arXiv subjects

S. Patnaik

Publications and source records attributed to S. Patnaik.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Effect of epitaxial strain on the magneto-electric coupling of YMnO3 thin films

We report synthesis of phase pure multiferroic YMnO3 thin films on sapphire (0001)with conducting ZnGaO buffer contact layer. Films were prepared by using pulsed laser deposition technique and characterized using x-ray diffraction(XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive absorption spectroscopy (EDAX) and magnetic field dependent dielectric measurement techniques. Structural characterizations indicated phase purity and epitaxial nature of the films. The dielectric response indicated an anomaly in dielectric constant and tand in the vicinity of 30 K, well below the bulk Neel temperature ~ 70 K. This anomaly in dielectric constant and tand and its magnetic field dependence is explained as an influence of strain due to lattice mismatch between the substrate and YMnO3 film. A substantial enhancement in magnetocapacitance was also observed for magnetic field applied parallel to ab plane of the film. Our results show that it is possible to tune the multiferroic property of YMnO3 via changes in ferroelastic route.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Field dependent competing magnetic ordering in multiferroic Ni3V2O8

The geometrically frustrated magnet Ni3V2O8 undergoes a series of competing magnetic ordering at low temperatures. Most importantly, one of the incommensurate phases has been reported to develop a ferroelectric correlation caused by spin frustration. Here we report an extensive thermodynamic, dielectric and magnetic study on clean polycrystalline samples of this novel multiferroic compound. Our low temperature specific heat data at high fields up to 14 Tesla clearly identify the development of a new magnetic field induced phase transition below 2 K that shows signatures of simultaneous electric ordering. We also report temperature and field dependent dielectric constant that enables us to quantitatively estimate the strength of magneto-electric coupling in this improper ferroelectric material.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Strong electron-electron correlation and weak localization in CeO_{0.9}F_{0.1}Fe_{1-x}Co_xAs

Electron-doping of the semimetal (CeOFeAs) by either fluorine (max Tc ~ 43 K)or cobalt (max Tc ~ 11 K) leads to superconductivity. Here we show the effect of transition metal (Co) substitution at the iron site on the superconducting properties of CeO0.9F0.1FeAs (Tc ~38 K)to understand the interplay of charge carriers in both the rare earth-oxygen and Fe-As layers. Simultaneous doping of equivalent number of charge carriers in both layers leads to a Tc of 9.8 K which is lower than the Tc obtained when either the conducting layer (CeAs) or charge reservoir layer (CeO) is individually doped. This suggests a clear interplay between the two layers to control the superconductivity. The resistivity shows a T2 dependence (T >>Tc) which indicates strong electron-electron correlation. Hall coefficient and thermoelectric power indicate increased carrier concentration with cobalt doping in CeO0.9F0.1FeAs. The rf penetration depth both for CeO0.9F0.1Fe0.95Co0.05As and CeO0.9F0.1FeAs show an exponential temperature dependence with a gap value of ~ 1.6 and 1.9 meV. A resistance minimum is observed in the normal state near Tc which also shows negative magnetoresistance and provides evidence for the onset of weak localization.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Possible magnetoelectric coupling in the half doped charge ordered manganite, Pr_0.5Ca_0.5MnO_3-d

Magnetization, magnetoresistance, and magnetodielectric measurements have been carried out on the half doped charge ordered manganite, Pr_0.5Ca_0.5MnO_3. The low temperature state is found to be strongly dependent on the oxygen stoichiometry whereas the high temperature state remains almost unaltered. A disorder driven phase separation in the low temperature state is noticed in the magnetic, magnetoresistance, and dielectric measurements which is attributed to the oxygen deficiency in the compound. A considerable magnetodielectric (MD) effect is noticed close to room temperature at 280 K which is fascinating for technological applications. The strongest MD effect observed in between 180 K and 200 K is found to be uncorrelated with magnetoresistance but it is suggested to be due to a number of intricate processes occuring in this temperature range which includes paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition, incommensurate to commensurate charge ordering and orbital ordering. The strongest MD effect seems to emerge from the high sensitivity of the incommensurate state to the external perturbation such as external magnetic field. The results propose the possible magnetoelectric coupling in the charge ordered compound.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Upper critical field, superconducting energy gaps, and Seebeck coefficient in La0.8Th0.2OFeAs

We report the synthesis and characterization of a new electron-doped La-oxypnictide superconductor by partial substitution of lanthanum by thorium. The superconducting transition temperature at about 30.3 K was observed in La0.8Th0.2OFeAs which is the highest in La-based oxypnictide superconductors synthesized at ambient pressure. We find that the decrease in lattice parameters with Th doping in LaOFeAs is more drastic as compared to that obtained by high pressure (6 GPa) synthesis of oxygen deficient LaOFeAs. The resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements yield an upper critical field Hc2 (0) of 47 T. Partial substitution of Th in place of La induces electron doping as evidenced by negative Seebeck coefficient. The temperature dependent magnetic penetration depth data provides strong evidence for a nodeless low energy gap of 1.4 meV.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Intragrain electrical inhomogenities and compositional variation of static dielectric constant in LaMn_{1-x}Fe_xO_3

