arXiv subjects

R. P. Singh

Publications and source records attributed to R. P. Singh.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Boron based new high entropy alloy superconductor Mo0.11W0.11V0.11Re0.34B0.33

Superconducting high entropy alloys (HEAs) are new members of disordered superconductors. We report the synthesis and investigation of a new superconducting high entropy alloy Mo$_{0.11}$W$_{0.11}$V$_{0.11}$Re$_{0.34}$B$_{0.33}$ (MWVRB). It crystallized in the tetragonal CuAl$_2$ crystal structure with space group (I4/$mcm$). Comprehensive transport, magnetization and heat capacity measurements confirmed bulk type-II superconductivity having transition temperature T$_{C}$ = 4.0 K. The low temperature electronic specific heat suggests a fully gapped superconducting state in weak coupling limit.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Superconducting and normal state properties of high entropy alloy Nb-Re-Hf-Zr-Tiinvestigated by muon spin relaxation and rotation

Superconducting high entropy alloy (HEA) are emerging as a new class of superconducting materials. It provides a unique opportunity to understand the complex interplay of disorder and superconductivity. We report the synthesis and detail bulk and microscopic characterization of Nb$_{60}$Re$_{10}$Zr$_{10}$Hf$_{10}$Ti$_{10}$ HEA alloy using transport, magnetization, specific heat, and muon spin rotation/relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements. Bulk superconductivity with transition temperature $T_{C}$ = 5.7 K confirmed by magnetization, resistivity, and heat capacity measurements. Zero-field $μ$SR measurement shows that the superconducting state preserves time-reversal symmetry, and transverse-field measurements of the superfluid density are well described by an isotropic s-wave model.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Superconductivity in noncentrosymmetric NbReSi investigated by muon spin rotation and relaxation

Noncentrosymmetric materials are promising paradigm to explore unconventional superconductivity. In particular, several Re containing noncentrosymmetric materials have attracted considerable attention due to a superconducting state with a broken time reversal symmetry. A comprehensive study on the superconducting ground state of NbReSi was investigated using magnetization, resistivity, and muon spin rotation/relaxation measurements. Zero field muon spectroscopy results showed the absence of any spontaneous magnetic field below the superconducting transition temperature, T$ _{c} $ = 6.29 K, indicating the preserved time-reversal symmetry. Transverse field muon spin rotation measurements confirms a s-wave nature of the sample with $Δ(0)/k_{B}T_{c} $ = 1.726. This study urges further investigation on more noncentrosymmetric materials to elucidate the selective appearance of unconventional nature and unveil its dependence on antisymmetric spin-orbit coupling strength.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Physical Unclonable Functions using speckle patterns of perfect optical vortices

Encryption techniques demonstrate a great deal of security when implemented in an optical system (such as holography) due to the inherent physical properties of light and the precision it demands. However, such systems have shown to be vulnerable during digital implementations under various crypt-analysis attacks. One of the primary reasons for this is the predictable nature of the security keys (i.e., simulated random keys) used in the encryption process. To alleviate, in this work, we are presenting a Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) for producing a robust security key for digital encryption systems. To note, a correlation function of the scattered perfect optical vortex (POV) beams is utilized to generate the encryption keys. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on properly utilizing the scattered POV in optical encryption system. To validate the generated key, one of the standard optical encryption systems i.e., Double Random Phase Encoding, is opted. Experimental and simulation results validate that the proposed key generation method is an effective alternative to the digital keys.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

Probing the superconducting ground state of noncentrosymmetric high entropy alloys using muon-spin rotation and relaxation

Recently, high entropy alloys (HEAs) have emerged as a new platform for discovering superconducting materials and offer avenues to explore exotic superconductivity. The highly disordered nature of HEA suggests regular phonon required for BCS superconductivity may be unlikely to occur. Therefore understanding the microscopic properties of these superconducting HEA is important. We report the first detailed characterization of the superconducting properties of the noncentrosymmetric ($α$-Mn structure) HEA {(HfNb)}$_{0.10}${(MoReRu)}$_{0.90}$, and {(ZrNb)}$_{0.10}${(MoReRu)}$_{0.90}$ by using magnetization, specific heat, AC transport, and muon-spin relaxation/rotation ($μ$SR). Despite the disordered nature, low temperature specific heat and transverse-field muon spin rotation measurements suggest nodeless isotropic superconducting gap and Zero-field $μ$SR measurements confirm that time reversal symmetry is preserved in the superconducting ground state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Superconductivity in doped Weyl semimetal Mo$_{0.9}$Ir$_{0.1}$Te$_{2}$ with broken inversion symmetry

