Photoconductivity effects in mixed-phase BSCCO whiskers

We report on combined photoconductivity and annealing experiments in whisker-like crystals of the Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O (BSCCO) high-Tc superconductor. Both single-phase Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+\delta (Bi-2212) samples and crystals of the mixed phases Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10+x (Bi-2223)/Bi-2212 have been subjected to annealing treatments at 90{\deg}C in air in a few hours steps, up to a maximum total annealing time of 47 h. At every step, samples have been characterized by means of electrical resistance vs temperature (R vs T) and resistance vs time at fixed temperature (R vs t) measurements, both in the dark and under illumination with a UV-VIS halogen arc lamp. A careful comparison of the results from the two techniques has shown that, while for single-phase samples no effect is recorded, for mixed-phase samples an enhancement in the conductivity that increases with increasing the annealing time is induced by the light at the nominal temperature T = 100 K, i.e. at an intermediate temperature between the critical temperatures of the two phases. A simple pseudo-1D model based on the Kudinov's scheme [Kudinov et al., Phys. Rev. B 47, 9017-28, (1993)] has been developed to account for the observed effects, which is based on the existence of Bi-2223 filaments embedded in the Bi-2212 matrix and on the presence of electronically active defects at their interfaces. This model reproduces fairly well the photoconductive experimental results and shows that the length of the Bi-2223 filaments decreases and the number of defects increases with increasing the annealing time.Comment: 30 page

Insight into Non Linearly Shaped Superconducting Whiskers via Synchrotron Nanoprobe

We managed to synthesize non-linear YBa2Cu3Ox whiskers, i.e. half loops or kinked shapes, which are promising candidates for solid-state devices based on the intrinsic Josephson effect and with improved electrical connections. We report on a complete characterization of their structural properties via synchrotron nanoprobe as well as laboratory single-crystal diffraction techniques. This investigation allowed us to fully disclose the growth mechanism, which leads to the formation of curved whiskers. The superconducting properties are evaluated in comparison with the straight counterpart, revealing a strong functional analogy and confirming their potential applicability in superconducting electronic devices.Comment: 10 page

Effect of Al and Ca co-doping, in the presence of Te, in superconducting YBCO whiskers growth

High-Tcsuperconducting cuprates (HTSC) such as YBa2Cu3O7 − x(YBCO) are promising candidates for solid-state THz applications based on stacks of intrinsic Josephson junctions (IJJs) with atomic thickness. In view of future exploitation of IJJs, high-quality superconducting YBCO tape-like single crystals (whiskers) have been synthesized from Ca–Al-doped precursors in the presence of Te. The main aim of this paper is to determine the importance of the simultaneous use of Al, Te and Ca in promoting YBCO whiskers growth with good superconducting properties (Tc= 79–84 K). Further, single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SC-XRD) refinements of tetragonal YBCO whiskers (P4/mmm) are reported to fill the literature lack of YBCO structure investigations. All the as-grown whiskers have also been investigated by means of X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Our results demonstrate that the interplay of Ca, Te and Al elements is clearly necessary in order to obtain superconducting YBCO whiskers. The data obtained from SC-XRD analyses confirm the highly crystalline nature of the whiskers grown. Ca and Al enter the structure by replacing the Y and the octahedral coordinated Cu1 site, respectively, as in other similar orthorhombic compounds, while Te does not enter the structure of whiskers but its presence in the precursor is essential to the growth of the crystals.</jats:p

Spectroscopic indications of tunnel barrier charging as the switching mechanism in memristive devices

Resistive random access memory is a promising, energy-efficient, low-power “storage class memory” technology that has the potential to replace both flash storage and on-chip dynamic memory. While the most widely employed systems exhibit filamentary resistive switching, interface-type switching systems based on a tunable tunnel barrier are of increasing interest. They suffer less from the variability induced by the stochastic filament formation process and the choice of the tunnel barrier thickness offers the possibility to adapt the memory device current to the given circuit requirements. Heterostructures consisting of a yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) tunnel barrier and a praseodymium calcium manganite (PCMO) layer are employed. Instead of spatially localized filaments, the resistive switching process occurs underneath the whole electrode. By employing a combination of electrical measurements, in operando hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy, it is revealed that an exchange of oxygen ions between PCMO and YSZ causes an electrostatic modulation of the effective height of the YSZ tunnel barrier and is thereby the underlying mechanism for resistive switching in these devices

Evidence of ion diffusion at room temperature in microcrystals of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+delta superconductor

We have studied Bi-2212 microcrystals aged at ambient conditions for 40 days. Combined x-ray absorption near edge structure and x-ray fluorescence measurements with micrometer space resolution show both an increase of Cu$^{+}$ with respect to Cu$^{2+}$ and an enrichment in Cu vs Bi and Sr cation content near the sample edges in the b-axis direction. A parallel study on an electrically contacted sample has indirectly detected the O loss, observing both a resistivity increase and an increase in sample thickness near the edges. We conclude that the O out-diffusion along the b-axis is accompanied by Cu cation migration in the same direction.Comment: RevTeX 4, 10 pages, 3 figure