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Science 4 July 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5322, pp. 83 - 85
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5322.83
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Reports

Plateaus Observed in the Field Profile of Thermal Conductivity in the Superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8

K. Krishana, N. P. Ong, Q. Li, G. D. Gu, N. Koshizuka

Quasi-particles (QPs) are excitations of the superconducting state. The behavior of QPs in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 in a magnetic field was probed by measurement of the thermal conductivity kappa . An anomaly in kappa  was observed at low temperatures. At a transition field Hk, kappa  displayed a sharp break in slope, followed by a plateau region in which it ceased to change with increasing field. The nonanalytic nature of the break at Hk suggests a phase transition of the condensate to a state in which the QP current is zero (the system remains superconducting). Detailed measurements of the new regime are presented, and implications for the QPs and the superconducting state are discussed.

K. Krishana and N. P. Ong, Joseph Henry Laboratories of Physics, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Q. Li, Materials Science Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Post Office Box 5000, Upton, NY 11973, USA.
G. D. Gu, School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
N. Koshizuka, Superconductivity Research Laboratory, International Superconductivity Technology Center, 10-13, Shinonome 1-chrome, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135, Japan.

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