This work presents the emergence of superconductivity in Ir - doped Weyl semimetal T$_d$ - MoTe$_{2}$ with broken inversion symmetry. Chiral anomaly induced planar Hall effect and anisotropic magneto-resistance confirm the topological semimetallic nature of Mo$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$Te$_{2}$. Observation of weak anisotropic, moderately coupled type-II superconductivity in T$_d$ -Mo$_{1-x}$Ir$_{x}$Te$_{2}$ makes it a promising candidate for topological superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Microscopic investigation of superconducting properties of a strongly coupledsuperconductor IrGe via μSR

Exploring superconductors which can possess pairing mechanism other than the BCS predicted s-wave have continually attracted considerable interest. Superconductors with low-lying phonons may exhibit unconventional superconductivity as the coupling of electrons with these low-lying phonons can potentially affect the nature of the superconducting ground state, resulting in strongly coupled superconductivity. In this work, by using magnetization, AC transport, specific heat, and muon spin rotation/relaxation ($μ$SR) measurements, we report a detailed investigation on the superconducting ground state of the strongly coupled superconductor, IrGe, that has a transition temperature, T$_{C}$, at 4.7 K. Specific heat (SH), and transverse field $μ$SR is best described with an isotropic s-wave model with strong electron-phonon coupling, indicated by the values of both $Δ(0)/k_{B}T_{C}$ = 2.3, 2.1 (SH, $μ$SR), and $ΔC_{el}/γ_{n}T_{C}$ = 2.7. Zero-field $μ$SR measurements confirm the presence of time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting state of IrGe.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Tailoring the Phase Transition and Electron-Phonon Coupling in 1T'-MoTe2 by Charge Doping: A Raman Study

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of widely studied 2D layered materials which exist in various polymorphs. The 1T' phase of MoTe2 is of prime importance as it has been reported to show quantum spin hall (QSH) behavior with a fairly large band-gap of ~ 60 meV, in contrast to most QSH materials known. It is noteworthy that though the monolayer 1T'-MoTe2 was initially predicted to show the QSH behavior, recent theoretical studies claim that the few-layered counterparts also exhibit higher order topological behavior. Besides, 1T'-MoTe2 also undergoes a hysteretic phase transition to the Td phase (which is a type-II Weyl semimetal) by breaking the inversion symmetry of the crystal. While the phase transition between these two topological phases is of utmost importance, its study has been mostly restricted to bulk single crystal flakes, thereby not sufficiently exploring the effect of dimensionality. We have studied the phase transition in 1T'-MoTe2 as a function of flake-thickness. Though our Raman studies show a suppression of the phase transition in the thin (thickness <10 nm) flakes [similar to the report Phys. Rev. B 97, 041410 (2018)], we have experimentally demonstrated the possibility of stabilizing the desired phase (1T' or Td) at room temperature by charge doping. Further, we have observed clear signatures of electron-phonon coupling in MoTe2, which evolves as a function of flake-thickness and charge doping.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Size invariant twisted optical modes for efficient generation of higher dimensional quantum states

Optical vortex beams are profiled as helical wavefronts with a phase singularity carrying an orbital angular momentum (OAM) associated with their spatial distribution. The transverse intensity distribution of a conventional optical vortex has a strong dependence on the carried topological charge. However, perfect optical vortex (POV) beams have their transverse intensity distribution independent of their charge. Such `size-invariant' POV beams have found exciting applications in optical manipulation, imaging and communication. In this article, we investigate the use of POV modes in the efficient generation of high dimensional quantum states of light. We generate heralded single photons carrying OAM using spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) of POV beams. We show that the heralding efficiency of the SPDC single photons generated with POV pump is greater than that with normal optical vortex beams. The dimensionality of the two-photon OAM states is increased with POV modes in the pump and projective measurements using Bessel-Gaussian vortex modes that give POV, instead of the Laguerre-Gaussian modes.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Superconducting ground state of nonsymmorphic superconducting compound Zr$_{2}$Ir

