# Physics Letters A 225 (1997) 167-169 Dipole-dipole interaction of Josephson diamagnetic moments

A weak-link structure (both intrinsic and extrinsic) of high-$`T_c`$ superconductors (HTS) is known to play a rather crucial role in understanding many unusual and anomalous physical phenomena in these materials (see, e.g., \[1-7\]). In particular, the ”fishtail” anomaly of magnetization in oxygen-deficient crystals is argued \[4-7\] to originate from intrinsic (atomic scale) weak links, while the spontaneous orbital magnetic moments induced by grain boundary weak links with the so-called ”$`\pi `$ junctions” (see, e.g., ) is believed to be responsible for the ”paramagnetic Meissner effect”  in granular superconductors. Furthermore, to probe into the symmetry of the pairing mechanism in HTS, the Josephson interference experiments based on the assumption that $`\pi `$ junctions are created between $`s`$-wave and $`d`$-wave superconductors  or between different grains of the $`d`$-wave superconductor itself  have been conducted (see, e.g.,  for discussion and further references therein).

In the present paper, we would like to draw a particular attention to the importance of the dipole-dipole interaction between the above-mentioned orbital magnetic moments. Due to the vector character of this interaction, the sign of the resulting Josephson critical current will depend on the orientation between these diamagnetic moments, giving rise to either $`0`$ or $`\pi `$ type junction behavior. It is shown that for large enough grains and/or small enough distance between clusters, the dipole energy between clusters may overcome the direct Josephson coupling between grains within a single cluster, allowing for manifestation of long-range correlation effects in granular superconductors.

Let us consider a system of two identical clusters of superconducting grains. Each cluster contains three weakly connected grains (which is a minimal number needed to create a current loop and the corresponding non-zero diamagnetic moment $`\stackrel{}{\mu }`$, see below). Between adjacent grains in each cluster, there is a Josephson-like coupling with the energy $`J_{ij}=J_{ji}`$. The dipole-dipole interaction between these two clusters can be presented in the form

$$_{dip}=\underset{\alpha \beta }{}V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})\mu ^\alpha \mu ^\beta ,$$
(1)   
where

$$V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})=\frac{\mu _0}{R^3}\left(\delta _{\alpha \beta }\frac{R_\alpha R_\beta }{R^2}\right)$$
(2)   
and

$$\mu ^\alpha =\frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}\underset{i=1}{\overset{3}{}}J_{i,i+1}\sigma _{i,i+1}^\alpha \mathrm{sin}\varphi _{i,i+1}.$$
(3)   
Here, $`R`$ is the distance between clusters, $`\stackrel{}{\sigma }_{ij}=\stackrel{}{r}_i\times \stackrel{}{r}_j`$ is the (oriented) projected area for each cluster, $`\varphi _{ij}=\varphi _i\varphi _j`$ is the phase difference between adjacent grains, and $`\mu _0=4\pi \times 10^7H/m`$. Hereafter, $`\{\alpha ,\beta \}=x,y,z`$; and $`\{i,j\}=1,2,3.`$

In view of the obvious constraint, $`\varphi _{12}+\varphi _{23}+\varphi _{31}=0`$, our consideration can be substantially simplified by introducing a ”collective variable” $`\varphi `$, namely

$$\varphi _{12}=\varphi _{31}\varphi ,\varphi _{23}=0$$
(4)   
As a result, the dipole-dipole interaction energy takes on a simple form

$$_{dip}=D\mathrm{sin}^2\varphi ,$$
(5)   
where

$$D=\left(\frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}\right)^2\underset{\alpha \beta }{}V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})\left(J\sigma \right)^\alpha \left(J\sigma \right)^\beta ,$$
(6)   
with

$$\left(J\sigma \right)^\alpha J_{12}\sigma _{12}^\alpha +J_{13}\sigma _{13}^\alpha .$$
(7)   
To estimate the significance of the above-considered dipole-dipole energy, we have to compare it with the Josephson coupling energy between grains within a single cluster. The latter contribution for three adjacent grains (forming a cluster and allowing for a non-zero current loop) gives

