temperature. The temperature-dependent normalized superfluid density, just as is the case with most iron-based superconductors, could nicely be described by the so-called two-gap gamma model. Finally, a superconducting LiFeAs single crystal with Tc = 18 K has been investigated by optical spectroscopy in the frequency range 15 - 55000 cm−1 between 5 and 300 K. From these measurements, no clear signature of the superconducting energy-gap opening could be identified in spite of the spectral weight been suppressed in the infrared frequency regime below Tc. This indicates that LiFeAs single crystal is in a clean limit. With the aid of the Ferrell-Glover-Tinkham (FGT) sum rule, an absolute penetration depth of 215 nm has been calculated from the missing area at 5 K.