Frequency dispersion of nonlinear response of thin superconducting films

ORAL

Abstract

Effect of microwave radiation on transport properties of $La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4$ atomically thin films grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy were studied. Resistance changes induced by the applied microwaves with variable frequencies (0.1-20GHz) and powers were measured at different temperatures near the superconducting transition ($\sim 8-15$K). Strong drop of three orders of magnitude of the nonlinear response is found within a few GHz of a cutoff frequency ($\omega_{cut}\sim 2GHz$). Expected frequency dependence vastly underestimates the sharpness of this drop. Numerical simulations considering an $ac$ response which follow the $dc$ I-V characteristics of the films replicate the low frequency behavior, but fail above the threshold frequency $\omega_{cut}$. The observed phenomenon suggests significant decrease of the effectiveness of vortex-antivortex dissociation induced by the oscillating superconducting condensate.

*Work was supported by National Science Foundation (ECCS-1128459).

Authors

  • Sean Byrnes

    • Physics Department, City College of the City University of New York, New York 10031, USA
  • Scott Dietrich

    • The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York 10016, USA
    • Physics Department, City College of the City University of New York, New York 10031, USA
  • Sergey Vitkalov

    • Physics Department, City College of the City University of New York, New York 10031, USA
  • Andrey Sergeev

    • SUNY Research Foundation, SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY14226, USA