arXiv subjects

E. M. Forgan

Publications and source records attributed to E. M. Forgan.

52 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Morphology of the Superconducting Vortex Lattice in Ultra-Pure Niobium

The morphology of the superconducting flux line lattice (FLL) of Nb comprises gradual variations with various lock-in transitions and symmetry breaking rotations. We report a comprehensive small-angle neutron scattering study of the FLL in an ultra-pure single crystal of Nb as a function of the orientation of the applied magnetic field. We attribute the general morphology of the FLL and its orientation to three dominant mechanisms. First, non-local contributions, second, the transition between open and closed Fermi surface sheets and, third, the intermediate mixed state between the Meissner and the Shubnikov phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Direct observation of the flux-line vortex glass phase in a type II superconductor

The order of the vortex state in La_{1.9} Sr_{0.1} CuO_{4} is probed using muon spin rotation and small-angle neutron scattering. A transition from a Bragg glass to a vortex glass is observed, where the latter is composed of disordered vortex lines. In the vicinity of the transition the microscopic behavior reflects a delicate interplay of thermally-induced and pinning-induced disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Muons as Local Probes of Three-body Correlations in the Mixed State of Type-II Superconductors

The vortex glass state formed by magnetic flux lines in a type-II superconductor is shown to possess non-trivial three-body correlations. While such correlations are usually difficult to measure in glassy systems, the magnetic fields associated with the flux vortices allow us to probe these via muon-spin rotation measurements of the local field distribution. We show via numerical simulations and analytic calculations that these observations provide detailed microscopic insight into the local order of the vortex glass and more generally validate a theoretical framework for correlations in glassy systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Square vortex lattice at anomalously low magnetic fields in electron-doped Nd$_{1.85}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4}$

We report here on the first direct observations of the vortex lattice in the bulk of electron-doped Nd$_{1.85}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4}$ single crystals. Using small angle neutron scattering, we have observed a square vortex lattice with the nearest-neighbors oriented at 45$^{\circ}$ from the Cu-O bond direction, which is consistent with theories based on the d-wave superconducting gap. However, the square symmetry persists down to unusually low magnetic fields. Moreover, the diffracted intensity from the vortex lattice is found to decrease rapidly with increasing magnetic field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Observation of a Triangular to Square Flux Lattice Phase Transition in YBCO

We have used the technique of small-angle neutron scattering to observe magnetic flux lines directly in an YBCO single crystal at fields higher than previously reported. For field directions close to perpendicular to the CuO2 planes, we find that the flux lattice structure changes smoothly from a distorted triangular co-ordination to nearly perfectly square as the magnetic induction approaches 11 T. The orientation of the square flux lattice is as expected from recent d-wave theories, but is 45 deg from that recently observed in LSCO.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Observation of vortex lattice melting in large untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ single crystals

We present a study of the vortex lattice in untwinned YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ crystals, using a combination of muon spin rotation and neutron small angle scattering measurements. Both methods show a very sharp melting temperature consistent with a first order transition. The dependence of the melting temperature on the angle of the field with respect to the crystallographic c-axis is studied. The results are compared to thermal measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Transition from Type-I to Type-II Superconducting Behaviour with Temperature observed by $μ$SR and SANS

We investigate the superconducting behaviour of Bi doped Pb. Pure lead shows type-I behaviour entering an intermediate state in a magnetic field. High dopings of Bi ($>$3%) lead to type-II behaviour showing a mixed state, where the magnetic field penetrates the superconductor in the form of a flux lattice. At intermediate doping, the sample shows both type-I and type-II behaviour depending on the temperature. This arises because the Ginzburg-Landau parameter $κ$ passes through its critical value of $1/\sqrt{2}$ with temperature.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Distribution of Transport Current in a Type II Superconductor Studied by Small Angle Neutron Scattering

We report Small-Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) measurements on the vortex lattice in a PbIn polycrystal in the presence of an applied current. Using the rocking curves as a probe of the distribution of current in the sample, we observe that vortex pinning is due to the surface roughness. This leads to a surface current that persists in the flux flow region. We show the influence of surface treatments on the distribution of this current.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

A small angle neutron scattering study of the vortex matter in La{2-x}Sr{x}CuO{4} (x=0.17)

The magnetic phase diagram of slightly overdoped La{2-x}Sr{x}CuO{4} (x=0.17) is characterised by a field-induced hexagonal to square transition of the vortex lattice at low fields (~0.4 Tesla) [R. Gilardi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 217003 (2002)]. Here we report on a small angle neutron scattering study of the vortex lattice at higher fields, that reveals no further change of the coordination of the square vortex lattice up to 10.5 Tesla applied perpendicular to the CuO2 planes. Moreover, it is found that the diffraction signal disappears at temperatures well below Tc, due to the melting of the vortex lattice.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Direct evidence for an intrinsic square vortex lattice in the overdoped high-Tc superconductor La1.83Sr0.17CuO4+d

