Magnetization studies in niobium and YBa2Cu3O7 samples

The results of experimental studies on hysteresis in magnetization, thermomagnetic history effects, anomalous variations in magnetic hysteresis curves and the decay rates of magnetization obtained under different thermomagnetic histories in specimens of conventional and high temperature superconductors are presented. The Bean’s critical state model is considered adequate to explain magnetic behaviour in conventional hard superconductors. The similarity in the general features of the results of different experiments on specimens of the two families of superconductors underscores the efficacy of the said model to understand some aspects of the macroscopic magnetic response of high temperature superconductors as well. For instance, the isothermal magnetization hysteresis loop which comprises of magnetization curves along forward (−H _max to +H _max) and reverse (+H _max to −H _max) paths define an envelop within which all isothermal magnetization data along different thermomagnetic histories lie. There exist inequality relationship between various field values identified asH _peak,H _I,H _II etc. in isothermal magnetization hysteresis as well as magnetic relaxation data. The entire field span of an isothermal magnetization hysteresis data set can be considered to comprise of three parts corresponding to (M _rem(H)−M _FC(H)+M _ZFC(H)) being equal to, less than or greater than zero, whereM _rem(H) are the remanent magnetization values obtained on reducing field to zero after having the specimen in different applied field (H) values. There are, however some situations amongst thermomagnetic history effects in specimens which show incomplete flux trapping on field cooling, where the critical state model has been found inadequate.     

Observation of magnetization step at order–disorder transition in MgB2 single crystals

We have studied the order–disorder transition in high quality MgB₂ single crystals, using a torque magnetometry combined with a ‘vortex shaking’ technique. In the wide range of temperature T, field H and the H direction, we succeed in obtaining reversible magnetization curves M_rev(T, H) by shaking the pinned vortices. Especially at low temperatures below 25 K and high fields, where the irreversible magnetization curve exhibits the peak effect due to the order–disorder transition, it is found that the peak is transformed into the clear step in M_rev(H). Similar step-like behavior is also observed in the temperature dependence of magnetization M_rev(T). These results give direct evidence that the order–disorder transition, which is hidden by the large hysteresis of magnetization, has the nature of first-order transition.     

Influence of annealing on magnetic properties of Co-based metallic glasses

The influence of low-temperature annealing on the magnetic hysteresis loop parameters of magnetostrictive Co-Si-B and nonmagnetostrictive Co-Fe-Si-B glasses was studied. The dependence of Curie temperature (T_C), crystallization temperature (T_x), full-stress-relaxation temperature, saturation magnetostriction constant, saturation magnetization and coercive field H_c on metalloids contents for as quenched Co_100-x(Si_0.5B_0.5)_x glasses was determined.It was found that annealing enhances remanence magnetization for all investigated Co-Si-B glasses. The coercive field of these glasses is influenced by annealing owing to: stress relaxation (resulting in an H_c decrease) and domain structure stabilization (resulting in an H_c increase). Significant H_c reduction for both magnetostrictive and non-magnetostrictive glasses was observed, after annealing above T_C. For glasses with T_C<>T_x, it was necessary to apply an external magnetic field in ord er to decrease H_c.It was found that non-magnetostrictive metallic glasses with low Curie temperatures (T_C ? 450 K) exhibit the most stable magnetic hysteresis loop parameters.     

Comparison of irreversibility temperatures determined via DC and AC magnetization techniques in conventional superconductors

A comparison has been made of irreversibility temperature determined by four different methods in few specimens of lead (type-I) and niobium (type-II). The merger ofM _ZFC(T) andM _FC(T) curves giveT _r(H) values lower than those evident from vanishing the hysteresis in isothermal DC magnetization. The identification of peak temperature inx″ _H (T) data withT _r(H) is appropriate only if the contribution from changes in the normal state electrodynamics can be isolated and the peak is narrow. The appearance of differential paramagnetic effect inx′ _H (T) data is adequate to imply reversibility, however, its efficacy to precisely locate irreversibility line remains to be established.     

