Enhancement of the upper critical field in codoped iron-arsenic high-temperature superconductors

We present the first study of codoped iron-arsenide superconductors of the 122 family (Sr/Ba)_(1-x)K_xFe_(2-y)Co_yAs_2 with the purpose to increase the upper critical field H_c2 compared to single doped (Sr/Ba)Fe_2As_2 materials. H_c2 was investigated by measuring the magnetoresistance in high pulsed magnetic fields up to 64 T. We find, that H_c2 extrapolated to T = 0 is indeed enhanced significantly to ~ 90 T for polycrystalline samples of Ba_0.55K_0.45Fe_1.95Co_0.05As_2 compared to ~75 T for Ba_0.55K_0.45Fe_2As_2 and BaFe_1.8Co_0.2As_2 single crystals. Codoping thus is a promising way for the systematic optimization of iron-arsenic based superconductors for magnetic-field and high-current applications.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic

Direct observation of band-gap closure for a semiconducting carbon nanotube in a large parallel magnetic field

We have investigated the magnetoconductance of semiconducting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in pulsed, parallel magnetic fields up to 60 T, and report the direct observation of the predicted band-gap closure and the reopening of the gap under variation of the applied magnetic field. We also highlight the important influence of mechanical strain on the magnetoconductance of the CNTs.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Nonmetallic Low-Temperature Normal State of K0.70Fe1.46Se1.85Te0.15

The normal-state in-plane resistivity below the zero-field superconducting transition temperature $T_c$ and the upper critical field Hc2 were measured by suppressing superconductivity in pulsed magnetic fields for K0.70Fe1.46Se1.85Te0.15. The normal-state resistivity $\rho_{ab}$ is found to increase logarithmically with decrasing temperature as $\frac{T}{T_c}\rightarrow 0$. Similar to granular metals, our results suggest that a superconductor - insulator transition below zero-field T$_{c}$ may be induced in high magnetic fields. This is related to the intrinsic real-space phase-separated states common to all inhomogeneous superconductors.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Direct measurements of the magnetocaloric effect in pulsed magnetic fields: The example of the Heusler alloy Ni50_{50}Mn35_{35}In15_{15}

We have studied the magnetocaloric effect (MCE) in the shape-memory Heusler alloy Ni$_{50}$Mn$_{35}$In$_{15}$ by direct measurements in pulsed magnetic fields up to 6 and 20 T. The results in 6 T are compared with data obtained from heat-capacity experiments. We find a saturation of the inverse MCE, related to the first-order martensitic transition, with a maximum adiabatic temperature change of $\Delta T_{ad} = -7$ K at 250 K and a conventional field-dependent MCE near the second-order ferromagnetic transition in the austenitic phase. The pulsed magnetic field data allow for an analysis of the temperature response of the sample to the magnetic field on a time scale of $\sim 10$ to 100 ms which is on the order of typical operation frequencies (10 to 100 Hz) of magnetocaloric cooling devices. Our results disclose that in shape-memory alloys the different contributions to the MCE and hysteresis effects around the martensitic transition have to be carefully considered for future cooling applications.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Spin-zero anomaly in the magnetic quantum oscillations of a two-dimensional metal

We report on an anomalous behavior of the spin-splitting zeros in the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) signal of a quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor. The zeros as well as the angular dependence of the amplitude of the second harmonic deviate remarkably from the standard Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) prediction. In contrast, the angular dependence of the fundamental dHvA amplitude as well as the spin-splitting zeros of the Shubnikov-de Haas signal follow the LK theory. We can explain this behavior by small chemical-potential oscillations and find a very good agreement between theory and experiment. A detailed wave-shape analysis of the dHvA signal corroborates the existence of an oscillating chemical potential

On the de Haas - van Alphen oscillations in quasi-two-dimensional metals: effect of the Fermi surface curvature

Here, we present the results of theoretical analysis of the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations in quasi-two-dimensional normal metals. We had been studying effects of the Fermi surface (FS) shape on these oscillations. It was shown that the effects could be revealed and well pronounced when the FS curvature becomes zero at cross-sections with extremal cross-sectional areas. In this case both shape and amplitude of the oscillations could be significantly changed. Also, we analyze the effect of the FS local geometry on the angular dependencies of the oscillation amplitudes when the magnetic field is tilted away from the FS symmetry axis by the angle $\theta.$ We show that a peak appears at $\theta \approx 0$ whose height could be of the same order as the maximum at the Yamaji angle. This peak emerges when the FS includes zero curvature cross-sections of extremal areas. Such maximum was observed in experiments on the $\alpha-(BETS)_4TIHg(SeCN)_4.$ The obtained results could be applied to organic metals and other quasi-two-dimensional compounds.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, text added, references adde

Field-Induced Gap in a Quantum Spin-1/2 Chain in a Strong Magnetic Field

Magnetic excitations in copper pyrimidine dinitrate, a spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic chain with alternating $g$-tensor and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions that exhibits a field-induced spin gap, are probed by means of pulsed-field electron spin resonance spectroscopy. In particular, we report on a minimum of the gap in the vicinity of the saturation field $H_{sat}=48.5$ T associated with a transition from the sine-Gordon region (with soliton-breather elementary excitations) to a spin-polarized state (with magnon excitations). This interpretation is fully confirmed by the quantitative agreement over the entire field range of the experimental data with the DMRG investigation of the spin-1/2 Heisenberg chain with a staggered transverse field