Bulk dc resistivity and dielectric constant measurements with temperature and frequency have been performed in LaMn_{1-x}Fe_xO_3 (0 <= x <= 1.0) as a result of Fe substitution both for the as-synthesized and oxygen annealed samples. Temperature dependence of real part of dielectric constant at different frequencies show a frequency and temperature independent value (epsilon_s) at low temperature for x >= 0.15 where epsilon_0 rises with x reaching a maximum at x = 0.5 and then it decreases sharply at x = 0.70 showing a further increasing trend with the further increase in x. The sharp drop of epsilon_s at x = 0.70 is correlated with the structural change from rhombohedral to orthorhombic structure. A considerable increase of epsilon_s ~ 43% is observed for an increase of x from 0.15 to 0.50. Furthermore, epsilon_s is increased considerably (up to ~ 17% at x = 0.5) due to the oxygen annealing for x <= 0.50. The low temperature resistivities satisfying Variable Range Hopping model are found to be related with the increase of epsilon_s with x for x <= 0.50. The analysis of the complex impedance and modulus planes at low temperature indicates the electrical inhomogeneities in the grain interior of the compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Superconductivity in CeO_{1-x}F_xFeAs with upper critical field of 94 T

We have successfully synthesized Ce based oxypnictide with fluorine doping (CeO_{1-x}F_xFeAs) by a two step solid state reaction method. Detailed XRD and EDX confirm the crystal structure and chemical compositions. We observe that an extremely high Hc2(0) of 94 T can be achieved in the x = 0.1 composition. This increase in Hc2(0) is accompanied by a decrease in transition temperature (38.4 K in x = 0.1 composition) from 42.5 K for the x = 0.2 phase. The in-plane Ginzburg-Landau coherence length is estimated to be ~ 27 A at x = 0.2 suggesting a moderate anisotropy in this class of superconductors. The Seebeck coefficient confirms the majority carrier to be electrons and strong dominance of electron-electron correlations in this multiband superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Enhancement in superconducting transition temperature and upper critical field of LaO0.8F0.2FeAs with antimony doping

We report the synthesis and characterization of antimony doped oxypnictide superconductor, LaO0.8F0.2FeAs1-xSbx (x = 0.05 and 0.10). The parent compound LaOFeAs with fluorine doping exhibits superconductivity at maximum transition temperature ~ 28.5 K [11]. Here we partially substitute As by Sb (LaO0.8F0.2FeAs1-xSbx) and observe enhancement of the transition temperature to 30.1 K. This is the only instance so far where Tc increases with doping in the conducting layer (FeAs) and this leads to the highest transition temperature in any La-based oxypnictide. XRD and EDAX measurements confirm phase purity of the samples and the presence of Sb. The magneto-resistance measurements show that the value of upper critical field Hc2(0) to be about 73 T corresponding to a coherence length of 22 angstrom. The Seebeck coefficient measurements indicate electron transport with strong contribution from electron-electron correlation. These results provide interesting insight to the origin of superconductivity in these novel series of compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Superconductivity at 11.3 K induced by cobalt doping in CeOFeAs

Pure phases of a new oxyarsenide superconductor of the nominal composition CeOFe0.9Co0.1As was successfully synthesized by solid state reaction in sealed silica ampoules at 1180 C. It crystallizes in the layered tetragonal ZrCuSiAs type structure (sp gp P4/nmm) with lattice parameter of a = 3.9918(5) angstrom and c = 8.603(1) angstrom. A sharp superconducting transition is observed at 11.31 K with an upper critical field of 45.22 T at ambient pressure. The superconducting transition temperature is drastically lowered (~ 4.5, 4.9 K) on increasing the concentration (x = 0.15, 0.2) of cobalt.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Potassium fluoride doped LaOFeAs multiband superconductors: Evidence for extremely high upper critical field

We describe a new methodology of synthesizing the oxypnictide superconductors with potassium fluoride as a source as a source of fluorine instead of LaF3. This route also allows the substitution of potassium at lanthanum sites which leads to an increase in the upper critical field as would be expected for a multiband superconductor. We also report the highest reported Tc onset of 28.5K and highest upper critical field in these superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Magnetic field dependence of vortex activation energy: a comparison between MgB2, NbSe2 and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 superconductors

The dissipative mechanism at low current density is compared in three different classes of superconductors. This is achieved by measurement of resistance as a function of temperature and magnetic field in clean polycrystalline samples of NbSe2, MgB2 and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 superconductors. Thermally activated flux flow behavior is clearly identified in bulk MgB2. While the activation energy at low fields for MgB2 is comparable to Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10, its field dependence follows a parabolic behavior unlike a power law dependence seen in Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. We analyze our results based on the Kramer's scaling for grain boundary pinning in MgB2and NbSe2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Substantial magneto-electric coupling near room temperature in Bi2Fe4O9