We report here the first direct observations of a well ordered vortex lattice in the bulk of a La(2-x)Sr(x)CuO(4+d) (La214) single crystal (slightly overdoped, x=0.17). Our small angle neutron scattering investigation of the mixed phase reveals a crossover from triangular to square coordination with increasing magnetic field. The existence of an intrinsic square vortex lattice has never been observed in high-temperature superconductors (HTSC), and is indicative of the coupling of the vortex lattice to a source of anisotropy, such as those provided by a d-wave order parameter or the presence of stripes.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Observation of Two-dimensional Spin Fluctuations in the Bilayer Ruthenate Sr3Ru2O7 by Inelastic Neutron Scattering

We report the first observation of two-dimensional incommensurate magnetic fluctuations in the layered metallic perovskite Sr3Ru2O7. The wavevectors where the magnetic fluctuations are strongest are different from those observed in the superconducting single layer ruthenate Sr2RuO4 and appear to be determined by Fermi surface nesting. No antiferromagnetic ordering is observed for temperatures down to 1.5K. For temperatures T<20K, the fluctuations become predominately ferromagnetic. Our inelastic neutron scattering measurements provide concrete evidence of the coexistence of competing interactions in Sr3Ru2O7 and of the low energy scale of the fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

A reconstruction from small-angle neutron scattering measurements of the real space magnetic field distribution in the mixed state of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$

We have measured the diffracted neutron scattering intensities from the square magnetic flux lattice in the perovskite superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, which is thought to exhibit p-wave pairing with a two-component order parameter. The relative intensities of different Bragg reflections over a wide range of field and temperature have been shown to be inconsistent with a single component Ginzburg-Landau theory but qualitatively agree with a two component p-wave Ginzburg-Landau theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Vortex lattice structures and pairing symmetry in Sr2RuO4

Recent experimental results indicate that superconductivity in Sr2RuO4 is described by the p-wave E_u representation of the D_{4h} point group. Results on the vortex lattice structures for this representation are presented. The theoretical results are compared with experiment.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1999

Flux-Line Lattice Structures in Untwinned YBa2Cu3O

A small angle neutron scattering study of the flux-line lattice in a large single crystal of untwinned YBa2Cu3O is presented. In fields parallel to the c-axis, diffraction spots are observed corresponding to four orientations of a hexagonal lattice, distorted by the a-b anisotropy. A value for the anisotropy, the penetration depth ratio, of 1.18(2) was obtained. The high quality of the data is such that second order diffraction is observed, indicating a well ordered FLL. With the field at 33 degrees to c a field dependent re-orientation of the lattice is observed around 3T.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1998

The Interpretation of Magnetisation and Entropy Jumps in the Mixed State of High-Temperature Superconductors

In the high-temperature superconductor BSCCO, local measurements of magnetic field at the surface of a crystal in the mixed state show sharp changes as a function of applied field or temperature. We show that if `intermediate state' effects are accounted for, a first-order transition leads to a sharp jump in the global magnetisation only in the case of samples that are significantly non-ellipsoidal in shape. We also investigate the relationship between a jump in magnetisation, M, and the associated change in the B-field immediately above the crystal surface and show that deltaM is expected to be twice deltaB/muo. In addition, we emphasise that the Clausius-Clapeyron relationship between magnetisation jump and entropy jump should involve the local H-field, not the B-field or the applied H-field. Re-interpreting some published experimental data leads to the conclusion that the entropy change can be as much as 4.0 kB per flux line per layer, compared with less than 2 kB previously reported. We present and analyse new experimental data on local field jumps and global magnetisation measurements and find that they agree with the above. We also show that these data are consistent with the boundary region between the liquid and solid phases having a width of around 20 flux-line spacings at a field of 10 mT.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv1997

The Interpretation of Magnetisation and Entropy Jumps in the Flux-line Lattice

In the HTC superconductor BSCCO, local measurements of magnetic field in the mixed state show sharp changes as a function of applied field or temperature, which have been interpreted as evidence for a first-order flux-lattice melting (or sublimation) transition . The entropy associated with such a transition was calculated from the magnetisation jumps using a Clausius-Clapeyron-type relationship and was found to increase with temperature up to a value of nearly 1.5kB per flux-line per CuO layer near Tc. This is considerably larger than would be expected, even if the fluid phase consisted of completely dissociated `pancake' vortices. We re-examine this calculation and show that the total change in entropy associated with the transition is actually over 4kB per flux-line per CuO layer. However, we also show that the major portion of this entropy can be attributed to the cores of the extra flux lines formed in the transition and that the residue is consistent with that expected for the disorder associated with melting or sublimation, thereby resolving an important controversy.

cond-mat.supr-con↗