Superconductivity in the Th-doped Y NiC2 compounds

We have observed superconductivity in the two-phase samples with nominal compositions (Y _1−xTh_x)NiC₂ (x=0.1,0.2,0.3,0.4,0.5). As determined by magnetic, electrical and heat capacity measurements, the superconductivity phase transition temperature T_c increases with Th concentration to . Powder X-ray diffraction data provide the evidence for bulk superconductivity in an orthorhombic CeNiC₂-type majority fraction of the sample volume while the minor impurity phase ThC₂ has no effect on the superconductivity. The variation of room temperature lattice parameters, a, b, c and v of these substitutional intermetallic samples indicates the systematic substitution of Y ³⁺ ions by Th⁴⁺ ions irrespective of the existence of the 2nd impurity phase.     

Superconductivity of powder-in-tube Sr0.6K0.4Fe2As2 wires

Nb-sheathed Sr_0.6K_0.4Fe₂As₂ superconducting wires have been fabricated using the powder-in-tube (PIT) method for the first time and the superconducting properties of the wires have been investigated. The transition temperature (T_c) of the Sr_0.6K_0.4Fe₂As₂ wires is confirmed to be as high as 35.3 K. Most importantly, Sr_0.6K_0.4Fe₂As₂ wires exhibit a very weak J_c-field dependence behavior even the temperature is very close to T_c. The upper critical field H_c2(0) value can exceed 140 T, surpassing those of MgB₂ and all the low temperature superconductors. Such high H_c2 and superior J_c-field performance make the 122 phase SrKFeAs wire conductors a powerful competitor potentially useful in very high field applications.     

Structure and superconductivity in FexCu1−xBa2YCu2O7+y superconductors synthesized by high pressure

Comprehensive studies of X-ray diffraction, oxygen content, superconductivity and Mössbauer effect have been made on Fe_xCu_1−xBa₂YCu₂O_7+y superconductors (0.00≤x≤0.70) synthesized by ambient (AM) and high pressure (HP). Results indicate that all the HP-samples have tetragonal structure, smaller lattice parameter c and unit-cell volume than the AM-samples. The studies of oxygen content, and Mössbauer spectroscopy indicate that the HP-samples have higher oxygen content, carrier concentration and average valence of Fe than the AM-samples. Moreover, for the HP-samples more Fe atoms located in CuO_x chains have fivefold-oxygen coordination. These are important reasons for the enhancement of T_c in the HP-samples.     

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.     

Anomalous Hall effect in Cu and Fe codoped In2O3 and ITO thin films

We present a systematic study of the structure, magnetization, resistivity, and Hall effect properties of pulsed laser deposited Fe- and Cu-codoped In₂O₃ and indium-tin-oxide (ITO) thin films. Both the films show a clear ferromagnetism and anomalous Hall effect at 300 K. The saturated magnetic moments are almost the same for the two samples, but their remanent moments M_r and coercive fields H_C are quite different. M_r and H_C values of ITO film are much smaller than that of In₂O₃. The ITO sample shows a typical semiconducting behavior in whole studied temperature range, while the In₂O₃ thin film is metallic in the temperature range between 147 and 285 K. Analysis of different conduction mechanisms suggest that charge carriers are not localized in the present films. The profile of the anomalous Hall effect vs. magnetic field was found to be identical to the magnetic hysteresis loops, indicating the possible intrinsic nature of ferromagnetism in the present samples.     

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.     

Structure and superconductivity of Mg1−xPbxB2

A series of polycrystalline samples of Mg_1−xPb_xB₂ (0≤x≤0.10) were prepared by a solid state reaction method and their structure, superconducting transition temperature and transport properties were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and resistivity measurements. Mg_1−xPb_xB₂ compounds were shown to adopt an isostructural AlB2-type hexagonal structure in a relatively small range of lead concentration, x≤0.01. The crystalline lattice constants were evaluated and were found to exhibit slight length compression as x increases. The superconducting transition temperature (T_c) steadily decreases with Pb doping. It is suggested that the mechanism of superconductivity reduction by lead doping can be attributed to the chemical pressure effect.     

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.     

