Point contact spectroscopy on electron doped Pr(1-x)LaCe(x)CuO(4-y)

Point contact spectroscopy has been used to address the question of the symmetry of the order parameter in the superconducting Pr(1-x)LaCe(x)CuO(4-y) compound. We recorded a huge variety of data that were consistently interpreted by considering a d-wave symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. Despite the different features appearing in the tunneling conductance spectra, all data inferred a superconducting energy gap amplitude. Delta similar or equal to 3.6 +/- 0.2 meV, with a conventional BCS temperature dependence and a ratio 2 Delta/K(B)T(c) similar or equal to 3.5 +/- 0.2. Also for the rare contacts showing a smaller gap value Delta similar or equal to 2.0 meV we found the same BCS ratio confirming that we are probing a sample area with reduced superconductivity (T(c) similar or equal to 14K). (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved