Vortex lattice ordering in the flux flow state of Nb thin films

We measure current–voltage characteristics at high driving currents for different magnetic fields and temperatures in Nb thin films of rather strong pinning. In a definite range of the B–T phase diagram we find that a current induced transition occurs in the flux flow motion of the vortex lattice, namely a dynamic ordering (DO). Contrary to the case of weaker pinning materials, DO is observed only at low fields, due to the stronger intrinsic disorder that can deform plastically the moving vortex lattice even for small applied fields.     

Magnetic hysteresis in the microwave surface resistance of Nb samples in the critical state

We discuss the hysteretic behavior of the field-induced variations of the microwave surface resistance in superconductors in the critical state. Measurements have been performed in a bulk sample of Nb and a powdered one at different values of the temperature. We discuss a model, based on the Coffey and Clem theory, in which we take into account the flux distribution inside the sample, due to the critical state. The experimental results are quite well justified in the framework of our model. We show that by fitting the experimental data it is possible to determine the value of the critical current density and its field dependence.     

Unconventional dynamics of vortex shells in mesoscopic superconducting corbino disks

The dynamics of vortex matter in mesoscopic superconducting Corbino disk is strongly influenced by the discrete vortex structure arranged in shells. While in previous works the vortex dynamics has been studied in large (macroscopic) and in very small mesoscopic disks (containing only few shells), in the intermediate-size regime it is much more complex and unusual, due to: (i) the competition between the vortex–vortex interaction and confinement and (ii) (in)commensurability among the vortex shells. We found that the interplay between these effects can result in a very unusual vortex dynamical behavior: (i) unconventional angular melting (i.e., propagating from the boundary, where the shear stress is minimum, towards the center) and (ii) unconventional dynamics of shells (i.e., the inversion of shell velocities with respect to the gradient driving force). This unusual behavior is found for different number of shells.     

Transport properties of nanoperforated Nb thin films

Porous silicon, obtained by electrochemical etching, has been used as a substrate for the growth of nanoperforated Nb thin films. The films, deposited by UHV magnetron sputtering, inherited from the Si substrates their structure, made of holes of 10 nm diameter and of 20 and 40 nm spacing, which provide an artificial pinning lattice. Commensurability effects between the Abrikosov vortex lattice and the artificial array of holes were investigated by transport measurements.     

MAX相Nb2SnC和Nb2SnN的力学和热力学性质的第一性原理计算

利用基于密度泛函理论的第一性原理,在广义梯度近似下研究了MAX相Nb₂SnC和Nb₂SnN的力学、晶格动力学、电子以及热力学性质.通过弹性常数和声子的计算,研究了Nb₂SnC和Nb₂SnN两种结构的力学稳定性和动力学稳定性;通过对Nb₂SnC和Nb₂SnN的力学性质计算,证明了它们均具有较高的体积模量和剪切性,并且说明了Nb₂SnC和Nb₂SnN是具有弹性各向异性的韧性材料.此外,通过计算电子能带结构和态密度,研究了Nb₂SnC和Nb₂SnN的电子性质和成键性质,结果表明,两个化合物均具有金属导电性和较强的共价键,而且Nb₂SnN比Nb₂SnC具有更强的金属导电性.最后利用声子色散曲线预测了热容、自由能、焓和熵等热力学性质,结果标明,计算出的熵、焓和自由能值变化符合热力学第三定律.     

Structural and superconducting properties of ion beam sputtered Nb thin films and Nb/Cu bilayers