The nonsymmorphic Zr$_{2}$Ir alloy is a possible topological semimetal candidate material and as such may be part of an exotic class of superconductors. Zr$_{2}$Ir is a superconductor with a transition temperature of 7.4 K with critical fields of 19.6(3) mT and 3.79(3) T, as determined by heat capacity and magnetisation. Zero field muon spin relaxation measurements show that time-reversal symmetry is preserved in these materials. The specific heat and transverse field muon spin rotation measurements rule out any possibility to have a nodal or anisotropic superconducting gap, revealing a conventional s-wave nature in the superconducting ground state. Therefore, this system is found to be conventional nonsymmorphic superconductor, with time-reversal symmetry being preserved and an isotropic superconducting gap.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Polarization-orbital angular momentum duality assisted entanglement observation for indistinguishable photons

Duality in the entanglement of identical particles manifests that entanglement in only one variable can be revealed at a time. We demonstrate this using polarization and orbital angular momentum (OAM) variables of indistinguishable photons generated from parametric down conversion. We show polarization entanglement by sorting photons in even and odd OAM basis, while sorting them in two orthogonal polarization modes reveals the OAM entanglement. The duality assisted observation of entanglement can be used as a verification for the preservation of quantum indistinguishability over communication channels. Indistinguishable photons entangled in complementary variables could also evoke interest in distributed quantum sensing protocols and remote entanglement generation.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

An investigation of type-I superconductivity in single crystal of Pb2Pd

We have investigated the superconducting properties in a single crystal of a new superconductor Pb$_{2}$Pd via various techniques including magnetization, AC transport, transverse field muon spin rotation and relaxation (TF-$μ$SR), and heat capacity. Pb$_{2}$Pd crystallizes in a body-centred tetragonal structure with space group I4/$mcm$. All measurements confirm the superconducting transition temperature, T$_{C}$ = 3.0 $\pm$ 0.1 K. Electronic specific heat data are well described by the BCS fitting, suggesting that Pb$_{2}$Pd opens an isotropic gap on entering the superconducting state. The specific heat jump and $λ_{e-ph}$ value categorize Pb$_{2}$Pd as a moderately coupled superconductor. Magnetization and transverse field muon spin rotation measurements along with Ginzburg-Landau parameter, $κ$ < 1/$\sqrt{2}$ strongly infers that Pb$_{2}$Pd is a type I superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Fully gapped superconductivity in centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric Re-B compounds probed with $μ$SR

We present a comprehensive study on superconducting properties of Re$_7$B$_3$ and Re$_3$B through specific heat, magnetic susceptibility, resistivity, and transverse and zero-field muon spin rotation/relaxation ($μ$SR) experiments on polycrystalline samples. Re$_7$B$_3$ (T$_C$ = 3.2~K) is a non-centrosymmetric type-II ($κ$ $\approx$ 9.27) superconductor in the weak coupling ($λ_{e-ph}$ = 0.54) regime. On the other hand, Re$_3$B (T$_C$ = 5.19~K) is a centrosymmetric type-II ($κ$ $\approx$ 34.55) superconductor in the moderate coupling ($λ_{e-ph}$ = 0.64) regime. Our transverse-field $μ$SR measurements show evidence for isotropically gapped BCS type superconductivity with normalized gap ($Δ_0/k_BT_C$) values of 1.69 (Re$_7$B$_3$) and 1.75 (Re$_3$B).

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Superconducting properties of the non-centrosymmetric Superconductors TaXSi (X= Re, Ru)

We have investigated the ternary noncentrosymmetric superconductors TaXSi (X=Re, Ru) by magnetization, resistivity, and specific heat measurements. The samples crystallize in orthorhombic TiFeSi structure having superconducting transition Tc = 5.32 K and 3.91 K, for TaReSi and TaRuSi respectively. Specific heat measurements indicated an s-wave nature of both materials with a moderately coupled nature. However, a low value of specific heat jump and the concave nature of the upper critical field suggests a nontrivial superconducting gap.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Time-reversal symmetry breaking and multigap superconductivity in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La$_{7}$Ni$_{3}$

