Revival of Superconductivity by Y3+/Ca2+ substitution in YBa2Cu2.7Co0.3O7 without reported phase transformation

Results of phase formation, resistivity (r), and thermo-electric power (S), are reported on Y1-xCaxBa2Cu2.7Co0.3O7 compounds with x = 0.1 and 0.2. Pristine compound i.e. without Co or Ca substitution crystallizes in orthorhombic structure with space group P/mmm. Cu-site Co substituted compound i.e. YBa2Cu2.7Co0.3O7 is tetragonal. With simultaneous doping of Ca at Y site in Co substituted compound i.e. Y1-xCaxBa2Cu2.7Co0.3O7 the tetragonal nature still remains. r(T) measurements showed superconducting transition temperature (Tc) to decrease from 90K (YBa2Cu3O7) to 33 K for YBa2Cu2.7Co0.3O7 which with further Ca substitution increases from 33K to 53K (Y0.9 Ca0.1Ba2Cu2.7Co0.3O7) and 67 K for Y0.8 Ca0.2Ba2Cu2.7Co0.3O7. Tc decreases first with Cu-site Co substitution by hole-filling and later recovers by simultaneous hole creation by Y site Ca substitution. Room temperature thermoelectric power S(300 K), which is an indirect measure of mobile carriers shows the decrease of carriers with Co doping and creation by Ca substitution. Our results demonstrate the hole filling by Co substitution is compensated by simultaneous Ca substitution.Comment: 10 pages of TEXT and Fig

Inverse approach to Einstein's equations for fluids with vanishing anisotropic stress tensor

We expand previous work on an inverse approach to Einstein Field Equations where we include fluids with energy flux and consider the vanishing of the anisotropic stress tensor. We consider the approach using warped product spacetimes of class $B_1$. Although restricted, these spacetimes include many exact solutions of interest to compact object studies and to cosmological models studies. The question explored here is as follows: given a spacetime metric, what fluid flow (timelike congruence), if any, could generate the spacetime via Einstein's equations. We calculate the flow from the condition of a vanishing anisotropic stress tensor and give results in terms of the metric functions in the three canonical types of coordinates. A condition for perfect fluid sources is also provided. The framework developed is algorithmic and suited for the study and validation of exact solutions using computer algebra systems. The framework can be applied to solutions in comoving and non-comoving frames of reference, and examples in different types of coordinates are worked out.Comment: 15 pages, matches version to appear in Phys.Rev.

Carrier Transport in Magnesium Diboride: Role of Nano-inclusions

Anisotropic-gap and two-band effects smear out the superconducting transition (Tc) in literature reported thermal conductivity of MgB2, where large electronic contributions also suppress anomaly-manifestation in their negligible phononic-parts. Present thermal transport results on scarcely explored specimens featuring nano-inclusions exhibit a small but clear Tc-signature, traced to relatively appreciable phononic conduction, and its dominant electronic-scattering. The self-formed MgO as extended defects strongly scatter the charge carriers and minutely the phonons with their longer-mean-free-path near Tc. Conversely, near room temperature, the shorter-dominant-wavelength phonon's transport is hugely affected by these nanoparticles, undergoing ballistic to diffusive crossover and eventually entering the Ioffe-Regel mobility threshold regime.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figures, 28 reference

Local cosmic string and C-field

We investigate a local cosmic string with a phenomenological energy momentum tensor as prescribed by Vilenkin, in presence of C-field . The solutions of full nonlinear Einstein's equations for exterior and interior regions of such a string are presented.Comment: 7 page

Structural and superconducting properties of R1 – xCaxBa2Cu3O7 – delta with 0.50 \u3e= x \u3e= 0.00

