Influence of the carbon substitution on the critical current density and AC losses in MgB<Subscript>2</Subscript> single crystals

The DC magnetization and AC complex magnetic susceptibilities were measured for MgB₂ single crystals, unsubstituted and carbon substituted with the composition of Mg(B_0.94C_0.05)₂. The measurements were performed in AC and DC magnetic fields oriented parallel to the c-axis of the crystals. From the DC magnetization loops and the AC susceptibility measurements, critical current densities (J _c were derived as a function of temperature and the DC and AC magnetic fields. Results show that the substitution with carbon decreases J _c ) at low magnetic fields, opposite to the well known effect of an increase of J _c at higher fields. AC magnetic losses were derived from the AC susceptibility data as a function of amplitude and the DC bias magnetic field. The AC losses were determined for temperatures of 0.6 and 0.7 of the transition temperature T _c , so close to the boiling points of LH₂ and LNe, potential cooling media for magnesium diboride based composites. The results are analyzed and discussed in the context of the critical state model.     

Field and temperature dependence of intergranular hysteresis in YBa2Cu3O7

We have studied the variation of low field magnetization hysteresis in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ as a function of the maximum magnetic field applied during a hysteresis cycle (1 G<H _max<7.3 G) and also as a function of temperature (77 K<T<95 K). The remnant magnetization is studied as a function ofH _max andT and the measured dependences are explained using the extended critical state model. The potential of this technique as a contactless method of probing the temperature dependence ofJ _c is discussed.     

Magnetic field dependence of critical current density in YBa2Cu3O7

We have measured the transport critical current densityJ _cof sintered YBa₂Cu₃O₇, in various applied fields up to 185 Oe at 77 K. We find a sharp decay ofJ _cwith magnetic field. We show that this sharp decay is consistent with the low field hysteresis results of Groveret al. We argue that the observed field dependence is not caused by intragranular weak links.     

Hysteretic magnetic moment of YBa2Cu3O7?δ: An angular study

The hysteretic magnetization of an YBa₂Cu₃O_7−δ crystal containing a high density of Y₂BaCuO_x precipitates was investigated by two-axis, quasistatic, de magnetometry. As the eff-axis applied magnetic fieldH was increased and the magnetization magnitude, decreased, its orientation approached a direction near the crystallinec axis. The bulk persistent currentsJ _p predominately flowed parallel to the Cu−O planes for a wide range of temperature and applied field. Even forH almost perpendicular toc, where the deduced irreversibility line maximized as commonly observed, the resulting magnetization was observed to be within 15° of [001]. Managed by Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corp, under contract AC05-96OR22464 with the U. S. Dept. of Energy.     

Electrical,structural, magnetic and transport properties of Zn2BaFe16O27 doped with Cu

Series of polycrystalline samples of Zn_2−xCu_xBaFe₁₆O₂₇ were prepared by usual ceramic methods, where x=0.0, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.4. X-ray analysis done at room temperature using CoK_α with λ=1.790 Å confirms the presence of W-type hexaferrite phase structure. Saturation magnetization and hysteresis loops curves measurements at room temperature were studied as a function of Cu²⁺ substitution. It can be seen that the Cu²⁺ content slightly decreases the saturation magnetization from 25 to 20 emu g⁻¹; all hysteresis loops are closed, which indicates low anisotropy field and low saturation magnetization field. The dc conductivity and thermoelectric power were measured in a range from room temperature up to T=750 K for all samples. The thermoelectric power decreases on increasing Cu²⁺ content, and the conductivity increases with temperature. The value of the charge-carrier concentration increases by increasing the temperature and Cu²⁺ content.     

Effects of low-level La doping and ageing on TlPb-1223 high Tc superconductors

Bulk samples of the nominal composition of (Tl_0.6Pb_0.5)(Sr_0.8Ba_0.2)₂Ca₂Cu₃O_8+δ−xLaO_1.5 (x = 0–0.1) were prepared by using two-step process and their microstructure, T _c values, and magnetization were studied. The samples consist of the Tl-1223 dominant phase with small Tl-1212 admixture, which increases with a rise of La content. Five years ageing and following oxygen annealing at 450°C and subsequently at 750°C have only a modest effect on T _c values of the studied samples. Low-level La doping (x = 0:04) leads to an increase of T _c values by about 2 K in comparison with undoped samples. Oxygen annealing at 750°C results in an increase in the volume magnetization hysteresis in low applied magnetic fields and rise of critical current density at zero magnetic field and 77 K. This effect is most pronounced for the low La doped sample with x = 0.04. Changes of the induced voltage, U originating in the Meissner effect and of its harmonics in dependence on temperature were measured and used for characterization of the temperature distribution of inter-grain junctions.     

