ATOMIC RESOLUTION STM STS ON OXIDE SUPERCONDUCTORS DOWN TO 4.2-K

Atomic resolution STM/STS measurement on the cleaved basal plane and on the edge of it has been performed for the first time on the layered cuprate superconductors at low temperatures down to 4.2 K. The topographic image of the a-b plane taken at 4.2 K clearly showed the atomic corrugation structure along the b-axis. The STS observations both on the a-b plane and the cross sectional edge surface lead to the electronic scheme that the superconductivity appears only in CuO2 layer, and that the BiO layer is essentially semiconducting even below Tc. © 1990, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland). All rights reserved.