Tuning the ground state of cuprate superconducting thin films by nanofaceted substrates
Abstract Anisotropic transport properties have been assessed in a number of cuprate superconductors, providing evidence for a nematic state. We have recently shown that in ultra-thin YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7− δ films, where nematicity is induced via strain engineering, there is a suppression of charge density wave scattering along the orthorhombic a -axis and a concomitant enhancement of strange metal behavior along the b -axis. Here we develop a microscopic model, that is based on the strong interaction between the substrate facets and the thin film, to account for the unconventional phenomenology. Based on the atomic force microscopy imaging of the substrates’ surface, the model is able to predict the absence (presence) of nematicity and the resulting transport properties in films grown on SrTiO 3 (MgO) substrates. Our result paves the way to new tuning capabilities of the ground state of high-temperature superconductors by substrate engineering.
Authors
- Giovanni Mirarchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2124-6993)
- M. Grilli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5607-7996)
- Thilo Bauch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8918-4293)
- C. Di Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1089-1444)
- Riccardo Arpaia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4687-2376)
- Alexei Kalaboukhov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2939-6187)
- Eric Wahlberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2723-0688)
- Floriana Lombardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3478-3766)
- G. Seibold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1772-1563)
- S. Caprara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8041-3232)
Institutions
- Ca' Foscari University of Venice (IT)
- RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (SE)
- Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (DE)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Sapienza University of Rome (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Communications Materials
- Published
- 2024-08-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s43246-024-00582-5
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Physics of Superconductivity and Magnetism
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.62
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Chalmers Tekniska Högskola
- Sapienza Università di Roma
- Vetenskapsrådet
- Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca