$Pb_{0.4}Bi_{1.6}Sr_{2}Ca_{1}Cu_{2}O_{8+x}$ and Oxygen Stoichiometry: Structure, Resistivity, Fermi Surface Topology and Normal State Properties

TL;DR

This study investigates the structure, resistivity, Fermi surface topology, and normal state properties of Pb-doped Bi-2212 single crystals, revealing how oxygen content influences their electronic and structural characteristics.

Contribution

It provides detailed insights into the effects of oxygen stoichiometry on the structure, resistivity, and Fermi surface topology of Pb-doped Bi-2212 superconductors, using TEM, resistivity measurements, and ARUPS.

Findings

Oxygen annealed samples show lower c-axis resistivity and a resistivity minimum at 80-130K.

Fermi surface exhibits a pocket around the M point with orthorhombic symmetry.

The symmetry of near-Fermi-energy states varies between oxygen-annealed and He-annealed samples.

Abstract

$Pb_{0.4}Bi_{1.6}Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+x}$ ($Bi(Pb)-$2212) single crystal samples were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), $ab-$plane ($\rho_{ab}$) and $c-$axis ($\rho_c$) resistivity, and high resolution angle-resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (ARUPS). TEM reveals that the modulation in the $b-$axis for $Pb(0.4)-$doped $Bi(Pb)-$2212 is dominantly of $Pb-$type that is not sensitive to the oxygen content of the system, and the system clearly shows a structure of orthorhombic symmetry. Oxygen annealed samples exhibit a much lower $c-$axis resistivity and a resistivity minimum at $80-130$K. He-annealed samples exhibit a much higher $c-$axis resistivity and $d\rho_c/dT<0$ behavior below 300K. The Fermi surface (FS) of oxygen annealed $Bi(Pb)-$2212 mapped out by ARUPS has a pocket in the FS around the $\bar{M}$ point and exhibits orthorhombic symmetry. There are flat, parallel sections of the FS, about 60\% of the maximum possible along $k_x = k_y$, and about 30\% along $k_x = - k_y$. The wavevectors connecting the flat sections are about $0.72(\pi, \pi)$ along $k_x = k_y$, and about $0.80(\pi, \pi)$ along $k_x = - k_y$, rather than $(\pi,\pi)$. The symmetry of the near-Fermi-energy dispersing states in the normal state changes between oxygen-annealed and He-annealed samples.