702 research outputs found
Strong Pinning Enhancement in MgB2 Using Very Small Dy2O3 Additions
0.5 to 5.0 wt.% Dy2O3 was in-situ reacted with Mg + B to form pinned MgB2.
While Tc remained largely unchanged, Jc was strongly enhanced. The best sample
(only 0.5 wt.% Dy2O3) had a Jc of 6.5 x 10^5 A/cm^2 at 6K, 1T and 3.5 x 10^5
A/cm^2 at 20K, 1T, around a factor of 4 higher compared to the pure sample, and
equivalent to hot-pressed or nano-Si added MgB2 at below 1T. Even distributions
of nano-scale precipitates of DyB4 and MgO were observed within the grains. The
room temperature resistivity decreased with Dy2O3 indicative of improved grain
connectivity.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures and 1 tabl
Improved Current Densities in MgB2 By Liquid-Assisted Sintering
Polycrystalline MgB2 samples with GaN additions were prepared by reaction of
Mg, B, and GaN powders. The presence of Ga leads to a low melting eutectic
phase which allowed liquid phase sintering and produces plate-like grains. For
low-level GaN additions (5% at. % or less), the critical transition
temperature, Tc, remained unchanged and in 1T magnetic field, the critical
current density, Jc was enhanced by a factor of 2 and 10, for temperatures of
\~5K and 20K, respectively. The values obtained are approaching those of hot
isostatically pressed samples.Comment: 12 pages, 1 table, 4 figures, accepted in Applied Physics Letter
Speculations about plessite
Metallographic examination and microprobe analysis of plessite areas in meteorites - iron and nickel concentration in meteorite
Structure and magnetism of self-organized Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nano-columns
We report on the structural and magnetic properties of thin Ge(1-x)Mn(x)films
grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on Ge(001) substrates at temperatures
(Tg) ranging from 80deg C to 200deg C, with average Mn contents between 1 % and
11 %. Their crystalline structure, morphology and composition have been
investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), electron energy loss
spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. In the whole range of growth temperatures
and Mn concentrations, we observed the formation of manganese rich
nanostructures embedded in a nearly pure germanium matrix. Growth temperature
mostly determines the structural properties of Mn-rich nanostructures. For low
growth temperatures (below 120deg C), we evidenced a two-dimensional spinodal
decomposition resulting in the formation of vertical one-dimensional
nanostructures (nanocolumns). Moreover we show in this paper the influence of
growth parameters (Tg and Mn content) on this decomposition i.e. on nanocolumns
size and density. For temperatures higher than 180deg C, we observed the
formation of Ge3Mn5 clusters. For intermediate growth temperatures nanocolumns
and nanoclusters coexist. Combining high resolution TEM and superconducting
quantum interference device magnetometry, we could evidence at least four
different magnetic phases in Ge(1-x)Mn(x) films: (i) paramagnetic diluted Mn
atoms in the germanium matrix, (ii) superparamagnetic and ferromagnetic low-Tc
nanocolumns (120 K 400 K) and
(iv) Ge3Mn5 clusters.Comment: 10 pages 2 colonnes revTex formatte
Pt-induced nanowires on Ge(001): a DFT study
We study formation of the nanowires formed after deposition of Pt on a
Ge(001) surface. The nanowires form spontaneously after high temperature
annealing. They are thermodynamically stable, only one atom wide and up to a
few hundred atoms long. Ab initio density functional theory calculations are
performed to identify possible structures of the Pt-Ge (001) surface with
nanowires on top. A large number of structures is studied. With nanowires that
are formed out of Pt or Ge dimers or mixed Pt-Ge dimers. By comparing simulated
scanning tunneling microscopy images with experimental ones we model the
formation of the nanowires and identify the geometries of the different phases
in the formation process. We find that the formation of nanowires on a
Pt-Ge(001) surface is a complex process based on increasing the Pt density in
the top layers of the Ge(001) surface. Most remarkably we find the nanowires to
consist of germanium dimers placed in troughs lined by mixed Pt-Ge dimer rows.Comment: 22 pages, 24 figure
Ohmic contacts to n-type germanium with low specific contact resistivity
