Magnetization of beryllium oxide in the presence of nonmagnetic impurities: Boron,carbon, and nitrogen

The electronic and magnetic states of a nonmagnetic insulator, namely, beryllium oxide, doped with nonmagnetic 2p elements (boron, carbon, and nitrogen) are studied using the density functional theory. The spin polarization of the 2p impurity states, as well as the transition of the doped BeO:(B,C,N) systems to the states of semiconducting or half-metallic magnets, is observed. The prospects for creating new magnetic materials by doping nonmagnetic insulators with nonmagnetic p impurities are discussed.     

Universality of the ratio of the critical amplitudes of the magnetic susceptibility in a two-dimensional ising model with nonmagnetic impurities

The behavior of the magnetic susceptibility of a two-dimensional Ising model with nonmagnetic impurities is investigated numerically. A new method for determining the critical amplitudes and critical temperature is developed. The results of a numerical investigation of the ratio of the critical amplitudes of the magnetic susceptibility are presented. It is shown that the ratio of the critical amplitudes is universal right up to impurity concentrations q ≤ 0.25 (the percolation point of a square lattice is q _c = 0.407254). The behavior of the effective critical exponent γ(q) of the magnetic susceptibility is discussed. Apparently, a transition from Ising-type universal behavior to percolation behavior should occur in a quite narrow concentration range near the percolation point of the lattice.     

Multicritical behavior of the phase diagrams of ferromagnet/superconductor layered structures

For ferromagnet/superconductor (F/S) layered structures, new 3D Larkin-Ovchinnikov-Fulde-Ferrell (LOFF) states are predicted. In most cases, these states are characterized by a higher critical temperature T _c than the known 1D LOFF states. It is shown that the nonmonotonic behavior of T _c is determined by the oscillations of the Cooper pair flux through the F/S boundary, which occur as a result of the 3D-1D-3D phase transitions at the Lifshits triple points. The appearance of the new 3D LOFF states and the presence of nonmagnetic impurities leads to a strong damping of the 1D oscillations of the LOFF pair amplitude and to a considerable smoothing of the dependence of T _c on the F layer thickness d _f . An interpretation of the behavior of the experimental dependences T _c (d _f ) obtained for F/S structures is proposed.     

Influence of nonmagnetic impurities on the kondo effect

The influence of scattering by nonmagnetic impurities is studied in perturbation theory. While the finite lifetime of the electrons in intermediate states due to scattering by nonmagnetic impurities does not lead to a change in the logT-behaviour of the third-order self-energy, certain vertex-corrections give rise to an additional term which varies like 1/√T at low temperatures. Similar correction terms are found to occur in the higher order self-energy contributions. Although these terms diverge more strongly atT=0 than the logarithmic contributions they are quite small at finite temperatures since they depend on the lifetime τ of the electrons through a factor of (? _F τ)^?5/2 (? _F Fermi energy). The possibility of observing these interference effects experimentally is discussed.     

Role of anisotropy of the coupling constant in a superconductor model with singularities near the Fermi surface

The role of anisotropy of the coupling constant in the influence of nonmagnetic impurities on the behavior of the superconducting transition temperature T _c is investigated in the high-temperature superconductor (HTSC) model, where high values of T _c result from an increase in the density of states near the Fermi surface. It is shown that this model is more sensitive to impurities than the BCS model; Anderson compensation does not occur in the HTSC model, even for identical distributions of the densities of states in the superconducting and impurity channels, and the impurity contributions are no longer linear with respect to the impurity concentration in the vicinity of T _c. Anisotropy of the superconducting gap Δ and the possibility of its disappearance at certain points on the Fermi surface due to various types of pairing are manifested in the stability of the superconducting phase against the influence of impurities. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 39, 1940–1942 (November 1997)     

Tricritical point of the three-dimensional Potts model (q = 4) with quenched nonmagnetic disorder

The effect of quenched nonmagnetic impurities on the phase transitions in the three-dimensional Potts model with the number of spin states q = 4 for the case of the simple cubic lattice is studied using the Monte Carlo method. The phase transitions in this model are studied for spin density p ranging from 1.0 to 0.70. The position of the tricritical point at the phase diagram is determined.     