Electro- and magnetotransport in La0.67Ba0.33MnO3 nanosized films coherently grown on a vicinally polished (LaAlO3)0.29 + (SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.71 substrate

The structure, orientation, and the response of electroresistance to magnetic field H and varying temperature T have been studied for 30-nm-thick La_0.67Ba_0.33MnO₃ (LBMO) films. The deviation of the [001] direction in manganite layers from the normal to the plane of the (LaAlO₃)_0.29 + (SrAl_0.5Ta_0.5O₃)_0.71 substrate strictly corresponds to the vicinal angle of the latter. The minimum yield determined from 227-keV proton scattering spectra is 0.025, signifying a high order of the cationic sublattice in the films. The biaxial compression of stable nuclei of the manganite phase affects their stoichiometry, thus contributing to the depletion of LBMO films in the alkaline-earth element. The maximum electroresistance values have been observed in the films grown at T _max ≈ 320 K, a temperature about 20 K lower than the Curie temperature of the corresponding bulk single crystals, and the maximum magnetoresistance (MR ≈ −0.42, μ₀ H = 2 T) occurs at T ≈ 300 K. At low temperatures (T < T _max/3) and μ₀ H < 0.45 T, the electroresistance response of LBMO films to a magnetic field materially depends on the anisotropic magnetoresistance and the intensity of hole scattering from domain walls; when μ₀ H > 0.5 T, the major current-carrier relaxation mechanism is the interaction with magnons.     

Unusual magnetic hysteresis behavior of oxide spinel MnCo2O4

Magnetic hysteresis behavior of the oxide spinel MnCo₂O₄ has been studied at different temperatures below its T_c≈184 K. Normal hysteresis behavior is observed down to 130 K whereas below this temperature the initial magnetization curve, at higher magnetic fields, lies outside the main loop. No related anomaly is observed in the temperature variation of magnetization or coercivity. However, the anisotropy field overcomes the coercivity below 130 K. The unusual magnetic hysteresis behavior of MnCo₂O₄, at low temperatures, may be associated with irreversible domain wall movements due to the rearrangement of the valence electrons.     

Low field anomaly in magnetization curves

We present a calculation of the isothermal magnetization hysteresis curves appropriate to highT _csuperconductors. We discuss the nature of the low field anomaly as one goes from this strong pinning case to the weak pinning case. We show that the shape of the equilibrium (thermodynamic) magnetization curve is recovered in the limit ofJ _capproaching zero.     

Magnetoelectric coupling in RMn2O5 multiferroic: a Monte Carlo simulation

Magnetoelectric coupling in RMn₂O₅ (with R?=?non magnetic) multiferroics have been studied using the Monte Carlo simulation. The variation of magnetization and the polarization of RMn₂O₅ multiferroic have been determined. The system undergoes a magnetic transition at T_N and a further reduction of the temperature leads to a ferroelectric transition at T_C?<_? T_N depending on the coupling strength. Magnetic and ferroelectric hysteresis loops are obtained for several temperatures values. Variation of polarization with the external magnetic field of RMn₂O₅ has been given. Variation of polarization and magnetization with the electric field of RMn₂O₅ has been obtained.     

Effects of size and surface anisotropy on thermal magnetization and hysteresis in the magnetic clusters

Based on Monte Carlo simulation, the spin configurations, thermal magnetization and hysteresis loops of the clusters coated by the surface shell with radial anisotropy are studied. Interestingly, a new multidomain containing a few of subdomains whose easy directions are along those of the configurational anisotropy, a magnetization curve in steps and a first order phase transition from the single domain to the multidomain in the thermal and field magnetization processes, are found, which is as a result of the interplay of the configurational anisotropy, the size effect, the surface anisotropy, the applied field and the thermal fluctuation. In this first order transition, we find a critical temperature, a critical surface anisotropy and a critical size. The simulated temperature dependence of the coercivity of the cluster with the surface anisotropy can be fitted by H_c (T)=H_c (0)(1-C_αT^α) with low value of α, which explains well the experimental results of the nanoparticles. Moreover, it is found that the hysteresis loops and coercivity are strongly affected by the cluster size and the thickness of the surface layer.     

Magnetic properties of magnetite thin films close to the Verwey transition

Temperature dependence of the magnetic properties of magnetite thin film across the Verwey transition has been investigated. As the temperature is decreased, the magnetization of the film in a fixed field showed a sharp decrease close to the Verwey transition temperature (T_v). The M–H loops of the film have been recorded at various temperatures below and above T_v. It is found that film does not saturate at any temperature and saturation becomes more difficult below T_v. While cooling through T_v, the extrapolated value of magnetization to infinite field (Q), calculated from the numerical fit 4πM=Q [1−(H*/H)^1/2], does not show a drop, but the coefficient indicating difficulty in saturation (H*) shows a sharp rise as does the coercivity.     

