Influence of irradiation induced atomic disorder on Hc2 of Nb3Sn

A significant monotonous decrease of H_c2(0) almost proportional to T_c has been observed after heavy ion irradiation of the A15 superconductor Nb₃Sn at low temperature < 30 K and isochronal annealing up to 300 K has been measured. The effects are discussed in connection with the Goodman—Gorkov-relation.     

Electrical transport properties of a quasi-one-dimensional Nb3Te4 single crystal

The electrical resistance of a linear chain metal Nb₃Te₄ were measured from 1.3 to 320 K. The residual resistance ratio $\text{R(300}\text{K}\text{)}\text{R(4.2}\text{K}\text{)}$ is about 3. Nb₃Te₄ shows an anomaly in the resistivity vs temperature at about 80 K, suggesting an occurrence of a charge-density-wave transition. The transverse and longitudinal magnetoresistance at 4.2 K are proportional to the magnetic field in the range of 2–58 kOe. In the superconducting region close to the transition temperature T_c, the critical magnetic field H_c2 is proportional to δT=T_c?T. The angular dependence of H_c2 fits well with the fluxoid model of the Ginzburg-Landau theory. The ratio of the critical fields parallel and perpendicular to the chain direction is 4.8.     

Electrical conduction of a quasi-one dimensional Nb3S4 single crystal

With respect to single crystals of Nb₃S₄ the electrical resistivity from 2.8 K to 300 K and the magnetoresistance at 4.2 K were measured. The resistivity is represented as a sum of a temperature independent and an intrinsic temperature dependent component. The temperature dependence of the intrinsic resistivity subjects to T₃ form between 7 and 50 K above which it becomes weaker than T₃ approaching a T linear from. This behaviour is discussed in terms of the electron-electron Umklapp scattering. The ratio of the resistivities perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis takes about 15 between room temperature and 50 K. The transverse magnetoresistance is proportional to the magnetic field. The longitudinal magnetoresistance is too small to be measured.     

Critical field and specific heat of the anisotropic superconductor Nb3S4

We report on the first measurements of the critical field B_c2 and the specific heat of Nb₃S₄, which is a linear structured compound with a superconducting transition temperature of 3.65 K. The angular dependence of B_c2 is well described by the effective-mass model. The ratio of the critical fields parallel and perpendicular to the c-axis gives a value of 4.6. The small value of the specific heat jump at $\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{(}\text{Δc}\text{γT}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{= 0.95)}$ can be explained with an anisotropic gap function.     

Heat capacity of the Nb3Al0.8Ge0.2 compounds

Heat capacity of the Nb₃Al_0.8Ge_0.2 samples have been measured in the temperature range 14–25K. It has been shown that the electron part of the heat capacity (γ) and the Debye temperature undergo only a small change after thermal treatment leading to significant increase of superconducting T_c. Such an increase of the band density of states N(E_F)_band may be caused by appropriate changes of phonon spectrum. The character of these changes is determined, to a great extent, by localization of the d-electrons in the niobium chains.     

Upper critical fields of Nb∼3Au,Nb3Au0.7Pt0.3 and Nb3Pt

Upper critical field measurements of the A15 type compounds Nb_～3Au,Nb₃Au_0.7Pt_0.3 and Nb₃Pt having T_c values of 10.7, 13.0 and 8.7K, respectively, show H_c2(0) values of 235, 295 and 125 kG, respectively. The data for the compounds containing Au fit closely calculations for a dirty type II superconductor with no paramagnetic limiting, but data for Nb₃Pt are slightly above these calculations.     

Upper critical fields of Nb3Ge thin film superconductors

The upper critical field H_c2(T) of the highest T_c(～23K) Nb₃Ge superconducting films has been found to be ≈370kG at 4.2K. Measurements on lower T_c films show very broad transitions reflecting nonuniformity. The H_c2(T) characteristics are consistent with other Nb₃X type II superconductors.     

