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arXiv · 1305.4579

Josephson surface plasmons in spatially confined cuprate superconductors

Filippo Alpeggiani·Lucio Claudio Andreani
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Abstract

In this work, we generalize the theory of localized surface plasmons to the case of high-Tc cuprate superconductors, spatially confined in the form of small spherical particles. At variance from ordinary metals, cuprate superconductors are characterized by a low-energy bulk excitation known as the Josephson plasma wave (JPW), arising from interlayer tunneling of the condensate along the c-axis. The effect of the JPW is revealed in a characteristic spectrum of surface excitations, which we call Josephson surface plasmons. Our results, which apply to any material with a strongly anisotropic electromagnetic response, are worked out in detail for the case of multilayered superconductors supporting both low-frequency (acoustic) and transverse-optical JPW. Spatial confinement of the Josephson plasma waves may represent a new degree of freedom to engineer their frequencies and to explore the link between interlayer tunnelling and high-Tc superconductivity.

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Filippo Alpeggiani, Lucio Claudio Andreani. 2013-05-20. Josephson surface plasmons in spatially confined cuprate superconductors. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.88.174513

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