Magnetocaloric effect in the Sm<Subscript>0.55</Subscript>Sr<Subscript>0.45</Subscript>MnO<Subscript>3</Subscript> manganite

The magnetocaloric effect ΔT has been studied by a direct method in two samples of the manganite Sm_0.55Sr_0.45MnO₃, namely, a single crystal (sample A) and a ceramic sample (sample C). The temperature dependences of the ΔT effect of both samples exhibit a maximum at T _max = 143.3 K for the sample A and T _max = 143 K for the sample C. In these maxima, the values of the ΔT effect are 0.8 and 0.4 K in the magnetic field H = 14.2 kOe for the samples A and C, respectively. In addition, the ΔT(T) curve of the sample A has a minimum at T _min = 120 K, in which ΔT = −0.1 K. The maximum value of the ΔT effect increases with an increase in the magnetic field H in the range of magnetic fields up to 14.2 kOe, and the rate of this increase at H > 8 kOe is higher than that at H < 8 kOe. These features of the ΔT effect are explained by the presence of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic A- and CE-type clusters in the samples.     

Trapping of a magnetic flux in granular YBa<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>3</Subscript>O<Subscript>7 − δ</Subscript> high-temperature superconductors under the action of an external magnetic field and transport current

Magnetic flux trapping (MFT) in granular YBa₂Cu₃O_{7 − δ} high-temperature superconductors (HTSCs) is studied. At T = 77.36 K, the dependence of the hysteresis of the transverse magnetoresistance on transport current I and the maximum value of external magnetic field H _ext is found in the measurement cycle 0 → H _ext^max → 0. The dependences of the parameters characterizing MFT, namely, residual magnetoresistance, field H _min at which the magnetoresistance is minimal, and the magnetoresistance at H _ext = H _min, on I and H _ext^maxare determined. MFT is found to occur in HTSC granules under the action of an external magnetic field exceeding the lower critical field of superconducting granules H _c1A, and the transport current only weakly affects the magnitude of MFT.     

Magnetic properties of the weak ferromagnet NiCO3 in the paramagnetic range

Detailed magnetization measurements up toH=6T have been performed on a powdered specimen of the weak ferromagnet NiCO₃ in the temperature rangeT _c <T<4T _c . Starting atT=1.15T _c , an excellent agreement is found at all temperatures between the experimental values of the magnetization and those calculated up toH ³ terms in an extension ofDzyaloshinsky's theory of weak ferromagnetism. Both isotropic and antisymmetrical exchange constants are determined and found in good agreement with previous low temperature magnetization results. These results indicate that at allT>1.15T _c , the molecular field approximation satisfactorily describes the magnetic properties of NiCO₃.     

Magnetic transition and large reversible magnetocaloric effect in EuCu1.75P2 compound

The magnetocaloric effect(MCE) in EuCu1.75P2 compound is studied by the magnetization and heat capacity measurements.Magnetization and modified Arrott plots indicate that the compound undergoes a second-order phase transition at TC ～ 51 K.A large reversible MCE is observed around TC.The values of maximum magnetic entropy change(-△SxMma) reach 5.6 J·kg-1·K-1 and 13.3 J·kg-1·K-1 for the field change of 2 T and 7 T,respectively,with no obvious hysteresis loss in the vicinity of Curie temperature.The corresponding maximum adiabatic temperature changes(△Tadmax) are evaluated to be 2.1 K and 5.0 K.The magnetic transition and the origin of large MCE in EuCu1.75P2 are also discussed.     

Spin-wave theory for finite classical magnets and superparamagnetic relation

Analytical calculations based on finite-size spin-wave theory and Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are performed to investigate the validity of the well-known relation m(H, T) = M(H, T)B _D[M(H, T) H/T] between the induced magnetization m of the magnetic particle and its intrinsic magnetization M for the Ising and isotropic classical models (B _D(x) is the Langevin function, D is the number of spin components, is the number of atoms in the particle). It follows from general arguments and from our analytical results for the Heisenberg model at T≪T _c that this relation is not exact for any finite D and nonzero temperature. Nevertheless, corrections to this formula remain very small practically in the whole range T < T _c if ≫ 1, as confirmed by our Monte Carlo calculations. At T T _c/4 there is a good agreement between the MC and finite-size spin-wave calculations for the field dependence of m and M for the Heisenberg model with free boundary conditions. Received 1st December 2000     

Novel behavior in the M–H and field cooled (FC) curves of the MnFe2O4 nanoparticles synthesized by the coprecipitation method

MnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles were prepared by a coprecipitation chemical method. The average size of the obtained nanoparticles was about 30 nm. The hysteresis measured at T=300 K clearly shows ferromagnetic order at room temperature while that measured at T=450 K shows superparamagnetic behavior. The difference in the magnetization curves in the field increasing cycle and field decreasing cycle at higher temperatures (450 K or higher) is very unusual. In this case, a hysteresis in magnetization in higher magnetic fields with an opening up of the magnetization curve was observed. In this work, the effect of temperature and time of application of the applied field on the magnetization behavior was studied.     

