Magnetic properties of spin diluted iron pnictides from muSR and NMR in LaFe1-xRuxAsO

The effect of isoelectronic substitutions on the microscopic properties of LaFe1-xRuxAsO, for 0< x< 0.8, has been investigated by means of muSR and 139La NMR. It was found that Ru substitution causes a progressive reduction of the N\`eel temperature (T_N) and of the magnetic order parameter without leading to the onset of superconductivity. The temperature dependence of 139La nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 can be suitably described within a two-band model. One band giving rise to the spin density wave ground-state, while the other one is characterized by weakly correlated electrons. Fe for Ru substitution yields to a progressive decrease of the density of states at the Fermi level close to the one derived from band structure calculations. The reduction of T_N with doping follows the predictions of the J_1-J_2 model on a square lattice, which appears to be an effective framework to describe the magnetic properties of the spin density wave ground-state.Comment: 6 pages, 8 figure

ETUDE DES EXCITATIONS DE BASSE ENERGIE PAR LA MESURE DE LA LONGUEUR DE PENETRATION MAGNETIQUE DANS LES SUPRACONDUCTEURS A BASSE ET HAUTE TEMPERATURE CRITIQUE

CE TRAVAIL DE THESE CONCERNE L'ETUDE DE LA VARIATION DE LA LONGUEUR DE PENETRATION MAGNETIQUE QUI EST UNE GRANDEUR QUI PERMET DE SONDER LE SPECTRE DES EXCITATIONS ELEMENTAIRES D'UN SUPRACONDUCTEUR, CAR ELLE EST DIRECTEMENT RELIEE A LA DENSITE SUPERFLUIDE. NOUS AVONS D'ABORD OPTIMISE UNE TECHNIQUE D'INDUCTANCE MUTUELLE A UNE SEULE BOBINE QUI NOUS A PERMIS DE MESURER LES VARIATIONS DE AVEC UNE TRES GRANDE PRECISION SUR PLUSIEURS TYPES D'ECHANTILLONS, COUCHES MINCES OU MONOCRISTAUX. NOUS AVONS MESURE LA VARIATION DE A BASSE T DANS PLUSIEURS MATERIAUX TRES DIFFERENTS, CARACTERISES PAR UNE COMPLEXITE CHIMIQUE ET STRUCTURALE CROISSANTE : NB, NBTI, NBSE 2, NBN ET BI 2SR 2CACU 2O 8 + (BSCCO). TOUS CES COMPOSES, SAUF LE DERNIER, SONT DES SUPRACONDUCTEURS CONVENTIONNELS : ILS MONTRENT UN COMPORTEMENT AVEC GAP, EN ACCORD AVEC LE MODELE BCS AVEC SYMETRIE . EN PARTICULIER, L'ETUDE DE CES ECHANTILLONS NOUS A PERMIS DE VERIFIER LA FIABILITE DE NOTRE TECHNIQUE. NOUS MONTRONS QUE, SOUS CERTAINES CONDITIONS DE LA MICROSTRUCTURE, DES EXCITATIONS A ENERGIE NULLE PEUVENT ETRE PROGRESSIVEMENT INTRODUITES (VOLONTAIREMENT OU NON) DANS LE SPECTRE DE CES MATERIAUX DE TYPE . EN PARTICULIER, NOUS MONTRONS QU'UNE ALLURE LINEAIRE DE EN FONCTION DE LA TEMPERATURE, TYPIQUE D'UN COMPORTEMENT SANS GAP, PEUT ETRE OBSERVEE SOIT DANS LE NBN, SOIT DANS LE BSCCO. LE BUT DE NOTRE TRAVAIL CONSISTE EN LA COMPREHENSION DE L'ORIGINE DE CETTE SIMILARITE DANS CES DEUX SYSTEMES APPAREMMENT SI DIFFERENTS L'UN DE L'AUTRE, A L'AIDE DE MESURES PHYSIQUES COMPLEMENTAIRES ET DANS LE CADRE DES DEUX MODELES DE SYMETRIE D ET DES FLUCTUATIONS DE PHASES. EN PARTICULIER, NOUS AVONS ANALYSE EN DETAIL LE MODELE DES FLUCTUATIONS DE PHASE DU PARAMETRE D'ORDRE. CE MECANISME PEUT DEVENIR IMPORTANT DANS UN MATERIAU GRANULAIRE ; LA GRANULARITE PEUT AVOIR UNE NATURE EXTRINSEQUE, DUE A LA MICROSTRUCTURE CRISTALLINE, OU INTRINSEQUE, PAR EXEMPLE, DUE A UNE SEPARATION DE PHASE CHIMIQUE OU ELECTRONIQUE THERMODYNAMIQUEMENT STABLE. NOTRE ANALYSE DES RESULTATS OBTENUS SUR NBN ET BSCCO SUGGERE QUE CES DEUX CAS EXPLIQUENT TRES BIEN LE COMPORTEMENT SANS GAP OBSERVE EXPERIMENTALEMENT. LE MODELE DE GRANULARITE EXTRINSEQUE DU A LA MICROSTRUCTURE EST ADAPTE A DECRIRE LE NBN, TANDIS QU'UNE GRANULARITE INTRINSEQUE, DUE A UNE SEPARATION DE PHASE OU A UNE INHOMOGENEITE CHIMIQUE OU ELECTRONIQUE, EST EN ACCORD AVEC LES RESULTATS OBTENUS SUR LE BSCCO.PARIS-BIUSJ-Thèses (751052125) / SudocCentre Technique Livre Ens. Sup. (774682301) / SudocPARIS-BIUSJ-Physique recherche (751052113) / SudocSudocFranceF

