Fabrication and Electronic Transport Properties of Underdoped High Temperature Superconductor Nanowires

Abstract

In order to help unravel the mysteries surrounding the superconducting and pseudogap states in the high-Tc cuprates, we have measured the electronic transport properties of underdoped, high-Tc nanowires and nanostructures. The sizes of the samples involved allow for the investigation of the electronic structure on a mesoscopic length scale. We have measured current-voltage characteristics, resistivity, and critical current density all as a function of temperature, width, and orientation relative to the crystal axes. The resistivity displays large fluctuations within a temperature regime from Tc to 200K, and the currentvoltage characteristics exhibit hysteretic steps. These features are difficult to explain within the context of known models and may indicate the presence of intrinsic inhomogeneities, charge stripes, or other electronic domain structures that have been proposed for the cuprates.