Effect of strain-induced electronic topological transitions on the superconducting properties of LaSrCuO thin films

We propose a Ginzburg-Landau phenomenological model for the dependence of the critical temperature on microscopic strain in tetragonal high-Tc cuprates. Such a model is in agreement with the experimental results for LSCO under epitaxial strain, as well as with the hydrostatic pressure dependence of Tc in most cuprates. In particular, a nonmonotonic dependence of Tc on hydrostatic pressure, as well as on in-plane or apical microstrain, is derived. From a microscopic point of view, such results can be understood as due to the proximity to an electronic topological transition (ETT). In the case of LSCO, we argue that such an ETT can be driven by a strain-induced modification of the band structure, at constant hole content, at variance with a doping-induced ETT, as is usually assumed.Comment: EPJB, to be publishe

Josephson effect in superconducting constrictions with hybrid SF electrodes: peculiar properties determined by the misorientation of magnetizations

Josephson current in SFcFS junctions with arbitrary transparency of the constriction (c) is investigated. The emphasis is done on the analysis of the supercurrent dependencies on the misorientation angle $\theta$ between the in-plane magnetizations of diffusive ferromagnetic layers (F). It is found that the current-phase relation $I(\phi)$ may be radically modified with the $\theta$ variation: the harmonic $I_{1}\sin \phi$ vanishes for definite value of $\theta$ provided for identical orientation of the magnetizations ($\theta =0$) the junction is in the $"\pi"$ state. The Josephson current may exhibit a nonmonotonic dependence on the misorientation angle both for realization of $"0 "$ and $"\pi "$ state at $\theta =0$. We also analyze the effect of exchange field induced enhancement of the critical current which may occur in definite range of $\theta$.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to JETP Letter

Structure, reactivity and electronic properties of V-doped Co clusters

Structures, physical and chemical properties of V doped Co$_{13}$ clusters have been studied in detail using density functional theory based first-principles method. We have found anomalous variation in stability of the doped clusters with increasing V concentration, which has been nicely demonstrated in terms of energetics and electronic properties of the clusters. Our study explains the nonmonotonic variation in reactivity of Co$_{13-m}$V$_m$ clusters towards H$_2$ molecules as reported experimentally [J. Phys. Chem. {\bf 94}, 2744 (1990)]. Moreover, it provides useful insight into the cluster geometry and chemically active sites on the cluster surface, which can help to design better catalytic processes.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 4 table

Unanticipated proximity behavior in ferromagnet-superconductor heterostructures with controlled magnetic noncollinearity

Magnetization noncollinearity in ferromagnet-superconductor (F/S) heterostructures is expected to enhance the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) according to the domain-wall superconductivity theory, or to suppress Tc when spin-triplet Cooper pairs are explicitly considered. We study the proximity effect in F/S structures where the F layer is a Sm-Co/Py exchange-spring bilayer and the S layer is Nb. The exchange-spring contains a single, controllable and quantifiable domain wall in the Py layer. We observe an enhancement of superconductivity that is nonmonotonic as the Py domain wall is increasingly twisted via rotating a magnetic field, different from theoretical predictions. We have excluded magnetic fields and vortex motion as the source of the nonmonotonic behavior. This unanticipated proximity behavior suggests that new physics is yet to be captured in the theoretical treatments of F/S systems containing noncollinear magnetization.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figures. Physical Review Letters in pres

Housing prices and multiple employment nodes: is the relationship nonmonotonic?

Standard urban economic theory predicts that house prices will decline with distance from the central business district. Empirical results have been equivocal, however. Disjoints between theory and empirics may be due to a nonmonotonic relationship between house prices and access to employment arising from the negative externalities associated with proximity to multiple centres of employment. Based on data from Glasgow (Scotland), we use gravity-based measures of accessibility estimated using a flexible functional form that allows for nonmonotonicity. The results are thoroughly tested using recent advances in spatial econometrics. We find compelling evidence of a nonmonotonic effect in the accessibility measure and discuss the implications for planning and housing policy

Nature of crossover from classical to Ising-like critical behavior

We present an accurate numerical determination of the crossover from classical to Ising-like critical behavior upon approach of the critical point in three-dimensional systems. The possibility to vary the Ginzburg number in our simulations allows us to cover the entire crossover region. We employ these results to scrutinize several semi-phenomenological crossover scaling functions that are widely used for the analysis of experimental results. In addition we present strong evidence that the exponent relations do not hold between effective exponents.Comment: 4 pages RevTeX 3.0/3.1, 4 Encapsulated PostScript figures. Uses epsf.sty. Also available as PDF file at http://www.cond-mat.physik.uni-mainz.de/~luijten/erikpubs.htm