The optical properties of the 10.4 K organic superconductor, κ-{BEDT—TTF)₂[CU-(NCS)₂], are the subject of this thesis. This organic superconductor is a crystalline solid consisting of planes of BEDT-TTF molecules separated by planes of Cu{NCS)₂ anions. The arrangement of molecules results in electrical two-dimensionality, with high conductivity within the planes of BEDT-TTF molecules and poor conductivity in the perpendicular direction. Until the recent discovery of an organic superconductor with TC = 11.5 K, the 10.4 K transition of (BEDT-TTF)₂[Cu(NCS)₂] was the highest in the class of organic metals.
Optical properties of superconductors have played an important role in analysis of their unusual properties. Using single crystals of (BEDT—TTF)₂[Cu(NCS)₂] and light polarized within the highly conducting plane, I have measured both specular reflectivity and bolometric absorption over a wide region of the infrared spectrum. The reflectivity measurements cover most of the far and mid-infrared for both protonated and deuter-ated compounds, with sample temperatures between 300 K and 6.5 K. The resulting spectra show contributions from electronic interband transitions, intraband transitions, and molecular phonon vibrations.
A search for the superconducting energy gap was undertaken using the bolometric technique to measure the sample absorption at far-infrared energies. These measurements were performed at temperatures below Tc and cover the part of the spectrum where condensation of electrons into superconducting Cooper pairs should be directly observable optically. On other materials, measurements in this part of the spectrum have directly revealed the binding energy for the superconducting electron pairs, and have been instrumental in showing that details of the electron-phonon interactions are very important in superconducting systems. In the spectra which we have measured, any effect of the superconducting transition is overwhelmed by other contributions to the absorption in the far-infrared energy region. / Science, Faculty of / Physics and Astronomy, Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/30848 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | Kornelsen, Kevin E. |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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