Anomalous temperature dependence of the 1.7T magnetic hyperfine field of fluorine in nickel

By means of time-differential perturbed angular distribution (TDPAD) techniques, the magnetic hyperfine field ofF atoms implanted in a ferromagnetic Ni lattice has been measured at temperatures from 80 K to 650 K obtaining, for example, a fieldH ₁(295 K)=+1.72(3)T at room temperature. The temperature dependence of the reduced fieldH ₁(T)/H ₁(0) has been found to deviate up to 38% from that of the reduced magnetization of the Ni host. Comparing this result for the halogenF with other nontransitional impurities in nickel, it seems that such deviations become more pronounced with increasing number of excessp-electrons of the impurity. With a simple two-zone model distinguishing between the hyperfine fields originating in the local and in the more distant undisturbed surrounding of theF impurity, the observed temperature dependence can be explained. In this approach the disturbed magnetization of the inner zone is described by localized Ni moments in the molecular field approximation.A satellite magnetic field of + 9.4T was observed at 80 K only.Supported by the Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie     

Magnetically two-phase state in Eu1−x AxMnO3 (A=Ca, Sr)

It is observed that low-temperature magnetic properties (dependence of the magnetization on the cooling conditions and the presence of a maximum in the initial magnetic susceptibility) of Eu_{1− x} A_xMnO₃ (A=Ca, Sr; x=0,0.3) samples are similar to those of spin glasses. However, there are also substantial differences: The magnetization depends on the cooling conditions right up to the maximum measurement fields H=45 kOe, and the temperature of T _N of the maximum of the initial magnetic susceptibility is independent of the frequency of the ac magnetic field in which the susceptibility is measured. The magnetization isotherms for T<T _N are a superposition of a linear part, characteristic for an antiferromagnet, and a small spontaneous part. For compositions containing Sr a maximum of the resistivity ρ (ρ_max∼10⁸ Ω ·cm) is observed near T _N; in a 120 kOe magnetic field this maximum is lowered by four orders of magnitude and the temperature of the maximum is two times higher. In compositions with x=0.3 the paramagnetic Curie point is much higher than for the composition with x=0: θ=110 K (A=Ca), 175 K (A=Sr), and −100 K (x=0). These characteristic features of the magnetic and electric properties are explained by the existence of a magnetically two-phase state in this system, consisting of ferromagnetic clusters, in which the charge carriers are concentrated, embedded in an insulating antiferromagnetic matrix. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 69, No. 5, 375–380 (10 March 1999)     

Magnetic irreversibility and metastability in a CuMn alloy

Our magnetic measurements on a CuMn alloy reveal that T_m, the temperature of the susceptibility peak, is marked by a qualitative change in the magnetization-vs.-field behavior. The magnetization process at and above T_m is reversible at all fields, whereas below T_m an irreversibility sets in at a threshold field H₁ and persists up to a second threshold field H₂. The irreversibility results in an isothermal remanence whose saturation value (attained when the field removed exceeds H₂) equals the saturation value of the thermoremanence (attained after cooling from above T_m in a field larger than H₂). Both states of remenence are characterized by a magnetization which is completely reversed by a small reverse field but returns to its original polarity when the field is removed. The hysteresis loop remains thus displaced as long as the cycling field is less than H₁.     

Size and anisotropy effects on magnetic properties of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles

Based on the Heisenberg model taking into account single-ion anisotropy and using a Green's function technique we have studied the influence of size and anisotropy effects on magnetization M, Neel temperature T_N, coercive field H_c and spin excitation energy of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles. The properties are compared with those of ferromagnetic nanoparticles. We have shown that the enhanced magnetization M and coercive field H_c of antiferromagnetic nanoparticles is a surface effect, which is due to uncompensated surface spins. Moreover, the shape of the coercive field curve can be significantly influenced by surface magnetic anisotropy.