English

Intrinsic Multiple Andreev Reflections in layered Th-doped Sm$_{1-x}$Th$_x$OFeAs

Superconductivity 2016-03-01 v1

Abstract

Layered oxypnictide Sm1x_{1-x}Thx_xOFeAs (Sm-1111) is an ideal candidate to be probed by intrinsic multiple Andreev reflections effect (IMARE) spectroscopy. Using the classical "break-junction" technique, we formed ballistic Andreev arrays of identical S--n--S-contacts, where SS is superconductor, and nn is a layer of normal metal. For T<TCT < T_C, the I(V) curve shows an excess-current and a subharmonic gap structure (SGS): a set of sharp dI(V)/dV-dips at positions which depend on the superconducting gap value, the number of junctions in the array, and the natural subharmonic order, thus manifesting the effect of intrinsic multiple Andreev reflections. Here we present the I(V) and dI(V)/dV with up to 4 SGS dips for Andreev arrays formed in optimally doped Sm-1111 with critical temperatures TC49T_C \approx 49\,K, as well as in underdoped samples with TC37T_C \approx 37\,K. We show that a number of Andreev subharmonics facilitates the determination of the superconducting gap with a better accuracy.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1512.01061,
  title  = {Intrinsic Multiple Andreev Reflections in layered Th-doped Sm$_{1-x}$Th$_x$OFeAs},
  author = {T. E. Kuzmicheva and S. A. Kuzmichev and S. N. Tchesnokov and N. D. Zhigadlo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1512.01061},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

4 pages, 4 figures, accepted to J. Supercond. Novel Magn