Pair Tunneling from<i>c</i>-Axis<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>YBa</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>2</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>Cu</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:msub><mml:mrow><mml:mi>O</mml:mi></mml:mrow><mml:mrow><mml:mn>7</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mi mathvariant="italic">x</mml:mi></mml:mrow></mml:msub></mml:mrow></mml:math>to Pb: Evidence for<i>s</i>-Wave Component from Microwave Induced Steps

Abstract

In heavily twinned crystals or films of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_{2}{\mathrm{Cu}}_{3}{\mathrm{O}}_{7\ensuremath{-}x}$ (YBCO), ${d}_{{x}^{2}{\ensuremath{-}y}^{2}}$ pairing symmetry is expected to cause the cancellation of first-order Josephson tunneling through a YBCO-Pb tunnel junction grown on an a-b face; any residual tunneling is thus second order. As a result, microwaves at frequency f are predicted to induce steps on the current-voltage characteristic at voltages that are multiples of $\frac{1}{2}(hf/2e)$. Experimentally, steps are observed only at multiples of $hf/2e$, suggesting that s-wave pairing is present in YBCO; however, the simultaneous presence of d-wave pairing is by no means ruled out.