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S. Rayaprol

Publications and source records attributed to S. Rayaprol.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

200 MeV Ag+15 ion irradiation created columnar defects and enhanced critical current density of La-2125 type superconducting thin films

We have deposited c-axis oriented thin films of La1.5Dy0.5CaBa2Cu5Oz (La-2125) tetragonal superconductor on LaAlO3 (001) by Pulsed Laser Deposition. These films were irradiated with 200 MeV Ag+15 ions. Atomic Force Microscopy and Elastic Recoil Detection Analysis indicate that the irradiation has created columnar defects along the entire thickness (2000 A) of these films. With ion irradiation up to 1*10^11 ions/cm2, the critical current density (Jc(H)) is found to enhance by almost five folds, which is attributed to the augmented flux pinning by the columnar defects. A further increase in irradiation to 1*10^12 ions/cm2 causes reduction in Jc(H) due to distorted morphology of the film. Our work shows that the enhancement in Jc (H) of the irradiated La-2125 film is comparable to that in irradiated RE-123. Also, as the La-2125 type films have greater chemical stability than RE-123 (RE = rare earth ion), La-2125 type superconductors are potential candidates for applications. Interesting to note that there are partial flux jumps observed to occur symmetrically in the magnetic hysteresis of irradiated La-2125 thin films with enhanced Jc(H).

cond-mat.supr-con

Antiferromagnetic ordering in heavy fermion system Ce2Au2Cd

La2Au2Cd and Ce2Au2Cd were prepared from the elements by reactions in sealed tantalum tubes in a water-cooled sample chamber of an induction furnace. These intermetallics crystallize with the tetragonal Mo2FeB2 type, space group P4/mbm. While La2Au2Cd is Pauli paramagnetic, Ce2Au2Cd shows Curie-Weiss behaviour above 100 K with an experimental magnetic moment of 2.41(2) muB/Ce atom, indicating trivalent cerium. Antiferromagnetic ordering is detected for Ce2Au2Cd at 5.01(2) K and magnetization measurements reveal a metamagnetic transition at 3 K at a critical field of around 20 kOe with a saturation moment of 1.50(2)muB/Ce atom at 80 kOe. The low-temperature heat capacity properties characterize Ce2Au2Cd as a heavy fermion material with an electronic specific heat coefficient (gamma) = 807(5) mJ/mol K2 as compared to La2Au2Cd with gamma = 6(5) mJ/mol K2.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

On the role of Calcium in inducing superconductivity - the study of La-2125 superconductors

Ever since high Tc superconductivity was discovered in La-based mixed oxide system by Bednorz and Muller, enormous efforts have been put in by several researchers around the world in understanding the origin and mechanism of superconductivity in these, as well as in systems derived from them. It is a proven fact that the superconductivity in RE-123 superconductors is governed by the oxygen content, which in turn is responsible for the carrier concentration in the system. Due to their dependence on oxygen content, RE-123 superconductors undergo structural transformation from orthorhombic to tetragonal as a function of oxygen content making them very difficult compounds to work with, in terms of technological applications, such as device fabrication. Hence, it would be interesting to obtain a stable compound whose superconducting properties, are not only insensitive directly to oxygen content but, having dependence of its carrier concentration and Tc on the nature and amount of the substituted cation. In the present work, we focus our investigations for such a compound, which has been derived from a tetragonal RE-123 superconducting system. In this chapter, we present a brief review of the studies carried out on La-2125 compounds to elucidate the role of dopants in modifying the superconducting properties and establish a structure-property correlation in them.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Negative chemical pressure effects induced by Y substitution for Ca on the exotic magnetic behavior of spin-chain compound, Ca3Co2O6

