Superconductors: unusual oxygen isotope effects in cuprates?
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 17361133.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
The possibility that a pairing boson might act as the 'glue' to bind electrons into a Cooper pair in superconductors with a high critical temperature (T(c)) is being actively pursued in condensed-matter physics. Gweon et al. claim that there is a large and unusual oxygen-isotope effect on the electronic structure, indicating that phonons have a special importance in high-temperature superconductors. However, we are unable to detect this unusual oxygen-isotope effect in new data collected under almost identical material and experimental conditions. Our findings point towards a more conventional influence of phonons in these materials.