YBa2Cu3O7 electro-magnetic optic effects in Ba L2,3 X-ray absorption near Tc

The onset of electro-magnetic optic effects, observed at the Ba L2,3 edges synchrotron X-ray absorption by a YBa2Cu3O7 single crystal, 20 K above the transition temperature to superconductivity, Tc ∼ 92 K is used to identify the role played by the Ba donor layer in the transition to superconductivity in the CuO2 layers. Negative permeability leads to Faraday rotation of the transmitted beam below T = 112 to 56 K for the 22 μm thick single crystal (c-axis orientation of 8π/18 relative to εX-rays) and sharp changes in the density of empty final states lead to zero transmitted radiation in an interval ΔE at the given orientation. The temperature dependence: ΔE(L2) = 1.4, 3.5 and 3.9 eV, while ΔE(L3) = 5.3, 6 and 7 eV at T = 92, 74 and 63 K, respectively, indicates that the width of the empty final states bands increases as T decreases. ΔE(L3)/ΔE(L2) = 3.8 at 92 K to 1.8 at 63 K also indicates that the d5/2 symmetry bands fill faster than those of d3/2 symmetry below Tc, providing the first experimental evidence of unpaired spin-orbit states in the Ba donor layer of a superconductor. These effects, characteristic of ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic materials near a resonance absorption, signal the onset of a Mott transition. The interaction between the layer states is described using 1D conjugate molecular orbitals.