Low-field negative magnetization and coercive-field magnetization reversal in transition metal chalcogenides; Cr2FeSe4 magnetic structure from neutron diffraction

Low-field negative magnetization, of the order of −10⁻¹ emu/g-Oe, from 4.2 K up to room temperature and higher (350 K), and coercive-field magnetization reversal are both present in Cr_(3−x)Fe_xX₄ for X=S, Se, Te and x=0 to 3, and for Cr₅Te₈ and Cr₇Te₈. For Cr₂FeSe₄ the zero-field-cooled (ZFC) magnetization is negative for 5 Oe and below. To obtain a more detailed knowledge of the magnetic phases involved in the observed magnetization versus temperature M(T) curves, we obtained and studied neutron diffraction (n.d.) scans on the compound Cr₂FeSe₄, taken at 14 temperatures from 4.2 to 300 K. For this same n.d. sample, the temperature for magnetization reversal of value −3×10⁻⁴ emu/g-Oe is 80 K in 40 Oe applied field, then the reversal disappears for 65 Oe applied field. The complex magnetic interactions responsible for this reversal are revealed in the hysteresis curves.     

ZnSb掺杂的Ge2Sb2Te5薄膜的相变性能研究

本文采用双靶(ZnSb靶和Ge₂Sb₂Te₅靶)共溅射制备了系列ZnSb掺杂的Ge₂Sb₂Te₅(GST)薄膜. 利用X射线衍射、透射电子显微镜、原位等温/变温电阻测量、X射线光电子能谱等测试研究了薄膜样品的非晶形态、电学及原子成键特性. 利用等温原位电阻测试表明ZnSb掺杂的Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜具有更高的结晶温度. 采用Arrhenius 公式计算发现ZnSb掺杂的Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜的十年数据保持温度均高于传统的Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜的88.9℃. 薄膜在200, 250, 300和350℃ 下退火后的X射线衍射图谱表明ZnSb的掺杂抑制了Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜从fcc态到hex态的转变. 通过对薄膜的光电子能谱和透射电镜分析可知Zn, Sb, Te原子之间键进行重组, 形成Zn–Sb 和Zn–Te 键, 且构成非晶物质存在于晶体周围. 采用相变静态检测仪测试样品的相变行为发现ZnSb掺杂的Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜具有更快的结晶速度. 特别是(ZnSb)_24.3(Ge₂Sb₂Te₅)_75.7薄膜, 其结晶温度达到250℃, 十年数据保持温度达到130.1℃, 并且在70 mW激光脉冲功率下晶化时间仅～64 ns, 远快于传统Ge₂Sb₂Te₅薄膜的晶化时间～280 ns. 以上结果表明(ZnSb)_24.3(Ge₂Sb₂Te₅)_75.7薄膜是一种热稳定性好且结晶速度快的相变存储材料.     

单轴压力下Ge2X2Te5(X=Sb,Bi)薄膜拓扑相变的第一性原理研究

随着拓扑绝缘体的发现, 材料拓扑物性的研究成为凝聚态物理研究的热点领域. 本文基于第一性原理计算, 研究了化合物Ge₂X₂Te₅ (X=Sb, Bi) 的块体结构和二维单层和双层薄膜结构的拓扑物性, 以及单双层薄膜在垂直方向单轴压力下的拓扑量子相变. 研究发现, A型原子序列排列的这两种化合物都是拓扑绝缘体, 其单层薄膜都是普通金属, 而双层薄膜都是拓扑金属, 单层和双层薄膜在单轴加压过程中都没有发生拓扑量子相变; 这两种化合物的B型原子序列的晶体是普通绝缘体, 其所对应的薄膜, Ge₂Sb₂Te₅单层是普通金属, 双层薄膜和Ge₂Bi₂Te₅的单层和双层薄膜均为普通绝缘体, 但是在单轴加压过程中B 型原子序列所对应的单层和双层薄膜都转变为拓扑金属.     

