Anisotropic thermal expansion and evaluation of uniaxial pressure dependence of superconducting and magnetic transitions in ErNi2B2C

We present anisotropic thermal expansion measurements on single crystalline ErNi₂B₂C. All three, superconducting, antiferromagnetic and weak ferromagnetic phase transitions are unambiguously distinguished in the data. Anisotropic uniaxial pressure dependencies of the transitions are estimated based on the Ehrenfest relation, leading to a conclusion, in particular, that weak ferromagnetic states may be suppressed by small, order of few kbar, hydrostatic pressure. Additionally, magnetostriction is shown to be a useful probe for rich and complex H-T diagram in this material.     

Superconducting properties of tin embedded in nanometer-sized pores of glass

The electrical resistance of tin embedded from a melt in porous glasses with an average pore diameter of ??7 nm has been investigated at low temperatures in magnetic fields up to 2 T. The temperatures of the transition to the superconducting state for nanocrystalline tin have been determined in magnetic fields of 0, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 T. It has been found that the temperature and magnetic-field dependences of the electrical resistance of the nanocomposite under investigation exhibit two transitions to the superconducting state. The nature of the double superconducting transitions has been discussed. The H _c -T _c phase diagram has been constructed using the entire set of data on the magnetic-field and temperature dependences of the electrical resistance of nanostructured tin. This phase diagram indicates that the upper critical magnetic field H _c2(0) for nanostructured tin is almost two orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding field for bulk tin.     

Vortex lattice in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ well above the first-order phase-transition boundary

Measurements of non-local in-plane resistance originating from transverse vortex-vortex correlations have been performed on a Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ high-T_c superconductor in a magnetic field up to 9 T applied along the crystal c-axis. Our results demonstrate that a rigid vortex lattice does exist over a broad portion of the magnetic field-temperature (H-T) phase diagram, well above the first-order transition (FOT) boundary H_FOT(T). The results also provide evidence for the vortex lattice melting and vortex liquid decoupling phase transitions, occurring above the H_FOT(T).     

Upper critical fields of Nb3Ge thin film superconductors

The upper critical field H_c2(T) of the highest T_c(～23K) Nb₃Ge superconducting films has been found to be ≈370kG at 4.2K. Measurements on lower T_c films show very broad transitions reflecting nonuniformity. The H_c2(T) characteristics are consistent with other Nb₃X type II superconductors.     

Magnetic-field-driven quantum critical behavior in graphite and bismuth

We study magnetotransport properties of graphite and rhombohedral bismuth samples and found that in both materials applied magnetic field induces the metal-insulator- (MIT) and reentrant insulator-metal-type (IMT) transformations. The corresponding transition boundaries plotted on the magnetic field-temperature (B − T) plane nearly coincide for these semimetals and can be best described by power laws T ∼ (B − B_c)^κ, where B_c is a critical field at T = 0 and κ = 0.45 ± 0.05. We show that insulator-metal-insulator (I-M-I) transformations take place in the Landau level quantization regime and illustrate how the IMT in quasi-3D graphite transforms into a cascade of I-M-I transitions, related to the quantum Hall effect in quasi-2D graphite samples. We discuss the possible coupling of superconducting and excitonic correlations with the observed phenomena, as well as signatures of quantum phase transitions associated with the M-I and I-M transformations.     

Incommensurate magnetic structure and crystal field in ErNi2B2C Studied by 166Er Mössbauer spectroscopy and specific heat measurements

¹⁶⁶Er Mössbauer absorption spectra have been recorded in the superconductor ErNi₂B₂C (T _c = 10 K), in zero field and in the temperature range 1.4 K–40 K. The spectra in the magnetically ordered phase (T _N ? 5.5 K) are characteristic of an incommensurate magnetic structure with a maximum Er³⁺ moment of 8.2 μB. We show that the magnetic transition is first order, with a small temperature range where magnetically ordered and paramagnetic domains coexist. The analysis of the magnetic and quadrupolar hyperfine interactions below and above T _N suggests that the Er³⁺ ground doublet is close to |J = 15/2; J _z = ± 1/2 > and shows that there is a low lying (? 10 K) excited doublet. The measured Er³⁺ electronic relaxation rate 1/T₁ shows an anomaly at 10 K (T _c suggesting that the conduction electrons that are exchange coupled to the 4f spin take part in the formation of the superconducting state. We also present specific heat data for Er _x Y_{1 ? x} Ni₂B₂C and Er_0.2Lu_0.8Ni₂B₂C which also evidence a low lying doublet and from which we propose a modified (improved) Er³⁺ crystal field level scheme (0, 9, 62, 71, 73, 181, 212 and 216 K) where the energies of the higher levels are consistent with published neutron scattering data.     

