arXiv subjects

C. W. Chu

Publications and source records attributed to C. W. Chu.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2002

Superconductivity in the C32 Intermetallic Compounds AAl(2-x)Si(x), with A=Ca and Sr, and 0.6<x<1.2

The intermetallic compounds AAl2-xSix, where A = Ca, Sr or Ba, crystallize in the C32 structure, same as the recently discovered MgB2 with a high superconducting transition temperature of 39 K. For x = 1, superconductivity has been observed in AAlSi with A = Ca and Sr, but not with A = Ba. The transition temperatures are 7.8 and 5.1 K, respectively for CaAlSi and SrAlSi. The CaAl2-xSix compound system display a Tc-peak at x = 1, a possible x-induced electronic transition at x ~ 0.75 and a possible miscibility gap near x ~ 1.1 which results in a very broad superconducting transition. The Seebeck coefficients of AAlSi indicate that their carriers are predominantly electrons in nature, in contrast to the holes in MgB2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Vortex avalanches and self organized criticality in superconducting niobium

In 1993 Tang proposed [1] that vortex avalanches should produce a self organized critical state in superconductors, but conclusive evidence for this has heretofore been lacking. In the present paper, we report extensive micro-Hall probe data from the vortex dynamics in superconducting niobium, where a broad distribution of avalanche sizes scaling as a power-law for more than two decades is found. The measurements are combined with magneto-optical imaging, and show that over a widely varying magnetic landscape the scaling behaviour does not change, hence establishing that the dynamics of superconducting vortices is a SOC phenomenon.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

The Superconductivity, Intragrain Penetration Depth and Meissner Effect of RuSr2(Gd,Ce)2Cu2O10+delta

The hole concentration (p)(delta), the transition temperature Tc, the intragrain penetration depth lambda, and the Meissner effect were measured for annealed RuSr2(Gd,Ce)2Cu2O10+delta samples. The intragrain superconducting transition temperature Tc} varied from 17 to 40 K while the p changed by only 0.03 holes/CuO2. The intragrain superfluid-density 1/lambda^2 and the diamagnetic drop of the field-cooled magnetization across Tc (the Meissner effect), however, increased more than 10 times. All of these findings are in disagreement with both the Tc vs. p and the Tc vs. 1/lambda^2 correlations proposed for homogeneous cuprates, but are in line with a possible phase-separation and the granularity associated with it.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Pressure Effect on the Superconducting and Magnetic Transitions of the Superconducting Ferromagnet RuSr2GdCu2O8

The superconducting ferromagnet RuSr2GdCu2O8 was investigated at high pressure. The intra-grain superconducting transition temperature, Tc, is resolved in ac-susceptibility as well as resistivity measurements. It is shown that the pressure shift of Tc is much smaller than that of other high-Tc compounds in a similar doping state. In contrast, the ferromagnetic transition temperature, Tm, increases with pressure at a relative rate that is about twice as large as that of Tc. The high-pressure data indicate a possible competition of the ferromagnetic and superconducting states in RuSr2GdCu2O8.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Superconductivity in the Infinite Layer Compound CaCuO2

Superconductivity in the electric field-effect doped infinite layer compound CaCuO2 is considered. It is argued that in the superconducting CuO2 layer, next to the insulating Al2O3 overlayer, the coordination of the Cu2+ ions by oxygens is pyramidal rather than square planar. This view stems from existing NEXAFS and the analysis of HRETM results, as well as chemical considerations, and is discussed mainly for the hole doped but also the electron doped region of the phase diagramm.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Superconductivity in pure and electron doped MgB2: Transport properties and pressure effects

The normal state and superconducting properties of MgB2 and Mg1-xAlxB2 are discussed based on structural, transport, and high pressure experiments. The positive Seebeck coefficient and its linear temperature dependence for Tc<T<160 K provide evidence that the low-temperature transport in MgB2 is due to hole-like metallic carriers. Structural and transport data show the important role of defects as indicated by the correlation of Tc, the residual resistance ratio, and the microstrain extracted from x-ray spectra. The decrease of Tc with hydrostatic pressure is well explained by the strong-coupling BCS theory. The large scatter of the pressure coefficients of Tc for different MgB2 samples, however, cannot be explained within this theory. We speculate that pressure may increase the defect density, particularly in samples with large initial defect concentration.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Correlation between the residual resistance ratio and magnetoresistance in MgB2

The resistivity and magnetoresistance in the normal state for bulk and thin-film MgB2 with different nominal compositions have been studied systematically. These samples show different temperature dependences of normal state resistivity and residual resistance ratios although their superconducting transition temperatures are nearly the same, except for the thin-film sample. The correlation between the residual resistance ratio (RRR) and the power law dependence of the low temperature resistivity, rho vs. T^c, indicates that the electron-phonon interaction is important. It is found that the magnetoresistance (MR) in the normal state scales well with the RRR, a0(MR) proportional to (RRR)^2.2 +/- 0.1 at 50 K. This accounts for the large difference in magnetoresistance reported by various groups, due to different defect scatterings in the samples.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Evidence for Possible Phase-Separations in RuSr2(Gd,Ce)2Cu2O10-delta

An unusual thermal-magnetic hysteresis was observed between a minor magnetic transition around 120 K and the main one at 80 K in superconducting RuSr2(R,Ce)2Cu2O10-delta (Ru1222R) samples, where R = Gd or Eu, down to a submicron length-scale. The observation suggests a possible phase-separation and is consistent with the very small but universal demagnetizing factor observed, which is difficult to reconcile with the canted spin-structure previously proposed. In such a scenario, the unusual superconducting properties of the Ru-based cuprates can also be understood naturally.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Unusual Field-Dependence of the Intragrain Superconductive Transition in RuSr2EuCu2O8

