507 research outputs found
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
Formation of collective spins in frustrated clusters
Using magnetization, specific heat and neutron scattering measurements, as
well as exact calculations on realistic models, the magnetic properties of the
\lacuvo compound are characterized on a wide temperature range. At high
temperature, this oxide is well described by strongly correlated atomic =1/2
spins while decreasing the temperature it switches to a set of weakly
interacting and randomly distributed entangled pseudo spins and
. These pseudo-spins are built over frustrated clusters, similar to
the kagom\'e building block, at the vertices of a triangular superlattice, the
geometrical frustration intervening then at different scales.Comment: 10 page
Données stratigraphiques et évolution orogénique en Afghanistan : bilan et perspectives de la mission géologique française
Lattice Distortion and Magnetism of 3d- Perovskite Oxides
Several puzzling aspects of interplay of the experimental lattice distortion
and the the magnetic properties of four narrow -band perovskite oxides
(YTiO, LaTiO, YVO, and LaVO) are clarified using results of
first-principles electronic structure calculations. First, we derive parameters
of the effective Hubbard-type Hamiltonian for the isolated bands using
newly developed downfolding method for the kinetic-energy part and a hybrid
approach, based on the combination of the random-phase approximation and the
constraint local-density approximation, for the screened Coulomb interaction
part. Then, we solve the obtained Hamiltonian using a number of techniques,
including the mean-field Hartree-Fock (HF) approximation, the second-order
perturbation theory for the correlation energy, and a variational superexchange
theory. Even though the crystal-field splitting is not particularly large to
quench the orbital degrees of freedom, the crystal distortion imposes a severe
constraint on the form of the possible orbital states, which favor the
formation of the experimentally observed magnetic structures in YTiO,
YVO_, and LaVO even at the HF level. Beyond the HF approximation, the
correlations effects systematically improve the agreement with the experimental
data. Using the same type of approximations we could not reproduce the correct
magnetic ground state of LaTiO. However, we expect that the situation may
change by systematically improving the level of approximations for dealing with
the correlation effects.Comment: 30 pages, 17 figures, 8 tables, high-quality figures are available
via e-mai
Surface quality studies of high T superconductors of the Hg , Tl and HgTl-families: RBS and resonant C and O backscattering studies
The composition, crystallinity, uniformity, purity, and thermal stability of cuprate superconductors have been studied by Rutherford backscattering and channeling spectrometry, and 3.045 MeV He oxygen non-Rutherford resonant scattering. Further experiments have been performed with 1.75 MeV Hcarbon non-Rutherford resonant scattering. Three sets of samples were studied : HgBaCuO (Hg1201), HgT1BaCaCuO (Hg,T1-1223) and T1BaCuO/LaA10 (T1-2201), either in bulk or as an epitaxial thin film. It was observed that the superconductors exhibit a metal deficiency near the surface, which is largely compensated by excess oxygen. Moreover, the samples are significantly contaminated with carbon within the probing region of the H beam. The thermal stability and surface degradation were studied in both oxidizing ambient and vacuum. As a general trend, the heavy metal deficiency — and consequently the compensating oxygen excess — is enhanced as the temperature increases
Sleep deprivation and Modafinil affect cortical sources of resting state electroencephalographic rhythms in healthy young adults
Objective: It has been reported that sleep deprivation affects the neurophysiological mechanisms underpinning the vigilance. Here, we tested the following hypotheses in the PharmaCog project (www.pharmacog.org): (i) sleep deprivation may alter posterior cortical delta and alpha sources of resting state eyes-closed electroencephalographic (rsEEG) rhythms in healthy young adults; (ii) after the sleep deprivation, a vigilance enhancer may recover those rsEEG source markers. Methods: rsEEG data were recorded in 36 healthy young adults before (Pre-sleep deprivation) and after (Post-sleep deprivation) one night of sleep deprivation. In the Post-sleep deprivation, these data were collected after a single dose of PLACEBO or MODAFINIL. rsEEG cortical sources were estimated by eLORETA freeware. Results: In the PLACEBO condition, the sleep deprivation induced an increase and a decrease in posterior delta (2–4 Hz) and alpha (8–13 Hz) source activities, respectively. In the MODAFINIL condition, the vigilance enhancer partially recovered those source activities. Conclusions: The present results suggest that posterior delta and alpha source activities may be both related to the regulation of human brain arousal and vigilance in quiet wakefulness. Significance: Future research in healthy young adults may use this methodology to preselect new symptomatic drug candidates designed to normalize brain arousal and vigilance in seniors with dementia