Magnetic phase diagram and crystal fields of superconducting ErNi2B2C

We have measured the specific heatc _p in magnetic fields and the resistance of the antiferromagnetically ordered borocarbide superconductor ErNi₂B₂C. From our data we show that the superconductivity at 10.6 K coexists with antiferromagnetic order beginning at 5.8 K, and we determine the magneticB-T phase diagram. The specific heat in zero field gives additional information about the crystalline electric field (CEF) splitting. We show that the low-temperature specific heat is dominated by several low-lying CEF doublets with the first excited level at about 10 K, while the splitting of the next two levels is about 50 to 100 K.     

Resistance and magnetic susceptibility of superconducting lead embedded in nanopores of glass

This paper reports on a study of the resistance and differential magnetic susceptibility χ _ac of lead embedded in nanosized glass pores with a diameter of ∼7 mm, which was performed at temperatures of 6–300 K and magnetic fields of up to 6 T. The field dependence of the resistance R(H) and the temperature dependences of the real, χ″(T), and imaginary, χ″(T), parts of magnetic susceptibility reveal indications of superconducting phase transitions associated with the volume and surface superconductivity of Pb nanopar ticles. The measurements of the field dependence of resistance have been used to set up the H _c -T _c phase diagram and to carry out a comparison with the study of the heat capacity performed on the same samples.     

High-field phase-diagram of Fe arsenide superconductors

Here, we report an overview of the phase-diagram of single-layered and double-layered Fe arsenide superconductors at high magnetic fields. Our systematic magneto-transport measurements of polycrystalline SmFeAsO_1-xF_x at different doping levels confirm the upward curvature of the upper critical magnetic field H_c2(T) as a function of temperature T defining the phase boundary between the superconducting and metallic states for crystallites with the ab planes oriented nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field. We further show from measurements on single-crystals that this feature, which was interpreted in terms of the existence of two superconducting gaps, is ubiquitous among both series of single- and double-layered compounds. In all compounds explored by us the zero temperature upper critical field H_c2(0), estimated either through the Ginzburg–Landau or the Werthamer–Helfand–Hohenberg single gap theories, strongly surpasses the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limiting field. This clearly indicates the strong-coupling nature of the superconducting state and the importance of magnetic correlations for these materials. Our measurements indicate that the superconducting anisotropy, as estimated through the ratio of the effective masses γ =  (m_c/m_ab)^1/2 for carriers moving along the c-axis and the ab-planes, respectively, is relatively modest as compared to the high-T_c cuprates, but it is temperature, field and even doping dependent. Finally, our preliminary estimations of the irreversibility field H_m(T), separating the vortex-solid from the vortex-liquid phase in the single-layered compounds, indicates that it is well described by the melting of a vortex lattice in a moderately anisotropic uniaxial superconductor.     

Surface superconductivity and twinning-plane superconductivity in aluminum

The critical supercooling field H _sc is measured in aluminum single crystals and twinned bicrystals in a temperature range slightly below T _c0 (T _c0 ? 0.055 K < T < T _c0), where T _c0 is the critical superconducting transition temperature. It is found that, even in this small temperature range, the H _sc(H _c) dependence, which is considered to be identical to the H _c3(H _c) dependence for single crystals, is substantially nonlinear. The H _sc(H _c) dependences of the twinned bicrystals and single crystals are shown to be significantly different. The qualitative features of the phase diagram of the twinned aluminum bicrystals coincide with those of the phase diagram of twinning-plane superconductivity obtained earlier for tin in [1]. These findings allow the conclusion that the phenomenon of twinning-plane superconductivity also exists in face-centered cubic crystal lattices.     

