Influence of Domain Wall on Magnetocaloric Effect in GdPt2_{2}

The resistivity, magnetoresistance and in-field heat capacity measurements were performed on GdPt$_{2}$ intermetallic compound. The magnetocaloric parameters $\Delta T_{ad}$ and $-\Delta S$ were derived from the in-field heat capacity data. Comparison has been made between the magnetocaloric effect $-\Delta S$ and difference in resistivity $-\Delta \rho$ $(=\rho(H)-\rho(0))$ as a function of temperature. There is distinct difference in the temperature dependence of $-\Delta S$ and $-\Delta \rho$ below the ferromagnetic transition temperature. However after removing the domain wall contribution from $-\Delta \rho$, the nature of $-\Delta S$ and $-\Delta \rho$ dependence as a function of temperature are similar. Our observation indicates that the domain wall contribution in magnetocaloric effect is negligible in spite of the fact that it has significant contribution in magnetotransport.Comment: RevTex 4 pages, 6 figure

Crystal growth and ambient and high pressure study of the reentrant superconductor Tm_2Fe_3Si_5

We report single crystal growth of the reentrant superconductor Tm_2Fe_3Si_5, and measurements of the anisotropic static magnetic susceptibility \chi(T) and isothermal magnetization M(H), ac susceptibility \chi_ac(T), electrical resistivity \rho(T) and heat capacity C(T) at ambient pressure and \chi_ac(T) at high pressure. The magnetic susceptibility along the c-axis \chi_c(T) shows a small maximum around 250 K and does not follow the Curie-Weiss behavior while the magnetic susceptibility along the a-axis \chi_a(T) follows a Curie-Weiss behavior between 130 K and 300 K with a Weiss temperature \theta and an effective magnetic moment \mu_eff which depend on the temperature range of the fit. The easy axis of magnetization is perpendicular to the c-axis and \chi_a/\chi_c = 3.2 at 1.8 K. The ambient pressure \chi_ac(T) and C(T) measurements confirm bulk antiferromagnetic ordering at T_N = 1.1 K. The sharp drop in \chi_ac below T_N is suggestive of the existence of a spin-gap. We observe superconductivity only under applied pressures P\geq 2 kbar. The temperature-pressure phase diagram showing the non-monotonic dependence of the superconducting transition temperature T_c on pressure P is presented.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure

Ab initio exchange interactions and magnetic properties of Gd2Fe17 iron sublattice: rhombohedral vs. hexagonal phases

In the framework of the LSDA+U method electronic structure and magnetic properties of the intermetallic compound Gd2Fe17 for both rhombohedral and hexagonal phases have been calculated. On top of that, ab initio exchange interaction parameters within the Fe sublattice for all present nearest and some next nearest Fe ions have been obtained. It was found that for the first coordination sphere direct exchange interaction is ferromagnetic. For the second coordination sphere indirect exchange interaction is observed to be weaker and of antiferromagnetic type. Employing the theoretical values of exchange parameters Curie temperatures Tc of both hexagonal and rhombohedral phases of Gd2Fe17 within Weiss mean-field theory were estimated. Obtained values of Tc and its increase going from the hexagonal to rhombohedral crystal structure of Gd2Fe17 agree well with experiment. Also for both structures LSDA+U computed values of total magnetic moment coincide with experimental ones.Comment: 20 pages, 2 figures; V2 as published in PR

Geometrical effects on spin injection: 3D spin drift diffusion model

We discuss a three-dimensional (3D) spin drift diffusion (SDD) model to inject spin from a ferromagnet (FM) to a normal metal (N) or semiconductor (SC). Using this model we investigate the problem of spin injection into isotropic materials like GaAs and study the effect of FM contact area and SC thickness on spin injection. We find that in order to achieve detectable spin injection a small contact area or thick SC samples are essential for direct contact spin injection devices. We investigate the use of thin metal films (Cu) proposed by S.B. Kumar et al. and show that they are an excellent substitute for tunnelling barriers (TB) in the regime of small contact area. Since most tunnelling barriers are prone to pinhole defects, we study the effect of pinholes in AlO tunnelling barriers and show that the reduction in the spin-injection ratio ($\gamma$) is solely due to the effective area of the pinholes and there is no correlation between the number of pinholes and the spin injection ratio.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by JA

Can antiferromagnetism and superconductivity coexist in the high-field paramagnetic superconductor Nd(O,F)FeAs?