Scaling behavior of the thermopower of the archetypal heavy-fermion metal YbRh2Si2

We reveal and explain the scaling behavior of the thermopower S/T exhibited by the archetypal heavy-fermion (HF) metal YbRh₂Si₂ under the application of magnetic field B at temperature T. We show that the same scaling is demonstrated by different HF compounds such as β-YbAlB₄ and the strongly correlated layered cobalt oxide [BiBa_0.66K_0.36O₂]CoO₂. Using YbRh₂Si₂ as an example, we demonstrate that the scaling behavior of S/T is violated at the antiferromagnetic phase transition, while both the residual resistivity ρ₀ and the density of states, N, experience jumps at the phase transition, causing the thermopower to make two jumps and change its sign. Our elucidation is based on flattening of the single-particle spectrum that profoundly affects ρ₀ and N. To depict the main features of the S/T behavior, we construct a T –B schematic phase diagram of YbRh₂Si₂. Our calculated S/T for the HF compounds are in good agreement with experimental facts and support our observations.     

The pressure effect on the Curie temperature and exchange striction of Cr2S3 and Cr2Te3

The pressure derivative of T_c was found to be 1.0 deg/kbar for Cr₂S₃ and -1.78 deg/kbar for Cr₂Te₃. The volume exchange striction was found to be negative for Cr₂S₃ and positive for Cr₂Te₃. From these results, it was found that the exchange striction was dominant in the a-axis direction.     

Structural and optical properties of thermally evaporated Bi2Te3 films

Bi₂Te₃ films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique. X-ray diffraction analysis for as-deposited and annealed films in vacuum at 150 °C were polycrystalline with rhombohedral structure. The crystallite size is found to increase as the film thickness increases and has values in the range 67–162 nm. The optical constants (the refractive index, n, and absorption index, k) were determined using transmittance and reflectance data in the spectral range 2.5–10 μm for Bi₂Te₃ films with different thicknesses (25–99.5 nm). Both n and k are independent on the film thickness in the investigated range. It was also found that Bi₂Te₃ is a high refractive index material (n has values of 4.7–8.8 in the wavelength range 2.5–10 μm). The allowed optical transitions were found to be direct optical transitions with energy gap  eV. The optical conductivities σ₁ = ƒ(hν) and σ₂ = f(hν) show distinct peaks at about 0.13 and 0.3 eV, respectively. These two peaks can be attributed to optical interband transitions.     

Magnetic phase transition in (Fe,Mn)65Ni35 alloys

Magnetization measurements on the Fe₆₀Mn₅Ni₃₅ and Fe₅₀Mn₁₅Ni₃₅ alloy samples were carried out in the temperature range 80T300 K and in magnetic fields up to 8 kOe. The Fe₆₀Mn₅Ni₃₅ was found to order ferromagnetically with a Curie temperature, T_c, above 300 K. From the temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization, M_s, it was concluded that the magnetic behavior of Fe₆₀Mn₅Ni₃₅ follows Wohlfarth theory of weak itinerant ferromagnet. The Fe₅₀Mn₁₅Ni₃₅ sample exhibits a magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetism to paramagnetism at T_c=242 K. The critical amplitudes and critical exponents (β, γ and δ) have been determined by using Arrott plots, Kouvel–Fisher method and scaling plots of the reduced magnetization and reduced magnetic field. The values of β, γ and δ are discussed and compared with the results obtained for various theoretical models and also with the experimentally determined values for related systems obtained by others.     

