arXiv subjects

L. F. Cohen

Publications and source records attributed to L. F. Cohen.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2004

Investigation of the growth and magnetic properties of highly oriented films of the Heusler alloy Co2MnSi on GaAs(001)

Highly (001) oriented thin films of Co2MnSi have been grown on lattice matched GaAs(001) without a buffer layer. Stoichiometric films exhibited a saturation magnetization slightly reduced from the bulk value and films grown at the highest substrate temperature of 689 K showed the lowest resistivity (33 micro.ohm.cm at 4.2 K) and the lowest coercivity (14 Oe). The spin polarization of the transport current was found to be of the order of 55% as determined by point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy. The reduced magnetization obtained was attributed to the antiferromagnetic Mn2As phase. Twofold in-plane magnetic anisotropy was observed due to the inequivalence of the <110> directions, and this was attributed to the nature of the bonding at the reconstructed GaAs surface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Enhancement of Critical Current Density in low level Al-doped MgB2

Two sets of MgB2 samples doped with up to 5 at. % of Al were prepared in different laboratories using different procedures. Decreases in the a and c lattice parameters were observed with Al doping confirming Al substitution onto the Mg site. The critical temperature (Tc) remained largely unchanged with Al doping. For 1 - 2.5 at.% doping, at 20K the in-field critical current densities (Jc's) were enhanced, particularly at lower fields. At 5K, in-field Jc was markedly improved, e.g. at 5T Jc was enhanced by a factor of 20 for a doping level of 1 at.% Al. The improved Jcs correlate with increased sample resistivity indicative of an increase in the upper critical field, Hc2, through alloying.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

First order magnetic transition in CeFe$_2$ alloys: Phase-coexistence and metastability

First order ferromagnetic (FM) to antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase transition in doped-CeFe$_2$ alloys is studied with micro-Hall probe technique. Clear visual evidence of magnetic phase-coexistence on micrometer scales and the evolution of this phase-coexistence as a function of temperature, magnetic field and time across the first order FM-AFM transition is presented. Such phase-coexistence and metastability arise as natural consequence of an intrinsic disorder-influenced first order transition. Generality of this phenomena involving other classes of materials is discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Structural, magnetic and transport properties of thin films of the Heusler alloy Co2MnSi

Thin films of Co2MnSi have been grown on a-plane sapphire substrates from three elemental targets by dc magnetron co-sputtering. These films are single phase, have a strong (110) texture and a saturation magnetization of 4.95 uB/formula unit at 10 K. Films grown at the highest substrate temperature of 715 K showed the lowest resistivity (47 uOhm cm at 4.2 K) and the lowest coercivity (18 Oe). The spin polarization of the transport current was found to be of the order of 54% as determined by point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy. A decrease in saturation magnetization with decreasing film thickness and different transport behaviour in thinner films indicate a graded disorder in these films grown on non-lattice matched substrates.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Superconducting gap structure and pinning in disordered MgB2 films

We have performed a comparative study of two thin films of magnesium diboride (MgB2) grown by different techniques. The critical current density at different temperatures and magnetic fields was evaluated from magnetisation curves, the structure of superconducting order parameter was obtained from point-contact spectroscopy, and the scattering rates were evaluated by fitting the temperature dependent normal-state resistivity to the two-band model. The films have similar critical temperatures close to 39 K, but the upper critical fields were different by a factor of 2 (5.2T and 2.5 T at 20 K). We have found that the film with higher Hc2 also had stronger scattering in the sigma band and smaller value of the superconducting gap in this band. As the scattering in sigma band is primarily due to the defects in boron plane, our results are consistent with the assumption that disordering the boron planes leads to enhanced Hc2 and better pinning properties in magnetic field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

The effect of magnetic field on the two superconducting gaps in MgB2

Double-gap superconductivity in an epitaxial MgB2 film has been studied by means of point-contact spectroscopy in magnetic field up to 8 Tesla. The relatively fast disappearance of the feature associated with the pi-band gap at a field around 1 T is caused by the line broadening due to strong pair breaking rather than to a collapse of the double-gap state. This pair breaking was found to increase linearly with field. Field dependences of the order parameters Delta_pi and Delta_sigma in the pi and sigma bands were measured in field applied parallel and perpendicular to the film, at T = 4.2 K. In perpendicular field, both order parameters survive to a common Hc2, which is about 6.5 T for this direction. In parallel field, the decrease of Delta_sigma is much more gradual, consistent with the Hc2 being about 4 times greater in this ori-entation. The difference in Delta_pi measured in the two field orientations is however smaller than the difference of Delta_sigma. We compare these results with the data on tunnelling spectroscopy and specific heat measurements of MgB2 single crystals and find consistency between the different experimental approaches.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Disorder effects at low temperatures in La_{0.7-x}Y_{x}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3} manganites

