Comment on `Intrinsic tunnelling spectroscopy of Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+\delta}$: The junction-size dependence of self-heating'[Phys.Rev.B 73, 224501 (2006)]

TL;DR

This paper critically examines a previous claim that self-heating effects decrease with smaller sample sizes in intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy, providing evidence that heating, not intrinsic effects, explains observed phenomena.

Contribution

It challenges prior assertions by showing heating effects can account for various tunneling spectra, questioning the intrinsic nature of the observed features.

Findings

Heating effects described by Newton's Law of Cooling match experimental data

Self-heating does not necessarily decrease with sample size as previously claimed

Heating explains the temperature-dependent tunneling spectra across a wide temperature range

Abstract

The recent PRB 73, 224501 (2006) henceforth referred as Ref.\cite{0} asserts that self-heating decreases with sample area reduction and claims to identify the intrinsic cause of ITS in submicrometre `mesa'. I will show that this assertion lacks substantiation. I will further demonstrate that one and the same $R(T)$ and the parameter-free Newton's Law of Cooling describe quantitatively a rich variety of ITS behaviours taken by Ref.\cite{0} above and below $T_c$ at bath temperatures spanned over 150K. Thus this finding presents strong evidence in favour of heating as the cause of the `intrinsic tunnelling spectra' (ITS) promoted by Ref.\cite{0}.