Thermally activated flux dissipation in c-axis-oriented YBa2Cu3O7−δ ultrathin films

The resistive transitions of ultrathin YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ (YBCO) films with thicknesses 75 and 200 Å were studied under magnetic fields. For the 75 Å film under a 5 T parallel magnetic field (Hbab-plane), no broadening of the resistive transition occurred. In the perpendicular magnetic field (H ab-plane), the broadening of the resistive transition of the 75 Å film is larger than that of the 200 Å thick film. The flux activation energy U was found to be linearly dependent on the temperature and logarithmically dependent on the magnetic field for both 75 and 200 Å films, which means the two samples have a two-dimensional vortex lattice. Furthermore, the activation energy U also increased with the film thickness, indicating that the magnetic correlation length in the c-axis direction l_c is larger than the 200 Å for bulk YBCO.     

Bandgap opening in MoTe2 thin flakes induced by surface oxidation

Recently, the layered transition metal dichalcogenide 1T′-MoTe₂ has generated considerable interest due to their superconducting and non-trivial topological properties. Here, we present a systematic study on 1T′-MoTe₂ single-crystal and exfoliated thin-flakes by means of electrical transport, scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) measurements and band structure calculations. For a bulk sample, it exhibits large magneto-resistance (MR) and Shubnikov–de Hass oscillations in ρ_xx and a series of Hall plateaus in ρ_xy at low temperatures. Meanwhile, the MoTe₂ thin films were intensively investigated with thickness dependence. For samples, without encapsulation, an apparent transition from the intrinsic metallic to insulating state is observed by reducing thickness. In such thin films, we also observed a suppression of the MR and weak anti-localization (WAL) effects. We attributed these effects to disorders originated from the extrinsic surface chemical reaction, which is consistent with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and in-situ STM results. In contrast to samples without encapsulated protection, we discovered an interesting superconducting transition for those samples with hexagonal Boron Nitride (h-BN) film protection. Our results indicate that the metallic or superconducting behavior is its intrinsic state, and the insulating behavior is likely caused by surface oxidation in few layer 1T′-MoTe₂ flakes.     

Temperature range for critical scaling behavior in YBCO thin films

The magnetic and transport properties of thin films and single crystals of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ are compared. For measurements on thin films, the apparent critical scaling behavior is observed to exist over a temperature range from 87 K down to the vortex-glass transition T_g = 84.2 K at 2.5 kOE and from 83 K to T_g = 70.4 K at 50 kOe. The inflection point (T_inf) in temperature dependent resistivity measurements R(T) coincides with the highest temperature at which current-voltage (I–V) characteristics are found to scale. The region between T_g and T_inf shows a behavior characteristics of thermally activated flux motion, while above T_inf I–V curves show ohmic behavior. No similar scaling region is observed in some single crystal results, supporting recent claims that the phase transition in some single crystals may not be critical in nature (of order greater than one).     

Magnetic anisotropic properties in Fe3O4 and CoFe2O4 ferrite epitaxy thin films

Epitaxial thin films of Fe₃O₄ and CoFe₂O₄ on MgO (0 0 1) substrates were grown by molecular beam epitaxy at low temperature growth process. Magnetization and hysteresis loop of both films were measured to investigate magnetic anisotropic properties at various temperatures. Anomalous magnetic properties are found to be correlated with crystalline, shape, and stress anisotropies. The Fe₃O₄ film below Verwey structural transition has a change in crystal structure, thus causing many anomalous magnetic properties. Crystalline anisotropy and anomalous magnetic properties are affected substantially by Co ions. The saturation magnetization of Co–ferrite film becomes much lower than that of Fe₃O₄ film, being very different from the bulks. It indicates that the low temperature growth process could not provide enough energy to have the lowest energy state.     

Phase transition from solid to liquid phase of vortex lattice in YBa2Cu3O7 thin films

We measured voltage V versus current I curves with a function of temperature T and magnetic field H for YBa₂Cu₃O₇ single-crystalline thin films. The characteristics of the pinning type was found to be changed with the change in T, in contradiction to Kramer's scaling law. Furthermore, we analyzed I–V curves in terms of the flux creep model proposed by Anderson and Kim. In low H region the product of flux bundle volume v_d and its jump distance l decreased with the increase of H, while in high H region the product increased rapidly with H, suggesting a rapid increased of interaction length between vortices. These results imply all evidence of an occurence of vortex liquid phase in the high H regime. We showed that the transition region between the above two regimes is located in the vicinity of H at which the critical current density begins to decrease rapidly with the increase of H.     