Electromagnetic properties of bulk Bi-Pb-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductor at low magnetic fields

Magnetization and critical current density measurements have been performed on a Bi_1.7Pb_0.3Sr₂Ca₂Cu₅O _y bulk material as the functions of magnetic field and temperature. The diamagnetic shielding effect has been discussed from the initial magnetization curve. The lower critical field of bulk granular superconductor (H _g) and the lower critical field of superconducting grains (H _c1) are estimated from magnetization curves. They are both linearly decreasing functions of temperature: (dH _g/dT) and (dH _c1/dT) are –0.4 and –1.8 G/K respectively. The transport critical current density drops drastically by a factor of 4 at a magnetic field of about 20G. The magnetization J _c of superconducting grains derived from the remanent magnetization is about 10⁶ A/cm² at 77 K, zero field, much greater than the transport J _c. The experimental results reveal that the transport J _c is dominated by weaklink current between grains. The magnetization J _c versus temperature has been obtained from the remanent flux at zero magnetic field and is a linearly decreasing function of temperature within experimental error.     

Enhancement of pinning and the peak effect in Y1–xFexBa2Cu3Oy high-temperature superconductors

Complex structural and magnetic studies of polycrystalline samples of the Y_{1 – x}Fe_xBa₂Cu₃O_y high-T_c superconductor (x = 0, 0.02, 0.05) have been carried out in order to determine the effect of weak doping with a magnetic 3d ion on structural changes and the critical current density J_c. An increase in the Fe content results in a significant change in J_c and its field dependence. The dependences J_c(H) become nonmonotonic and demonstrate a pronounced peak (peak effect); as a result, the J_c increases strongly in wide temperature and magnetic field regions. The analysis of the field dependences of the pinning force reveals a scaling behavior. The parameters of the scaling function correspond to the point magnetic defects under strong effects of a thermally activated flux flow. Thus, the weak Fe doping (several molar percent) is a promising way to significant improvement of transport properties of high-T_c superconducting materials based on 123-type compounds.     

Magnetic properties of metastable Gd-Cr alloys

We report on the magnetization, magnetocaloric effect, magnetic ordering temperatures, saturation magnetic moments and anisotropy of sputter-deposited Gd_xCr_1−x alloys with Gd atomic concentrations, x, ranging from 0.13 to 0.52. The complex magnetic nature of the Gd-Cr films was revealed from the M×H isotherms, which do not show saturation even at an applied field of 70 kOe and a temperature of 2 K and do not exhibit a linear behavior at higher temperatures. For some of the samples, the isotherms were used to determine the isothermal entropy variation as a function of temperature, for a change of 50 kOe in the applied magnetic field. The saturation magnetic moment varies with x and follows the dilution law, implying that the Cr atoms do not contribute to the total moment of the Gd-Cr alloys. Both static magnetization and dynamic susceptibility measurements reveal the existence of a magnetic glassy behavior in the alloys, which occurs below a freezing temperature. The existence of anisotropy at low temperatures for all samples was revealed by their M×H hysteresis loops from which the in-plane coercive fields, H_c, were determined. A monotonical increase in H_c with increasing Gd concentration was observed.     

