Bi_2 Sr_2 CaCu_2 O_{8+delta} Bicrystal c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions A New Phase-Sensiti.pdf

a r X i v : c o n d - m a t / 0 2 0 7 7 0 0 v 1 [ c o n d - m a t .s u p r - c o n ] 3 0 J u l 2 0 0 2 Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ Bicrystal c-Axis Twist Josephson Junctions: A New Phase-Sensitive Test of Order Parameter Symmetry Richard A. Klemm Max-Planck-Institut fu?r Physik komplexer Systeme, No?thnitzer Stra?e 38, D-01187 Dresden, Germany Li et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 4160 (1999)] pre- pared atomically clean Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO) Joseph- son junctions between identical single crystal cleaves stacked and twisted an angle φ0 about the c-axis. For each bicrystal, the ratio JJc /J S c of the c axis twist junction critical current density to that across either single crystal part is unity, inde- pendent of φ0 and the ratio A J/AS of junction areas. From extensive theoretical studies involving a variety of tunneling and superconducting order parameter (OP) forms, we con- clude that the results provide strong evidence for incoher- ent c-axis tunneling and that the dominant OP is s-wave for T ≤ Tc. Recently, Takano et al. [Phys. Rev. B 65, 140513(R) (2002)] obtained results from BSCCO whisker twist junctions which also rule out a pure d-wave OP, but which are surpris- ingly suggestive of coherent c-axis tunneling from small Fermi surface hot spots. I. INTRODUCTION Phase-sensitive experiments to test the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter (OP) in the high transition temperature (Tc) superconductors were mostly made on YBa2Cu3O7?δ (YBCO) [1], for which the OP can have mixed (dx2?y2 + s) symmetry. To reconcile the various results, Mu?ller proposed that the surface might be mostly dx2?y2-wave, and the bulk mostly s- wave [2]. Especially in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (BSCCO), the c-axis transport above Tc is incoherent, [3], and scanning tunneling microscope studies revealed that it is electron- ically disordered on the scale of the superconducting co- herence length, ≈1.5 nm [4], both unfavorable features for bulk d-wave superconductivity. Both c-axis Pb/BSCCO Josephson