The Th$_{7}$Fe$_{3}$ family of superconductors provides a rich playground for unconventional superconductivity. La$_7$Ni$_3$ is the latest member of this family, which we here investigate by means of thermodynamic and muon spin rotation and relaxation measurements. Our specific heat data provides evidence for two distinct and approximately isotropic superconducting gaps. The larger gap has a value slightly higher than that of weak-coupling BCS theory, indicating the presence of significant correlations. These observations are confirmed by transverse-field muon-rotation measurements. Furthermore, zero-field measurements reveal small internal fields in the superconducting state, which occur close to the onset of superconductivity and indicate that the superconducting order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry. We discuss two possible microscopic scenarios -- an unconventional $E_{2}(1,i)$ state and an $s+i\,s$ superconductor, which is reached by two consecutive transitions -- and illustrate which interactions will favor these phases. Our results establish La$_{7}$Ni$_{3}$ as the first member of the Th$_{7}$Fe$_{3}$ family displaying both time-reversal-symmetry-breaking and multigap superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

3-D macro/microporous-nanofibrous bacterial cellulose scaffolds seeded with BMP-2 preconditioned mesenchymal stem cells exhibit remarkable potential for bone tissue engineering

Bone repair using BMP-2 is a promising therapeutic approach in clinical practices, however, high dosages required to be effective pose issues of cost and safety. The present study explores the potential of low dose BMP-2 treatment via tissue engineering approach, which amalgamates 3-D macro/microporous-nanofibrous bacterial cellulose (mNBC) scaffolds and low dose BMP-2 primed murine mesenchymal stem cells (C3H10T1/2 cells). Initial studies on cell-scaffold interaction using unprimed C3H10T1/2 cells confirmed that scaffolds provided a propitious environment for cell adhesion, growth, and infiltration, owing to its ECM-mimicking nano-micro-macro architecture. Osteogenic studies were conducted by preconditioning the cells with 50 ng/mL BMP-2 for 15 minutes, followed by culturing on mNBC scaffolds for up to three weeks. The results showed an early onset and significantly enhanced bone matrix secretion and maturation in the scaffolds seeded with BMP-2 primed cells compared to the unprimed ones. Moreover, mNBC scaffolds alone were able to facilitate the mineralization of cells to some extent. These findings suggest that, with the aid of 'osteoinduction' from low dose BMP-2 priming of stem cells and 'osteoconduction' from nano-macro/micro topography of mNBC scaffolds, a cost-effective bone tissue engineering strategy can be designed for quick and excellent in vivo osseointegration.

q-bio.BM↗

arXiv2020

Study of the superconducting ground state of topological superconducting candidates Ti$_{3}$X (X = Ir, Sb)

The topologically non-trivial band structure of A15 compounds has drawn attention owing to the possible realization of topological superconductivity. Here, we report a microscopic investigation of the superconducting ground state in A15 compound Ti$_{3}$X (X = Ir, Sb) by muon spectroscopy measurements. Zero field muon measurements have shown that time-reversal symmetry is preserved in these materials. Furthermore, specific heat and a transverse field muon spectroscopy measurement rule out any possibility to have a nodal or anisotropic superconducting gap, revealing a conventional s-wave nature in the superconducting ground state. This work classifies A15 compound Ti$_{3}$X (X = Ir, Sb) as a time-reversal preserved topological superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Time-reversal-symmetry breaking and unconventional pairing in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La$_{7}$Rh$_{3}$

Noncentrosymmetric superconductors have sparked significant research interests due to their exciting properties, such as the admixture of spin-singlet and spin-triplet Cooper pairs. Here we report $μ$SR and thermodynamic measurements on the noncentrosymmetric superconductor La7Rh3 which indicate a fully established superconducting gap and spontaneous time-reversal-symmetry breaking at the onset of superconductivity. We show that our results pose severe constraints on any microscopic theory of superconductivity in the system. A symmetry analysis identifies ground states compatible with time-reversal-symmetry breaking and the resulting gap functions are discussed. Furthermore, general energetic considerations indicate the relevance of electron-electron interactions for the pairing mechanism, in accordance with hints of spin-fluctuations revealed in susceptibility measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