Andreev reflections and tunneling spectroscopy on underdoped NCCO (x = 0.15)

Abstract

Andreev-reflection and tunneling studies have been carried out on a single crystal of underdoped Nd1.85Ce0.15CuO4-d (NCCO) by using Ag, Pt-Ir and Nb tips to clarify the symmetry of its order parameter. Surprisingly, we observed in the NCCO, on the one hand, the Josephson current (with Nb tip) which indicates the presence of s-wave order parameter, on the other hand, a zero-bias conductance peak (with Ag tip) which is a manifestation of d-wave order parameter. In addition, we find the presence of two distinct energy scales in the underdoped NCCO: the smallest energy scale is associated with the Andreev gap and c-axis tunneling gap, and the second scale corresponds to the maximum in-plane tunneling gap. It seems that the phenomenon of superconductivity in electron- and hole-doped cuprates can be understood within a common scheme.