Thermal expansion of a YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting ceramic

The thermal expansion of the High T_c superconducting ceramic YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ has been measured from 50 K up to room temperature by means of a capacitance dilatometer. No detectable anomalous change in lenght is observed at the critical temperature T_c, within the resolution of our experimental set up: Δl/l = 5 10⁻⁸. This indicates a weak dependence of T_c on pressure, contrarily to the one measured on (LaBa)CuO lower T_c superconducting ceramics. The Debye temperature is also estimated.     

Temperature dependence of the diffuse streak system in K2SnCl6

We have investigated the system of diffuse streaks in K₂SnCl₆ single crystals in the temperature interval from 4 to 640 K by the photographic registration of the scattered neutron intensity. The streak intensity decreases from T_{c¹ = 261 K} with increasing as well as with In the region of the phase transition at T_{c¹ = 261 K} and T_{c² = 255 K} the intensity decreases with falling temperature to one third. The high temperature behaviour is explained by a soft A_2g librational mode. Below T_{c² = 255 K} the intensity is proportional to ΔT. The streaks are detectable down to 230 K.     

Ferroelastic phase transition and anomalous elastic and thermal properties of betaine borate (CH3)3NCH2COO·H3BO3

The temperature and pressure derivatives of the elastic constants of orthorhombic betaine borate, (CH₃)₃NCH₂COO·H₃BO₃, have been determined by measuring temperature and stress induced shifts of resonance frequencies of thick plates at ca. 15 MHz in the range between 140 and 300 K and 0 and 3 kbar. The elastic ‘shear’ resistance c₄₄ exhibits a value as low as 0.0492×10¹⁰Nm^-2at 293 K. With decreasing temperature c₄₄ approaches zero at ca. 142.5 K, indicating an acoustic soft mode behaviour connected with a ferroelastic phase transition. The softening of c₄₄ is described in a good approximation by c₄₄(T)_p=0 =alogT/T₀ with a=0.0663×10¹⁰Nm^-2 and T₀ = 139.5 K. Further, c₄₄ decreases with increasing pressure according to the linear relation c₄₄(p)_{T=293 K} = 0.0492?0.184×10^-4p (p in bar, c₄₄ in 10¹⁰ Nm^-2). All other elastic constants show a quite normal temperature and pressure dependence. At 293 K the transition is induced by a pressure of 2.65 kbar. The transition temperature T_c depends linearly on pressure according to T_c = 142.5+0.0568 p (pinbar, T_cinK). Passing through the transition no discontinuous change of the lattice constants is observed. The three principal coefficients of thermal expansion and the pressure derivatives of the dielectric constants exhibit discontinuities at the transition. The transition is of strongly second order.     

Transport properties in single phase superconductor Ba2YCu3O9-δ

The electrical resistivity and the thermopower are measured on the single phase superconductor Ba₂YCu₃O₉-δ (δ=2.1). The results indicate that the temperature dependences of the resistance and thermopower exhibit typical metallic behaviour, and the sample conducts via electrons at high temperatures. The behaviour of the thermopower can be described with Mott's semi-classical model. The specific heat of electrons in normal state has been estimated 780mJ/K·mole at 200K, i.e. γ=3.9mJ/K²·mole. Unusual phonon-drag effect is observed above the superconducting transition temperature T_c. Below T_c, the electrical resistivity and the thermopower all drop to zero corresponding to a superconducting ground state.     

Measurement of the pressure dependence of Tc for superconducting spinel compounds

The superconducting transition temperatures (T_c) of CuRh₂Se₄, CuRh₂S₄ and LiTi₂O₄ were all found to increase linearly under hydrostatic pressure up to 22 kbar, at a rate of 1–5 × 10^-5 Kbar^-1. These results are discussed in terms of the dependence of T_c on Debye temperature previously found for this set of compounds from heat capacity measurements at zero pressure.     

Temperature dependent time delay of the voltage response to supercritical current pulses in superconducting aluminium

Current pulses larger than the critical current I_c are passed through narrow superconducting aluminium strips. The time delay between the start of the pulse and the onset of the voltage response is measured as a function of current amplitude for various temperatures (0.84<T/T_c<0.98). We find the delay time to be dependent on the temperature as (1 - T/T_c)^α with α changing from a value of - 0.5 for I/I_c close to 1 to a value of - 1.0 for I/I_c larger than 3.     

Pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of a (Mo0.6Ru0.4)86B14 metallic glass

We have studied the pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of amorphous (Mo_0.6Ru_0.4)₈₆B₁₄ for hydrostatic pressures up to P ～ 9 kbar. The transition temperature T_c decreases with pressure at a rate dT_c/dP=-(9±1) mK kbar^-1. We estimate the Grüneisen parameter and the volume dependence of the electron-phonon coupling constant.     

Superconductivity in Nb.95Ta.05Se3

We have measured the resistivity of NbSe₃ doped with 5% Ta from room temperature down to 0.5K and compared our results with similar measurements on pure NbSe₃. The pure sample remains normal to the lowest temperature (0.5K), whereas the doped sample has a sharp transition to the superconducting state with T_c = 1.5 ± 0.2 K. Measurements of the critical magnetic field indicate that the Ta doped samples are homogeneous, anisotropic three dimensional superconductors.     