Electrical conduction and critical magnetic field for superconductivity of a Nb3Se4 single crystal

With respect to the quasi-one dimensionality of single crystals of Nb₃Se₄, the electrical resistivity from 1.3 to 320 K and the critical magnetic field for superconductivity are measured. The resistivity along the Nb-chain direction is represented as a sum of a temperature independent and an intrinsic temperature dependent term. The temperature dependence of the intrinsic resistivity subjects to T³ form between 10 and 80 K above which it tends to a T linear form. The critical magnetic field is proportional to the temperature difference from the transition temperature. Its dependence is well fitted by the elliptical fluxoid model of Ginzburg-Landau theory. The ratio of the parallel and the perpendicular to the c-axis is 5.7.     

Round-robin study of Tc measurement of superconducting “Nb3Ge” thin films

To determine the reproductibility in the measurement of T_c a round-robin experiment was conducted. The samples consisted of five high T_c “Nb₃Ge” thin films. The results of this experiment show that only the midpoint of the T_c curve is reproducible to within ≈±0.2 K.     

Ultrasonic attenuation of surface acoustic waves in a thin film of superconducting Nb3Sn

The attenuation of 660 MHz surface acoustic waves propagating in a thin film of Nb₃Sn 5000 Å thick has been measured as a function of temperature from 4.2 K to 16 K. The A 15 Nb₃Sn, electron-beam codeposited on YZ lithium niobate and annealed at 700°C, was studied using 5.1 μm wavelength interdigital electrodes. The film revealed a transition temperature of 14.2 ± 0.1 K and using the BCS theory, an energy gap 2Δ(0) = 3.5 k_BT_c.     

Nb3Sn正常-超导转变时的比热反常

在16.0°K—20.3°K之间测量了Nb₃Sn样品的热容量。Nb₃Sn在临界温度附近的比热跳跃值ΔC=2.21(±5％)焦耳/克分子·度。样品的临界温度T_c=17.88°K,转变宽度ΔT_c≈0.2°K。ΔC值利用热力学关系式确定了Nb₃Sn在0°K时的热力学临界场H₀=5300奥斯特。利用本文的结果和文献上关于热膨胀系数的跳跃值Δα及?T/?P值验证了热力学关系式。扼要地描述了比热测量装置.     

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.     

Two-dimensional critical behaviour in antiferrodistortive Al ur6(CIO4)3 and Ga ur6(ClO4)3

Critical behaviour with dimensionality d = 2 has been observed for the 300 K antiferrodistortive phase transition in Al ur₆(ClO₄)₃ and Ga ur₆(ClO₄)₃ by means of the temperature dependence of the ESR parameter D. The systems exhibited d = 2 behaviour in the static critical behaviour for T<T_c?40 K for T>T_c + 40 K. From the ESR data including line width measurements the local order parameter relaxation rate ω₁ has been obtained for various temperatures above T_c, with a lowest value of ω₁ = 150 MHz at T_c + 15 K     

Photoemission results of intermetallic superconductors: Nb3Al and MgB2

We study the superconducting electronic structures of Nb₃Al and MgB₂ using high-resolution spectroscopy. The obtained spectrum of Nb₃Al measured below T_c shows clear opening of the superconducting gap with a sharp pile up in the density of states and a shift of the leading edge. In addition, the spectrum shows a peak-dip-hump line shape expected from the strong-coupling theory. On the other hand, for MgB₂, the superconducting-state spectrum measured at 5.4 K shows a coherent peak with a shoulder structure, in sharp contrast to that expected from a single isotropic gap. The superconducting spectral shape of MgB₂ can be explained in terms of a multicomponent gap.     

Thermoelectric power of quasi-one-dimensional Nb3X4 with X=S, Se andTe

The thermoelectric power of linear chain synthetic metals Nb₃X₄ (with X=S, Se and Te) was measured from 5 to 300 K. The thermopower is negative indicating a dominant transport by electrons. Common to three compounds, in lower temperature regions the thermopower rises linearly with temperature but soon saturates. With respect to Nb₃S₄ and Nb₃Se₄ we have found no special anomaly of the thermopower except for a little higher magnitude.With respect to Nb₃Te₄ anomalies in the thermopower vs temperature appear at about 80 and 20 K which are explained in terms of the charge- density-wave phase transition from the simultaneous measurement of the resistivity and the observation of the electron diffraction patterns.     