The magnetic behavior of a solid solution, Ca3-xYxCo2O6, based on an exotic spin-chain compound, Ca3Co2O6, crystallizing in K4CdCl6-derived rhombohedral structure is investigated. Among the compositions investigated (x= 0.0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0), single phase formation persists up to x= 0.75, with the elongation of the c-axis. The present investigations reveal that the temperature at which the partially disordered antiferromagnetic structure sets in (which occurs at 24 K for the parent compound, x= 0.0) undergoes gradual reduction with the substitution of Y for Ca, attaining the value of about 2.2 K for the nominal x = 1.0. The trend observed in this characteristic temperature is opposite to that reported under external pressure, thereby establishing that Y substitution exerts negative chemical pressure. Anomalous steps observed in the isothermal magnetization at very low temperatures (around 2 K) for x= 0.0, which have been proposed to arise from quantum tunneling effects are found to vanish by a small substitution (x = 0.3) of Y for Ca. Systematics in ac and dc magnetic susceptibility behavior with Y substitution for Ca have also been probed. We believe that the present results involving the expansion of chain length without disrupting the magnetic chain may be useful to the overall understanding of the novel magnetism of the parent compound.

cond-mat.str-el

Origin of charge density wave formation in insulators from a high resolution photoemission study of BaIrO3

We investigate the origin of charge density wave (CDW) formation in insulators by studying BaIrO3 using high resolution (1.4 meV) photoemission spectroscopy. The spectra reveal the existence of localized density of states at the Fermi level in the vicinity of room temperature. These localized states are found to vanish as the temperature is lowered thereby, opening a soft gap at the Fermi level, as a consequence of CDW transition. In addition, the energy dependence of the spectral density of states reveals the importance of magnetic interactions, rather than well-known Coulomb repulsion effect, in determining the electronic structure thereby implying a close relationship between ferromagnetism and CDW observed in this compound. Also, Ba core level spectra surprisingly exhibit an unusual behavior prior to CDW transition.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetic behavior of the spin-chain compounds,Ca3CuIrO6 and Ca3CuRhO6

The spin-chain compounds, Ca3CuIrO6 and Ca3CuRhO6, crystallizing in a K4CdCl6-derived monoclinic structure, are investigated by ac and dc magnetization, isothermal remnant magnetization as well as heat capacity measurements. The results reveal the existence of a magnetic ordering in the vicinity of 15 K for both the compounds, but the transition appears to be of a complex nature. The existence of a spin-glass component is strongly indicated by the results. We propose that topological effects play a role on magnetism of these compounds. The magnetic properties for these two compounds are interestingly similar as though isoelectronic chemical substitution at the octahedral coordination site does not significantly interfere in the magnetic exchange process.

cond-mat.str-el

Nature of magnetism in the spin-chain compound, Ca3CuRuO6

A quasi one-dimensional compound, Ca3CuRuO6, has been synthesized by solid-state reaction method and studied using magnetization (M) and heat capacity (C) measurements. This compound undergoes magnetic ordering (T_o) around 40 K, as evidenced by the dc magnetic susceptibility (chi) behavior. However, the magnitude of the paramagnetic Curie temperature (theta_p) obtained from the high temperature linear region is large (-277 K, with the negative sign indicating antiferromagnetic interaction). The reduction of T_o, compared to theta_p, is attributed to geometrical frustration effect arising from the triangular arrangement of antiferromagnetically coupled magnetic chains. The absence of a feature in ac chi around 40 K rules out possible spin-glass freezing. However, we find that the peak in C(T) around 40 K is weak, with the entropy change associated with the transition being negligible, typical of a disordered magnetism. We infer that this material thus exhibits inhomogeneous magnetism, despite being stoichiometric, presumably due to an interplay between disorder in the Cu-Ru chain.

cond-mat.str-el

Large magnetoresistance in the magnetically ordered state as well as in the paramagnetic state near 300 K in an intermetallic compound,Gd7Rh3

We report the response of electrical resistivity $ρ$ to the application of magnetic fields (H) up to 140 kOe in the temperature interval 1.8-300 K for the compound, Gd7Rh3, ordering antiferromagnetically below 150 K. We find that there is an unusually large decrease of $ρ$ for moderate values of H in the close vicinity of room temperature uncharacteristic of paramagnets, with the magnitude of the magnetoresistance increasing with decreasing temperature as though the spin-order contribution to $ρ$ is temperature dependent. In addition, this compound exhibits giant magnetoresistance behaviour at rather high temperatures (above 77 K) in the magnetically ordered state due to a metamagnetic transition.

