Intrinsic tunneling spectroscopic investigations of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x superconductors : The fluxon lattice, resonant phenomena,flux-flow and current doping

Abstract: In this thesis, the tunneling between individual atomic layers in structures of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x based high-temperature superconductors are experimentally studied employing the intrinsic Josephson effect. A special attention is paid on the fabrication of small mesa structures using micro and nanofabrication techniques.Different resonant phenomena are studied in the dynamic fluxon state at high magnetic fields, including Eck-resonances and Fiske steps.The periodic Fraunhofer-like modulation of the critical current of the junctions as a function of in-plane magnetic field is investigated. A transition from a modulation with a half flux quantum to a flux quantum periodicity is demonstrated with increasing field and decreasing junction length. It is interpreted in terms of the static fluxon lattice of stacked, strongly cou- pled intrinsic Josephson junctions and compared with theoretical predictions. A fluxon phase diagram is constructed. It is experimentally found that a stable rectangular fluxon lattice can be obtained at a flux density larger than 1.3 fluxons per Josephson penetration length and junction, Ф0/λJs. Numerical simulations have been carried out to complement the experimental data.The resistive switching of mesas at high bias is studied. It is attributed to a persistent electri- cal doping of the crystal. Superconducting properties such as the critical current and tempera- ture and the tunneling spectra are analyzed at different doping states of the same sample. The dynamics of the doping is studied, and attributed to two mechanisms; a charge-transfer effect and oxygen reordering.