Upper critical fields of cubic and tetragonal single crystal and polycrystalline Nb3Sn in DC fields to 30 tesla

Measurements of the upper critical field, H_c2(T), in single crystal Nb₃Sn were extended to 30 tesla (300 kG) with dc fields produced by a Hybrid magnet. Observations of H_c2(T) were made for materials which remain in the cubic (c) phase and those which show a martensitic transformation at the tetragonal (t) phase. H_c2(T) measurements of Nb₃Sn for a pure crystal for which the de Haasvan Alphen (DHVA) effect was observed and for polycrystalline (t) phase and (c) phase materials are also reported. Measured values of H_c2(4.2 K) and calculated values of H_c2(0) are: 1) along the [100] direction for our earlier Nb₃Sn, H_c2(4.2 K) = 26 T for the (c) phase and 21.5 T for the (t) phase; H_c2(0) = 29T for the (c) phase and 24 T for the (t) phase; 2) along the [100] direction for the DHVA material H_c2(4.2 K) = 18 T and H_c2(0) = 20 T; 3) for polycrystalline Nb₃Sn (t) phase material H_c2(4.2 K) = 23 T and H_c2(0) = 25 T and for (c) phase material H_c2(4.2 K) = 26 T and H_c2(0) = 29 T. The values of (dH_c2/dT)_T=Tc vary from 2.4T/K for the highest H_c2(T) material to 1.6T/K for the DHVA material. The anisotropy for various Nb₃Sn single crystal materials is small and independent of temperature from T_c to 0.1 T_c. δT_c between the (c) and (t) phase is <0.3 K. Within experimental error excellent fits of H_c2(T) with theory are obtained assuming a dirty or clean Type II superconductor with no Pauli paramagnetic limiting. Experimental details and strong-coupling effects are discussed. When strong-coupling is included, the effects of any paramagnetic limiting would be small and not detectable within our present experimental error. Brief comments also are made concerning H_c2 of V₃Si.     

X-ray diffraction studies on He- and Ar-irradiated Nb3Ge thin films

We have performed measurements of relative integrated X-ray intensities in order to study the influence of radiation damage on the A15 structure of superconducting Nb₃Ge. With increasing He- and Ar-ion fluence an increase of the “temperature factor” and the lattice parameter has been observed in the fluence region where the depression of the superconducing transition temperature T_c was found to occur. Both parameters do not uniquely depend on the decrease of T_c. Further a decrease of the total relative X-ray intensity is found for particle fluences in the saturation region of T_c. The results are interpreted in terms of static atom displacements statistically distributed in the irradiated volume.     

Electrical properties of SrBi2(Nb0.5Ta0.5)2O9 ceramics

Aurivillius SrBi₂(Nb_0.5Ta_0.5)₂O₉ (SBNT 50/50) ceramics were prepared using the conventional solid-state reaction method. Scanning electron microscopy was applied to investigate the grain structure. The XRD studies revealed an orthorhombic structure in the SBNT 50/50 with lattice parameters a=5.522 Å, b=5.511 Å and c=25.114 Å. The dielectric properties were determined by impedance spectroscopy measurements. A strong low frequency dielectric dispersion was found to exist in this material. Its occurrence was ascribed to the presence of ionized space charge carriers such as oxygen vacancies. The dielectric relaxation was defined on the basis of an equivalent circuit. The temperature dependence of various electrical properties was determined and discussed. The thermal activation energy for the grain electric conductivity was lower in the high temperature region (T>303.6 °C, E_a−ht=0.47 eV) and higher in the low temperature region (T<303.6 °C, E_a−lt=1.18 eV).     

Properties of Nb3Ge tapes for high field magnets

A laboratory process for long Nb₃Ge tapes fabrication by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) has been set up. The Nb₃Ge tapes which were fabricated offer the possibility of high current and high field operation at 4.2 K since the values of critical current densities, J_c, measured in high magnetic fields at 20T and 4.2K exceed 5 × 10⁴ A cm^?2 which is the generally accepted criterion for producing a superconducting magnet.     

Enhancement of the superconducting critical temperature Tc of niobium by radiation damage

5 μm niobium foils were irradiated with 25 MeV oxygen ions at 20 K, 33 K and 145 K up to fluences of 1.3 × 10¹⁶cm^-2 corresponding to a damage rate decrease of 99%. T_c versusresistivity shows a minimum depending on the irradiation temperature. At high fluences and subsequent annealing T_c is enhanced compared to the unirradiated value and the transition is broadened by a factor of about 30.