Normal state resistivity and Tç studies of superconducting Ti1−xSbx system

The superconducting transition temperature (T_c) and the temperature dependence of the normal state resistivity of the Ti_1?xSb_x system between T_c and 300 K have been studied. The T_c values are found to depend on the heat treatment of the samples. Below 40 K, all alloys show a T² dependence of the resistivity. However, the sample with x = 0.53 is not superconducting and shows a different behaviour of the resistivity.     

Pressure-induced phase transformation in In2Bi

We have made measurements of the pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature, T_c, for In₂Bi and related alloys. For In₂Bi- phase alloys, a large discontinuity in T_c is seen at 15–20 kbar, which we associate with a phase transformation first seen by Bridgman [1]. Our measurements suggest that this transformation is produced by the decomposition of In₂Bi into In₅Bi₃ and an In-rich phase. In the low pressure phase, T_c shows a minimum at 9–15 kbar whereas it depends linearly on pressure in the high pressure phase with ?T_c/?P equal to -4.9 × 10^-5 K bar^-1.     

Coherent state and superconductivity in the free carrier-bipolaron interacting system

In this paper a model to describe the free carrier-bipolaron interacting system is proposed. Effective hopping of the bipolaron is studied in the slave-boson approach, and a characteristic temperature T¹ is obtained, below which the system enters a coherent state. The density of states in the normal state and the superconductivity of the system are discussed in a quasiparticle picture. The results show that the mixing between the free carrier and the bipolaron results in an enhancement of the effective mass of the quasiparticle and meanwhile the renormalized coupling interaction, arising from the negative correlation energy in the bipolaron region, enhances the effective superconducting coupling interaction. Under the most favourable conditions, the superconducting transition temperature T_c ∼ ω_c, where ω_c is the Debye frequency related with local electron-phonon coupling. In general we have T¹ > T_c ⪢ T_c0 (T_c0 is the superconducting transition temperature of a usual superconductor). Therefore the system will firstly enter a coherent state before becoming a high-T_c superconductor.     

Superhard superconducting materials based on diamond and cubic boron nitride

Superhard superconducting samples with a critical temperature of T_c = 12.6 K are obtained when synthetic diamond powders that were preliminarily coated with a niobium film are sintered at a pressure of 7.7 GPa and a temperature of 1973 K. Superhard superconductors with T_c = 9.3 K are obtained when diamond and molybdenum powders are sintered at a pressure of 7.7 GPa and a temperature of 2173 K. Superconducting samples with T_c = 36.1–37.5 K have been obtained in the systems diamond-MgB₂ and cubic boron nitride-MgB₂.     

Unusual behavior of nuclear relaxation in CeCu2Si2 “possible evidence for triplet superconductivity”

Nuclear relaxation of ⁶³Cu in the superconducting state of the Kondo-lattice system CeCu₂Si₂ has been studied with the use of the ⁶³Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance technique under zero field and down to 65mK. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T₁) decreases drastically just below T_c=0.67 K down to 0.5T_c without the apparent enchanced behavior and then is found to be almost temperature independent below 0.3T_c. These results suggest that the superconductivity in CeCu₂Si₂ is not in the usual BCS regime. The analysis based upon the existing triplet pairing model with an anisotropic energy gap describes well the behavior from T_c down to 0.5T_c, while the temperature independence below 0.3T_c remains unexplained.     

Coulomb repulsion-induced hyperbolic pairing as a mechanism of high-T c superconductivity

The hyperbolic metric of the dispersion law (the effective mass tensor components of carriers are opposite in sign) in the vicinity of the Fermi contour in high-T _c superconducting cuprates in the case of repulsive interaction gives rise to a superconducting state characterized by the condensate of pairs with a large total momentum (hyperbolic pairing). The gain in the energy of the superconducting state over the normal state is due to the fact that a change in the kinetic energy of pairs (because of the negative light component of the effective mass) dominates over the change in the potential energy (corresponding to energy loss). The shift of the chemical potential upon the transition to the superconducting phase is substantial in this case. With increasing repulsive interaction, the superconducting gap δ_K increases and the resulting gain in energy changes to an energy loss at a certain critical value of the repulsive potential. The low temperature T _c of the superconducting transition and the large value of δ _K in this region of potential values are the reasons for the high value of the 2δ_K/T _c ratio and for the developed quantum fluctuations that are observed in underdoped cuprate superconductors.     

The pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature of LaT4P12(T = Fe,Ru, Os)

The superconducting transition temperature, T_c, of the LaT₄P₁₂ compounds with T = Fe, Ru, or Os has been measured under hydrostatic pressure P up to 1.8 GPa. The T = Fe compound exhibits a substantial increase of T_c from T_c (P = 0) = 4.1 K at a rate (dT_c/dP)_P=0= +7.2 x 10^-1 K/GPa. In contrast, the Ru and Os compounds exhibit only weak decreases of T_c from T_c (P = 0) = 7.2 K and 1.8 K with (dT_c/dP)_P=0= -1.6 x 10^-1 K/GPa and -9.5 x 10^-2 K/GPa, respectively. An analysis of this strikingly divergent behavior of T_c(P) in terms of the structural characteristics of the RT₄X₁₂ class of compounds where R = rare earth element, T = Fe, Ru, or Os, and X = P, As, or Sb suggests that T_c(P) for these materials consists of two competing contributions: a depression of T_c due to the compression of the lattice (i.e., decrease in volume), and an enhancement of T_c due to the effect of pressure on La itself.     

