261 research outputs found
Exceptional type-I superconductivity of the layered silver oxide AgPbO
We report zero-resistivity transition and the details of magnetic transition
of a layered silver oxide AgPbO single crystal, which make
definitive evidence of superconductivity in this compound. In the AC
susceptibility of a mono-crystal, we observed large supercooling, as well as
positive peaks in the real part of the susceptibility indicating the
reversibility of magnetic process. These observations reveal that
AgPbO is probably the first oxide that shows type-I
superconductivity. Evaluation of the superconducting parameters not only gives
confirming evidence of type-I superconductivity, but also indicates that it is
a dirty-limit superconductor. We also analyze supercooling to determine the
upper limit of the Ginzburg-Landau parameter.Comment: v2: PACS numbers are adde
Temperature dependence of transport spin polarization in NdNi5 measured using Point Contact Andreev reflection
We report a study in which Point contact Andreev reflection (PCAR)
spectroscopy using superconducting Nb tip has been carried out on NdNi5, a
ferromagnet with a Curie temperature of TC~7.7K. The measurements were carried
out over a temperature range of 2-9K which spans across the ferromagnetic
transition temperature. From an analysis of the spectra, we show that (i) the
temperature dependence of the extracted value of transport spin polarization
closely follows the temperature dependence of the spontaneous magnetization;
(ii) the superconducting quasiparticle lifetime shows a large decrease close to
the Curie temperature of the ferromagnet. We attribute the latter to the
presence of strong ferromagnetic spin fluctuations in the ferromagnet close to
the ferromagnetic transition temperature.Comment: pdf file including figures-Typographical error and errors in
references correcte
Mesoscopic Ferromagnet/Superconductor Junctions and the Proximity Effect
We have measured the electrical transport of submicron ferromagnets (Ni) in
contact with a mesoscopic superconductor (Al) for a range of interface
resistances. In the geometry measured, the interface and the ferromagnet are
measured separately. The ferromagnet itself shows no appreciable
superconducting proximity effect, but the ferromagnet/superconductor interface
exhibits strong temperature, field and current bias dependences. These effects
are dependent on the local magnetic field distribution near the interface
arising from the ferromagnet. We find that the temperature dependences may be
fit to a modified version of the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk theory for
normal-superconductor transport.Comment: 4 eps fig
Nearly free electrons in the layered oxide superconductor Ag5Pb2O6
We present first measurements of quantum oscillations in the layered oxide
superconductor
Ag5Pb2O6. From a detailed angular and temperature dependent study of the dHvA
effect we determine the electronic structure and demonstrate that the electron
masses are very light, m^* is approximately equalt to 1.2 m_e. The Fermi
surface we observe is essentially that expected of nearly-free electrons -
establishing
Ag5Pb2O6 as the first known example of a monovalent, nearly-free electron
superconductor at ambient pressure.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Comparison of the National Bureau of Standards and the Helsinki Temperature Scales and its Effect on the Heat Capacity of Liquid 3He below 10 mK
The Helsinki temperature scale, used earlier in measurements of the heat capacity of liquid 3He (1-10 mK), is compared with the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) noise and nuclear-orientation temperature scale. The superfluid transition temperature (Tc) of 3He at zero pressure and the superconductive transition temperatures of tungsten and beryllium were used as fixed points. Tc on the NBS scale was found to be 1.025 ± 0.02 mK, in close agreement with the Helsinki value 1.04 mK. The results support the Helsinki data on the heat capacity of 3He.Peer reviewe
Ballistic versus diffusive magnetoresistance of a magnetic point contact
The quasiclassical theory of a nanosize point contacts (PC) between two
ferromagnets is developed. The maximum available magnetoresistance values in PC
are calculated for ballistic versus diffusive transport through the area of a
contact. In the ballistic regime the magnetoresistance in excess of few
hundreds percents is obtained for the iron-group ferromagnets. The necessary
conditions for realization of so large magnetoresistance in PC, and the
experimental results by Garcia et al are discussedComment: 4 pages, TEX, 1 Figur
Transport spin polarization of Ni_xFe_{1-x}: electronic kinematics and band structure
We present measurements of the transport spin polarization of Ni_xFe_{1-x}
(0<x<1) using the recently-developed Point Contact Andreev Reflection
technique, and compare them with our first principles calculations of the spin
polarization for this system. Surpisingly, the measured spin polarization is
almost composition-independent. The results clearly demonstrate that the sign
of the transport spin polarization does not coincide with that of the
difference of the densities of states at the Fermi level. Calculations indicate
that the independence of the spin polarization of the composition is due to
compensation of density of states and Fermi velocity in the s- and d- bands
Suppression of Giant Magnetoresistance by a superconducting contact
We predict that current perpendicular to the plane (CPP) giant
magnetoresistance (GMR) in a phase-coherent magnetic multilayer is suppressed
when one of the contacts is superconducting. This is a consequence of a
superconductivity-induced magneto-resistive (SMR) effect, whereby the
conductance of the ferromagnetically aligned state is drastically reduced by
superconductivity. To demonstrate this effect, we compute the GMR ratio of
clean (Cu/Co)_nCu and (Cu/Co)_nPb multilayers, described by an ab-initio spd
tight binding Hamiltonian. By analyzing a simpler model with two orbitals per
site, we also show that the suppression survives in the presence of elastic
scattering by impurities.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Submitted to PR
Andreev Reflection in Ferromagnet/Superconductor/Ferromagnet Double Junction Systems
We present a theory of Andreev reflection in a
ferromagnet/superconductor/ferromagnet double junction system. The spin
polarized quasiparticles penetrate to the superconductor in the range of
penetration depth from the interface by the Andreev reflection. When the
thickness of the superconductor is comparable to or smaller than the
penetration depth, the spin polarized quasiparticles pass through the
superconductor and therefore the electric current depends on the relative
orientation of magnetizations of the ferromagnets. The dependences of the
magnetoresistance on the thickness of the superconductor, temperature, the
exchange field of the ferromagnets and the height of the interfacial barriers
are analyzed. Our theory explains recent experimental results well.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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