Searching for 2D Superconductivity in La2−xSrxCuO4 Single Crystals [electronic resource] /
Kapon, Itzik.author.
A new experimental method - the "Stiffnessometer", is developed to measure elementary properties of a superconductor, including the superconducting stiffness and the critical current. This technique has many advantages over existing methods, such as: the ability to measure these properties while minimally disturbing the system; the ability to measure large penetration depths (comparable to sample size), as necessary when approaching the critical temperature; and the ability to measure critical currents without attaching contacts and heating the sample. The power of this method is demonstrated in a study of the penetration depth of LSCO, where striking evidence is found for two separate critical temperatures for the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The results in the thesis are novel, important and currently have no theoretical explanation. The stiffnessometer in a tool with great potential to explore new grounds in condensed matter physics. .
"Doctoral Thesis accepted by the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel"--Title page.
Introduction -- Stiffnessometer, a Magnetic-Field-Free Superconducting Stiffness Meter and Its Application -- The Nature of the Phase Transition in the Cuprates as Revealed by the Stffnessometer -- Opening a Nodal Gap by Fluctuating Spin-Density-Wave in Lightly Doped La2-xSrxCuO4 -- Conclusions.
A new experimental method - the "Stiffnessometer", is developed to measure elementary properties of a superconductor, including the superconducting stiffness and the critical current. This technique has many advantages over existing methods, such as: the ability to measure these properties while minimally disturbing the system; the ability to measure large penetration depths (comparable to sample size), as necessary when approaching the critical temperature; and the ability to measure critical currents without attaching contacts and heating the sample. The power of this method is demonstrated in a study of the penetration depth of LSCO, where striking evidence is found for two separate critical temperatures for the in-plane and out-of-plane directions. The results in the thesis are novel, important and currently have no theoretical explanation. The stiffnessometer in a tool with great potential to explore new grounds in condensed matter physics. .
Superconductivity.
Superconductors.
Physical measurements.
Measurement   .
Optical materials.
Electronic materials.
Materials science.
Strongly Correlated Systems, Superconductivity.
Measurement Science and Instrumentation.
Optical and Electronic Materials.
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials.