Quasiparticles in the vortex state of La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4: a specific heat study

Abstract

To explore the issue of quasiparticles in the d-wave vortex state, magnetic field dependence of the low-temperature specific heat (LTSH) of La2-xSrxCu1-yZnyO4 is studied. This provides information about the quasiparticle electronic states in the vortex state of cuprates with the presence of impurities, and may test the present theoretical treatment of the extended quasiparticle states. The LTSH experimental results are compared with the most recent theoretical approach including impurity scattering. The approximate scaling behavior is also discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.