$$_J=\underset{i=1}{\overset{3}{}}J_{i,i+1}\mathrm{cos}\varphi _{i,i+1},$$
(8)   
or equivalently, in terms of the ”collective variables” (see Eq.(4))

$$_J=J_{23}(J_{12}+J_{13})\mathrm{cos}\varphi .$$
(9)   
Thus, the resulting Josephson current in our system of the two coupled clusters, defined as $`I(\varphi )=(2e/\mathrm{})(_{tot}/\varphi )`$ with the total energy $`_{tot}=2_J+_{dip}`$ (notice that there is no direct Josephson interaction between clusters, they are coupled only via the dipole-dipole interaction) reads

$$I(\varphi )=2I_J^c\mathrm{sin}\varphi +I_D^c\mathrm{sin}2\varphi ,$$
(10)   
where

$$I_J^c=\frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}(J_{12}+J_{13}),$$
(11)   
and

$$I_D^c=\frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}D.$$
(12)   
It is interesting to mention that a similar to Eq.(10) form of the ”nonsinusoidal” current-phase relationship has been recently discussed by Yip  who investigated the Josephson coupling involving unconventional superconductors beyond the tunnel-junction limit.

Let us find out now when dipole-dipole interaction between two clusters may become comparable with (or even exceed) the direct Josephson coupling between grains within the same cluster. In view of Eq.(10), this will happen when $`D`$ becomes equal to (or larger than) $`2(J_{12}+J_{13})4J`$ which in turn is possible either for small enough distance between clusters $`R`$ or for large enough grain size $`r_g\sqrt{\sigma /\pi }`$. Taking $`J/k_B90K`$ for the maximum (zero-temperature) Josephson energy in $`YBCO`$ materials, and assuming (roughly) $`Rr_g`$, we get $`r_g10\mu m`$ for the minimal grain size needed to observe the effects due to the dipole-dipole interaction between diamagnetic moments in granular HTS.

There is however another possibility to observe these effects which does not require the above-mentioned restrictions (small $`R`$ and/or large $`r_g`$). Indeed, in view of Eq.(11), when grains $`1`$ and $`2`$ form a $`0`$ junction (with $`J_{12}=J`$) and at the same time grains $`1`$ and $`3`$ produce a $`\pi `$ junction (with $`J_{13}=J`$) within the same cluster, the direct Josephson contributions cancel each other so that $`I_J^c0`$, and the resulting critical current is completely defined by its dipole part only, which in this case reads

$$I_D^c=\left(\frac{2e}{\mathrm{}}\right)^3J^2\underset{\alpha \beta }{}V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma ^\alpha \mathrm{\Delta }\sigma ^\beta ,$$

with $`\mathrm{\Delta }\sigma ^\alpha \sigma _{12}^\alpha \sigma _{13}^\alpha `$. Moreover, due to the orientational nature of the dipole-dipole interaction, the induced critical current $`I_D^c`$ may exhibit properties of either $`0`$ or $`\pi `$ junctions, depending on the sign of the interaction potential $`V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})`$. In particular, as is seen from Eq.(2), the non-diagonal part of $`V_{\alpha \beta }(\stackrel{}{R})`$ is responsible for creation of $`\pi `$ type junctions with $`I_D^c<0`$. It would be very interesting to try to observe the predicted behavior experimentally, using perhaps some artificially prepared systems of superconducting grains.

In summary, a system of two clusters (of weakly connected superconducting grains) coupled via dipole-dipole interaction between their diamagnetic moments was considered. For large enough grains (or small enough distance between clusters), the dipole energy between clusters was found to compare with the direct Josephson coupling between grains within a single cluster. The sign of the critical current, related to the dipole energy, was shown to depend on the mutual orientation of the clusters, varying from $`0`$ to $`\pi `$ type junction behavior.