Microwave Response of MgB2/A12O3 Superconducting Thin Films by Microstrip Resonator Technique

Double-sided superconducting MgB2 thin films are deposited onto c-A120a substrates by the hybrid physical chemical vapour deposition method. The microwave response of MgB2/A12O3 is investigated by microstrip resonator technique. A grain-size model is introduced to the theory of microstrip resonators to analyse microwave properties of the films. We obtain effective penetration depth of the films at OK （λe0 = 463nm） and surface resistance （R8 = 1.52 mΩ at 11 K and 8. 73 GHz） by analysing the resonant frequency and unload quality factor of the microstrip resonator, which suggests that the impurities and disorders of grain boundaries of MgB2/A12 Oa result in increasing penetration depth and surface resistance of the films.     

Properties of hot pressed MgB2/Ti tapes

Hot axial and hot isostatic pressing was applied for single-core MgB₂/Ti tapes. Differences in transport current density, n-exponents and critical current anisotropy are discussed and related to the grain connectivity influenced by pressing. The magnetic Hall probe scanning measurements allowed observing the isolated regions for axially hot pressed sample attributed to the longitudinally oriented cracks introduced by pressing. The highest current densities were measured for the tape subjected to hot isostatic pressing due to improved connectivity.     

Superconductivity in Mg-Doped Layered Intermetallic Compound NbB2

We have performed low temperature resistivity p（T） and specific heat C（T） measurements on a superconducting polycrystalline Nb0.75Mg0.25B2 sample. The results indicate that the superconducting transition temperature is -4.6 K. The zero temperature upper critical field determined from the resistivity and specific heat is 3123 Oe. The electronic coefficient of specific heat γn=4.51 mJmol^-1K^2 and the Debye temperature θD=419 K are obtained by fitting the zero-field specific heat data in the normal state. At low temperatures, the electronic specific heat in the superconducting state follows Ces/γnTc = 2.84 exp（-1.21Tc/T）. This indicates that the superconducting pairing in Nb0.75Mg0.25B2 has s-wave symmetry.     

Pinning mechanism in carbon nanotube doping of MgB2 superconductor

MgB_1.9C_0.1 samples are synthesized under the ambient pressure (AP) and high pressure (HP), respectively. The further studies demonstrate different field-dependence of the critical current density J_c(H) in each sample. In the view of two-gap superconductivity in these samples, δT_c pinning (resulting from the spatial fluctuations of the transition temperature) is dominant in the AP sample, while in the HP sample, both δT_c and δl pinning (due to the mean-free-path fluctuations) act together and their contributions vary with temperature. Besides the improvement of H_c2(0), due to the different pinning mechanism, J_c(H) of the HP sample shows a slower decay with the increasing fields than that of the AP sample in high fields, which suggests a possible method of retarding the rapid decay of J_c(H) under elevated fields.     

Element Substitution Effect in Transition Metal Oxypnictide Re(O1-xFx)TAs (Re=rare earth, T=transition metal)

Different element substitution effects in transition metal oxypnictide Re(O_1-xF_x)TAs, with Re=La, Ce, Nd, Eu, Gd, Tm, T=Fe, Ni, Ru, are studied. Similarto the La- or Ce-based systems, we find that the pure NdOFeAs shows a strong resistivity anomaly near 145K, which is ascribed to the spin-density-wave instability. Electron doping by F increases T_c to about 50K. While in the case of Gd, Tc is reduced below 10K. The tetragonal ZrCuSiAs-type structure could not be formed for Eu or Tm substitution in our preparing process. For the Ni-based case, although both pure and F-doped LaONiAs are superconducting, no superconductivity is found when La is replaced by Ce in both the cases, instead a ferromagnetic ordering transition is likely to form at low temperature in the undoped sample. We also synthesize LaO_1-xF_xRuAs and CeO_1-xF_xRuAs compounds. The metallic behaviour is observed down to 4K.     

