Abstract: We investigated the time and temperature dependence of photobleaching effects in RBa2Cu3O7-delta single crystals (R=Y,Pr) by Raman spectroscopy and Monte Carlo simulations based on the asymmetric next-nearest-neighbor Ising model. In a temperature range between 40 and 300 K the bleaching slows down on cooling, displaying a pronounced change in dynamics around 160 K for R=Y. To model this behavior we extended the Ising model by introducing a single energy barrier which impedes oxygen movement in the plane unless the oxygen atoms are excited by light. We obtain a time- and temperature-dependent development of superstructures under illumination with the fastest change at intermediate model temperatures. The chain-fragment development in the simulation thus matches the experimental low-temperature dynamics of Raman photobleaching, providing further support for oxygen reordering in the chain plane being at the origin of Raman photobleaching and related effects.

Abstract: The local modification of an insulating GdBa2Cu3O6.5 thin film, made superconducting by illumination with a near-field scanning optical microscope (NSOM), is reported. A 100-nm aperture NSOM probe acts as a sub- wavelength light source of wavelength ?(exc)=480-650 nm, locally generating photocarriers in an otherwise insulating GdBa2-Cu3O6.5 thin film. Of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs, electrons are trapped in the crystallographic lattice, defining an electrostatic confining potential to enable the holes to move. Reflectance measurements at ? = 1.55 ?m at room temperature show that photocarriers can be induced and constrained to move on a ?? 200 nm scale for all investigated ?(exc). Photogenerated wires present a superconducting critical temperature T(c) = 12 K with a critical current density J(c) = 104 A cm-2. Exploiting the flexibility provided by photodoping through a NSOM probe, a junction was written by photodoping a wire with a narrow (? 50 nm) under-illuminated gap. The strong magnetic field modulation of the critical current provides a clear signature of the existence of a Josephson effect in the junction.

Abstract: We present an exhaustive analysis of transport measurements performed in twinned YBa2Cu3O7 single crystals which establishes that the vortex solid-liquid transition is first order when the magnetic field H is applied at an angle ? away from the direction of the twin planes. We show that the resistive transitions are hysteretic and the V-I curves are nonlinear, displaying a characteristic S shape at the melting line Hm(T), which scales as ?(?)Hm(T,?), where ?(?) is the anisotropy factor. These features are gradually lost when the critical point H*(?) is approached. Above H*(?) the V-I characteristics show a linear response in the experimentally accessible V-I window, and the transition becomes reversible. Finally we show that the first-order phase transition takes place between a highly correlated vortex liquid in the field direction and a solid state of unknown symmetry. As a consequence, our data support the scenario for a vortex-line melting in twinned YBa2Cu3O7 crystals in contrast to a vortex sublimation as recently suggested for untwinned La2-xSrxCuO4, YBa2Cu3O7 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 [T. Sasagawa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 4297 (1998)].

Abstract: We have grown a-axis oriented EuBa2Cu3O7 thin films on SrTiO3 (001) substrates using a magnetron sputtering technique. In these films the CuO2 planes are aligned parallel to the substrates. The film microstructure shows microdomains. The microdomains are grains with a 90