1,596 research outputs found
Differential thermal analysis and solution growth of intermetallic compounds
To obtain single crystals by solution growth, an exposed primary
solidification surface in the appropriate, but often unknown, equilibrium alloy
phase diagram is required. Furthermore, an appropriate crucible material is
needed, necessary to hold the molten alloy during growth, without being
attacked by it. Recently, we have used the comparison of realistic simulations
with experimental differential thermal analysis (DTA) curves to address both
these problems. We have found: 1) complex DTA curves can be interpreted to
determine an appropriate heat treatment and starting composition for solution
growth, without having to determine the underlying phase diagrams in detail. 2)
DTA can facilitate identification of appropriate crucible materials. DTA can
thus be used to make the procedure to obtain single crystals of a desired phase
by solution growth more efficient. We will use some of the systems for which we
have recently obtained single-crystalline samples using the combination of DTA
and solution growth as examples. These systems are TbAl, PrNiSi,
and YMnAl.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figure
Character of the structural and magnetic phase transitions in the parent and electron doped BaFe2As2 compounds
We present a combined high-resolution x-ray diffraction and x-ray resonant
magnetic scattering (XRMS) study of as-grown BaFe2As2. The structural/magnetic
transitions must be described as a two-step process. At T_S = 134.5 K we
observe the onset of a second-order structural transition from the
high-temperature paramagnetic tetragonal structure to a paramagnetic
orthorhombic phase, followed by a discontinuous step in the structural order
parameter that is coincident with a first-order antiferromagnetic (AFM)
transition at T_N = 133.75 K. These data, together with detailed
high-resolution x-ray studies of the structural transition in lightly doped
Ba(Fe{1-x}Co{x})2As2 and Ba(Fe{1-x}Rh{x})2As2 compounds, show that the
structural and AFM transitions do, in fact, occur at slightly different
temperatures in the parent BaFe2As2 compound, and evolve towards split
secondorder transitions as the doping concentration is increased. We estimate
the composition for the tricritical point for Co-doping and employ a mean-field
approach to show that our measurements can be explained by the inclusion of an
anharmonic term in the elastic free energy and magneto-elastic coupling in the
form of an emergent Ising-nematic degree of freedom.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Unpaired Electrons in the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor CeCoIn_{5}
Thermal conductivity and specific heat were measured in the superconducting
state of the heavy fermion material Ce_{1-x}La_{x}CoIn_{5}. With increasing
impurity concentration x, the suppression of T_{c} is accompanied by the
increase in the residual electronic specific heat expected of a d-wave
superconductor, but it occurs in parallel with a decrease in residual
electronic thermal conductivity. This contrasting behavior reveals the presence
of uncondensed electrons coexisting with nodal quasiparticles. An extreme
multiband scenario is proposed, with a d-wave superconducting gap on the
heavy-electron sheets of the Fermi surface and a negligible gap on the light,
three-dimensional pockets.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Heat Capacity Measurements in Pulsed Magnetic Fields
The new NHMFL 60T quasi-continuous magnet produces a flat-top field for a
period of 100 ms at 60 Tesla, and for longer time at lower fields, e.g. 0.5 sec
at 35 Tesla. We have developed for the first time the capability to measure
heat capacity at very high magnetic fields in the NHMFL 60 T quasi-continuous
magnet at LANL, using a probe built out of various plastic materials. The field
plateau allows us to utilize a heat-pulse method to obtain heat capacity data.
Proof-of-principle heat capacity experiments were performed on a variety of
correlated electron systems. Both magnet performance characteristics and
physical properties of various materials studied hold out a promise of wide
application of this new tool.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, World Scientific Pub. Co., to be publishe
Commensurate antiferromagnetic ordering in Ba(Fe{1-x}Co{x})2As2 determined by x-ray resonant magnetic scattering at the Fe K-edge
We describe x-ray resonant magnetic diffraction measurements at the Fe K-edge
of both the parent BaFe2As2 and superconducting Ba(Fe0.953Co0.047)2As2
compounds. From these high-resolution measurements we conclude that the
magnetic structure is commensurate for both compositions. The energy spectrum
of the resonant scattering is in reasonable agreement with theoretical
calculations using the full-potential linear augmented plane wave method with a
local density functional.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures; accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B Rapid
Com
A small sealed Ta crucible for thermal analysis of volatile metallic samples
Differential thermal analysis on metallic alloys containing volatile elements
can be highly problematic. Here we show how measurements can be performed in
commercial, small-sample, equipment without modification. This is achieved by
using a sealed Ta crucible, easily fabricated from Ta tubing and sealed in a
standard arc furnace. The crucible performance is demonstrated by measurements
on a mixture of Mg and MgB, after heating up to 1470. We
also show data, measured on an alloy with composition GdMg, that
clearly shows both the liquidus and a peritectic, and is consistent with
published phase diagram data
Epilogue: Superconducting Materials Past, Present and Future
Experimental contributors to the field of Superconducting Materials share
their informal views on the subject.Comment: Epilogue to Physica C Special Issue on Superconducting Materials,
Volume 514 (2015
57-Fe Mossbauer study of magnetic ordering in superconducting K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 single crystals
The magnetic ordering of superconducting single crystals of
K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 has been studied between 10K and 550K using 57-Fe
Mossbauer spectroscopy. Despite being superconducting below T_sc ~30K, the iron
sublattice in K_0.85Fe_1.83Se_2.09 clearly exhibits magnetic order from well
below T_sc to its N\'eel temperature of T_N = 532 +/- 2K. The iron moments are
ordered perpendicular to the single crystal plates, i.e. parallel to the
crystal c-axis. The order collapses rapidly above 500K and the accompanying
growth of a paramagnetic component suggests that the magnetic transition may be
first order, which may explain the unusual temperature dependence reported in
recent neutron diffraction studies.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures Submitted to Phys.Rev.
Heat Transport as a Probe of Electron Scattering by Spin Fluctuations: the Case of Antiferromagnetic CeRhIn5
Heat and charge conduction were measured in the heavy-fermion metal CeRhIn5,
an antiferromagnet with T_N=3.8 K. The thermal resistivity is found to be
proportional to the magnetic entropy, revealing that spin fluctuations are as
effective in scattering electrons as they are in disordering local moments. The
electrical resistivity, governed by a q^2 weighting of fluctuations, increases
monotonically with temperature. In contrast, the difference between thermal and
electrical resistivities, characterized by an omega^2 weighting, peaks sharply
at T_N and eventually goes to zero at a temperature T^* ~ 8 K. T^* thus emerges
as a measure of the characteristic energy of magnetic fluctuations.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Field-Induced Quantum Critical Point in CeCoIn5
The resistivity of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 was measured as a
function of temperature, down to 25 mK and in magnetic fields of up to 16 T
applied perpendicular to the basal plane. With increasing field, we observe a
suppression of the non-Fermi liquid behavior, rho ~ T, and the development of a
Fermi liquid state, with its characteristic rho = rho_0 + AT^2 dependence. The
field dependence of the T^2 coefficient shows critical behavior with an
exponent of 1.37. This is evidence for a field-induced quantum critical point
(QCP), occuring at a critical field which coincides, within experimental
accuracy, with the superconducting critical field H_c2. We discuss the relation
of this field-tuned QCP to a change in the magnetic state, seen as a change in
magnetoresistance from positive to negative, at a crossover line that has a
common border with the superconducting region below ~ 1 K.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (published version
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