Correlated vortex pinning in Si-nanoparticle doped MgB2

The magnetoresistivity and critical current density of well characterized Si-nanoparticle doped and undoped Cu-sheathed MgB₂ tapes have been measured at temperatures T≥28 K in magnetic fields B≤0.9 T. The irreversibility line B_irr(T) for doped tape shows a stepwise variation with a kink around 0.3 T. Such B_irr(T) variation is typical for high-temperature superconductors with columnar defects (a kink occurs near the matching field B_?) and is very different from a smooth B_irr(T) variation in undoped MgB₂ samples. The microstructure studies of nanoparticle doped MgB₂ samples show uniformly dispersed nanoprecipitates, which probably act as a correlated disorder. The observed difference between the field variations of the critical current density and pinning force density of the doped and undoped tape supports the above findings.     

Enhancement of Critical Current Density in Graphite Doped MgB2 Wires

Graphite doped MgB2-xCx (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10) wires were fabricated via the in situ powder-in-tube method in flowing argon by using low carbon steel tubes as the sheath materials. With the increase of graphite concentration,the amount of unreacted graphite in the core area increases, and the average grain size of MgB2 decreases. It is found that the critical current density Jc can be significantly improved by graphite doping. The MgB2 wire with x = 0.05 exhibits the best Jc value of 16710 A/cm^2 at 6K, 4.5T, but the MgB1.9C0.1 wire has the highest Jc value of 2060 A/cm^2 at 6 K, 8 T. It is suggested that the enhancement of Jc is due to not only the improvement of the microstructure features but also the introduction of pinning centres.     

AuB2 in comparison to superconducting MgB2-an ab initio study

The noble metal diboride AuB₂, a potential candidate for superconductor, is studied by an ab initio method in comparison to the superconducting MgB₂. The results, described in terms of equilibrium lattice constants, bulk modulus, pressure derivative of bulk modulus and their in- and out-of-plane linear values, volume coefficient of T_c, density of states, band structure, show some similarity as well as dissimilarity between the behaviour of the two compounds. The implications for the behaviour are discussed.     

Multiple Nodeless Superconducting Gaps in (Ba0.6K0.4)Fe2As2 Superconductor from Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy

High resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements have been carried out to study the superconducting gap in the (Ba_0.6K_0.4)Fe₂As₂ superconductor with T_c=35 K. Two hole-like Fermi surface sheets around the Γ point exhibit different superconducting gaps. The inner Fermi surface sheet shows larger (10~12 meV) and slightly momentum-dependent gap while the outer one has smaller (7~8meV) and nearly isotropic gap. The lack of gap node in both Fermi surface sheets favours s-wave superconducting gap symmetry. Superconducting gap opening is also observed at the M(π,π) point. The two Fermi surface spots near the M point are gapped below T_c but the gap persists above T_c. The rich and detailed superconducting gap information will provide key insights and constraints in understanding pairing mechanism in the iron-based superconductors.     

First-principles investigation of pressure-induced changes in structural and electronic properties of Y 2C3 superconductor

The structural and electronic properties of Y ₂C₃ superconductor under different external pressures were calculated by employing the first-principles method. This shows that the lattice constants as well as the lengths of C-C dimers decrease with the pressure. Results of band structure calculations indicate that the Fermi level advances to the bonding zone with an increase in pressure; meantime, the valence and conduction bands intersect more deeply with the Fermi level. Moreover, the Fermi level is found to shift from the valley bottom of the density of states (DOS) curve to the shoulder, which means an increase in N(E_F), and therefore the critical temperature, T_c. The calculations verify that the critical temperature is directly related to the electronic structure.     