Density functional theory description of the mechanism of ferromagnetism in nitrogen-doped SnO2

Based on first-principles calculations, we have studied the occurrence of spin polarization in the magnetic metal oxide SnO₂ doped with nonmagnetic nitrogen (N) impurities. It was found that the local magnetic moments are localized mainly on the N dopant, causing a total moment of 0.95μB per cell. The long-range magnetic coupling of N-doped SnO₂ may be attributed to a p-p coupling interaction between the N impurity and host valence states.     

Features of Electronic Structure of Intermetallic Compounds CeNi<Subscript>4</Subscript>M (M = Fe,Co, Ni,Cu)

The evolution of the electronic structure of CeNi₄M (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) intermetallics depending on the type of nickel substitutional impurity is explored. We have calculated band structures of these compounds and considered options of substituting one atom in nickel 3d sublattice in both types of crystallographic positions: 2c and 3g. The analysis of total energy self-consistent calculations has shown that positions of 2c type are more energetically advantageous for single iron and cobalt impurities, whereas a position of 3g type is better for a copper impurity. The Cu substitutional impurity does not change either the nonmagnetic state of ions or the total density at the Fermi level states. Fe and Co impurities, on the contrary, due to their considerable magnetic moments, induce magnetization of 3d states of nickel and cause significant changes in the electronic state density at the Fermi level.     

FLAPW-GGA calculations of the influence of Mn, Fe, and Co impurities on the electronic and magnetic properties of layered oxychalcogenides LaCuSO and LaCuSeO

The electronic and magnetic properties of oxychalcogenides LaCuSO and LaCuSeO with a layered ZrCuSiAs-type structure doped with impurity atoms M = Mn, Fe, and Co have been predicted using the first-principles FLAPW-GGA method. It has been shown that a partial substitution of 3d ^{n < 9} metal atoms for copper atoms in the structure of the initial matrix leads to the transition of the oxychalcogenides (nonmagnetic semiconductors) to the state of a magnetic half-metal with 100% spin polarization of near-Fermi electrons. In this case, the magnetic and conducting properties of the LaCu_{1 ? x} M _x S(Se)O systems are determined by the states of the [Cu₂(S,Se)₂] blocks with magnetic impurities separated by nonmagnetic semiconducting [La₂O₂] blocks.     

Surface-induced magnetism of the solids with impurities and vacancies

Using the quantum-mechanical approach combined with the image charge method we calculated the lowest energy levels of the impurities and neutral vacancies with two electrons or holes located in the vicinity of flat surface of different solids. Unexpectedly we obtained that the magnetic triplet state is the ground state of the impurities and neutral vacancies in the vicinity of surface, while the nonmagnetic singlet is the ground state in the bulk, for e.g. He atom, Li⁺, Be⁺⁺ ions, etc. The energy difference between the lowest triplet and singlet states strongly depends on the electron (hole) effective mass μ, dielectric permittivity of the solid ε₂ and the distance from the surface z₀. For z₀=0 and defect charge ∣Z∣=2 the energy difference is more than several hundreds of Kelvins at μ=(0.5−1)m_e and ε₂=2-10, more than several tens of Kelvins at μ=(0.1−0.2)m_e and ε₂=5-10, and not more than several Kelvins at μ<0.1m_e and ε₂>15 (m_e is the mass of a free electron). Pair interaction of the identical surface defects (two doubly charged impurities or vacancies with two electrons or holes) reveals the ferromagnetic spin state with the maximal exchange energy at the definite distance between the defects (∼5-25 nm). We estimated the critical concentration of surface defects and transition temperature of ferromagnetic long-range order appearance in the framework of percolation and mean field theories, and RKKY approach for semiconductors like ZnO. We obtained that the nonmagnetic singlet state is the lowest one for a molecule with two electrons formed by a pair of identical surface impurities (like surface hydrogen), while its next state with deep enough negative energy minimum is the magnetic triplet. The metastable magnetic triplet state appeared for such molecule at the surface indicates the possibility of metastable ortho-states of the hydrogen-like molecules, while they are absent in the bulk of material. The two series of spectral lines are expected due to the coexistence of ortho- and para-states of the molecules at the surface. We hope that obtained results could provide an alternative mechanism of the room temperature ferromagnetism observed in TiO₂, HfO₂, and In₂O₃ thin films with contribution of the oxygen vacancies. We expect that both anion and cation vacancies near the flat surface act as magnetic defects because of their triplet ground state and Hund's rule. The theoretical forecasts are waiting for experimental justification allowing for the number of the defects in the vicinity of surface is much larger than in the bulk of as-grown samples.     