cond-mat.str-el

Large magnetoresistance anomalies in Dy7Rh3

The compound Dy7Rh3 ordering antiferromagnetically below (TN=) 59 K has been known to exhibit a temperature (T) dependent electrical resistivity (rho) behavior in the paramagnetic state unusual for intermetallic compounds in the sense that there is a broad peak in rho(T) in the paramagnetic state (around 130 K) as though there is a semi-conductor to metal transition. In addition, there is an upturn below T_N due to magnetic super-zone gap effects. Here we report the influence of external magnetic field (H) on the rho(T) behavior of this compound below 300 K. The rise of rho(T) found below TN could be suppressed at very high fields (>> 60 kOe), thus resulting in a very large magnetoresistance (MR) in the magnetically ordered state. The most notable finding is that the magnitude of MR is large for moderate applications of H (say 80 kOe) in a temperature range far above T_N as well, which is untypical of intermetallic compounds. Thus, this compound is characterized by large MR anomalies in the entire T range of investigation.

cond-mat.str-el

Neutron Diffraction Studies on La2-xDyxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz Superconductors

Structural studies on Dy-substituted La-2125 type superconductors have been carried out by neutron diffraction experiments at room temperature using a monochromatic neutron beam of wavelength lambda = 1.249 Angstroms. A series of samples with La2-xDyxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz stoichiometric composition, for x = 0.1 - 0.5, have been studied for their structural properties. A tetragonal Y-123 unit cell was taken as the starting model for the Rietveld analysis. All the samples fit into the starting model, exhibiting no structural transition taking place with increasing dopant concentration. The results of Rietveld analysis and structural properties are discussed in detail.

cond-mat.supr-con

Structural and Magnetic Studies on La2-xDyxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz Type Superconducting Oxides

The La-2125 type La2-xDyxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz (0.1 < x < 0.5; LDBO) compounds have been synthesized and studied for their structural and superconducting properties by room temperature neutron diffraction, high field dc magnetization, four-probe resistivity and iodometric double titration. The Rietveld analysis of the neutron diffraction data reveals tetragonal structure for all the samples, which crystallizes into La-123 type tetragonal structure in P4/mmm space group. Iodometric double titrations were performed to determine the oxygen content values and calculate mobile charge carrier (holes) density. The superconducting transition temperatures (Tc) increases from ~ 20 K for x = 0.1 to a maximum of 75 K for x = 0.5. Flux pinning force (Fp) and critical current density (Jc), calculated from the low temperature hysteresis loops, also increases with increasing dopant concentration. The paper presents the studies on structure and superconducting properties of all LDBO compounds in light of the role of calcium in inducing superconductivity in the tetragonal non-superconducting oxide.

cond-mat.supr-con

Electrical resistivity and tunneling anomalies in CeCuAs2

The compound CeCuAs2 is found to exhibit negative temperature (T) coefficient of electrical resistivity (rho) under ambient pressure conditions in the entire T-range of investigation (45 mK to 300 K), even in the presence of high magnetic fields. Preliminary tunneling spectroscopic measurements indicate the existence of a psuedo-gap at least at low temperatures, thereby implying that this compound could be classified as a Kondo semi-conductor, though rho(T) interestingly is not found to be of an activated type.

cond-mat.str-el

Heat-capacity anomalies in the presence of high magnetic fields in the spin-chain compound, Ca3Co2O6

Heat-capacity behavior in the presence of externally applied magnetic field (H) up to 140 kOe is investigated (2-35 K) for the quasi-1-dimensional compound, Ca3Co2O6, believed to order magnetically with the so-called partially disordered anti-ferromagnetic structure. The results reveal that there is a shift of the magnetic transition occurring around 24 K to a marginally higher temperature (by 0.5 K) as H is increased from 10 to 30 kOe, uncharacteristic of anti-ferromagnets. No peak attributable to magnetic ordering could be observed in the entire field range of investigation in the vicinity of the second magnetic transition, occurring around 10 K. However, hysteresis studies of H-dependence of C indicate a subtle change in the magnetic structure as the T is lowered across 10 K.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetic behavior of Co ions in the exotic spin-chain compound,Ca3Co2O6, from 59Co NMR studies