Suppression of superconductivity in YNi2B2C at the atomic disordering

The behavior of the electrical resistivity ρ(T), the superconducting transition temperature T _c , and the upper critical field H _c2(T) of a polycrystalline sample of YNi₂B₂C irradiated by thermal neutrons with the subsequent high-temperature isochronous annealing in the temperature interval T _ann = 100–1000°C has been studied. It has been found that the irradiation of YNi₂B₂C with a fluence of 10¹⁹cm^?2 leads to the suppression of the superconductivity. The final disordered state is reversible; i.e., the initial ρ(T), T _c , and H _c2(T) values are almost completely recovered upon annealing at up to T _ann = 1000°C. The quadratic dependence ρ(T) = ρ₀ + a ₂ T ² is observed for the sample in the superconducting state (T _c = 5.5?14.5 K). The coefficient a ₂ (proportional to the square of the electron mass m*) hardly changes. The form of the dependence of T _c on ρ₀ can be interpreted as the suppression of the two superconducting gaps, Δ₁ and Δ₂ (Δ₁ ～ 2Δ₂). The degradation rate of Δ₁ is about three times higher than that of Δ₂. The dependences dH _c2/dT on ρ₀ and T _c may be described by the relations for a superconductor in the intermediate limit (the coherence length ζ₀ is on the order of the electron mean free path l _tr) under the assumption of a nearly constant electron density of states on the Fermi level N(E _F). The observed behavior of T _c obviously does not agree with the widespread opinion about the purely electron-phonon mechanism of superconductivity in the compounds of this type supposing the anomalous type of superconducting pairing.     

Unconventional magnetic phase diagram of cuprate superconductor La2−xSrxCuO4 at quantum critical point x=1/9

We propose a new magnetic phase diagram of La_2?xSr_xCuO₄ around a quantum critical point x=1/9 based on field-cooled magnetization measurements and critical fittings. A new phase boundary T_m2(H) is discovered which buries deeply below the first order vortex melting line in the vortex solid phase. The coupling between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism is found to be attractive below T_m2(H) while repulsive above. The attractive coupling between superconducting order and static antiferromagnetic order provides compelling experimental evidence that the antiferromagnetism microscopically coexists and collaborates with the high temperature superconductivity in cuprates.     

Enhancement of superconductivity in disordered films by parallel magnetic field

We show that the superconducting transition temperature T _c (H) of a very thin highly disordered film with strong spin-orbital scattering can be increased by a parallel magnetic field H. This effect is due to the polarization of magnetic impurity spins, which reduces the full exchange scattering rate of electrons; the largest effect is predicted for spin-1/2 impurities. Moreover, for some range of magnetic impurity concentrations, the phenomenon of superconductivity induced by magnetic field is predicted: the superconducting transition temperature T _c (H) is found to be nonzero in the range of magnetic fields 0 < H* ≤ H ≤ H _c .     

Magnetic phase diagrams of Ho1−xDyxNi2B2C

We performed the magnetization measurement on Ho_1−xDy_xNi₂B₂C single crystals (x=0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.6) with magnetic field applied perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis. But only for the magnetic field perpendicular to the c-axis, the increase of Dy³⁺ concentration affects the magnetically ordered states of HoNi₂B₂C compound and makes the phase diagram more complicated. The antiferromagnetic ordering state attributed to Dy³⁺ sublattice starts to appear from a case of x=0.2 and finally the magnetic phase diagram becomes analogous to that of DyNi₂B₂C as x is increased which is consistent with the neutron scattering result.     

Influence of disorder on superconductivity in non-magnetic rare-earth nickel borocarbides

The effect of substitutional disorder on the superconducting properties of YNi₂B₂C was studied by partially replacing yttrium and nickel by Lu and Pt, respectively. For the two series of (Y, Lu)Ni₂B₂C and Y(Ni, Pt)₂B₂C compounds, the upper critical field H _c2(T) and the specific heat c _p(T, H) in the superconducting mixed state have been investigated. Disorder is found to reduce several relevant quantities such as T _c, the upper critical field H _c2(0) at T=0 and a characteristic positive curvature of H _c2(T) observed for these compounds near T _c. The H _c2(T) data point to the clean limit for (Y, Lu) substitutions and to a transition to the quasi-dirty limit for (Ni, Pt) substitutions. The electronic specific heat contribution γ(H) exhibits significant deviations from the usual linear γ(H) law. These deviations reduce with growing substitutional disorder but remain even in the quasidirty limit which is reached in the Y(Ni_1−x , Pt _x )₂B₂C samples for x=0.1.     