Critical properties of the three-dimensional Ising model with quenched disorder

The static critical properties of the three-dimensional Ising model with quenched disorder are studied by the Monte-Carlo (MC) method on a simple cubic lattice, in which the quenched disorder is distributed as nonmagnetic impurities by the canonical manner. The calculations are carried out for systems with periodic boundary conditions and spin concentrations p=1.0; 0.95; 0.9; 0.8; 0.7; 0.6. The systems of non-linear sizes L×L×L, L=20-60 are researched. On the basis of the finite-size scaling (FSS) theory, the static critical exponents of specific heat α, susceptibility γ, magnetization β, and an exponent of the correlation radius in a studied interval of concentrations p are calculated. It is shown that the three-dimensional Ising model with quenched disorder has two regimes of the critical behavior universality in a dependence on nonmagnetic impurities.     

Local density of states around two nonmagnetic impurities in cuprate superconductors

The local density of states (LDOS) around two nonmagnetic impurities which are located at different sites is studied within the two-dimensional t-J-U model. The order parameters are determined in a self-consistent way with the Gutzwiller projected mean-field approximation and the Bogoliubov-de Gennes theory. When the two impurities are located one or two sites away, we find the superconductivity coherence peaks are more strongly suppressed and the zero-energy peak (ZEP) has split into two peaks. Whereas when the two impurities are located next to each other, the ZEP vanished, and LDOS does not change a lot compared with the case away from the impurities.     

Fluctuations in high field superconductors

We present calculations for the influence of fluctuations in high field superconductors where the critical field is limited by Pauli paramagnetism. Due to the fact that the critical field at the second order phase transition point as function of temperature may have a maximum atT≠0 the additional conductivity due to fluctuations may have a nonmonotonic temperature dependence. This way we can account for recent experimental findings by Tedrow, Meservey and Schwartz. We also calculate the additional tunneling density of states due to fluctuations. Under proper conditions it exhibits a maximum at zero frequency like in the gapless regime. Finally we show that our findings of a nonmonotonic resistivity should also apply to superconductors containing magnetic impurities such as La_3-x Gd _x In in an external field.     

T c of disordered superconductors near the Anderson transition

According to the Anderson theorem, the critical temperature T _c of a disordered superconductor is determined by the average density of states and does not change at the localization threshold. This statement is valid under assumption of a self-averaging order parameter, which can be violated in the strong localization region. Stimulating by statements on the essential increase of T _c near the Anderson transition, we carried out the systematic investigation of possible violations of self-averaging. Strong deviations from the Anderson theorem are possible due to resonances at the quasi-discrete levels, resulting in localization of the order parameter at the atomic scale. This effect is determined by the properties of individual impurities and has no direct relation to the Anderson transition. In particular, we do not see any reasons to say on “fractal superconductivity” near the localization threshold.     