Lattice Dynamics and Superconductivity of RuB2: A First-Principles Study

We report the first-principles linear response calculations on lattice dynamics and electron-phonon coupling （EPC） of superhard material RuB2. Phonon frequencies and eigenvectors are obtained throughout the whole Brillouin zone. The calculated EPC paracneters for the optical phonon modes at F indicate that the d electrons of transition metal play the most important role in deciding the superconducting behaviour, and there are sizeable contributions from B p electrons to EPC. Our calculated EPC constant is 0.41, and the estimated superconducting transition temperature Tc is 1.6K using the Coulomb pseudopotential u^＊ = 0.12, in excellent agreement with the experimental ones.     

Enhancement of the upper critical field of MgB2 by carbon-doping

We have measured the temperature dependence of the upper critical field, H_c2(T), of carbon-doped MgB₂. H_c2(T) does not follow the well-known Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) result for a one-gap dirty superconductor but can be described well by the result of a recent theoretical calculation for a two-gap dirty superconductor. H_c2(0) of the carbon-doped material is determined to be between 29 and 38 T, substantially higher than that of pure MgB₂ (15-23 T).     

Effect of C and SiC additions into in situ or mechanically alloyed MgB2 deformed in Ti sheath

Effect of 3.4 wt.% C and 5 wt.% SiC doping into the standard in situ (IN) process and mechanically alloyed (MA) MgB₂ was studied. Powders of IN and MA process were carried out in air and in argon filled glove box, respectively. Wire samples were prepared by two-axial rolling deformation of IN and MA powders inside the Ti tube. Titanium as sheath material allows to use higher sintering temperatures, we used 700 °C and 800 °C for 30 min in Argon. Critical current densities (J_c) were measured at variable temperatures 4.2 K, 10 K, 15 K and 20 K in the external magnetic fields ranging to 15 T. Critical temperatures, upper critical fields and irreversibility fields of IN and MA with SiC and C additions are compared and discussed. The highest transport properties were observed for wires with MA SiC doped MgB₂ in the whole scale of temperatures 4.2–20 K. Upper critical field was rapidly enhanced in the case of carbon doped MA samples at 4.2 K. MA samples have shown decreased J_c values for higher temperatures (15 K, 20 K), in some case even worse than for the not doped reference IN sample. Carbon substitution and grain connectivity of analyzed samples are compared and discussed. Presented results show that for 20 K applications some new ways (additions) have to be found for increasing the J_c substantially.     

Correlation between Light Emissions from Amorphous-Si：H/SiO2 and nc-Si/SiO2 Multilayers

We investigate the properties of light emission from amorphous-Si：H/SiO2 and nc-Si/SiO2 multilayers （MLs）. The size dependence of light emission is well exhibited when the a-Si：H sublayer thickness is thinner than 4 nm and the interface states are well passlvated by hydrogen. For the nc-Si/Si02 MLs, the oxygen modified interface states and nanocrystalline silicon play a predominant role in the properties of light emission. It is found that the light emission from nc-Si/SiO2 is in agreement with the model of interface state combining with quantum confinement when the size of nc-Si is smaller than 4 nm. The role of hydrogen and oxygen is discussed in detail.     

Angular dependence of vortex matter phase transition in MgB2 single crystal

The vortex matter phase transitions and intrinsic pinning effect were investigated in an MgB₂ single crystal using the torque magnetometry. For the field directions apart from the ab plane, we succeed in the observation of the vortex lattice melting transitions, which are transformed from the order-disorder transitions at low temperatures. Both transition fields with field directions can be describe by the GL effective mass model. For the field direction along the ab plane, these transitions become unobservable. Instead, the sudden increase in the hysteresis of magnetization curve occurs, indicating the existence of the intrinsic pinning coming from the layer structure.     

Physical and Chemical Properties of TiOxNy Prepared by Low-Temperature Oxidation of Ultrathin Metal Nitride Directly Deposited on SiO2

Physical and chemical properties of titanium oxynitride （TiOxNy ） formed by low-temperature oxidation of titanium nitride （TIN） layer are investigated for advanced metal-oxide-semiconductor （MOS） gate dielectric application. TiOxNy exhibits polycrystalline properties after the standard thermal process for MOS device fabrication, showing the preferred orientation at [200]. Superior electrical properties of TiOxNy can be maintained before and after the annealing, probably due to the nitrogen incorporation in the oxide bulk and at the interface. Naturally formed transition layer between TiOxNy and SiO2 is also confirmed.     

Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of La-Doped SrTiO3 and Sr2TiO4 by Density Function Theory

The effect of La doping on the electronic structure and optical properties of SrTiO₃ and Sr₂TiO₄ is investigated by the first-principles calculation of plane wave ultrasoft pseudopotential based on the density function theory (DFT). The calculated results reveal that the electron doping in the case of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ can be described within the rigid band model. The La³⁺ ions fully acts as electron donors in Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃ and Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ systems and the Fermi level shifts further into the conduction bands (CBs) for Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ compared to Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃. The two systems exhibit n-type degenerate semiconductor features. At the same time, the density of states (DOS) of the two systems shift towards low energies and the optical band gaps are broadened. The Sr_1.875La_0.125TiO₄ is highly transparent with the transmittance about 90% in the visible range, which is larger than that of Sr_0.875La_0.125TiO₃(85%). The wide band gap, small transition probability and weak absorption due to the low partial density of states (PDOS) of impurity in the Fermi level result in the optical transparency of the films...     

Upper Critical Fields and Anisotropy of BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2 Single Crystals

Temperature dependence of the upper critical magnetic field （Hc2） near Tc of 20 K in a BaFe1.9 Ni0.1 As2 single crystal is determined via magneto-resistance measurements, for the out-plane （H ⊥ab） and in-plane （H ｜｜ ab） directions in magnetic fields of up to 8 T. The upper critical fields at zero temperature estimated by the Werthamer-Helfand- Hohenberg （WHH） formula are μ0H^｜｜ c2（0） = 137 T and μ0H⊥c2（0） = 51 T, both exceeding the weak-coupling Pauli paramagnetic limit （μ0Hp = 1.84Tc）. However, the WHH formula could overestimate the μ0H^｜｜12（0） value. The anisotropy of upper critical fields is around 3 in the temperature range close to Tc. The result is very similar to the Co-doped 122 superconductor BaFe2-x Cox As2, indicating that electron-doped 122 superconductors exhibit similar superconducting properties.     

Transport Behaviour of La0.8Sr0.2AlO3 Thin Film on Oxygen Deficient SrTiO3 Substrate

La_0.8Sr_0.2AlO₃ (LSAO) thin films are grown on SrTiO₃ (STO) and MgO substrates by laser molecular beam epitaxy. The LSAO thin film on oxygen deficient STO substrate exhibits metallic behaviour over the temperature range of 80--340K. The optical transmittance spectrum indicates that theLSAO thin films on MgO substrate are insulating at room temperature. The transport properties of LSAO thin films on STO substrates deposited in different oxygen pressure are compared. Our results indicate that oxygen vacancies in STO substrates should be mainly responsible for the transport behaviour of LSAO thin films.     

Effect of heating rates on microstructure and superconducting properties of pure MgB2

The influence of different heating rates, ranging from 5 to 30 K min⁻¹, on the microstructure and superconducting of the MgB₂ bulk was investigated. No obvious variation in the grain size was found for the samples heated from 5 K min⁻¹ to 20 K min⁻¹ except for the changes in morphologies. Moreover, the grain refinement was obtained under the heating rate of 30 K min⁻¹. The critical current density (J_c) suggested that the 5 K min⁻¹ sample had the best performance in high field. Here, the differential thermal analysis (DTA) was employed to analyze the kinetics of MgB₂ phase formation with the different heating rates. The results showed that the large amount of MgB₂ formed at low temperature, which lead to compact structures under the slow heating rate. The fast heating rate would promote the evaporation of Mg at high temperature, which was considered to generate the vacancy and impurities in the sample.