Influence of hydrostatic pressure on the phase transition in the complex antifluorites and hexammines: Rigid-sphere model interpretation

Abstract

The pressure coefficient of the phase transition temperature T_c, dT_c/dp = -(11⁺-1) K/GPa, has been determined for Ni (NH₃)₆Cl₂ using a new high pressure and low temperature probe. The relations between T_c and dT_c/dp were determined for antifluorite K₂MCl₆ compounds and hexammines applying the rigid-sphere model.     

Effect of electron irradiation on the structure and properties of the MgB2 superconductor

This paper reports on the results of an investigation into the effect of irradiation of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schriefer superconductor MgB₂ by electrons with a mean energy ē ～ 10 MeV at low doses (0 ≤ Φt ≤ ～5 × 10¹⁶ cm^?2) on the lattice parameters, the intensity and width of diffraction lines, the superconducting transition temperature T _c , and the temperature dependence of the resistivity ρ(T) in the normal state. The results of structural investigations have revealed regularities in the defect formation in the magnesium and boron sublattices of the MgB₂ compound as a function of the electron fluence. At the initial stage, irradiation leads to the formation of vacancies, originally in the magnesium sublattice and then in the boron sublattice. For fluences Φt ≥ ～1 × 10¹⁶ cm^?2, vacancies are formed in both sublattices. The evolution of the electrical and physical properties [T _c , ρ_{273 K}, residual resistivity ratio RRR = ρ_{273 K}/ρ_{50 K}, parameters of the dependence ρ(T)] under electron irradiation is in agreement with the regularities revealed in the formation of radiation-induced defects in the crystal lattice of the MgB₂ compound.     

A specific heat and magnetization study of highT c ceramic superconductors

From the temperature dependence of the specific heat of the semiconductor La₂CuO₄ and the high temperature superconductors La_1.8Sr_0.2CuO₄ (T _c =37.2 K) and YBa_1.9K_0.1Cu₃O_6.9 (T _c =91.5 K) in the range 1.5–30 K, a strong similarity of the lowfrequency part of their phonon density of states with a peak around 10 meV could be inferred. In the case of La_1.8Sr_0.2CuO₄ the thermodynamical critical field belowT _c has been determined and using the Rutger's formula and the BCS model, a Sommerfeld coefficient γ=9 mJ·mol^?1 K^?1 was obtained, which, taking into account recent results of band structure calculations leads to an electron-phonon enhancement factor γ=1.3, value compatible withT _c =36 K when using McMillan's formula forT _c . A systematic study of the magnetization offered evidence for strong flux trapping effects at higher fields and for Meissner shielding by superconducting Josephson currents in fields below 6 mT at 4.2 K.     

Pressure dependence of elastic constants of orthorhombic Li2Ge7O15 above and below the ferroelectric transition

The pressure derivatives of the elastic constants c_ij of orthorhombic Li₂Ge₇O₁₅ have been determined at 293 K by the method of pressure-induced shifts of resonance frequencies of thick plates at ca. 15 MHz in the range between 0 and 1500 bar. Approaching the transition at ca. 630 bar, all P_ij = dc_ij/dp (i, j = 1, 2, 3; p pressure) develop strongly negative values. At higher pressures a similar behaviour with reversed sign is observed. The pressure derivatives of the pure “shear resistances” c₄₄, c₅₅, and c₆₆ depend only slightly on pressure even in the vicinity of the transition. The main interactions driving the transition are of the totally symmetric type. The values dK^?1/dp (K volume compressibility) deviate strongly from the quasi-invariant value of ca. 5 observed in almost all stable crystals (dK^?1/dp = ? 1750 at 620 bar and 1380 at 700 bar). The anomalous piezoelastic behaviour reflects the anomalous thermoelastic behaviour: negative P_ij in the low pressure (high temperature) phase correspond to positive T_ij = d log c_ij/dT (T temperature) and vice versa.     

Superconductivity in a simple model of the pseudogap state

An analysis is made of characteristics of the superconducting state (s-and d-pairing) using a simple, exactly solvable model of the pseudogap state produced by fluctuations of the short-range order (such as antiferromagnetic) based on a Fermi surface model with “hot” sections. It is shown that the superconducting gap averaged over these fluctuations is nonzero at temperatures higher than the mean-field superconducting transition temperature T _c over the entire sample. At temperatures T > T _c superconductivity evidently exists in isolated sections (“ drops”). Studies are made of the spectral density and the density of states in which superconducting characteristics exist in the range T > T _c however, in this sense the temperature T = T _c itself is no different in any way. These anomalies show qualitative agreement with various experiments using underdoped high-temperature superconducting cuprates.