We present the results of a study of structural and superconducting properties of polycrystalline Nb thin films (200 Å, 300 Å, 400 Å, 700 Å and 1000 Å) and Nb/Cu bilayers (300 Å/300 Å and 400 Å/300 Å) prepared on Si substrates by ion beam sputtering at room temperature. The thicknesses, roughnesses at the surfaces and interfaces were determined by X-ray reflectivity whereas the grain sizes were determined from grazing incidence X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopic studies. The superconducting transition temperature (T_C) of Nb thin films are smaller than T_C of bulk Nb. The Nb-200 Å sample does not show T_C down to 2.3 K. The average size of the grains varies from 42 Å for Nb-200 Å sample to 69 Å for Nb-1000 Å sample. Our results show that the T_C in these polycrystalline films is not only limited by its thickness but also by the size of the grains. The Nb films deposited in situ on the Cu layer (Nb/Cu) show a marginal increase in average sizes of the grains as compare to their respective values in Nb films of same thicknesses. As a result a marginal increase in T_C of these films is also observed. The maximum decrease in T_C due to oxygen intake during deposition should be about 0.5 K from its bulk value (9.28 K). We have attributed the large decrease in T_C in our case on the basis of decrease in the Debye temperature and density of states at the Fermi level for Nb thin films as compared to their respective values for bulk Nb.     

Commensurability effects in magnetic properties of superconducting Nb thin films with periodic submicrometric pores

Pinning properties in 100 nm thick continuous and porous superconducting Nb films are examined by ac susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements. The Nb film was deposited on a smooth Si substrate, while the porous film, Nb_P, was deposited on an anodized Al oxide substrate. Pores or “antidots” 40 nm in diameter, 100 nm apart, form a triangular array. The porous film presents commensurate or matching field effects for applied magnetic fields where the magnetic flux threading each unit cell is an integer number of the flux quantum, where ac shielding capability and dc diamagnetic magnetization show an abrupt increase. The response to ac fields as a function of temperature and dc field provided a way to determine that Nb_P sample has higher pinning than the continuous one, and that T_C suppression due to fluxoid quantization is not relevant for the investigated temperature range.     

Fabrication and properties of the meander nanowires based on ultra-thin Nb films

We report the fabrication and the study of superconducting properties of ultra-thin Nb superconducting meander nanowires, which can be used as superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors （SNSPDs）. The ultra-thin （about 7- nm thick） Nb films are patterned into micro-bridges, and 100-nm wide meander nanowires by using e-beam lithography （EBL）. The average transition temperature （Tc） of the nanowires is about 4.8 K and the critical current density jc is about 2.8 × 10^6 A/cm2. Superconducting characteristics of the specimens at different applied magnetic fields up to 8 T （parallel or perpendicular to the specimen） are systematically investigated. The normalized temperature t （= T/Tc） dependences of the parallel critical field （HcⅡ） for both the micro-bridge and the meander nanowire are almost the same, following the Ginzburg and Landau （GL） formalism for ultra-thin films. However, in perpendicular field and in the vicinity of Tc （〉 0.95Tc）, the critical field Hc⊥ of the nanowire exhibits a down-turn curvature nonlinear temperature dependence while the micro-bridge displays a linear temperature dependence. The nonlinear behavior of Hc⊥ in the nanowire is believed to be due to the fact that in the vicinity of Tc the coherence length becomes larger than the line width. Additionally, the localization of carriers in the nanowire could also contribute to the nonlinear behavior. The resistive transitions could be described by the phase-slip model for quasi-one-dimensional system. Moreover, the hysteresis in I-V curve of the meander nanowires can be illustrated by a simple model of localized normal hotspot maintained by Joule heating.     

Transport properties in HTSC materials in the mixed state

Il Nuovo Cimento D - We discuss the resistivity, the Hall, the Seebeck and the Nerst effect in the mixed state taking the motion of Abrikosov and Josephson vortices into account. Measurements on a...     

ICP-AES法测定钢中微量铌

本文应用ＩＣＰ－ＡＥＳ法测定钢中微量铌,用稀硝酸和稀硫酸分解样品,以酒石酸溶解盐类。回收率在９３．３－１００．０％,相对标准偏差１．１０％。本方法简单,快速,可获得满意的分析结果。     

Pinning effects on the vortex critical velocity in type-II superconducting thin films

We study the influence of artificial pinning centers on the vortex critical velocity in Al thin films deposited on top of a periodic array of Permalloy (FeNi) square rings. We demonstrate that the field dependence of the flux flow velocity strongly depends on the particular magnetic state of the rings. In particular, we find that, even when the rings are in a flux closure state, i.e. with little stray field, the vortex critical velocity shows a non-monotonic magnetic field dependence. This behaviour is in sharp contrast with the results obtained in a reference plain film, with no rings underneath. A comparison with the intrinsic strong pinning Nb films previously studied, suggests an interpretation in terms of a channel-like motion of vortices, here induced by the artificial pinning structure.     