de Haas-van Alphen effect in superconductors

A theory of the de Haas-van Alphen effect in type-II superconductors is proposed. The effect of the electron scattering by nonmagnetic impurities in a magnetic field in the potential produced by a nonuniform distribution of the order parameter in a mixed state is investigated. The magnitude of the order parameter and quasiparticle density of states are determined from the solution of the system of Gor’kov equations. It is shown that in the presence of even a small amount of impurities, the superconducting state near the upper critical field is gapless. In this region, the oscillatory (in the magnetic field) contribution to the density of states and the characteristic damping of the amplitude of the magnetization oscillations in the superconducting state are found. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 112, 1873–1892 (November 1997)     

Impurity induced resonance states at the superconducting interface LaAlO3/SrTiO3

Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity on the heterointerface LaAlO₃/SrTiO₃, we theoretically investigate the impurity-induced resonance states with coexisting spin singlet s- and triplet p-wave pairing symmetries by considering the influence of Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction (RSOI). Due to the nodal structure of the mixed gap function, we find single nonmagnetic impurity-induced resonance peaks appearing in the local density of state. We also analyze the evolutions of density of states and local density of states with the weight of triplet pairing component determined by the strength of RSOI, which will be widely observed in thin films of superconductors with surface or interface-induced RSOI, or various noncentrosymmetric superconductors in terms of point contact tunneling and scanning tunneling microscopy, and thus shed light on the admixture of the spin singlet and RSOI-induced triplet superconducting states.     

Study of ferromagnetic correlations caused by impurities in nonmagnetic materials by the method of small-angle scattering of polarized neutrons

The possibility of the study of ferromagnetic correlations caused by d-metal impurities in nonmagnetic matrices is discussed. The polarization and magnetic-nuclear interference obtained by analyzing the small-angle scattering of polarized neutrons in a CuZn(20) alloy with Ni impurity (1 at %) are reported. It has been shown that Ni is clustered in the CuZn matrix with the characteristic correlation radius in the range 100 Å < R _c < 5000 Å depending on the thermal processing of the samples. The cross correlation function determining magnetic-nuclear interference is satisfactorily approximated by the exponential exp(?r/R _c), where r is the distance. It has been found that the nonmagnetic matrix CuZn(20) with an almost uniform distribution of 1% Ni impurity has metamagnetic properties in the field H ≈ 0.5 T at room temperature.     

Investigation of the influence of quenched nonmagnetic impurities on phase transitions in the three-dimensional Potts model

The influence of quenched nonmagnetic impurities on phase transitions in the three-dimensional Potts model with the number of spin states q = 3 is investigated using the Wolff single-cluster algorithm of the Monte Carlo method. The systems with linear sizes L = 20–44 at the spin concentrations p = 1.0, 0.9, 0.8, and 0.7 are analyzed. It is demonstrated with the use of the method of fourth-order Binder cumulants that the second-order phase transition occurs in the model under consideration at the spin concentrations p = 0.9, 0.8, and 0.7 and that the first-order phase transition is observed in the pure model (p = 1.0). The static critical exponents α (heat capacity), γ (susceptibility), β (magnetization), and ν (correlation length) are calculated in the framework of the finite-size scaling theory. The problem regarding the universality classes of the critical behavior of weakly diluted systems is discussed.     

Effect of paramagnetic impurities on relaxation of nuclear spins in the superconductors

The ratio of nuclear spin relaxations rates R_s/R_n in the superconductors is calculated for different temperatures and concentrations of paramagnetic impurities, on the base of exact formulae for the density of electronic states and the factor of coherence.     

The influence of Ni impurities on the magnetic properties and ESR in Gd(Al1−xNix)2 compounds for x ⩽ 0.2

X-ray, magnetic and ESR studies in Gd(Al_1?xNi_x)₂ compounds were performed. The obtained results, analysed by means of the theoretical models proposed by P.A. Lindgård and E. Zipper show that nickel is nonmagnetic in the studied compounds and its presence changes the conduction band structure and decreases the density of states on the Fermi level.