The suppression of superconductivity in MgCNi3 by Ni-site doping

The effects of partial substitution of Cu and Co for Ni in the intermetallic perovskite superconductor MgCNi3 are reported. Calculation of the expected electronic density of states suggests that electron (Cu) and hole (Co) doping should have different effects. For MgCNi3-xCux, solubility of Cu is limited to approximately 3% (x = 0.1), and Tc decreases systematically from 7K to 6K. For MgCNi3-xCox, solubility of Co is much more extensive, but bulk superconductivity disappears for Co doping of 1% (x = 0.03). No signature of long range magnetic ordering is observed in the magnetic susceptibility of the Co doped material.Comment: submitted, Solid State Communication

Contaminations contaminate common databases

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a very powerful method to detect and identify pathogens. The high sensitivity of the method, however, comes with a cost; any of the millions of artificial DNA copies generated by PCR can serve as a template in a following experiment. If not identified as contaminations, these may result in erroneous conclusions on the occurrence of the pathogen, thereby inflating estimates of host range and geographic distribution. In the present paper, we evaluate whether several published records of avian haemosporidian parasites, in either unusual host species or geographical regions, might stem from PCR contaminations rather than novel biological findings. The detailed descriptions of these cases are shedding light upon the steps in the work process that might lead to PCR contaminations. By increasing the awareness of this problem, it will aid in developing procedures that keep these to a minimum. The examples in the present paper are from haemosporidians of birds, however the problem of contaminations and suggested actions should apply generally to all kinds of PCR‐based identifications, not just of parasites and pathogens

Strongly linked current flow in polycrystalline forms of the new superconductor MgB2

The discovery of superconductivity at 39 K in MgB2[1] raises many issues. One of the central questions is whether this new superconductor resembles a high-temperature-cuprate superconductor or a low-temperature metallic superconductor in terms of its current carrying characteristics in applied magnetic fields. In spite of the very high transition temperatures of the cuprate superconductors, their performance in magnetic fields has several drawbacks[2]. Their large anisotropy restricts high bulk current densities to much less than the full magnetic field-temperature (H-T) space over which superconductivity is found. Further, weak coupling across grain boundaries makes transport current densities in untextured polycrystalline forms low and strongly magnetic field sensitive[3,4]. These studies of MgB2 address both issues. In spite of the multi-phase, untextured, nano-scale sub-divided nature of our samples, supercurrents flow throughout without the strong sensitivity to weak magnetic fields characteristic of Josephson-coupled grains[3]. Magnetization measurements over nearly all of the superconducting H-T plane show good temperature scaling of the flux pinning force, suggestive of a current density determined by flux pinning. At least two length scales are suggested by the magnetization and magneto optical (MO) analysis but the cause of this seems to be phase inhomogeneity, porosity, and minority insulating phase such as MgO rather than by weakly coupled grain boundaries. Our results suggest that polycrystalline ceramics of this new class of superconductor will not be compromised by the weak link problems of the high temperature superconductors, a conclusion with enormous significance for applications if higher temperature analogs of this compound can be discovered

Superconductivity in the non-oxide Perovskite MgCNi3

The oxide perovskites are a large family of materials with many important physical properties. Of particular interest has been the fact that this structure type provides an excellent structural framework for the existence of superconductivity. The high Tc copper oxides are the most famous examples of superconducting perovskites, but there are many others [1]. Intermetallic compounds have been the source of many superconducting materials in the past, but they have been eclipsed in recent years by the perovskite oxides. The recent discovery of superconductivity in MgB2 [2] suggests that intermetallic compounds with simple structure types are worth serious reconsideration as sources of new superconducting materials. Here we report the observation of superconductivity at 8 K in the perovskite structure intermetallic compound MgCNi3, linking what appear at first sight to be mutually exclusive classes of superconducting materials. The observation of superconductivity in MgCNi3 indicates that MgB2 will not be the only one of its kind within the chemical paradigm that it suggests for new superconducting materials

Thin Film Magnesium Boride Superconductor with Very High Critical Current Density and Enhanced Irreversibility Field

The discovery of superconductivity at 39 K in magnesium diboride offers the possibility of a new class of low-cost, high-performance superconducting materials for magnets and electronic applications. With twice the critical temperature of Nb_3Sn and four times that of Nb-Ti alloy, MgB_2 has the potential to reach much higher fields and current densities than either of these technological superconductors. A vital prerequisite, strongly linked current flow, has already been demonstrated even at this early stage. One possible drawback is the observation that the field at which superconductivity is destroyed is modest. Further, the field which limits the range of practical applications, the irreversibility field H*(T), is ~7 T at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K), significantly lower than ~10 T for Nb-Ti and ~20 T for Nb_3Sn. Here we show that MgB_2 thin films can exhibit a much steeper temperature dependence of H*(T) than is observed in bulk materials, yielding H*(4.2 K) above 14 T. In addition, very high critical current densities at 4.2 K, 1 MA/cm_2 at 1 T and 10_5 A/cm_2 at 10 T, are possible. These data demonstrate that MgB_2 has credible potential for high-field superconducting applications.Comment: 4 pages pdf, submitted to Nature 3/20/0

X-ray Structure Of (n-heterocyclic)(η4-diene)-dicarbonyliron(0) Compounds

(N-Heterocyclic)(η4-diene)dicarbonyliron(0) compounds, where the N-heterocycles are quinoline and pyrazine and the diene is the diethyl ester of the hexa-2,4-dien-1,6-dioic acid (diethyl muconate) were studied by X-ray diffraction. The measurements demonstrated that the N-heterocycle occupies different positions of a tetragonal pyramid in these compounds. Quinoline occupies a basal position and pyrazine an apical position. This is discussed in terms of the π-bonding ability of the ligands. © 1987.32019199Buchkremer, (1973) Ph.D. Thesis, , Ruhr Universität, BochumKrüger, Trag, Molekül- und Kristallstruktur von Bis(1,3-cyclohexadien)monocarbonyleisen (1971) Angewandte Chemie, 83, p. 250De Paoli, Fruehauf, Grevels, Koerner von Gustorf, Krüger, (1977) J. Organomet. Chem., 136, p. 219Fruehauf, Grevels, Landers, Carbonyl(1,4-diaza-1,3-dien)(1,3-dien)eisen-komplexe: photochemische darstellung über tricarbonyl(1,4-diaza-1,3-dien)eisen (1979) Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, 179, p. 349De Paoli, Makita, (1981) J. Organomet. Chem., 216, p. 79Vichi, Raithby, McPartlyn, (1983) J. Organomet. Chem., 256, p. 111Sheldrick, (1976) SHELX 76, A Program for Crystal Structure Determination, , University of CambridgeKrüger, Barnett, (1978) The Organic Chemistry of Iron, 1. , E.A.Koerner von Gustorf, F.W. Grevels, I. Fischler, Academic Press, LondonBellachioma, Cardaci, Mechanism of the reaction of chelated tricarbonyliron complexes of ?,?-unsaturated Schiff bases with Group 5 ligands (1977) Journal of the Chemical Society, Dalton Transactions, p. 2181Marks, Grevels, Fischler, (1978) The Organic Chemistry of Iron, 1. , E.A.Koerner von Gustorf, Academic Press, LondonBehrens, Thiele, Pürzer, Würstl, Moll, (1978) J. Organomet. Chem., 160, p. 255Moll, Seibold, Popp, (1980) J. Organomet. Chem., 191, p. 19