Effect of 3d metal ion doping on the structure and superconductivity of (Tl0.5Pb0.5)Sr2CaCu2O7

(Tl_0.5Pb_0.5)Sr₂Ca(Cu_2−xM_x)O₇ (M=Co, Ni and Zn) have been synthesized and investigated by means of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. X-ray diffraction patterns show that all studied samples contain the nearly single ‘1212’ phase. They crystallize in a tetragonal unit cell with a=3.8028-3.8040 Å and c=12.0748-12.1558 Å. In (Tl_0.5Pb_0.5)Sr₂Ca(Cu_2−xM_x)O₇ system (M=Co or Ni), the superconducting critical temperature T_c decreases linearly with both Co and Ni concentrations and the rate of T_c decrease is around −6.5 and −7.0 K/at%, respectively. For (Tl_0.5Pb_0.5)Sr₂Ca (Cu_2−xZn_x)O₇ system, the dependence of T_c on the Zn dopant concentration deviates from a linear behavior and the Zn substitution suppresses T_c much less (−2.5 K/at%) than the Co and Ni substitutions. The suppression in T_c in Co and Ni doped samples are attributed to the magnetic pair-breaking mechanism and the reduction in the carrier concentration. The suppression of T_c in Zn doped samples is not caused by the reduction in carrier concentration which should remain constant, but rather due to nonmagnetic pair-breaking mechanism induced by disorder as well as the filling of the local Cu d_x²−y² state due to the full d band of Zn ions.     

Superconductivity in porous MgB2

Porous magnesium diboride samples have been prepared by the heat treatment of a pressed mixture of Mg and MgB₂ powders. It was found that linked superconducting structure is formed down to the minimum normalized density γ_c=d/d₀≅0.16 (percolation threshold), where d is the density of MgB₂ averaged over the sample, d₀=2.62 g/cm³ is the X-ray density. Lattice parameters and critical temperature of the porous sample decrease with increasing porosity (decreasing γ) and T_c2≅32 K is minimal at γ_c. The grain boundaries in the porous samples are transparent for the current and J_c∼3×10⁵ A/cm² in self field at T=20 K in the samples with γ∼0.24.     

Energetics and structural stability of Cs3C60

Using the ab initio pseudopotential total-energy method and the density-functional theory, we study the energetics of face-centered-cubic Cs₃C₆₀ which is a material of great interest as a possible high transition-temperature superconductor. At the optimized lattice constant the volume per C₆₀ is found to be smaller than the the most-stable hexagon-coordination A15 phase, while the total energy of the fcc phase is about 0.9 eV higher than the A15 phase. These results indicate that a low-temperature and high-pressure synthesis method might be a possible way to produce the fcc Cs₃C₆₀ phase. In addition, it is also found that the A15 Cs₃C₆₀ should show a phase transformation from a hexagon-coordination phase to a pentagon-coordination phase under hydrostatic pressure.     

Study of ferromagnetism–superconductivity interactions in Co/Nb multilayers

We investigate Co/Nb multilayers to explore the spontaneous π-phase shift between the superconducting (SC) layers, which is attributed for causing the non-monotonic change of the SC transition temperature (T_c) with the ferromagnetic (FM) layer thickness (t_FM) in several FM/SC multilayered systems. The issue of interfacial roughness is also explored by growing Co/Nb multilayers at various sputtering pressures. Transport measurements show a non-monotonic dependence of T_c on t_FM, and this dependence is insensitive to the structural variation present in the samples, as measured by X-ray scattering.     

EDXRF measurements on gold diffusion-doped Bi1.8Pb0.35Sr1.9Ca2.1Cu3Oy

Gold (Au) diffusion in superconducting Bi_1.8Pb_0.35Sr_1.9Ca_2.1Cu₃O_y was investigated over the temperature range 500-800 °C by the energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) technique. It is found that the Au diffusion coefficient decreases as the diffusion-annealing temperature decreases. The temperature dependences of Au diffusion coefficient in grains and over grain boundaries are described by the relations D₁=6.7×10⁻⁵exp(−1.19 eV/k_BT) and D₂=9.7×10⁻⁴exp(−1.09 eV/k_BT), respectively. The diffusion doping of Bi-2223 by Au causes a significant increase of the lattice parameter c by about 0.19%. For the Au-diffused samples, dc electrical resistivity and transport critical current density measurements indicated the critical transition temperature increased from 100 to 104 K and the critical current density increased from 40 to 125 A cm⁻², in comparison with those of undoped samples. From scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements it is observed that Au doping of the sample also improved the surface morphology and increased the ratio of the high-T_c phase to the low-T_c phase. The possible reasons for the observed improvement in microstructure and superconducting properties of the samples due to Au diffusion are also discussed.     