掺杂Y2O3和BaCeO3提高MOD-YBCO超导性能的研究

本文通过在前驱液中添加过量钇盐和铈的有机盐,采用三氟乙酸盐-金属有机沉积法(TFA-MOD) 在铝酸镧单晶基体上制备了含有纳米氧化钇和纳米铈酸钡的YBCO薄膜. 与纯YBCO薄膜相比,掺杂Y₂O₃/BaCeO₃的YBCO膜的临界转变温度几乎保持不变,为91 K左右. 而掺杂Y₂O₃/BaCeO₃的YBCO膜的临界电流密度达到5.0 MA/cm² (77 K, 0T), 是纯YBCO膜临界电流密度的1.5倍.薄膜中的Y₂O₃和BaCeO₃可能在YBCO内部起到了 有效的钉扎磁通作用. 关键词： 钇钡铜氧薄膜 2O₃和纳米BaCeO₃')" href="#">纳米Y₂O₃和纳米BaCeO₃ 磁通钉扎 三氟乙酸盐-金属有机沉积     

Enhancing the magnetoelectric coupling of Co4Nb2O9[100] by substituting Mg for Co

We report experimental studies on enhancing the magnetoelectric (ME) coupling of Co₄Nb₂O₉ by substituting the non-magnetic metal Mg for Co. A series of single crystal Co_4−xMg_xNb₂O₉ (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) with a single-phase corundum-type structure are synthesized using the optical floating zone method, and the good quality and crystallographic orientations of the synthesized samples are confirmed by the Laue spots and sharp XRD peaks. Although the Néel temperatures (T_N) of the Mg substituted crystals decrease slightly from 27 K for pure Co₄Nb₂O₉ to 19 K and 11 K for Co₃MgNb₂O₉ and Co₂Mg₂Nb₂O₉, respectively, the ME coupling is doubly enhanced by Mg substitution when x = 1. The ME coefficient α_ME of Co₃MgNb₂O₉ required for the magnetic field (electric field) control of electric polarization (magnetization) is measured to be 12.8 ps/m (13.7 ps/m). These results indicate that the Mg substituted Co_4−xMg_xNb₂O₉ (x = 1) could serve as a potential candidate material for applications in future logic spintronics and logic devices.     

Kinetics study of a-Se80Te20−xPbx using non-isothermal crystallization

The kinetics of crystallization in Se₈₀Te_20−xPb_x (x=0, 2, 6 and 10) glasses is studied by non-isothermal method using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). DSC is performed at different heating rates of 5, 10, 15 and 20 K/min. The values of glass transition and crystallization temperatures are found to be composition and heating-rate dependent. From the heating-rate dependence of the glass transition and crystallization temperatures, the activation energy of crystallization (ΔE_c) and order parameter (n) are calculated.     

Magnetic transport properties in iron/iron-oxide films

Iron/iron-oxide granular films were fabricated using reactive dc magnetron sputtering. Their structural, magnetic and transport properties were systematically studied. XPS and TEM confirmed the coexistence of Fe, FeO and Fe₂O₃. A metal–insulator transition was observed with the increasing of the oxygen component in the film. The temperature dependencies of longitudinal resistivity ρ_xx and anomalous Hall resistivity ρ_xy were discussed. We found the enhancement of ρ_xy and investigated the scaling law between anomalous Hall coefficient R_s and ρ_xx. In all the samples, R_s was found to be proportional to ρ_xx when ρ_xx is small, which indicated the skew scattering is dominant.     