Anisotropy of quasistatic magnetization-reversal processes in (210)-oriented iron-garnet films

An experimental study is made of the effect of an in-plane field H _p of various orientations on the domain structure and shape of the hysteresis loops of epitaxial iron garnet films with the (210) orientation. The characteristic of the magnetization reversal process (in fields somewhat lower than the anisotropy field) is taken to be the critical fields H _p1, H _p2, and H _p3, for which the magnetization reversal processes is interrupted at distinct stages. A method is proposed for constructing the phase diagram of the magnetic states of films, using measurements of the critical fields H _p for different amplitudes of the magnetization reversal field H _z . Two directions in the plane of the film are determined with an accuracy of a fraction of a degree from the hysteresis loops, where in the corresponding field Hp the transition from a single-domain state to a multidomain state occurs as a second-order phase transition. The characteristic changes in the shape of the hysteresis loop are consistent with the features in the reorganization of the domain structure of the (210) film. The preferential orientations of the stripe domain structure of the samples are determined relative to the crystal axes as determined by x-ray methods. Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 67, 32–35 (June 1997) Deceased     

Effect of Cu-Cr co-substitution on magnetic properties of nanocrystalline magnesium ferrite

This study deals with the temperature and composition dependence of magnetization and magnetic anisotropy of Cu²⁺-Cr³⁺ co-substituted magnesium ferrite, Mg_1−xCu_xCr_xFe_2−xO₄ (x=0.0-0.5). The synthesized materials are characterized using thermo gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence, Mössbauer spectrometer, superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer and vibrating sample magnetometer. The M-H loops measured up to 50 kOe at 300, 200 and 100 K, revealed narrow hysteresis curves with a coercive field and saturation magnetization varying for different compositions. The high field regimes of these loops are modeled using the Law of Approach to saturation to extract anisotropy information and saturation magnetization. Both the saturation magnetization and the anisotropy constant are observed to increase with the decrease in temperature while decrease with the Cu-Cr co-substituents for all the samples. Explanation of the observed behavior is proposed in terms of the preference of the co-substituent ions of Cu²⁺ and Cr³⁺ and their predominant choice to substitute into the octahedral sites of the cubic spinel lattice.     

Effect of process parameters on the properties of plasma-sprayed superconducting Y1Ba2Cu3O7−x coatings

A study on the effect of powder, spray and coating parameters on superconducting properties of plasma-sprayed Y₁Ba₂Cu₃O_7–x coatings has been carried out. Optimised spray parameters to yield strong, adherent and dense coatings on many substrates including AISI 304 SS and alumina have been obtained. Coatings show superconductivity after oxygen annealing at 950°C for an hour. Coatings thinner than 100 m do not show zero resistivity down to 77 K due to weak links between granular superconductors. Coatings prepared with fine powder have superior superconducting properties, viz. higherT _c andJ _c values than coarse powder coatings. The choice of substrate material strongly affects theJ _c values.     

Effect of illumination on magnetization and microwave absorption of La1−xCaxMnO3 (x<0.2) films

Light-induced changes of the hysteresis loops of magnetization and microwave absorption are investigated in low-doped La_1−xCa_xMnO₃ (x<0.2) thin films. The width of the hysteresis loops decreases clearly under illumination with visible or near-infrared light at temperatures below 50 K. The microwave conductivity has a minimum value at magnetic fields corresponding to the magnetization reversal and is shifted towards weaker fields under illumination. These effects show complex nonexponential time evolution and dependence on strength of the magnetic field. The results can be explained by assuming that small ferromagnetic metallic regions exist within the insulating ferromagnetic phase of the sample, and that these regions are expanded by optically induced charge transfer between Jahn–Teller split e_g states of neighboring Mn³⁺ ions. Decrease of the Mn³⁺ XPS core level spectrum is observed in the samples under illumination with a HeNe laser.     

Lower critical field and intragrain critical current density in the ruthenate-cuprate RuSr2Gd1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10

The lower critical field of the grains, H_c1, and the intragrain critical current density, J_c, were determined for the superconducting ruthenate-cuprate RuSr₂Gd_1.5Ce_0.5Cu₂O_10-δ [Ru-1222(Gd)] through a systematic study of the hysteresis in magnetoresistance loops. A reliable method, based on the effects of the magnetization of the grains on the net local field at the intergranular junctions is provided, circumventing the problem of the strong masking of the superconducting diamagnetic signal by the ferromagnetic background. The temperature dependency of H_c1 and J_c both exhibit a smooth increase on cooling without saturation down to . The obtained H_c1 values vary between 150 and 1500 Oe in the 0.2 ≤ T/T_SC ≤0.4 interval, for samples annealed in an oxygen flow; oxygenation under high pressure (50 atm) leads to a further increase. These values are much larger than the previously reported rough assessments (25–50 Oe), using conventional magnetization measurements. High J_c values of ~10⁷ A/cm², comparable to the high-T_c cuprates, were obtained. The H_c1(T) and J_c(T) dependencies are explained in the context of a magnetic phase separation scenario.     

Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8单晶中的反常尖锋效应

使用牛津震动样品磁强计(VSM)研究了Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈单晶的磁滞回线.在20到40K温度之间发现了反常的尖锋效应,随样品O含量的增加,发生尖锋效应的外场也相应提高.可以认为在尖峰效应处发生了由涡漩物质的有序固态到无序固态的相变,在有少量点缺陷存在的BSCCO单晶相图上,B_sp线终止于20K温度处,在20K以下温区没有发生准格子到涡漩玻璃的相变,涡漩固相始终以准格子形式存在;可以认为尖峰效 关键词： 2Sr₂CaCu₂O₈单晶')" href="#">Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O₈单晶 磁滞回线 尖锋效应 相变     

A study of the plasticity in the vortex matter across the second magnetization peak in a YBCO crystal via measurements of minor hysteresis loops

Results of an investigation of the path dependence of the critical current density J _c due to the plastic deformation of the flux line lattice in a weakly pinned YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) crystal for H‖c are reported. The procedure of minor hysteresis loops has been used to explore the path dependence of J _c and the metastability effects. Contrary to the behavior observed in low T _c systems. in YBCO it is found that at low temperatures, the multivaluedness in J _c(H) could persist beyond the notional peak field H _p, at which the anomalous variation in J _c(H) reaches its maximum value.     

Vortex pinning properties of –Ba–Cu–O and –Ba–Cu–O superconducting bulks

We have studied the effect of a small amount of Y-site substitution by La or Pr ions on the vortex pinning in the Y–Ba–Cu–O system. (Y_1-xLa_x)–Ba–Cu–O and (Y_1-xPr_x)–Ba–Cu–O bulks were fabricated by the melt-textured growth, in which x was varied from 0 to 0.01. The critical current density J_c at 77 K is improved in magnetic fields parallel to the c-axis above 2–4.5 T and the corresponding irreversibility field, H_irr, shifts to the higher value in both bulks.     

EPR search for vortex excitations in Bi2Sr2Ca1 ? xYxCu2O8 + y crystals above the critical temperature

Excitations of the vortex type in the regions of temperatures both below and above critical temperature T _c are found by studying the local magnetic fields on the surface of Bi₂Sr₂Ca_{1 − x} Y _x Cu₂O_{8 + y} single crystals by means of EPR. The narrow EPR signal of the surface paramagnetic probe allows us to observe weak distortions of the magnetic field that arise when T > T _c. The behavior of the signal broadening agrees with the hypothesis about the existence of vortices in this temperature region.     

Robust superconductivity and transport properties in (Li1-xFex)OHFeSe single crystals

The recently discovered (Li_1-xFe_x)OHFeSe superconductor with T_c about 40 K provides a good platform for investigating the magnetization and electrical transport properties of FeSe-based superconductors. By using a hydrothermal ion-exchange method, we have successfully grown crystals of (Li_1-xFe_x)OHFeSe. X-ray diffraction on the sample shows the single crystalline PbO-type structure with the c-axis preferential orientation. Magnetic susceptibility and resistive measurements show an onset superconducting transition at around T_c=38.3 K. Using the magnetization hysteresis loops and Bean critical state model, a large critical current J_s is observed in low temperature region. The critical current density is suppressed exponentially with increasing magnetic field. Temperature dependencies of resistivity under various currents and fields are measured, revealing a robust superconducting current density and bulk superconductivity.     

Magnetization reversal in Co x (PZT)100 − x ferromagnet-ferroelectric nanogranulated composites

The process of magnetization reversal in Co _x (PZT)_{100 − x} composites is studied experimentally. At room temperature, the ferromagnetic state in as-prepared samples is found to arise only if the composite contains more than 60 at % of the metal phase. The concentration dependences of the coercive force and remanent magnetization derived from magnetic hysteresis loops are discussed in terms of the random anisotropy model.