A Reduced Neodymium Titanate with a New Intergrowth Structure Type

Single crystals of a new reduced neodymium titanate, Nd3Ti4O12 , have been obtained by slow cooling of a reduced Nd–Ti–O ceramic precursor in a molten neodymium borate flux under high vacuum. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (space group Pcmn, a = 5.420(1) Å, b = 7.610(1) Å, c = 22.015(5) Å, Z = 4, Pearson symbol oP76) showed that the structure of Nd3Ti4O12 is built from an arrangement of corner-sharing and edge-sharing TiO6-octahedra that can be considered as a regular intergrowth of the GdFeO3 and CaTa2O6 structure types. The material is nonmetallic (R(25°C) = 35 Ωcm) which may arise due to the localization of the Ti 3d-electrons in the edge-sharing pairs of TiO6-octahedra (short Ti–Ti distance of 2.760(3) Å)

4f spin density in the reentrant ferromagnet SmMn2Ge2

The spin contribution to the magnetic moment in SmMn2Ge2 has been measured by magnetic Compton scattering in both the low and high temperature ferromagnetic phases. At low temperature, the Sm site is shown to possess a large 4f spin moment of 3.4 +/- 0.1 Bohr magnetons, aligned antiparallel to the total magnetic moment. At high temperature, the data show conclusively that ordered magnetic moments are present on the samarium site.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, transferred from PRL to PRB (Rapid Comm.

Thermomagnetic history effects in SmMn2_2Ge2_2

The intermetallic compound SmMn$_2$Ge$_2$, displaying multiple magnetic phase transitions, is being investigated in detail for its magnetization behavior near the 145 K first order ferromagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition occuring on cooling, in particular for thermomagnetic history effects in the magnetization data. The most unusual finding is that the thermomagnetic irreversibility, [= M$^{FCW}$(T)-M$^{ZFC}$(T)] at 135 K is higher in intermediate magnetic field strengths. By studying the response of the sample (i.e., thermomagnetic irreversibility and thermal hysteresis) to different histories of application of magnetic field and temperature, we demonstrate how the supercooling and superheating of the metastable magnetic phases across the first order transition at 145 K contribute to overall thermomagnetic irreversibility.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review

Methane sources in gas hydrate-bearing cold-seeps : evidence from radiocarbon and stable isotopes

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2009. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 115 (2009): 102-109, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2009.07.001.Fossil methane from the large and dynamic marine gas hydrate reservoir has the potential to influence oceanic and atmospheric carbon pools. However, natural radiocarbon (14C) measurements of gas hydrate methane have been extremely limited, and their use as a source and process indicator has not yet been systematically established. In this study, gas hydrate-bound and dissolved methane recovered from six geologically and geographically distinct high-gas-flux cold seeps was found to be 98 to 100% fossil based on its 14C content. Given this prevalence of fossil methane and the small contribution of gas hydrate (≤1%) to the present-day atmospheric methane flux, non-fossil contributions of gas hydrate methane to the atmosphere are not likely to be quantitatively significant. This conclusion is consistent with contemporary atmospheric methane budget calculations. In combination with δ13C- and δD-methane measurements, we also determine the extent to which the low, but detectable, amounts of 14C (~ 1-2 percent modern carbon, pMC) in methane from two cold seeps might reflect in situ production from near-seafloor sediment organic carbon (SOC). A 14C mass balance approach using fossil methane and 14C-enriched SOC suggests that as much as 8 to 29% of hydrate-associated methane carbon may originate from SOC contained within the upper 6 meters of sediment. These findings validate the assumption of a predominantly fossil carbon source for marine gas hydrate, but also indicate that structural gas hydrate from at least certain cold seeps contains a component of methane produced during decomposition of non-fossil organic matter in near-surface sediment.This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research and Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Partial support was also provided by the USGS Mendenhall Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program to JWP, and NSF Chemical Oceanography (OCE-0327423) and Integrated Carbon Cycle Research (EAR- 0403949) program support to JEB

Dissipative flux motion in high-temperature superconductors

The dissipation below Tc has been studied for representatives of all classes of cuprate hightemperature superconductors, including Ba2YCu3O7–δ, and Bi and Tl compounds. The results are parametrized in the framework of flux creep, with the largest activation energies found in Ba2YCu3O7. It is argued that the magnitude of dissipative flux motion is more related to the electronic anisotropy of the material than the actual defect structure. The thermally activated flux creep model, whose parameters are extracted from dc measurements, consistently describes also dynamic measurements, including the irreversibility line and the melting transition. Finally, the similarities in dissipative behavior are emphasized between high-Tc materials, very thin films, and layered low-Tc superconductors.

Critical currents and thermally activated flux motion in high-temperature superconductors

We have measured the resistance below Tc of single crystals of the high-temperature superconductors Ba2YCu3O7 and Bi2.2Sr2Ca0.8Cu2O8+δ in magnetic fields up to 12 T. The resistive transition of both compounds is dominated by intrinsic dissipation which is thermally activated, resulting in an exponential temperature dependence of the resistivity well below Tc. The dissipation is significantly larger and of different character in the Bi-Cu compound than in Ba2YCu3O7. The relation between the activated behavior and the depinning critical current is discussed.

Angular dependence of the upper critical field of Bi2.2Sr2Ca0.8Cu2O8+δ

We have measured the electrical resistivity of Bi2.2Sr2Ca0.8Cu2O8+δ in the vicinity of Tc for various angles between the [CuO2]∞ double layers of the crystal and the magnetic field. Defining Tc at the transition midpoints, we have measured values for –dH∥c2/dT=45 T/K and –dH⊥c2/dT=0.75 T/K for the magnetic field parallel and perpendicular to the [CuO2]∞ planes, respectively. This results in an anisotropy of a factor 60. The numerical results are sensitive to the definition of Tc and larger values for the anisotropy cannot be excluded. The results are compared with the anisotropic three-dimensional Ginzburg-Landau theory.

Superconducting and Normal State Parameters of Bi2.2Sr2Ca0.8Cu2O8+δ Single Crystals: A Comparison with Ba2YCu3O7

Magnetic and magnetotransport properties were studied on Bi2.2Sr2Ca0.8Cu2O8+δ single crystals. The normal state resistivity in the a-b plane varies linearly with temperature and extrapolates to zero at T=0. The slopes of the upper critical field are -4.5±1 (-0.55) T/K for H perpendicular (parallel) to the c-axis. The coherence length is calculated to be ~30Å in the a-b plane but only ~4Å perpendicular to it. ξc is thus shorter than the 12Å spacing between the Cu-O double layers. From Hc1 and Hc2 data, the Sommerfeld parameter γ is deduced.