Anisotropic superconducting properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5 single crystals

We investigated the anisotropic electrical transport and magnetic properties of FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ single crystals grown by the self-flux method. The in-plane resistivity shows a metallic-like temperature dependence, while the out-of-plane resistivity shows a broad hump with a maximum at around 64 K. The magnetization loops for $H/\!/c$-axis and $H/\!/ab$-plane are also different, for example, there is a typical second peak for $H/\!/c$-axis. The in-plane critical current density is larger than the out-of-plane one. The coherence length and penetration depth were estimated by the Ginzburg-Landau theory. The anisotropic parameter $\gamma $ depends on the applied magnetic field and the temperature. The coupling of superconducting FeSe(Te) layers and the flux pinning mechanism relevant to anisotropy are also discussed.     

Electrical resistivity due to electron scattering with magnetic domain walls and magnetic properties of Ni-Fe alloy thin films

The physical properties of magnetic domain walls and electrical conductivity of permalloy thin films under external magnetic fields were studied. Using a magnetic force microscope (MFM), we observed the variation of domain configurations with the change of applied magnetic field for different film thicknesses of 245, 320, and 415 nm. A superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) was exploited to measure the magnetization loop for the applied magnetic field either parallel or perpendicular to the normal direction of the surface. We also found that the resistivity increases significantly as the electrical current conduction changed from parallel to perpendicular to the domain walls.     

Superconducting fluctuations in a magnetic field

The rounding of the transition curve is measured for superconducting bismuth films in a perpendicular magnetic field. The contribution of the fluctuating superconducting wave function to the conductivity aboveT _c in an applied magnetic field is calculated with a simple model. The allowed states of the fluctuations are cylinders in momentum space. During their life time the fluctuating superconducting electrons can be accelerated by an electrical field and contribute to the conductivity. Experiment and theory are in fair agreement. We obtain some information about the Pauli spin paramagnetism of the electrons.     

Field induced spin reorientation transition in epitaxial La0.5Sr0.5CoO3 films

Strained epitaxial La_0.5Sr_0.5CoO₃ films are grown on LaAlO₃ substrate. Structural, electrical, and magnetic measurements were carried out. Out of plane lattice parameter of the film undergoes compressive strain and the coercivity is enhanced. The zero field cooled (ZFC) magnetization curve for a field applied parallel to the film plane shows a jump, which suggests a spin reorientation transition (SRT), while ZFC magnetization for a field applied perpendicular to the film plane is featureless. This jump in magnetization is shifted to higher temperatures when the magnetic field is reduced. The SRT is attributed to the strain in the film.     

Resistance of thin films with edge superconductivity in strong magnetic fields

It is shown that, in an edge superconducting layer of a thin film in a magnetic field perpendicular to the film plane, phase slip centers are formed. The centers arise below the superconducting transition temperature because of the thermal fluctuations of the order parameter and lead to the suppression of superconductivity. The resistance corresponding to such fluctuations is determined, and the contribution of the Aslamazov-Larkin correction to the conductivity of a thin film in magnetic fields slightly exceeding the critical field that breaks the surface superconductivity is calculated.     

Pressure-induced enhancement of the superconducting properties of single-crystalline FeTe0.5Se0.5

The pressure dependence, up to 11.3 kbar, of basic parameters of the superconducting state, such as the critical temperature (T(c)), the lower and the upper critical fields, the coherence length, the penetration depth, and their anisotropy, was determined from magnetic measurements performed for two single-crystalline samples of FeTe(0.5)Se(0.5). We have found pressure-induced enhancement of all of the superconducting state properties, which entails a growth of the density of superconducting carriers. However, we noticed a more pronounced increase in the superconducting carrier density under pressure than that in the critical temperature which may indicate an appearance of a mechanism limiting the increase of T(c) with pressure. We have observed that the critical current density increases under pressure by at least one order of magnitude.     

Terahertz conductivity measurement of FeSe0.5Te0.5 and Co-doped BaFe2As2 thin films

The terahertz (THz) conductivity of FeSe_0.5Te_0.5 (‘11’-type) and Co-doped BaFe₂As₂ (‘122’-type) thin films are investigated. For ‘11’-type, the frequency dependence of the complex conductivity can be understood as that of BCS-type superconductor near the superconducting gap energy, and we estimated the superconducting gap energy to be 0.6 meV. For ‘122’-type, we estimated the superconducting gap energy to be 2.8 meV, which is considered to be the superconducting gap opened at the electron-type Fermi surface near the M point.     

