TY  - EJOUR
AU  - Lyatti, Matvey
AU  - Gundareva, Irina
AU  - Röper, Torsten
AU  - Popovic, Zorica
AU  - Jalil, Abdur Rehman
AU  - Grützmacher, Detlev
AU  - Schäpers, Thomas
TI  - Quantum size effects in ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x films
M1  - FZJ-2024-01337
PY  - 2023
N1  - Supplementary Information is updated
AB  - The d-wave symmetry of the order parameter with zero energy gap in nodal directions stands in the way of using high-temperature superconductors for quantum applications. We investigate the symmetry of the order parameter in ultra-thin YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) films by measuring the electrical transport properties of nanowires and nanoconstrictions aligned at different angles relative to the main crystallographic axes. The anisotropy of the nanowire critical current in the nodal and antinodal directions reduces with the decrease in the film thickness. The Andreev reflection spectroscopy shows the presence of a thickness-dependent energy gap that doesn't exist in bulk YBCO. We find that the thickness-dependent energy gap appears due to the quantum size effects in ultra-thin YBCO films that open the superconducting energy gap along the entire Fermi surface. The fully gapped state of the ultra-thin YBCO films makes them a very promising platform for quantum applications, including quantum computing and quantum communications.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)25
DO  - DOI:10.34734/FZJ-2024-01337
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1022216
ER  -