We have performed field-swept 59Co NMR measurements on the 'exotic' spin-chain material, Ca3Co2O6, crystallizing in K4CdCl6-type rhombohedral structure, believed to exhibit two magnetic transition temperatures (around 24 and 12 K). This is the first NMR investigation of this family of compounds. We are able to detect the NMR signal below about 15 K, which is a conclusive proof for the existence of non-magnetic Co ions (Co3+ - low-spin 3d6, in addition to magnetic Co ions) at least in a narrow temperature range around 10 K, thereby resolving a controversy on this issue in the literature. In addition, we find that the spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times undergo a dramatic increase below about 12 K, with a profound influence on the intensity of the NMR signal as a function of temperature, providing a microscopic evidence for the existence of 12K-transition. The spectral features present quite an interesting situation.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetic behavior of spin-chain compounds, Sr3ZnRhO6 and Ca3NiMnO6, from heat capacity and ac susceptibility studies

Heat-capacity (C) and ac susceptibility measurements have been performed on the spin-chain compounds, Sr3ZnRhO6 and Ca3NiMnO6, to establish their magnetic behavior and to explore whether there are magnetic frustration effects due to antiferromagnetic coupling of the chains arranged in a triangular fashion. While the paramagnetic Curie temperatures have been known to be large with a negative sign, as though antiferromagnetic interaction is very strong, the results establish that (i) the former apparently undergoes inhomogeneous magnetic ordering only around 15 K, however without spin-glass anomalies, and (ii) the latter orders antiferromagnetically at a relatively low temperature (17 K). Thus, the magnetic frustration manifests differently in these compounds.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetic, electrical resistivity, heat-capacity and thermopower anomalies in CeCuAs2

The results of magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity ($ρ$), heat-capacity (C) and thermopower (S) measurements on CeCuAs2, forming in ZrCuSi2-type tetragonal structure, are reported. Our investigations reveal that Ce is trivalent and there is no clear evidence for long range magnetic ordering down to 45 mK. The $ρ$ behavior is notable in the sense that (i) the temperature (T)-coefficient of $ρ$ is negative in the entire range of measurement (45 mK to 300 K) with large values of $ρ$, while S behavior is typical of metallic Kondo lattices, and (ii) $ρ$ is proportional to T-0.6 at low temperatures, without any influence on the exponent by the application of a magnetic field, which does not seem to classify this compound into hither-to-known non-Fermi liquid (NFL) systems. In contrast to the logarithmic increase known for NFL systems, C/T measured down to 0.5 K exhibits a fall below 2 K. The observed properties of this compound are unusual among Ce systems.

cond-mat.str-el

Critical current density and flux pinning in La2-xPrxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz (x = 0.1 - 0.5) superconductors

Polycrystalline La2-xPrxCa2xBa2Cu4+2xOz (LPCaBCO) compounds with x = 0.1 - 0.5 were synthesized by solid-state reaction method and studied by room temperature X-ray diffraction, dc resistivity, dc magnetization and iodometry. The superconducting transition temperatures in these tetragonal triple perovskite compounds increases from 32 to 62 K (Tconset values) with increasing dopant concentration. The mixing of rare earth La3+ and Pr3+/4+ ions at rare earth site (La3+) along with substitution of divalent Ca2+ results in the shrinkage of unit cell volume. The contraction of unit cell volume due to larger ion being substituted by smaller ions, gives rise to creation of pinning centers in the unit cell leading to increase in critical current density and flux pinning

cond-mat.supr-con

Effect of Co-Ga paired substitution on superconductivity in YBa2Cu3O7-d

The effect of Co-Ga paired substitution on the superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7-d (Y-123) has been investigated by X-ray diffraction, ac susceptibility,dc resistivity and oxygen content measurements. We report in this paper the results of our studies on the paired substitution of a magnetic and non-magnetic ion at Cu site in Y-123, while keeping the total dopant concentration fixed. The simultaneous substitution of Co and Ga at Cu site shows variation in the transition temperature (Tc), oxygen content and hole concentration as a function of change in the balance of magnetic (Co) and non-magnetic (Ga) concentration. Orthorhombicity (D), given as (b-a)/a, also varies as a function of increasing dopant concentration. The variation in Tc due to Co-Ga substitution is discussed in the light of dopant valency and hole filling mechanism.

cond-mat.supr-con