Magnetotransport properties of epitaxial Pr0.5Ca0.5MnO3 films grown by a solution technique

Epitaxial Pr_0.5Ca_0.5MnO₃ films have been synthesized on (0 0 1) SrTiO₃ substrate using a chemical solution deposition technique and two-step post-annealing process. The zero field resistivity of the films shows semiconducting behavior and a characteristic of charge ordering is observed at 230 K. The resistivity of the 10 nm film did not show any effect with the magnetic field. However, melting of charge ordering was observed for the 120 nm film at an applied magnetic field of 4 T. Large decrease in the resistivity of the 120 nm film (<100 K) resulted in magnetoresistance of nearly −100% at 75 K.     

Effect of substrate strain on lattice structure,electrical resistivity,and optical conductivity of Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 thin films grown on SrTiO3

In this study, we investigated the lattice structure, electrical resistivity, and optical conductivity of Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ thin films grown on SrTiO₃ (001) and SrTiO₃ (011) substrates. The thin film on SrTiO₃ (001) experiences isotropic tensile strain and shows characteristics of the semiconducting ground state. On the other hand, the thin film on SrTiO₃ (011) experiences anisotropic tensile strain, which means that one of the two in-plane lattice axes is fixed by the substrate lattice and the other axis is relaxed. The thin film shows the insulator–metal phase transition at 220 K and characteristics of the charge-ordered insulating ground state below 150 K. By comparing the single crystal data of the lattice along with the resistivity and optical conductivity, we suggest that the substrate strain affects the electronic structure as well as the carrier dynamics of the Nd_0.5Sr_0.5MnO₃ thin films. We propose the possible ground states formed in the thin films.     

Surface induced mixed state of a superconducting film

Presented in this paper is a theoretical analysis of a planar surface induced mixed state for a superconducting film in parallel applied field. An analytical solution of the internal magnetic field is obtained based on Saint-James and de Gennes' order parameter in a film. An expression of Gibbs free energy per unit volume without restriction of a geometry is derived from non-linear Ginzburg-Landau (GL) equation in terms of a renormalized GL parameter and a modified geometric factor. Based on the Gibbs free energy, a phase diagram of distinguishing a first and second order phase transition for a type I superconducting film is calculated. The numerical results for exact solutions of spatial variation of order parameter, current density and internal magnetic field in the film geometry in parallel applied field case are presented. Near the upper critical field, the first entry of an applied field in the film exhibits a laminar structure.     

Intrinsic pinning of vortices as a direct probe of the nonuniform Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell state in layered superconductors

Previously the search for the modulated superconducting Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) state was performed by means of measurements which do not give direct information on spatial modulation of the superconducting state. We propose to measure interlayer conductivity in Josephson-coupled layered superconductors as a function of the strength and the orientation of the parallel magnetic field. We show that interlayer critical current and the conductivity have peaks when the magnetic field is perpendicular to the in-plane wave vector of the LOFF state and when the period of the Josephson vortex lattice induced by the magnetic field is commensurate with the LOFF period.     

Effects of Pauli paramagnetism on superconducting fluctuations

We discuss the effects of the Pauli paramagnetism on the excess conductivity σ^fl due to fluctuations of the superconducting order parameter. We derived a formula for σ^fl for a thin film placed in a magnetic field of an arbitrary orientation α. It was found that σ^fl has a universal behavior as a function of some parameterp which depends on α and ΔH=H-H _c. If ΔH is kept constant and σ^fl is measured as a function of α, in the absence of the Pauli paramagnetism σ^fl is maximum when the field is parallel to the film and is minimum when the field is perpendicular. But in high field superconductors due to the effect of the Pauli paramagnetism σ^fl becomes maximum at some intermediate field orientation. We also discussed the excess conductivity in magnetic alloys in which impurity spins are aligned by an external magnetic field. It was shown that in this case one should expect, with certain strengths of the external field, the excess conductivity which is non-monotonic in temperature.     

Change of the effective fluctuation dimensionality in vanadium thin films in a magnetic field

Lowering of the effective fluctuation dimensionality in the critical region has been found for thin superconducting vanadium films placed in strong perpensicular magnetic fields. The effect shows itself as a change of the critical index characterizing the temperature dependence of the excess film conductivity. By varying the magnetic field, one can observe both two-dimensional and zero-dimensional critical fluctuations on the same specimens.     

