The superconducting transition in coupled linear chain systems

The superconducting transition and the critical fluctuations of a model system that can pass continuously from one-dimension to three-dimensions are investigated. The transition is brought about by a variable coupling between families of linear chains. First, a Bose lattice-gas is considered, and the Bose-Einstein transition temperature T_BE is calculated as a function of the coupling strength. Second, the temperature T_oz at which the fluctuations in the gap parameter equal the average gap parameter is calculated as a function of the coupling, and is found to behave in a similar way to T_BE. Both these temperatures go continuously to zero as the system becomes one-dimensional while T_c calculated in mean-field theory does not vanish in this limit.It is found that for coupling parameters believed to be characteristic of some superconductors possessing the A-15 crystal structure, such as Nb₃Sn, the system is essentially three-dimensional (3D) as far as superconducting properties are concerned; but critical fluctuations may be somewhat enhanced, in particular when the electronic density of states is not very large.     

The interaction between an oscillating dipole and a metal surface described by a jellium model and the random phase approximation

The electric field acting on an oscillating dipole located near a metal surface is computed. The latter is described by a jellium model and the random phase approximation. The aim is ascertaining to what extent spatial dispersion and variation of the dielectric properties across the interface modify the image dipole. Implications for surface Raman and fluorescence spectroscopy are discussed.     

Surface oxidation kinetics of sputtering targets

Films of compounds can be deposited by sputtering a metal or alloy target in an atmosphere containing a suitable reactive gas. Both Al and 90 : 10 In : Sn targets have been sputtered in argon/oxygen mixtures to obtain Al₂O₃ and indium tin oxide films. The experiments were carried out in a planar magnetron sputtering system with both dc and rf excitation. To investigate the kinetics of the reactive sputtering process, the time dependence of the total gas pressure was measured after a change in oxygen flow rate or sputtering power; a capacitance manometer gave accurate and reproducible results. There were simultaneous changes in the rf matching conditions when rf excitation was used. These changes can be attributed to the formation of an oxide on the target surface. The time dependence of the oxygen pressure measured for the Al and In : Sn targets have been used to compare various models of the reactive sputtering process. Fitting of the experimental values to these models yields values of the equilibrium oxide thickness on the target and these have been compared with measured values. For rf sputtering of an Al target at 500 W with flow rates of $\text{3}\text{ml}\text{min}$ and $\text{2.2}\text{ml}\text{min}$ for argon and oxygen respectively, both the calculated and the measured value of the oxide thickness is 100 nm.     

Prediction of strong magnetic quantum oscillations of the nuclear spin relaxation in a quasi-two-dimensional metal

The nuclear spin lattice relaxation rate in a quasi-two-dimensional (2-D) metal under strong magnetic fields is studied in a special case where the electronic cyclotron mass is small compared with the free electron mass. In the pure limit (ω_cτ ? 1) and for sufficiently low temperatures ($\text{h}\text{?}\text{ω}{}_{\mathrm{c}}\text{> 2π}{}^2\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{B}}\text{T}$) we find remarkable quantum oscillations of the relaxation rate as a function of the magnetic field. The period of these oscillations is identical to that of the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations and their amplitude grows linearly with the magnetic field. The possibility of observing such oscillations experimentally in the quasi-2-D mercury chain compound Hg_3?δAsF₆ is discussed.