A low temperature nickel process has been developed that produces Ohmic contacts to n-type germanium with specific contact resistivities down to (2.3 ± 1.8) x10<sup>-7</sup> Ω-cm<sup>2</sup> for anneal temperatures of 340 degC. The low contact resistivity is attributed to the low resistivity NiGe phase which was identified using electron diffraction in a transmission electron microscope. Electrical results indicate that the linear Ohmic behaviour of the contact is attributed to quantum mechanical tunnelling through the Schottky barrier formed between the NiGe alloy and the heavily doped n-Ge.<p></p>
Structure and giant magnetoresistance of granular Co-Cu nanolayers prepared by cross-beam PLD
A series of Co_xCu_{100-x} (x = 0, 40...75, 100) layers with thicknesses
in-between 13 nm and 55 nm were prepared on silicon substrates using cross-beam
pulsed laser deposition. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD), transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) and electrical transport measurements revealed a
structure consisting of decomposed cobalt and copper grains with grain sizes of
about 10 nm. The influence of cobalt content and layer thickness on the grain
size is discussed. Electron diffraction (ED) indicates the presence of an
intermetallic Co-Cu phase of Cu3Au structure-type. Thermal treatment at
temperatures between 525 K and 750 K results in the progressive decomposition
of Co and Cu, with an increase of the grain sizes up to about 100 nm. This is
tunable by controlling the temperature and duration of the anneal, and is
directly observable in WAXRD patterns and TEM images. A careful analysis of
grain size and the coherence length of the radiation used allows for an
accurate interpretation of the X-ray diffraction patterns, by taking into
account coherent and non-coherent scattering. The alloy films show a giant
magnetoresistance of 1...2.3 % with the maximum obtained after annealing at
around 725 K.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
Lattice diffusion and surface segregation of B during growth of SiGe heterostructures by molecular beam epitaxy: effect of Ge concentration and biaxial stress
Si1-xGex/Si1-yGey/Si(100) heterostructures grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy
(MBE) were used in order to study B surface segregation during growth and B
lattice diffusion. Ge concentration and stress effects were separated. Analysis
of B segregation during growth shows that: i) for layers in epitaxy on
(100)Si), B segregation decreases with increasing Ge concentration, i.e. with
increased compressive stress, ii) for unstressed layers, B segregation
increases with Ge concentration, iii) at constant Ge concentration, B
segregation increases for layers in tension and decreases for layers in
compression. The contrasting behaviors observed as a function of Ge
concentration in compressively stressed and unstressed layers can be explained
by an increase of the equilibrium segregation driving force induced by Ge
additions and an increase of near-surface diffusion in compressively stressed
layers. Analysis of lattice diffusion shows that: i) in unstressed layers, B
lattice diffusion coefficient decreases with increasing Ge concentration, ii)
at constant Ge concentration, the diffusion coefficient of B decreases with
compressive biaxial stress and increases with tensile biaxial stress, iii) the
volume of activation of B diffusion () is positive for biaxial stress while it
is negative in the case of hydrostatic pressure. This confirms that under a
biaxial stress the activation volume is reduced to the relaxation volume
Superconductivity mediated by a soft phonon mode: specific heat, resistivity, thermal expansion and magnetization of YB6
The superconductor YB6 has the second highest critical temperature Tc among
the boride family MBn. We report measurements of the specific heat,
resistivity, magnetic susceptibility and thermal expansion from 2 to 300 K,
using a single crystal with Tc = 7.2 K. The superconducting gap is
characteristic of medium-strong coupling. The specific heat, resistivity and
expansivity curves are deconvolved to yield approximations of the phonon
density of states, the spectral electron-phonon scattering function and the
phonon density of states weighted by the frequency-dependent Grueneisen
parameter respectively. Lattice vibrations extend to high frequencies >100 meV,
but a dominant Einstein-like mode at ~8 meV, associated with the vibrations of
yttrium ions in oversized boron cages, appears to provide most of the
superconducting coupling and gives rise to an unusual temperature behavior of
several observable quantities. A surface critical field Hc3 is also observed.Comment: 29 pages, 5 tables, 17 figures. Accepted for publication in Phys.
Rev.
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