非等电子Sb替换Cu和Te后黄铜矿结构半导体Cu_3Ga_5Te_9的热电性能

热电材料是一类能够实现热与电相互转换的功能材料,在制冷和发电领域极具应用潜力.本文采用金属Sb元素非等电子替换Cu3Ga5Te9化学式中的Cu和Te,观察到材料Seebeck系数和电导率提升的现象.这些电学性能的改善与载流子浓度和有效质量的增大及迁移率基本维持不变有关.载流子浓度的提高是由于Sb原子占位在Te晶格位置后费米能级进入到价带所产生的空穴掺杂效应所致,同时也与Cu含量减少后铜空位(V-1Cu)浓度增大相关联.另外,非等电子替换后,阴离子(Te2-)移位导致了晶格结构缺陷参数u和η的改变,其改变量fiu和fiη与材料晶格热导率(κL)的变化密切相关.在766 K时,适量的Sb替换量使材料的最大热电优值(ZT)达到0.6,比Cu3Ga5Te9提高了近25%.因此,通过选择替换元素、被替换元素及替换量有效地调控了材料的电学及热学性能,在黄铜矿结构半导体中实现了非等电子元素替换改善热电性能的思想.     

A new layered cuprate superconductor: GaSr2(Y, Ce)2Cu2O9−δ

A new layered cuprate compound with a nominal composition of GaSr₂Y_2−xCe_xCu₂O_9−δ has been prepared. It crystallizes in a tetragonal lattice with cell parameters: a = 3.812 Å, c = 28.16 Å. The structure of the compound belongs to the same family of 1222 phase and is derived from that of GaSr₂LnCu₂O₇ by replacing the single Ln³⁺ layer with a double fluorite (Y, Ce)₂O₂ layer. Like other parent cuprate compounds of superconductors, the as-prepared samples showed antiferromagnetic and semiconducting behavior. After treatment under high oxygen pressure, the samples exhibited bulk superconductivity with transition temperatures between 12–14 K.     

Effects of crystallographic ordering on the magnetic behaviour of (AgIn)1-zMn2zTe2 and (CuIn)1-zMn2zTe2 alloys

Measurements of magnetic susceptibility in the temperature range 4.2–300 K were made on polycrystalline samples of the (AgIn)_{1 - z}Mn_2zTe₂ and (CuIn)_{1 - z}Mn_2zTe₂ alloys, and the data used to give values of spin-glass transition te mperature T_g and Curie-Weiss paramagnetic temperature θ. For any sample for which the X-ray powder photograph indicated an apparently single phase condition, either zinc-blende or chalcopyrite, the susceptibility data could show up to three separate T_g values. These different magnetic conditions are attributed to crystallographic ordering of the Mn ions on the chalcopyrite and zinc-blende lattices, the three observed T_g values corresponding to disordered zinc-blende, ordered zinc-blende and ordered chalcopyrite. The value of θ obtained from the 1/χ vs. T plot is shown to be a weighted mean of the separate values of θ for the phases present. The relative sizes of the T_g peaks and the values of θ for any given sample gives an indication of the amount of each phase present. These amounts were varied by using different methods of heat treatment and it was shown that the magnetic behaviour was consistent with the T(z) phase diagram for the two alloy systems.     

Magnetic properties of Mn-substituted GdCoxMn1−xO3 and LaCoxMn1−xO3

Partial substitution of manganese by cobalt in rare-earth perovskites REMnO₃ leads to unusual magnetic phenomena because of the simultaneous presence of Mn³⁺, Mn⁴⁺, Co²⁺ and Co³⁺ species. The magnetic nature of the RE cation plays a fundamental role in the magnetic properties. We present herein two specific families: for RE=La the magnetic behavior of the |Co+Mn| network is observed, while for Gd its strong magnetic moment interacts with the transition metals, leading to a spin reversal state. Magnetic interactions are maximized at x=0.50, as if two regimes exist: for x<0.5 Co substitutes Mn in the REMnO₃ manganite, and for x>0.5 Mn substitutes Co in the RECoO₃ cobaltite.