Calcium and oxygen doping in Y Ba2Cu3Oy

Both oxygen and calcium play important roles in inducing superconductivity in Y Ba₂Cu₃O_y (YBCO), which is an antiferromagnetic insulator at low O and Ca content. O induces superconductivity in Ca-free YBCO, while Ca does similarly in oxygen-deficient YBCO. For doping oxygen HgO was used as it decomposes at 476 ^°C into Hg, which escapes from the matrix leaving the crystal unaltered, and O, which provide a way to dope O in YBCO. Considering these facts, polycrystalline samples of Y _1−xCa_xBa₂Cu₃O_y with x=0, 0.1 and 0.2 with and without HgO addition were prepared through a solid-state reaction method. The samples were sintered at 950 ^°C in open atmosphere. These synthesized samples were characterized through using the X-ray diffraction technique (XRD) for phase evaluation, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for grain morphology, energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) for compositional analysis and the four-contact measurement technique for determining the superconducting transition temperature.     

Study of the Ru sublattice magnetic structure in the magnetic superconductor RuSr2GdCu2O8

In order to investigate the Ru sublattice magnetic structure, a study of the field dependence of the ^99,101Ru nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been carried out on the magnetic superconductor RuSr₂GdCu₂O₈. It is found that the ^99,101Ru NMR signal intensity increases significantly with applied magnetic field up to ≈3 kOe, beyond which, it progressively decreases. In addition, a shift of the NMR peaks to lower frequency is observed to begin at ≈1.3 kOe. These behaviors are shown to be accompanied by a field-induced Ru moment spin-flop in the ab planes, and are understood in terms of a previously proposed type-I antiferromagnetic ordering for the Ru sublattice. Based on this model, the inter-plane antiferromagnetic exchange coupling is determined to be ≈1.8 kOe along with a reversible in-plane spin-flop which is characterized by a field ≈0.6 kOe.     

Superconductivity in three-layer Na0.3CoO2·1.3H2O

The observation of superconductivity at 4.3 K in a new crystalline form of Na_0.3CoO₂·1.3H₂O is reported. The new superconductor has three layers of CoO₆ octahedral per crystallographic unit cell, in contrast to the previously reported two-layer superconductor. The three-layer cell occurs because the relative orientations of neighboring CoO₂ layers are distinctly different from what is seen in the two-layer superconducting phase. This type of structural difference in materials that are otherwise chemically and structurally identical is not possible to attain on the layered copper oxide superconductors. The synthesis and stability of the new phase are described.     

Proton incorporations and superconductivity in a cobalt oxyhydrate

We report evidence of proton incorporations in a newly-discovered cobalt oxyhydrate superconductor. During the hydration process for Na_0.32CoO₂ by the direct reaction with liquid water, it was shown that substantial NaOH was gradually liberated, indicating that H⁺ is incorporated into the hydrated compound. Combined with the thermogravimetric analysis, the chemical composition of the typical sample is Na_0.22H_0.1CoO₂·0.85H₂O. It shows bulk superconductivity at 4.4 K.     

Enhanced ferromagnetic transition temperature in nanocrystalline lanthanum calcium manganese oxide (La0.67Ca0.33MnO3)

We report a novel, low temperature (450-600 °C) route for the synthesis of highly crystalline and homogeneous nanoparticles of lanthanum calcium manganese oxide La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ (LCMO). The nanocrystallites, with average particle size of 30 nm, possess a ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition temperature (T_c) of 300 K, which is about 50 K higher than that of a bulk single crystal. The transition temperature was found to be inversely proportional to the particle size. The Rietveld analysis of the powder X-ray diffraction data of the phase-pure nanopowders reveals that the particle size reduction leads to a significant contraction of the unit cell volume and a reduction of the unit cell anisotropy. We propose that these two lattice effects are responsible for the observed enhancement in T_c.     

Superconductivity in Hg-substituted BaPb0.75Bi0.25O3

A series of Hg-doped BaPb_0.75Bi_0.25O₃ (BPBO) with a nominal composition of BaPb_0.75 − xHg_xBi_0.25O₃ (x=0-0.40 with 0.05 intervals) has been synthesized by solid state reaction. The system shows a lattice parameter expansion and lattice symmetry distortion with Hg doping. Superconducting transition temperature Tc and superconducting volume fraction of the system decrease with Hg doping level in the low doping level region (0?x?0.25) and are nearly fully suppressed at x=0.25. However, the superconductivity is recovered with further increasing Hg content at x>0.3. The possible mechanisms of the superconductivity in the low doping level region and the recovery of superconductivity in the high doping level region for Hg-doped BPBO system have been discussed.