arXiv subjects

A. Prokofiev

Publications and source records attributed to A. Prokofiev.

40 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Unusual behaviours and Impurity Effects in the Noncentrosymmetric Superconductor CePt3Si

We report a study in which the effect of defects/impurities, growth process, off-stoichiometry, and presence of impurity phases on the superconducting properties of noncentrosymmetric CePt3Si is analysed by means of the temperature dependence of the magnetic penetration depth. We found that the linear low-temperature response of the penetration depth -indicative of line nodes in this material- is robust regarding sample quality, in contrast to what is observed in unconventional centrosymmetric superconductors with line nodes. We discuss evidence that the broadness of the superconducting transition may be intrinsic, though not implying the existence of a second superconducting transition. The superconducting transition temperature systematically occurs around 0.75 K in our measurements, in agreement with resistivity and ac magnetic susceptibility data but in conflict with specific heat, thermal conductivity and NMR data in which Tc is about 0.5 K. Random defects do not change the linear low-temperature dependence of the penetration depth in the heavy-fermion CePt3Si with line nodes, as they do in unconventional centrosymmetric superconductors with line nodes.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Extreme vortex pinning in the non-centrosymmetric superconductor CePt$_{3}$Si

We report on the vortex dynamics of a single crystal of the non-centrosymmetric heavy-fermion superconductor CePt$_{3}$Si. Decays of the remnant magnetization display a clean logarithmic time dependence with rates that follow the temperature dependence expected from the Kim-Anderson theory. The creep rates are lower than observed in any other centrosymmetric superconductor and are not caused by high critical currents. On the contrary, the critical current in CePt$_{3}$Si is considerably lower than in other superconductors with strong vortex pinning indicating that an alternative impediment on the flux line motion might be at work in this superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Spin-modulated quasi-1D antiferromagnet LiCuVO_4

We report on magnetic resonance studies within the magnetically ordered phase of the quasi-1D antiferromagnet LiCuVO_4. Our studies reveal a spin reorientational transition at a magnetic field H_c1 ~ 25 kOe applied within the crystallographical (ab)-plane in addition to the recently observed one at H_c2 \~75 kOe [ M.G. Banks et al., cond-mat/0608554 (2006)]. Spectra of the antiferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) along low-frequency branches can be described in the frame of a macroscopic theory of exchange-rigid planar magnetic structures. These data allow to obtain the anisotropy of the exchange interaction together with a constant of the uniaxial anisotropy. Spectra of 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) show that, within the magnetically ordered phase of LiCuVO_4 in the low-field range H < H_c1, a planar spiral spin structure is realized with the spins lying in the (ab)-plane in agreement with neutron scattering studies of B.J. Gibson et al. [Physica B Vol. 350, 253 (2004)]. Based on NMR spectra simulations, the transition at H_c1 can well be described as a spin-flop transition, where the spin plane of the magnetically ordered structure rotates to be perpendicular to the direction of the applied magnetic field. For H > H_c2 ~ 75 kOe, our NMR spectra simulations show that the magnetically ordered structure exhibits a modulation of the spin projections along the direction of the applied magnetic field H.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Anisotropic Exchange in LiCuVO$_4$ probed by ESR

We investigated the paramagnetic resonance in single crystals of LiCuVO$_4$ with special attention to the angular variation of the absorption spectrum. To explain the large resonance linewidth of the order of 1 kOe, we analyzed the anisotropic exchange interaction in the chains of edge-sharing CuO$_6$ octahedra, taking into account the ring-exchange geometry of the nearest-neighbor coupling via two symmetric rectangular Cu-O bonds. The exchange parameters, which can be estimated from theoretical considerations, nicely agree with the parameters obtained from the angular dependence of the linewidth. The anisotropy of this magnetic ring exchange is found to be much larger than it is usually expected from conventional estimations which neglect the bonding geometry. Hence, the data yield the evidence that in copper oxides with edge-sharing structures the role of the orbital degrees of freedom is strongly enhanced. These findings establish LiCuVO$_4$ as one-dimensional compound at high temperatures. PACS: 76.30.-v, 76.30.Fc, 75.30.Et

cond-mat.str-el↗