With the aim of probing the effect of magnetic disorder in the low-temperature excitations of manganites, specific-heat measurements were performed in zero field, and in magnetic fields up to 9 T in polycrystalline samples of La_{0.7-x}Y_{x}Ca_{0.3}MnO_{3}, with Y concentrations x=0, 0.10, and 0.15. Yttrium doping yielded the appearance of a cluster-glass state, giving rise to unusual low-temperature behavior of the specific-heat. The main feature observed in the results is a strong enhancement of the specific-heat linear term, which is interpreted as a direct consequence of magnetic disorder. The analysis was further corroborated by resistivity measurements in the same compounds.

cond-mat↗

arXiv2003

Effects of proton irradiation and ageing on the superconducting properties of single crystalline and polycrystalline MgB2

We present magnetisation data on crystalline and polycrystalline MgB2 before and after irradiation with ~1MeV protons. In the virgin crystal the critical current density is below our noise floor of 103A/cm2 over most of the field range. However, after irradiation a peak occurs in the current density as a function of applied magnetic field as the upper critical field Hc2 is approached. After subsequent ageing over a time period of three months, the peak effect is greatly enhanced, exhibiting much stronger pinning over a wide field range, and the upper critical field is approximately doubled, accompanied by a 2K reduction in transition temperature. Similar studies were made on polycrystalline fragments, where irradiation leads to an increased irreversibility field (Jc is enhanced at high fields but decreased at low fields) and a suppression in transition temperature. However, after two years of ageing both parameters returned towards those of the virgin sample.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Microwave intermodulation distortion of MgB2 thin films

The two tone intermodulation arising in MgB2 thin films deposited in-situ by planar magnetron sputtering on sapphire substrates is studied. Samples are characterised using an open-ended dielectric puck resonator operating at 8.8 GHz. The experimental results show that the third order products increase with the two-tone input power with a slope ranging between 1.5 and 2.3. The behaviour can be understood introducing a mechanism of vortex penetration in grain boundaries as the most plausible source of non linearities in these films. This assumption is confirmed by the analysis of the field dependence of the surface resistance, that show a linear behaviour at all temperatures under test.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Critical Fields and Critical Currents in MgB2

We review recent measurements of upper (Hc2) and lower (Hc1) critical fields in clean single crystals of MgB2, and their anisotropies between the two principal crystallographic directions. Such crystals are far into the "clean limit" of Type II superconductivity, and indeed for fields applied in the c-direction, the Ginzburg-Landau parameter k is only about 3, just large enough for Type II behaviour. Because m0Hc2 is so low, about 3 T for fields in the c-direction, MgB2 has to be modified for it to become useful for high-current applications. It should be possible to increase Hc2 by the introduction of strong electron scattering (but because of the electronic structure and the double gap that results, the scatterers will have to be chosen carefully). In addition, pinning defects on a scale of a few nm will have to be engineered in order to enhance the critical current density at high fields.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Effective Vortex Pinning in MgB2 thin films

We discuss pinning properties of MgB2 thin films grown by pulsed-laser deposition (PLD) and by electron-beam (EB) evaporation. Two mechanisms are identified that contribute most effectively to the pinning of vortices in randomly oriented films. The EB process produces low defected crystallites with small grain size providing enhanced pinning at grain boundaries without degradation of Tc. The PLD process produces films with structural disorder on a scale less that the coherence length that further improves pinning, but also depresses Tc.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Super-conducting critical fields and anisotropy of a MgB2 single crystal

Despite the intense activity in the year since the discovery of superconductivity in MgB2, key parameters, in particular the upper and lower critical fields Hc2 and Hc1 and their anisotropies, are not well-established, largely because of the difficulty of growing MgB2 crystals. Attempts have been made to deduce these parameters from experiments on polycrystalline material, but they have substantial uncertainties. Hc2 is particularly important for applications, as it is the field which quenches bulk super-conductivity. In terms of understanding MgB2, it is now clear that the conventional electron-phonon interaction is strong enough to account for the high transition temperature Tc, but the consequences of the double super-conducting gap for the anisotropy and its dependence on temperature, are uncertain. Here we describe detailed direct measurements of Hc1(T) and Hc2(T) for the two principal crystallographic directions in a clean single crystal of MgB2. For fields in the c-direction, $μ_0 H^c_{c1}(0)$ = $0.28 +- 0.01T$ and $μ_0 H^c_{c2}(0)$ is $3 +- 0.5T$; this ratio of critical fields is rather low and implies that MgB2 is only just a Type II super-conductor. The anisotropies of both critical fields are close to 2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

