搜索

x
中国物理学会期刊

空穴型和电子型掺杂Ca2CuO2Cl2单晶制备及超导研究

High Pressure Growth and Superconductivity of Hole- and Electron-Doped Ca2CuO2Cl2 Single Crystals

PDF
导出引用
  • 铜基高温超导体的微观机理至今仍是凝聚态物理领域的未解之谜。深入理解其超导配对机制,尤其是厘清掺杂莫特绝缘体中丰富的竞争序与超导态的相互作用,是破解这一难题的核心。具有掺杂浓度连续可调,掺杂类型可以改变,同时适用于表面敏感精密测量的高品质单晶材料是开展超导机理研究的理想平台。本研究聚焦Ca2CuO2Cl2(CCOC)超导体系,利用高温高压合成技术,不仅成功制备了一系列不同浓度的空穴型掺杂CCOC单晶,覆盖了铜基高温超导相图中从莫特绝缘体、欠掺杂到超导态的广泛区域,还首次制备了高品质电子型掺杂CCOC单晶。基于该系列单晶材料,本研究建立了CCOC单晶样品生长过程中名义掺杂浓度与实际载流子浓度的对应关系,并绘制了CCOC体系的超导相图。本研究为在单一材料体系中,系统性探索掺杂浓度与类型演变如何影响电子结构、竞争序及超导电性提供了重要载体,也为最终揭示铜基高温超导的微观机理提供新机遇。

    The microscopic mechanism of high-temperature cuprate superconductors remains a central enigma in condensed matter physics. Deciphering the superconducting pairing mechanism—specifically, elucidating the intricate interplay between the rich tapestry of competing orders in a doped Mott insulator and the emergent superconducting state—is fundamental to solving this long-standing puzzle. However, progress has been severely hindered by the lack of suitable material platforms that allow for such detailed investigation. In this study, we establish the halide-based cuprate Ca2CuO2Cl2 (CCOC) as a definitive platform to address these stringent requirements, leveraging high-pressure and high-temperature synthesis to grow a series of superior-quality single crystals. By systematically modulating the nominal dopant concentration within the precursor under invariant pressure conditions (5 GPa), we achieved meticulous control over the resultant carrier density, culminating in two pivotal advancements. First, we synthesized an extensive spectrum of Na+-doped (hole-type) CCOC crystals, establishing via rigorous SEM-EDX analysis a quantitative correlation between nominal and actual doping concentrations. This revealed a saturation behavior at higher nominal values, with a maximum attainable hole concentration of approximately 0.12 under our 5 GPa conditions. Magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrated that these crystals span the critical region of the phase diagram, traversing from the parent Mott insulator through the underdoped regime (p < 0.07), with superconductivity emerging at p ≈ 0.08 (Tc ≈ 12 K) and monotonically increasing to Tc ≈ 19 K at the maximum achieved doping of p ≈ 0.12, thereby approaching the anticipated optimal doping level. Second, we achieved the inaugural synthesis of electron-doped CCOC single crystals via substitution of Ca2+ with trivalent lanthanides (Nd3+ and La3+). SEM-EDX analysis unequivocally confirmed successful incorporation, yielding actual electron doping concentrations of approximately 1.5%. Although these specific crystals do not exhibit superconductivity down to 2 K, they represent a groundbreaking proof-of-concept for electron doping within this material family. By constructing the superconducting phase diagram and directly correlating actual doping concentration with Tc, our single-crystal data exhibits excellent agreement with previously reported polycrystalline results, thereby validating our synthetic methodology. Moreover, the distinctive layered architecture of CCOC, characterized by weak interlayer coupling imparted by the apical chlorine atoms, renders these crystals exquisitely amenable to cleavage, consistently producing large, atomically pristine surfaces indispensable for incisive surface-sensitive spectroscopic investigations. This CCOC platform, uniquely integrating continuously tunable hole doping with the first-ever realization of electron doping in an identical host lattice—combined with its superior cleavage properties—provides a powerful and transformative system to systematically probe the evolution of electronic structure and competing orders with doping and carrier type, directly paving the way to decipher the enigmatic mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity.

    目录

    返回文章
    返回