Cyclodextrin‐Based Organic Radical Contrast Agents for In Vivo Imaging of Gliomas

Cyclodextrins (CDs), a class of cyclic oligosaccharides formed by α-(1,4) linked glucopyranose units, were functionalized with (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-yl)oxyl (TEMPO) radicals to prepare water soluble supramolecular organic radical contrast agents (ORCAs) for the in vivo detection of glioma tumor in animal models. A first set of molecules (CDn1, n=6,7,8 is the number of both TEMPO and glucopyranose units) was studied by Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices (SQUID) magnetometry defining the role of the CD macrocycle on the effective magnetic moment (μeff). It increased from 3.982 μB(CD61) to 4.522 μB (CD81) but was limited by intra-molecular antiferromagnetic (AF) interactions. A set of water soluble ORCAs (CDn8, n=6,7,8) was prepared by a sequence of thiol-ene and Cu(I)-catalyzed alkyne-azide “click reactions”. Their 1H water relaxivities r1 were between 0.739 mM-1 s-1 (CD68) to 1.047 mM-1 s-1 (CD88) in D2O/H2O 9:1 (v:v) at 300 K. One of them (CD78) was tested on glioma-bearing rats with reduced side effects and good relaxivity in vivo

SR investigation of the Fe-doped Ca3Ru2O7 polar metal

Ca3Ru2O7 is a polar metal that belongs to the class of multiferroic magnetic materials. Here, tiny amounts of Fe doping in the Ru sites bring about dramatic changes in the electronic and magnetic properties and generate a complex H–T phase diagram. To date, not much is known about the ground state of such a system in the absence of magnetic field. By performing muon-spin spectroscopy (μSR) measurements in 5% Fe-doped Ca3Ru2O7 single crystals, we investigate its electronic properties at a local level. Transverse-field μSR results indicate a very sharp normal-to-antiferromagnetic transition at TN=79.7(1)K, with a width of only 1K. Zero-field μSR measurements in the magnetically ordered state allow us to determine the local fields Bi at the muon implantation sites. By symmetry, muons stopping close to the RuO2 planes detect only the weak nuclear dipolar fields, while those stopping next to apical oxygens sense magnetic fields as high as 150mT. In remarkable agreement with the nominal Fe-doping, a ∼6% minority of the these muons feel slightly lower fields, reflecting a local magnetic frustration induced by iron ions. Finally, Bi shows no significant changes across the metal-to-insulator transition, close to 40K. We ascribe this surprising lack of sensitivity to the presence of crystal twinning

Original synthesis route of bulk binary superconducting graphite intercalation compounds with strontium, barium and ytterbium

International audienceThanks to its lamellar structure, graphite can host various chemical species between its interplanar spaces to form Graphite Intercalation Compounds (GIC). Intercalation of metals into graphite can lead to remarkable modifications of the physical properties of the sample with respect to pristine graphite as for instance superconductivity. In this paper, we report attempts made to intercalate strontium, baryum and ytterbium into graphite, using a recent method involving a LiCl-KCl molten salt as a reaction medium. Resulting samples are characterized regarding their structure and chemical composition. We reveal the obtaining of bulk SrC$_6$ and BaC$_6$ and a superficial intercalation of ytterbium leading to superconducting YbC$_6$ domains only, as confirmed by dc-magnetization measurements

Theoretical and experimental investigation of magnetotransport in iron chalcogenides

We explore the electronic, transport and thermoelectric properties of Fe1+ySexTe1-x compounds to clarify the mechanisms of superconductivity in Fe-based compounds. We carry out first-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations of structural, electronic, magnetic and transport properties and measure resistivity, Hall resistance and Seebeck effect curves. All the transport properties exhibit signatures of the structural/magnetic transitions, such as discontinuities and sign changes of the Seebeck coefficient and of the Hall resistance. These features are reproduced by calculations provided that antiferromagnetic correlations are taken into account and experimental values of lattice constants are considered in DFT calculations. On the other hand, the temperature dependences of the transport properties can not be fully reproduced, and to improve the agreement between experiment and DFT calculations it is necessary to go beyond the constant relaxation time approximation and take into account correlation effects

LiCl-KCl eutectic molten salt as an original and efficient medium to intercalate metals into graphite: Case of europium

International audienceWe present the successful intercalation of europium into graphite by using an original method based on LiCl-KCl molten salts mixture. After solubilization of europium in the liquid chlorides mixture at 450 °C, reactivity toward graphite is investigated. We evidence the formation of the first stage EuC$_6$ Graphite Intercalation Compound (GIC) with a repeat distance Ic = 487 pm. Using 00$l$ X-ray diffraction and ion beam analysis, we show that europium is intercalated into the bulk with remarkable degree of homogeneity. This is also confirmed by magnetic measurements that clearly put in evidence the antiferromagnetic transition at about T$_N$ = 40 K. Below such temperature the characteristic step-like behavior of metamagnetic transitions was found by isothermal magnetization measurements, that is generally visible only in highly pure samples

Magnetism for understanding catalyst analysis of purified carbon nanotubes

International audienceThe precise quantification of catalyst residues in purified carbon nanotubes is often a major issue in view of any fundamental and/or applicative studies. More importantly, since the best CNTs are successfully grown with magnetic catalysts, their quantification becomes strictly necessary to better understand intrinsic properties of CNT. For these reasons, we have deeply analyzed the catalyst content remained in nickel-yttrium arc-discharge single walled carbon nanotubes purified by both a chlorine-gas phase and a standard acid-based treatment. The study focuses on Ni analysis which has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry analysis, and magnetic measurements. In the case of the acid-based treatment, all quantifications result in a decrease of the nanocrystallized Ni by a factor of two. In the case of the halogen gas treatment, analysis and quantification of Ni content is less straightforward: a huge difference appears between X-ray diffraction and thermogravimetry results. Thanks to magnetic measurements, this disagreement is explained by the presence of ions, belonging to NiCl2 formed during the Cl-based purification process. In particular, NiCl2 compound appears under different magnetic/crystalline phases: paramagnetic or diamagnetic, or well intercalated in between carbon sheets with an ordered magnetic phase at low temperature