Aspects of nodal quasiparticle transport in high-Tc superconductors.
Contributors: Walker, Michael B. (supervisor)
Published: 2005
Language: eng
Number of pages: 120
Subjects: Physics Theses.
Description: Various low-temperature thermodynamic and transport properties of high  TC superconductors at temperatures well below  TC are studied theoretically under the assumption that the low-energy excited states can be regarded as independent Bogolubov quasiparticles near the nodes of the superconducting order parameter. In the limiting case of temperatures well above that corresponding to the impurity scattering rate, a Boltzmann-equation description of the quasiparticle distribution is used to study thermal and electrical transport for several scattering mechanisms. In particular, the dominant scattering mechanism for the relaxation of microwave electrical currents well below TC is identified, and the observed temperature dependence of the microwave conductivity data in optimally-doped YBa2Cu3O7-delta thus explained. The Knight shift and nuclear spin relaxation rate at temperatures well above the impurity scattering rate are also calculated and compared with available data. In the opposite limiting case of temperatures well below that corresponding to the impurity scattering rate, the sound attenuation and electron-phonon heat transfer rate are calculated. A model for the electron-phonon interaction in square-lattice tight-binding materials is developed and used to explain the huge measured anisotropy of the normal-state sound attenuation in the unconventional superconductor Sr2RuO4 and to rule out certain candidates for the order parameter symmetry of this material. A calculation of the electron-phonon heat transfer rate for d-wave superconductors gives the dependence of this quantity on various material parameters. Finally, the result for the electron-phonon heat transfer rate is used to explain the origin of the anomalous downturns in the thermal conductivity that have been observed in both the normal and superconducting state of cuprate superconductors, most notably in Pr2-xCe xCuO7-delta.
Notes: Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 66-06, Section: B, page: 3191.