251 research outputs found
Pressure induced effects on the Fermi surface of superconducting 2H-NbSe
The pressure dependence of the critical temperature and upper critical
field has been measured up to 19 GPa in the layered superconducting
material 2H-NbSe. Relating the behavior of to Fermi surface
parameters, we find that the electron phonon coupling of the 2D Nb 4d derived
bands shows a peak at 5 GPa when the charge density wave (CDW) order is
suppressed. On the other hand, shows a bell shaped curve with a
maximum at 10.5 GPa, well above the pressure for the suppression of the CDW
order. Changes in the band structure produce this shift in the maximum of
, demonstrating that 2H-NbSe shows important differences with
respect to other compounds where has a maximum in the temperature-density
phase diagram shaped by the suppression of another, non-superconducting, ground
state.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Small changes in discussion. Typos correcte
Thermoelectric response near a quantum critical point of beta-YbAlB4 and YbRh2Si2: A comparative study
The thermoelectric coefficients have been measured on the Yb-based heavy
fermion compounds beta-YbAlB4 and YbRh2Si2 down to a very low temperature. We
observe a striking difference in the behavior of the Seebeck coefficient, S in
the vicinity of the Quantum Critical Point (QCP) in the two systems. As the
critical field is approached, S/T enhances in beta-YbAlB4 but is drastically
reduced in YbRh2Si2. While in the former system, the ratio of
thermopower-to-specific heat remains constant, it drastically drops near the
QCP in YbRh2Si2. In both systems, on the other hand, the Nernst coefficient
shows a diverging behavior near the QCP. The results provide a new window to
the way various energy scales of the system behave and eventually vanish near a
QCP
Double superconducting transition in the filled skutterudite PrOs4Sb12 and sample characterizations
A thorough characterization of many samples of the filled skutterudite
compound PrOs4Sb12 is provided. We find that the double superconducting
transition in the specific heat Tc1~1.89K and Tc2~1.72K tends to appear in
samples with a large residual resistivity ratio, large specific heat jump at
the superconducting transition and with the highest absolute value of the
specific heat above Tc1. However, we present evidence which casts doubt on the
intrinsic nature of the double superconducting transition. The ratio of the two
specific heat jumps \Delta C(Tc1)/\Delta C(Tc2) shows a wide range of values on
crystals from different batches but also within the same batch. This ratio was
strongly reduced by polishing a sample down to 120um. Remarkably, three samples
exhibit a single sharp transition of ~15mK in width at Tc~1.7K. The normalized
specific heat jump (C-Cnormal)/Cnormal at Tc of two of them is higher than ~32%
so larger than the sum of the two specific heat jumps when a double transition
exists. As an evidence of better quality, the slope in the transition is at
least two time steeper.
We discuss the origins of the double transition; in particular we consider,
based on X-ray diffraction results, a scenario involving Pr-vacancies. The
superconducting phase diagram under magnetic field of a sample with a single
transition is fitted with a two-band model taking into account the good values
for the gap as deduced from thermal conductivity measurements.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, submitted to Physical review
Evidence for Anisotropic Vortex Dynamics and Pauli Limitation in the Upper Critical Field of FeSe1-xTex
We have determined HC2(T) for FeSe1-xTex (x=0.52) single crystals using
resistivity measurements at high static and pulsed magnetic field, as well as
specific heat measurements up to 9T. We find that the significant anisotropy of
the initial slope of HC2(T) determined from resistivity measurements, is not
present when HC2 is determined from the specific heat results. This suggests
that the thermodynamic upper critical field is almost isotropic, and that
anisotropic vortex dynamics play a role. Further evidence of anisotropic vortex
dynamics is found in the behaviour in pulsed field. We also find that Pauli
limiting must be included in order to fit the temperature dependence of HC2,
indicating probably higher effective mass in FeSe1-xTex than in other Fe
superconductors
High pressure phase diagrams of CeRhIn and CeCoIn studied by ac calorimetry
The pressure-temperature phase diagrams of the heavy fermion antiferromagnet
CeRhIn and the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn have been studied
under hydrostatic pressure by ac calorimetry and ac susceptibility measurements
using diamond anvil cells with argon as pressure medium. In CeRhIn, the use
of a highly hydrostatic pressure transmitting medium allows for a clean
simultaneous determination by a bulk probe of the antiferromagnetic and
superconducting transitions. We compare our new phase diagram with the previous
ones, discuss the nature (first or second order) of the various lines, and the
coexistence of antiferromagnetic order and superconductivity. The link between
the collaps of the superconducting heat anomaly and the broadening of the
antiferromagnetic transition points to an inhomogeneous appearence of
superconductivity below GPa. Homogeneous bulk
superconductivity is only observed above this critical pressure. We present a
detailed analysis of the influence of pressure inomogeneities on the specific
heat anomalies which emphasizes that the observed broadening of the transitions
near is connected with the first order transition. For CeCoIn we show
that the large specific heat anomaly observed at at ambient pressure is
suppressed linearly at least up to 3 GPa
Multivariate analysis of 3D ToF-SIMS images: method validation and application to cultured neuronal networks
Advanced data analysis tools are crucial for the application of ToF-SIMS analysis to biological samples. Here, we demonstrate that by using a training set approach principal components analysis (PCA) can be performed on large 3D ToF-SIMS images of neuronal cell cultures. The method readily provides access to sample component information and significantly improves the images’ signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)
Magnetic Penetration Depth in Unconventional Superconductors
This topical review summarizes various features of magnetic penetration depth
in unconventional superconductors. Precise measurements of the penetration
depth as a function of temperature, magnetic field and crystal orientation can
provide detailed information about the pairing state. Examples are given of
unconventional pairing in hole- and electron-doped cuprates, organic and heavy
fermion superconductors. The ability to apply an external magnetic field adds a
new dimension to penetration depth measurements. We discuss how field dependent
measurements can be used to study surface Andreev bound states, nonlinear
Meissner effects, magnetic impurities, magnetic ordering, proximity effects and
vortex motion. We also discuss how penetration depth measurements as a function
of orientation can be used to explore superconductors with more than one gap
and with anisotropic gaps. Details relevant to the analysis of penetration
depth data in anisotropic samples are also discussed.Comment: topical review, 57 pages, 219 reference
Tunneling spectroscopy in the magnetic superconductor TmNi2B2C
We present new measurements about the tunneling conductance in the
borocarbide superconductor TmNiBC. The results show a very good
agreement with weak coupling BCS theory, without any lifetime broadening
parameter, over the whole sample surface. We detect no particular change of the
tunneling spectroscopy below 1.5K, when both the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase
and the superconducting order coexist.Comment: Submitted to Phys. Rev. B, Rapid Communication
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