Superconductivity phase diagrams of electron doped cuprates R(2-x)CexCuO4 (R = La, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu)

TL;DR

This study maps the superconductivity phase diagrams of electron-doped cuprates R(2-x)CexCuO4 with various rare earth elements, revealing how ionic size influences superconducting properties and phase space.

Contribution

It provides a systematic analysis of phase diagrams for R(2-x)CexCuO4 thin films, expanding understanding beyond bulk materials and highlighting the effect of rare earth ionic size.

Findings

Superconducting phase space increases with larger rare earth ionic size.

Maximal transition temperature in La-based cuprates occurs at lower doping (~0.09) than in Sr-based counterparts.

Superconducting region broadens with different rare earth elements.

Abstract

The superconductivity phase diagrams of electron doped cuprates of the form R(2-x)CexCuO4 (with R= La, Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu) have been determined for cerium compositions 0 < x < 0.36 in a consistent series of epitaxial thin films grown by reactive molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). The use of epitaxial thin films allows the growth of materials away from thermodynamical equilibrium expanding the accessible phase space beyond the availability of bulk material. The superconducting phase space systematically increases with the rare earth ionic size. The doping concentration where the maximal transition temperature occurs in La(2-x)CexCuO4 is considerably shifted to lower doping (x ~ 0.09) compared to La(2-x)SrxCuO4 (x ~ 0.15). At the same time, the width of the superconducting region is broadened.