We report remarkable multiferroic effects in polycrystalline Bi2Fe4O9. High-resolution X-ray diffraction shows that this compound has orthorhombic structure. Magnetic measurements confirm an antiferromagnetic transition around 260 K. A pronounced inverse S-shape anomaly in the loss tangent of dielectric measurement is observed near the Neel temperature. This feature shifts with the application of magnetic field. These anomalies are indicative of substantial coupling between the electric and magnetic orders in this compound.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Intergrain connectivity and resistive broadening in vortex state: a comparison between MgB2, NbSe2 and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 superconductors

Magnetoresistance and radio frequency penetration depth techniques are used to study grain connectivity and broadening of superconducting transition. We study and compare these issues in clean polycrytalline samples of three different superconducting systems e.g. MgB2, NbSe2 and Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10. From the rf response, the bulk pinning force constant is evaluated. From high field transport measurements, H-T phase diagram is ascertained for the three systems with varying degrees of fluctuation and connectivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Modification of intergrain connectivity, upper critical field anisotropy, and critical current density in ion irradiated MgB2 films

We study the effect of 100 MeV Silicon and 200 MeV Gold ion irradiation on the inter and intra grain properties of superconducting thin films of Magnesium Diboride. Substantial decrease in inter-grain connectivity is observed, depending on irradiation dose and type of ions used. We establish that modification of sigma band scattering mechanism, and consequently the upper critical field and anisotropy, depends on the size and directional properties of the extrinsic defects. Post heavy ion irradiation, the upper critical field shows enhancement at a defect density that is five orders of magnitude less compared to neutron irradiation. The critical current density however is best improved through light ion irradiation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Improved Hc2 in Bulk-Form Magnesium Diboride by Mechanical Alloying With Carbon

High energy milling of MgB2 pre-reacted powder renders the material largely amorphous through extreme mechanical deformation and is suitable for mechanically alloying MgB2 with dopants including carbon. Bulk samples of milled C and MgB2 powders subjected to hot isostatic pressing and Mg vapor annealing have achieved critical fields in excess of 32T and critical current density approaching 10^6 A/cm^2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Thermally-activated current transport in MgB_2 films

Thermally-activated flux flow (TAFF) resistivity above the irreversibility field is reported for two different c-axis textured MgB_2 superconducting films. Transport measurements at different perpendicular magnetic fields 0 < B < 9 T and temperatures from 5 to 40K reveal TAFF Ohmic resistivity described by the Arrhenius law with the quadratic field dependence of the activation energy. Our transport measurements on bulk MgB_2 ceramic samples also show the TAFF behavior, but do not show the quadratic field dependence of U(T,B). We explain our results in terms of thermally-activated drift of pre-existing quenched dislocations in the vortex lattice. Our results indicate that thermal fluctuations can be essential in determining the irreversibility field in MgB2 though to a much lesser extent than in high-temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2003

Very high upper critical fields in MgB2 produced by selective tuning of impurity scattering

We report a significant enhancement of the upper critical field $H_{c2}$ of different $MgB_2$ samples alloyed with nonmagnetic impurities. By studying films and bulk polycrystals with different resistivities $ρ$, we show a clear trend of $H_{c2}$ increase as $ρ$ increases. One particular high resistivity film had zero-temperature $H_{c2}(0)$ well above the $H_{c2}$ values of competing non-cuprate superconductors such as $Nb_3Sn$ and Nb-Ti. Our high-field transport measurements give record values $H_{c2}^\perp (0) \approx 34T$ and $H_{c2}\|(0) \approx 49 T$ for high resistivity films and $H_{c2}(0)\approx 29 T$ for untextured bulk polycrystals. The highest $H_{c2}$ film also exhibits a significant upward curvature of $H_{c2}(T)$, and temperature dependence of the anisotropy parameter $γ(T) = H_{c2}\|/ H_{c2}^\perp$ opposite to that of single crystals: $γ(T)$ decreases as the temperature decreases, from $γ(T_c) \approx 2$ to $γ(0) \approx 1.5$. This remarkable $H_{c2}$ enhancement and its anomalous temperature dependence are a consequence of the two-gap superconductivity in $MgB_2$, which offers special opportunities for further $H_{c2}$ increase by tuning of the impurity scattering by selective alloying on Mg and B sites. Our experimental results can be explained by a theory of two-gap superconductivity in the dirty limit. The very high values of $H_{c2}(T)$ observed suggest that $MgB_2$ can be made into a versatile, competitive high-field superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Local Measurement of Current Density by Magneto-Optical Current Reconstruction in Normally and Overpressure Processed Bi-2223 Tapes

Magneto-optical current reconstruction has been used for detailed analysis of the local critical current density (Jc) variation in monocore Bi-2223 tapes. We find, even in high quality tapes with bulk transport Jc ~ 40 kA/cm^2 (77K, 0T), that there exist local regions which possess current densities of more than 200 kA/cm^2. Overpressure processing at 148 bar significantly improved Jc to 48 kA/cm^2 by improving the connectivity. For the overpressure-processed sample we find that the current distribution is more uniform and that the maximum local current density at 77 K is increased almost to 300 kA/cm^2.

cond-mat.supr-con↗