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Kathryn A. Moler

Publications and source records attributed to Kathryn A. Moler.

60 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
arXiv2007

Moment switching in nanotube magnetic force probes

A recent advance in improving the spatial resolution of magnetic force microscopy (MFM) uses as sensor tips carbon nanotubes grown at the apex of conventional silicon cantilever pyramids and coated with a thin ferromagnetic layer. Magnetic images of high density vertically recorded media using these tips exhibit a doubling of the spatial frequency under some conditions. Here we demonstrate that this spatial frequency doubling is due to the switching of the moment direction of the nanotube tip. This results in a signal which is proportional to the absolute value of the signal normally observed in MFM. Our modeling indicates that a significant fraction of the tip volume is involved in the observed switching, and that it should be possible to image very high bit densities with nanotube magnetic force sensors.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2007

Enhanced current flow through meandering and tilted grain boundaries in YBCO films

Grain boundaries (GBs) have been shown to limit critical current density, Jc, in YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) coated conductors. Here we use transport measurements and scanning Hall probe microscopy coupled with current reconstruction to demonstrate that GB geometry, such as the in-plane meandering observed in films grown by metalorganic deposition (MOD) on rolling assisted biaxially textured substrate (RABiTS), can lead to higher GB Jc. We observe current-induced flux entry into such a coated conductor, then model its behavior by imaging films with single, straight GBs tilted at various angles to the applied current.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2006

Magnetic response of mesoscopic superconducting rings with two order parameters

The magnetic response and fluxoid transitions of superconducting aluminum rings of various sizes, deposited under conditions likely to generate a layered structure, show good agreement with a two-order-parameter Ginzburg-Landau model. For intermediate couplings, we find metastable states that have different phase winding numbers around the ring in each of the two order parameters. Those states, previously theoretically predicted, are analogous to fractional vortices in singly connected samples with two-order-parameter superconductivity. Larger coupling locks the relative phase so that the two order parameters are only manifest in the temperature dependence of the response. With increasing proximitization, this signature gradually disappears.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2006

Imaging ac losses in superconducting films via scanning Hall probe microscopy

Various local probes have been applied to understanding current flow through superconducting films, which are often surprisingly inhomogeneous. Here we show that magnetic imaging allows quantitative reconstruction of both current density, J, and electric field, E, resolved in time and space, in a film carrying subcritical ac current. Current reconstruction entails inversion of the Biot-Savart law, while electric fields are reconstructed using Faraday's law. We describe the corresponding numerical procedures, largely adapting existing work to the case of a strip carrying ac current, but including new methods of obtaining the complete electric field from the inductive portion determined by Faraday's law. We also delineate the physical requirements behind the mathematical transformations. We then apply the procedures to images of a strip of YBa2Cu3O7 (YBCO) carrying an ac current at 400 Hz. Our scanning Hall probe microscope produces a time-series of magnetic images of the strip with 1 micron spatial resolution and 25 microsecond time resolution. Combining the reconstructed J and E, we obtain a complete characterization including local critical current density, E-J curves, and power losses. This analysis has a range of applications from fundamental studies of vortex dynamics to practical coated conductor development.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv1995

Specific Heat of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7 - {\rm δ}}$ Single Crystals: Implications for the Vortex Structure

The anisotropy of the magnetic field dependence of the specific heat of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7 - {\rm δ}}$ can be used to identify different low-energy excitations, which include phonons, spin-$ \frac{1}{2}$ particles, and electronic contributions. With a magnetic field H applied perpendicular to the copper oxide planes, we find that the specific heat includes a linear-T term proportional to $\sqrt{H}$. The nonlinear field dependence of the density of states at the Fermi level suggests that there are quasiparticle excitations throughout the entire vortex, not just in the vortex core. The $\sqrt{H} T$ term agrees quantitatively with G. Volovik's prediction for a superconductor with lines of nodes in the gap. A similar, but much smaller, effect is predicted for fields parallel to the planes, and sensitive measurements of the in-plane anisotropic magnetic field dependence of the specific heat could be used to map out the nodes.

cond-mat↗