We report here a consolidated study of structural and superconducting properties of Ca substituted R1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7-δ system, with R=Er, Y, Sm, and Nd, and for 0.50\u3e~x\u3e~0.00. Interestingly, with increasing x, Er/Y samples show a behavior significantly different from Sm/Nd. In particular (1) orthorhombic distortion of R:123 lattice is found to be little affected for Er/Y samples with increasing x in comparison to Sm/Nd samples, (2) although Ca substitution leads to oxygen depletion for all the four sets of samples, the average Cu valence is, in general, found to remain invariant with x, (3) ρ(T) is found to show an upward curvature for Er/Y samples, which is absent for the Sm/Nd samples, and (4) Tc(ρ=0) as a function of x and δ shows a much steeper decrease in Er/Y based samples, than in Sm/Nd based ones. Our results unequivocally point to a different structural order or disorder in Er/Y samples as compared to Sm/Nd based samples. We suggest that different site preferences of oxygen vacancies, predominantly created in CuO2 planes (CuO chains) of Er and Y (Sm and Nd) based samples, might be responsible for the observed difference in the behavior. This contention is supported by a host of other considerations and experimental observations

Transformation kinetics of A-15 superconductors formed by solid state reactions

Various fabrication processes devised for making multifilamentary A-15 super-conductors are all based on solid state reactions, transforming the host metal into the binary A-15 phase. The kinetics of the growth process involved in the compound formation form the theme of this paper

Microwave properties of DyBa_2Cu_3O_(7-x) monodomains and related compounds in magnetic fields

We present a microwave characterization of a DyBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-x}$ single domain, grown by the top-seeded melt-textured technique. We report the (a,b) plane field-induced surface resistance, $\Delta R_s(H)$, at 48.3 GHz, measured by means of a cylindrical metal cavity in the end-wall-replacement configuration. Changes in the cavity quality factor Q against the applied magnetic field yield $\Delta R_s(H)$ at fixed temperatures. The temperature range [70 K ; T_c] was explored. The magnetic field $\mu_0 H <$ 0.8 T was applied along the c axis. The field dependence of $\Delta R_s(H)$ does not exhibit the steep, step-like increase at low fields typical of weak-links. This result indicates the single-domain character of the sample under investigation. $\Delta R_s(H)$ exhibits a nearly square-root dependence on H, as expected for fluxon motion. From the analysis of the data in terms of motion of Abrikosov vortices we estimate the temperature dependences of the London penetration depth $\lambda$ and the vortex viscosity $\eta$, and their zero-temperature values $\lambda(0)=$165 nm and $\eta(0)=$ 3 10$^{-7}$ Nsm$^{-2}$, which are found in excellent agreement with reported data in YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7-x}$ single crystals. Comparison of microwave properties with those of related samples indicate the need for reporting data as a function of T/T_c in order to obtain universal laws.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic

A selected history of expectation bias in physics

The beliefs of physicists can bias their results towards their expectations in a number of ways. We survey a variety of historical cases of expectation bias in observations, experiments, and calculations.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Experimental study of magneto-superconductor RuSr2Eu1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10: Effect of Mo doping on magnetic behavior and Tc variation

Mo doped ruthenocuprates Ru1-xMoxSr2Eu1.5Ce0.5Cu2O10 are synthesized for x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0, and their magnetic and superconducting properties are studied. It has been found that the magnetic transition temperature TZFCpeak, which corresponds to the appearance of weak ferromagnetic effect, decreases from its value of 75 K for x = 0.0 to 22 K, 25 K and 18 K, respectively for the x = 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 samples. Another finding is that the magnetic susceptibility reduces at TZFCpeak by a factor of about 6, 85 and 413 for x = 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 respectively. The samples of x = 0.8 and 1.0 are found to have no magnetic or superconducting effects. The values of the superconducting transition temperature are obtained from the resistivity versus temperature data. An important result is that Tc increases by 4.5 K and 7.0 K for x = 0.2 and 0.4 respectively, and then decreases by 17 K for x = 0.6. The observed variation of Tc with x has been explained in terms of a theory which combines the effects of weakening magnetic behavior and reducing carrier concentration in a phenomenological manner. The resulting theory is found to provide a good agreement with the observed value of Tc.Comment: 14 pages with Text + Figs. To Appear in PHYS. REV. B, Ist Jan. 2006 issu