Pressure effects on the superconducting properties of YBa_2Cu_4O_8

TL;DR

This study investigates how high hydrostatic pressure influences the superconducting transition temperature, volume, and anisotropy in YBa_2Cu_4O_8, revealing a unique relationship between T_c and anisotropy in anisotropic superconductors.

Contribution

It uncovers a novel property linking pressure-induced changes in T_c and anisotropy in anisotropic type II superconductors.

Findings

Pressure increases T_c and anisotropy in YBa_2Cu_4O_8.

The relative shift of T_c mirrors that of anisotropy under pressure.

This behavior is specific to anisotropic superconductors, not isotropic ones.

Abstract

Measurements of the magnetization under high hydrostatic pressure (up to 10.2 kbar) in YBa_2Cu_4O_8 were carried out. From the scaling analysis of the magnetization data the pressure induced shifts of the transition temperature T_c, the volume V and the anisotropy \gamma have been obtained. It was shown that the pressure induced relative shift of T_c mirrors essentially that of the anisotropy. This observation uncovers a novel generic property of anisotropic type II superconductors, that inexistent in the isotropic case.