A study of the ferromagnetic transition of $SrRuO_3$ in nanometer thick bilayers with $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$, $La_{1.88}Sr_{0.12}CuO_{4-y}$, Au and Cr: Signature of injected carriers in the pseudogap regime

Abstract

The hypothesis regarding the existence of uncorrelated pre-formed pairs in the pseudogap regime of superconducting $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$ is tested experimentally using bilayers of $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$ and the itinerant ferromagnet $SrRuO_3$. In our study, we monitor the influence of $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$ on $T_p$, the ferromagnetic ordering temperature of $SrRuO_3$. Here, $T_p$ is the temperature of maximum dM/dT or dR/dT where M and R are the magnetization and resistance of $SrRuO_3$, respectively. We compare the results with similar measurements carried out on bilayers of $La_{1.88}Sr_{0.12}CuO_{4-y}$, $Au$ and $Cr$ with $SrRuO_3$. We find that in bilayers made of underdoped 10 nm $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$/5 nm $SrRuO_3$, the $T_p$ values are shifted to lower temperatures by up to 6-8 K as compared to $T_p\approx 140$ K of the 5 nm thick reference $SrRuO_3$ film. In contrast, in the other type of bilayers, which are not in the pseudogap regime near $T_p$, only a smaller shift of up to $\pm$2 K is observed. These differences are discussed in terms of a proximity effect, where carriers from the $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$ layer are injected into the $SrRuO_3$ layer and vice versa. We suggest that correlated electrons in the pseudogap regime of $YBa_2Cu_3O_y$ are responsible for the observed large $T_p$ shifts.