A narrow intragrain phase-lock transition was observed in RuSr2EuCu2O8 under a magnetic field H up to a few Tesla. The corresponding transition temperature, T2, decreases rapidly (about 100 K/T at low fields) with H indicating that the grains of RuSr2EuCu2O8 behave like a Josephson-junction-array instead of a homogeneous bulk superconductor. Our data suggest that the bulk superconducting transition may occur on a length scale well below the grain size of 2 to 6 micrometer.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Penetration Depth and Anisotropy in MgB2

The penetration depth lambda of MgB2 was deduced from both the ac susceptibility chi and the magnetization M(H) of sorted powders. The good agreement between the two sets of data without geometric correction for the grain orientation suggests that MgB2 is an isotropic superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Direct Observation of Coexistence of Ferromagnetism and Superconductivity in RuSr2(Gd0.7Ce0.3)2Cu2O10

Recent reports of the detecting of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in ruthenium-cuprates have aroused great interest. Unfortunately, whether the two antagonistic phenomena coexist in the same space in the compounds remains unresolved. By employing the magneto-optical-imaging technique, ferromagnetism and superconductivity were indeed directly observed to coexist in the same space in RuSr2(Gd0.7Ce0.3)2Cu2O10 within the experimental resolution of ~ 10 (mu)m. The observation sets a length scale limit for models proposed to account for the competition between ferromagnetism and superconductivity, especially d-wave superconductivity, in this interesting class of compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Nonstoichiometry, Defects and Transport Properties in MgB2

The local composition Mg:B of MgB2 powder was systematically changed through annealing. Correlations were observed between the Mg loss and the lattice parameters a/c and the microstrain of MgB2. Direct wavelength-dispersive-spectrum and XRD measurements on ceramic samples with different residual resistivity ratios suggested that the transport property of MgB2 might be affected by this Mg-deficiency, but oxygen-related defects may play a more important role.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Carrier dynamics and infrared-active phonons in c-axis oriented RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$ film

The conductivity spectra of c-axis oriented thin RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$ film on SrTiO$_3$ substrate, prepared by pulsed-laser deposition, are obtained from the analysis of the reflectivity spectra over broad frequency range and temperatures between 10 and 300 K. The free charge carriers are found to be strongly overdamped with their scattering rate (1.0 eV at room temperature) exceeding the plasma frequency (0.55 eV). Four phonon lines are identified in the experimental spectra and assigned to the specific oxygen related in-plane polarized vibrations based on the comparison with the results of a lattice dynamics shell model calculations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Hydrostatic Pressure Effect on the Superconducting Transition Temperature of MgB2

The pressure effect on the superconducting transition temperature of MgB2 has been determined using gas pressure up to 1 GPa. The transition temperature Tc was found to decrease linearly at a constant rate over the whole pressure range. The recently observed dramatic decrease of dTc/dp at the 40 K freezing pressure (0.5 GPa) cannot be confirmed. The pressure coefficient was also found to be independent of the hydrostatic or nonhydrostatic He environment. The differences in recently reported values of dTc/dp may be attributed to variations in the sample conditions, e.g. stoichiometry.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Thermoelectric power and transport properties of pure and Al-doped MgB2

We have measured the thermoelectric power, S, and resistivity, rho, of pure and Al-doped MgB2. S is positive and increases linearly with temperature above the superconducting transition temperature, Tc. Deviations from the linear dependence appear at higher temperature, T>T0 approx 160 K. Tc and T0 both decrease with Al doping whereas the slope of S(T) in the linear range increases with the Al content. The data are discussed in terms of doping induced changes of the Fermi surface and the density of states at the Fermi level.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

High Pressure Study on MgB2

The hydrostatic pressure effect on the newly discovered superconductor MgB2 has been determined. The transition temperature Tc was found to decrease linearly at a large rate of -1.6 K/GPa, in good quantitative agreement with the ensuing calculated value of -1.4 K/GPa within the BCS framework by Loa and Syassen, using the full-potential linearlized augmented plane-wave method. The relative pressure coefficient, dlnTc/dp, for MgB2 also falls between the known values for conventional sp- and d-superconductors. The observation, therefore, suggests that electron-phonon interaction plays a significant role in the superconductivity of the compound.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Evidence for novel polaronic Fermi-liquid in doped oxides

The modern multi-polaron theory predicts a polaronic Fermi-liquid state, but such a state has not been unambigously confirmed by experiment so far. Here we report theoretical and experimental studies of the isotope effects on the low temperature kinetic properties of the doped ferromagnetic manganites. Our results provide clear evidence for a novel polaronic Fermi-liquid state in doped oxides.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2000

Superconductivity in Ferromagnetic RuSr_2GdCu_2O_8

The phase diagram of temperature versus exchange field is obtained within a BCS model for d-wave superconductivity in CuO_2 layers which is coupled to ferromagnetic RuO_2 layers in RuSr_2GdCu_2O_8. It is found that the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state is very sensitive to the band filling factor. For strong exchange field, we point out that superconductivity could only exist in the interfaces between ferromagnetic domains. The magnetization curve is calculated and its comparison with experiment is discussed. We also propose the measuring of tunneling conductance near a single unitary impurity to detect the strength of the exchange interaction.

cond-mat.supr-con↗