Disorder induced collapse of the electron phonon coupling in MgB observed by Raman Spectroscopy
The Raman spectrum of the superconductor MgB has been measured as a
function of the Tc of the film. A striking correlation is observed between the
onset and the frequency of the mode. Analysis of the data with
the McMillan formula provides clear experimental evidence for the collapse of
the electron phonon coupling at the temperature predicted for the convergence
of two superconducting gaps into one observable gap. This gives indirect
evidence of the convergence of the two gaps and direct evidence of a transition
to an isotropic state at 19 K. The value of the electron phonon coupling
constant is found to be 1.22 for films with T 39K and 0.80 for films with
T19K.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Estimates of electronic interaction parameters for LaO compounds (=Ti-Ni) from ab-initio approaches
We have analyzed the ab-initio local density approximation band structure
calculations for the family of perovskite oxides, LaO with =Ti-Ni
within a parametrized nearest neighbor tight-binding model and extracted
various interaction strengths. We study the systematics in these interaction
parameters across the transition metal series and discuss the relevance of
these in a many-body description of these oxides. The results obtained here
compare well with estimates of these parameters obtained via analysis of
electron spectroscopic results in conjunction with the Anderson impurity model.
The dependence of the hopping interaction strength, t, is found to be
approximately .Comment: 18 pages; 1 tex file+9 postscript files (appeared in Phys Rev B Oct
15,1996
Orbital Wave and its Observation in Orbital Ordered Titanates and Vanadates
We present a theory of the collective orbital excitation termed orbital wave
in perovskite titanates and vanadates with the triply degenerate
orbitals. The dispersion relations of the orbital waves for the orbital ordered
LaVO, YVO and YTiO are examined in the effective spin-orbital
coupled Hamiltonians associated with the Jahn-Teller type couplings. We propose
possible scattering processes for the Raman and inelastic neutron scatterings
from the orbital wave and calculate the scattering spectra for titanates and
vanadates. It is found that both the excitation spectra and the observation
methods of the orbital wave are distinct qualitatively from those for the
orbital ordered systems.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure
C-axis lattice dynamics in Bi-based cuprate superconductors
We present results of a systematic study of the c axis lattice dynamics in
single layer Bi2Sr2CuO6 (Bi2201), bilayer Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 (Bi2212) and trilayer
Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 (Bi2223) cuprate superconductors. Our study is based on both
experimental data obtained by spectral ellipsometry on single crystals and
theoretical calculations. The calculations are carried out within the framework
of a classical shell model, which includes long-range Coulomb interactions and
short-range interactions of the Buckingham form in a system of polarizable
ions. Using the same set of the shell model parameters for Bi2201, Bi2212 and
Bi2223, we calculate the frequencies of the Brillouin-zone center phonon modes
of A2u symmetry and suggest the phonon mode eigenvector patterns. We achieve
good agreement between the calculated A2u eigenfrequencies and the experimental
values of the c axis TO phonon frequencies which allows us to make a reliable
phonon mode assignment for all three Bi-based cuprate superconductors. We also
present the results of our shell model calculations for the Gamma-point A1g
symmetry modes in Bi2201, Bi2212 and Bi2223 and suggest an assignment that is
based on the published experimental Raman spectra. The
superconductivity-induced phonon anomalies recently observed in the c axis
infrared and resonant Raman scattering spectra in trilayer Bi2223 are
consistently explained with the suggested assignment.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figure
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