Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded at the interfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Transport properties of a few hundreds of nanometers thick (in the graphene plane direction) lamellae of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) have been investigated. Current–voltage characteristics as well as the temperature dependence of the voltage at different fixed input currents provide evidence for Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded in the internal two-dimensional interfaces of HOPG, reaching zero resistance at low enough temperatures

High-field and high-temperature magnetoresistance reveals the superconducting behaviour of the stacking faults in multilayer graphene

In spite of 40 years of experimental studies and several theoretical proposals, an overall interpretation of the complex behavior of the magnetoresistance (MR) of multilayer graphene, i.e. graphite, at high fields ($B \lesssim 70~$T) and in a broad temperature range is still lacking. Part of the complexity is due to the contribution of stacking faults (SFs), which most of thick enough multilayer graphene samples have. We propose a procedure that allows us to extract the SF contribution to the MR we have measured at 0.48~K $\leq T \leq$ 250~K and 0~T$\leq B \lesssim$ 65~T. We found that the MR behavior of part of the SFs is similar to that of granular superconductors with a superconducting critical temperature $T_c \sim$ 350~K, in agreement with recent publications. The measurements were done on a multilayer graphene TEM lamella, contacting the edges of the two-dimensional SFs.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Luminescence and electrical properties of single ZnO/MgO core/shell nanowires

To neutralise the influence of the surface of ZnO nanowires for photonics and optoelectronic applications, we have covered them with insulating MgO film and individually contacted them for electrical characterisation. We show that such a metal-insulator-semiconductor-type nanodevice exhibits a high diode ideality factor of 3.4 below 1 V. MgO shell passivates ZnO surface states and provides confining barriers to electrons and holes within the ZnO core, favouring excitonic ultraviolet radiative recombination, while suppressing defect-related luminescence in the visible and improving electrical conductivity. The results indicate the potential use of ZnO/MgO nanowires as a convenient building block for nano-optoelectronic devices.Fil: Grinblat, Gustavo Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Física del Solido; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Bern, Francis. University of Leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Barzola Quiquia, José. University of Leipzig; AlemaniaFil: Tirado, Monica Cecilia. Universidad Nacional de Tucuman. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnologia. Departamento de Fisica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Comedi, David Mario. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Física. Laboratorio de Física del Solido; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Esquinazi, Pablo. University of Leipzig; Alemani

Identification of a possible superconducting transition above room temperature in natural graphite crystals

Measuring with high precision the electrical resistance of highly ordered natural graphite samples from a Brazil mine, we have identified a transition at $\sim$350~K with $\sim$40~K transition width. The step-like change in temperature of the resistance, its magnetic irreversibility and time dependence after a field change, consistent with trapped flux and flux creep, and the partial magnetic flux expulsion obtained by magnetization measurements, suggest the existence of granular superconductivity below 350~K. The zero-field virgin state can only be reached again after zero field cooling the sample from above the transition. Paradoxically, the extraordinarily high transition temperature we found for this and several other graphite samples is the reason why this transition remained undetected so far. The existence of well ordered rhombohedral graphite phase in all measured samples has been proved by x-rays diffraction measurements, suggesting its interfaces with the Bernal phase as a possible origin for the high-temperature superconductivity, as theoretical studies predicted. The localization of granular superconductivity at these two dimensional interfaces prevents the observation of a zero resistance state or of a full Meissner state.Comment: 14 pages with 21 figure

ZnO:Co diluted magnetic semiconductor or hybrid nanostructure for spintronics?

We have studied the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic defects in the magnetic and electrical transport properties of Co-doped ZnO thin films. X-ray absorption measurements show that Co substitute Zn in the ZnO structure and it is in the 2+ oxidation state. Magnetization (M) measurements show that doped samples are mainly paramagnetic. From M vs. H loops measured at 5 K we found that the values of the orbital L and spin S numbers are between 1 and 1.3 for L and S = 3/2, in agreement with the representative values for isolated Co 2+. The obtained negative values of the Curie–Weiss temperatures indicate the existence of antiferromagnetic interactions between transition metal atoms.Instituto de Física La Plat

Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded at the interfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Transport properties of a few hundreds of nanometers thick (in the graphene plane direction) lamellae of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) have been investigated. Current–voltage characteristics as well as the temperature dependence of the voltage at different fixed input currents provide evidence for Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded in the internal two-dimensional interfaces of HOPG, reaching zero resistance at low enough temperatures

Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded at the interfaces of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite

Transport properties of a few hundreds of nanometers thick (in the graphene plane direction) lamellae of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) have been investigated. Current–voltage characteristics as well as the temperature dependence of the voltage at different fixed input currents provide evidence for Josephson-coupled superconducting regions embedded in the internal two-dimensional interfaces of HOPG, reaching zero resistance at low enough temperatures