Formation of a symmetric vortex configuration in a pure electron plasma trapped with a penning trap

In the formation of vortical crystal structures of electrons, the distribution of background electrons works as a “cooler” of randomly moving, intense vortices. We examine the supporting effect of background electrons to forming crystal structures from the perspective of a reduction of the vortices’ random motion.     

Probing the discrete motion of vortices with rf excitations

In this work we present experimental results on the rectification of vortices in a superconductor/ferromagnet system under a high frequency drive. The two-dimensional pinning landscape, induced by the stray fields of the ferromagnetic template, has no intrinsic asymmetry. Nevertheless, an asymmetric potential is artificially induced by an applied dc bias. The experimental results unambiguously show a biased, discrete motion of the vortices in the periodic potential at frequencies above 10 MHz. This synchronized motion is very sensitive to the external applied field. Increasing temperature leads to a reduction of the pinning potential, which in turn results in a lower ac power needed to drive the vortex lattice.     

First principles study on geometric and electronic properties of two-dimensional Nb2CTx MXenes

MXenes are a new type of two-dimensional carbides with rich physical and chemical properties. The physics of MXenes, and thus the applications, are dominated by surface functional groups. Herein, the effects of different terminations (O, S, Se, Te) on the geometric and electronic properties of Nb₂C MXenes were studied via density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Three adsorption sites were examined to determine the most stable configurations. The results showed that both the types and the positions of surface functional groups influence the geometric stability and physical characters of Nb₂C. The S and Se terminations make the Nb₂C MXenes to be semiconductor, while Nb₂C MXenes with other terminations (O, Te) are conductor. The electron location function, density of states, Bader charge distribution, and the projected crystal orbital Hamilton population were conducted to explain the origin of adsorption stability and electronic nature difference. Our results provide a fundamental understanding about the effects of surface terminations on the intrinsic stability and electronic properties of Nb₂C MXenes.     

Topological evolution near the turbulent/non-turbulent interface in turbulent mixing layer

The topological evolution near the turbulent/non-turbulent interface (TNTI) in turbulent mixing layer is studied by means of statistical analysis of the invariants of velocity gradient tensor (VGT) based on direct numerical simulation data. The dynamics of topological evolution is investigated in terms of the source terms of the evolution equations for the invariants, including the pressure effect term, viscous effect term and interaction term among the invariants. It is found that the local topology of fluid particles at the TNTI evolves from non-focal region to focal region in the plane of the second (Q) and the third (R) invariants of the VGT. The topological evolution is mainly associated with the pressure effect term in the TNTI region. According to the analysis of the evolution of enstrophy and dissipation, the enstrophy increase and the dissipation decrease are revealed in the TNTI region, which are caused by viscous vorticity diffusion near the TNTI. A weak correlation between the strain rate and the rotation rate is found in the TNTI region which is related to the reduction of enstrophy production. The alignments between vorticity and strain near the TNTI are investigated and a strong alignment of the vorticity with the extensive eigenvector direction is identified in the TNTI region.     

Nb/SnO2复合薄膜的制备、结构及光电性能

用溶胶-凝胶旋涂法在玻璃基底上制备出Nb/SnO₂复合透明导电薄膜,利用XRD,SEM,紫外—可见分光光度计,四探针电阻仪等测试方法对Nb/SnO₂复合薄膜的结构和物性进行了研究.结果表明: 当Nb含量小于0.99at%时,Nb/SnO₂复合薄膜为较纯的四方金红石结构;复合薄膜中晶粒分布均匀,平均尺寸在5—7 nm.当Nb含量小于0.99at%时,Nb/SnO₂复合薄膜的电阻率先减小后增大,当Nb含量为0.37at%时 关键词： 溶胶-凝胶法 2复合薄膜')" href="#">Nb/SnO₂复合薄膜 结构表征 光电性能