We present measurements of the temperature and field dependencies of the magnetization M(T,H) of Nd(O0.89F0.11)FeAs at fields up to 33T, which show that superconductivity with the critical temperature Tc ~ 51K cannot coexist with antiferromagnetic ordering. Although M(T,H) at 55 < T < 140K exhibits a clear Curie-Weiss temperature dependence corresponding to the Neel temperature TN ~ 11-12K, the behavior of M(T,H) below Tc is only consistent with either paramagnetism of weakly interacting magnetic moments or a spin glass state. We suggest that the anomalous magnetic behavior of an unusual high-field paramagnetic superconductor Nd(O1-xFx)FeAs is mostly determined by the magnetic Nd ions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Why the iron magnetization in Gd2Fe14B and the spontaneous magnetization of Y2Fe14B depend on temperature differently

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.It is demonstrated that the temperature dependence of the iron sublattice magnetization in Gd2Fe14B is affected significantly by the Gd-Fe exchange interaction. This is at variance with the common perception that MFe(T) in iron-rich rare-earth intermetallics is determined predominantly by the Fe-Fe exchange. This phenomenon is discussed by considering the modification of the low-energy spin-wave spectrum of Gd2Fe14B, as compared to that of Y2Fe14B, under the influence of the Gd-Fe interaction. The result is of particular significance for evaluating the temperature dependence of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of iron or cobalt compounds with anisotropic rare earths (e.g., Nd2Fe14B) and in turn, of the hard magnetic properties of such compounds

Origin of Middle-Infrared Peaks in Cerium Compounds

We have demonstrated that the middle-infrared (mid-IR) peaks in the optical conductivity spectra of Ce$X_3$ ($X$ = Pd, Sn, In) can be explained by first-principle band structure calculation with the spin-orbit interaction. The mid-IR peak shapes in these materials are not identical to one another: CePd$_3$, CeSn$_3$, and CeIn$_3$ have a triple-peak structure, double-peak structure and broad single-peak structure, respectively. These peaks can be theoretically explained by the optical transition from the occupied state to the spin-orbit splitted Ce $4f$ state. This result indicates that the mid-IR peaks originate from the simple band picture with the Ce $4f$ state near the Fermi level, not from the conventional cf hybridization gap based on the periodic Anderson model.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures. To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 78(1) (2009

X-ray magneto-optics of lanthanide materials: principles and applications

Lanthanide metals are a particular class of magnetic materials in which the magnetic moments are carried mainly by the localized electrons of the 4f shell. They are frequently found in technically relevant systems, to achieve, e.g., high magnetic anisotropy. Magneto-optical methods in the x-ray range are well suited to study complex magnetic materials in an element-specific way. In this work, we report on recent progress on the quantitative determination of magneto-optical constants of several lanthanides in the soft x-ray region and we show some examples of applications of magneto-optics to hard-magnetic interfaces and exchange-coupled layered structures containing lanthanide elements.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, invited contribution to the Symposium "X-ray magneto-optics" of the Spring Meeting of the German Physical Society held in Regensburg, Germany, 8-12 March 2004. Revised version, minor change

Geometrical quadrupolar frustration in DyB4_4

Physical properties of DyB$_4$ have been studied by magnetization, specific heat, and ultrasonic measurements. The magnetic entropy change and the ultrasonic properties in the intermediate phase II indicate that the degeneracy of internal degrees of freedom is not fully lifted in spite of the formation of magnetic order. The ultrasonic attenuation and the huge softening of $C_{44}$ in phase II suggests existence of electric-quadrupolar (orbital) fluctuations of the 4$f$-electron. These unusual properties originate from the geometrical quadrupolar frustration.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Journal of the Physical Society of Japa

Optical and magneto-optical properties of ferromagnetic full-Heusler films: experiments and first-principles calculations

We report a joint theoretical and experimental study focused on understanding the optical and magneto-optical properties of Co-based full-Heusler compounds. We show that magneto-optical spectra calculated within ab-initio density functional theory are able to uniquely identify the features of the experimental spectra in terms of spin resolved electronic transitions. As expected for 3d-based magnets, we find that the largest Kerr rotation for these alloys is of the order of 0.3o in polar geometry. In addition, we demonstrate that (i) multilayered structures have to be carefully handled in the theoretical calculations in order to improve the agreement with experiments, and (ii) combined theoretical and experimental investigations constitute a powerful approach to designing new materials for magneto-optical and spin-related applicationsComment: 20 pages, including 6 figures and 1 table. 40 refs. To be published in Phys. Rev.