Phase transitions in uniaxial ferromagnetic film covered by superconducting layers

The phase diagram and the single-domain uniform state for a uniaxial ferromagnetic film with the superconducting layers covering one or both sides of a ferromagnet are investigated. The superconductor is supposed to be a second-order one and the interaction between the magnetic sub-system and with the conductivity electrons in a superconductor is purely electromagnetic and the vortices in a superconductor are pinned. The critical thickness of the magnetic film for which the uniform state becomes absolutely stable is calculated when the external magnetic field is supposed to be in-plane of the film. It is shown that the critical thickness of the film from the magnetic material with the quality factor Q>1 monotonically decreases as the magnetic field increases in the range from zero value to the value of the transition field where the collinear phase transforms into the angular (canted) phase. Further the critical thickness increases with the increase of the field. The quasi-single-domain magnetic film states were considered when the film thickness was close to the critical one. It is shown that for a thin isolated magnetic film the domain period exponentially increases with the decrease of the film thickness. Such dependence, however for the film with double-side superconducting cover and close to the transition into the single domain state becomes logarithmic and for the film covered by superconductor only on the one side varies as the power series. The single-domain state existence and the asymptotic behaviour of the domain structure is explained by the features of the asymptotic behaviour of the domain walls within the system. As for isolated magnetic film and for a film with the superconductor cover layers the transition from the collinear phase to the inhomogeneous state is the second-order phase transition and the transition from the uniform angular phase to the inhomogeneous phase is the first-order transition.     

Fluctuation conductivity of thin films and nanowires near a parallel-field-tuned superconducting quantum phase transition

We calculate the fluctuation correction to the normal state conductivity in the vicinity of a quantum phase transition from a superconducting to a normal state, induced by applying a magnetic field parallel to a dirty thin film or a nanowire with thickness smaller than the superconducting coherence length. We find that at zero temperature, where the correction comes purely from quantum fluctuations, the positive "Aslamazov-Larkin" contribution, the negative "density of states" contribution, and the "Maki-Thompson" interference contribution are all of the same order and the total correction is negative. Further, we show that, based on how the quantum critical point is approached, there are three regimes that show different temperature and field dependencies which should be experimentally accessible.     

Effective nonlinear susceptibility of a grained superconducting film

The effective nonlinearity of a thin grained superconducting film is calculated theoretically. It is assumed that the film has the form of a continuous superconducting matrix with superconducting grained inclusions of cylindrical structure with a generatrix perpendicular to the film surface. The current and field distributions are determined to calculate the effective nonlinearity; both the matrix and the grains are considered in the framework of the Ginzburg-Landau theory. The spacing between the grains is assumed to be much larger than their diameter so that the Maxwell-Garnet approximation can be used for calculating fields. The analytic formula derived for effective nonlinear susceptibility is analyzed for various values of physical parameters. It is shown that the effective nonlinearity exceeds the nonlinearity of the matrix and grains by a factor of several units when the grain size is much larger than the magnetic field penetration depth in the substance of the matrix and the conductivity of the grains is lower than that of the matrix.     

Ginzburg-Landau simulation for a vortex around a columnar defect in a superconducting film

By means of numerical simulations based on Ginzburg-Landau theory, we study the vortex depinning from a columnar defect in a superconducting film. We evaluate the limiting thickness of the film, below which the depinning does not occur even under an application of the magnetic field perpendicular to the columnar defect. The limiting thickness is a measure of the pinning strength of the columnar defect. The dependence of this limiting thickness on the magnitude of the applied field is obtained for two types of columnar defects.     

Nanoengineered magnetic-field-induced superconductivity

The perpendicular critical fields of a superconducting film have been strongly enhanced by using a nanoengineered lattice of magnetic dots (dipoles) on top of the film. Magnetic-field-induced superconductivity is observed in these hybrid superconductor/ferromagnet systems due to the compensation of the applied field between the dots by the stray field of the dipole array. By switching between different magnetic states of the nanoengineered field compensator, the critical parameters of the superconductor can be effectively controlled.     

Ginzberg-Landau理论对超导薄膜的适用性

本文指出虽然三十年来Ginzberg-Landau理论(以下简称G-理论)被人们广泛地用于描述超导薄膜的临界场,而且它还是描述强耦合超导薄膜临界场的唯一理论,但G-L关于薄膜临界场的理论不仅一直未得到实验证明,而且它既不能用于描述结晶态的弱耦合超导薄膜的临界场,也不适用于描述强耦合超导薄膜的临界场。本文还提出了一个在薄膜极限下定域的新判据:ξ<<λ,ξ<关键词：