High Critical Current Density and Improved Irreversibility Field in Bulk MgB2 Made By A Scaleable, Nanoparticle Addition Route

Bulk samples of MgB2 were prepared with 5, 10, and 15% wt.% Y2O3 nanoparticles added using a simple solid-state reaction route. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed a fine nanostructure consisting of ~3-5 nm YB4 nanoparticles embedded within MgB2 grains of ~400 nm size. Compared to an undoped control sample, an improvement in the in-field critical current density Jc was observed, most notably for 10% doping. At 4.2K, the lower bound Jc value was ~2x105A.cm-2 at 2T. At 20K, the corresponding value was ~8x104A.cm-2. Irreversibility fields were ~11.5 T at 4.2K and 5.5T at 20K, compared to ~4T and ~8T, respectively, for high-pressure synthesized bulk samples.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

The structure of the superconducting gap in MgB2 from point-contact spectroscopy

We have studied the structure of the superconducting gap in MgB2 thin films by means of point-contact spectroscopy using a gold tip. The films were produced by depositing pure boron on a sapphire substrate, using e-beam evaporation, followed by reaction with magnesium vapour. The films have a Tc of 38.6 +- 0.3 K and resistivity of about 20 microOhm cm at 40 K. The point-contact spectra prove directly the existence of a multi-valued order parameter in MgB2, with two distinct values of the gap, DELTA1=2.3+-0.3 meV and DELTA2=6.2+-0.7 meV at 4.2 K. Analysis of the spectra in terms of the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model reveals that both gaps close simultaneously at the Tc of the film. Possible mechanisms that can explain the intrinsic co-existence of two values of the gap are discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Microwave Power, DC Magnetic Field, Frequency and Temperature Dependence of the Surface Resistance of MgB2

The microwave power, dc magnetic field, frequency and temperature dependence of the surface resistance of MgB2 films and powder samples were studied. Sample quality is relatively easy to identify by a number of characteristics, the most clear being the breakdown in the omega squared law for poor quality samples. Analysis of the experimental data suggests the most attractive procedure for high quality film growth for technical applications.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Temperature dependence of the microwave surface impedance measured on different kinds of MgB$_2$ samples

In this paper we present the results of measurements of the microwave surface impedance of a powder sample and two films of MgB$_2$. One film has $T_c=30$ K and is not textured, the other is partially c-axis orientated with $T_c=38$ K. These samples show different types of temperature dependence of the field penetration depth: linear for the powder sample, exponential with $Δ/kT_c<1.76$ (film with $T_c=30$ K) and strong coupling behaviour with $Δ/kT_c\sim 2.25$ (film with $T_c=38$ K). The results are well described in terms of an anisotropic gap model or presence of a slightly deficient MgB$_2$ phase. The data set for all samples - taken as a whole cannot be fitted into a two gap scenario.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Magnetic relaxation phenomena and cluster glass properties of La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} manganites

The dynamic magnetic properties of the distorted perovskite system La{0.7-x}Y{x}Ca{0.3}MnO{3} (0 <= x <= 0.15) have been investigated by ac-susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements, with emphasis on relaxation and aging studies. They evidence for x >= 0.10 the appearance of a metallic cluster glass phase, that develops just below the ferromagnetic transition temperature. The clusters grow with decreasing temperature down to a temperature T(f0) at which they freeze due to severe intercluster frustration. The formation of these clusters is explained by the presence of yttrium induced local structural distortions that create localized spin disorder in a magnetic lattice where double-exchange ferromagnetism is dominant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Growth of Strongly Biaxially Aligned MgB2 Thin Films on Sapphire by Post-annealing of Amorphous Precursors

MgB2 thin films were cold-grown on sapphire substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), followed by post-annealing in mixed, reducing gas, Mg-rich, Zr gettered, environments. The films had Tcs in the range 29 K to 34 K, Jcs (20K, H=0) in the range 30 kA/cm2 to 300 kA/cm2, and irreversibility fields at 20 K of 4 T to 6.2 T. An inverse correlation was found between Tc and irreversibility field. The films had grain sizes of 0.1-1 micron and a strong biaxial alignment was observed in the 950C annealed film.

cond-mat.supr-con↗