Flux confinement in mesoscopic superconductors

We report on flux confinement effects in superconducting submicron line, loop and dot structures. The main idea of our study was to vary the boundary conditions for confinement of the superconducting condensate by taking samples of different topology and, through that, modifying the lowest Landau level E_LLL(H). Since the critical temperature versus applied magnetic field T_c(H) is, in fact,E_LLL (H) measured in temperature units, it is varied as well when the sample topology is changed. We demonstrate that in all the submicron structures studied the shape of theT_c (H) phase boundary is determined by the confinement topology in a unique way.     

Characteristic features of the magnetic ordering of Dy3+ ions in a monoclinic RbDy(WO4)2 single crystal

The investigation of the specific heat of a RbDy(WO₄)₂ single crystal at temperatures 0.2–2.5 K and in magnetic fields up to 2 T are reported. The temperature dependence of the specific heat near T _N=0.818 K is compared with the predictions for different models. The 2D Ising model describes satisfactorily C(T) below T _N, while for T>T _N none of the theoretical models agree with the behavior of C(T) of RbDy(WO₄)₂. The H-T phase diagram for H∥c is complicated and possesses a triple point, where regions of existence of three magnetic phases converge. The magnetic ordering is analyzed from the standpoint of the Jahn-Teller nature of the structural phase transitions occurring in RbDy(WO₄)₂ at higher temperatures. It is shown that the form of the phase diagram depends on the direction of the vector H, for the general case of an arbitrary direction of H, two phase transitions can occur with increasing field. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 41, 491–496 (March 1999)     

Influence of the ground state of the Pr<Superscript>3+</Superscript> ion on magnetic and magnetoelectric properties of the PrFe<Subscript>3</Subscript>(BO<Subscript>3</Subscript>)<Subscript>4</Subscript> multiferroic

The magnetic, magnetoelectric, and magnetoelastic properties of a PrFe₃(BO₃)₄ single crystal and the phase transitions induced in this crystal by the magnetic field are studied both experimentally and theoretically. Unlike the previously investigated ferroborates, this material is characterized by a singlet ground state of the rare-earth ion. It is found that, below T _N = 32 K, the magnetic structure of the crystal in the absence of the magnetic field is uniaxial (l ∥ c), while, in a strong magnetic field H ∥ c (H _cr ～ 43 kOe at T = 4.2 K), a Fe³⁺ spin reorientation to the basal plane takes place. The reorientation is accompanied by anomalies in magnetization, magnetostriction, and electric polarization. The threshold field values determined in the temperature interval 2–32 K are used to plot an H-T phase diagram. The contribution of the Pr³⁺ ion ground state to the parameters under study is revealed, and the influence of the praseodymium ion on the magnetic and magnetoelectric properties of praseodymium ferroborate is analyzed.     

Neutron scattering investigation of the tricritical point in DyPO4

Neutron scattering experiments on DyPO₄ were performed without and with external field at temperatures between 1.65 and 3.5 K in order to determine the phase diagram and critical properties. In contrast to previous results the M(H)-curve shows typical first order behaviour fot T ? 2 K and H ? 4.2. kG. The H_c(T)-curve agrees quite well with the previous results. Critical scattering was observed at 1.65 K around the (110) magnetic Gragg-peak. A structure refinement at room temperature was also done mainly in order to check for the importance of extinction.     

Superconductivity signs at 110 K on boride inclusion phases TiBk in the Titanium matrix

An experimental check of theoretically predicted high-temperature superconductivity in titanium borides TiB_k is done. These predictions, published as a theoretical phase diagram, concerned the possibility of the existence of high-T _c TiB_k phases with compositions 1.43<k<2.57. In titanium samples coated by diffuse surface boride layers of depth-variable composition TiB_k, there is a jump in the electrical resistance versus temperature dependence R(T) at 110 K. This proves the presence of superconducting inclusion phases in the layers. Diffuse boride layers were applied to metallic titanium by exposing its surface to a B₂H₆ + H₂ gas mixtures at 610–70°C followed by vacuum annealing. The composition of boride layers was studied by mass spectrometry.