Bulk superconductivity in Bi4O4S3 revealed by specific heat measurement

Specific heat experiments on a well-characterized polycrystalline sample of the BiS2 based superconductor Bi4O4S3 revealed that it shows a crear specific heat anomaly at about Tc = 4.4 K, consistent with Tc from the resistivity and dc susceptibility. This observation indicates the superconductivity of Bi4O4S3 to be bulk in nature

Evolution of superconductivity in LaO1-xFxBiS2 prepared by high pressure technique

Novel BiS2-based superconductors LaO1-xFxBiS2 prepared by the high pressure synthesis technique were systematically studied. It was found that the high pressure annealing strongly the lattice as compared to the LaO1-xFxBiS2 samples prepared by conventional solid state reaction at ambient pressure. Bulk superconductivity was observed within a wide F-concentration range of x = 0.2 ~ 0.7. On the basis of those results, we have established a phase diagram of LaO1-xFxBiS2.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Precise Pressure Dependence of the Superconducting Transition Temperature of FeSe: Resistivity and ^77Se--NMR Study

We report the precise pressure dependence of FeSe from a resistivity measurement up to 4.15 GPa. Superconducting transition temperature (T_c) increases sensitively under pressure, but shows a plateau between 0.5-1.5 GPa. The maximum T_c, which is determined by zero resistance, is 21 K at approximately 3.5 GPa. The onset value reaches ~37 K at 4.15 GPa. We also measure the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T_1 under pressure using 77Se--NMR measurement. 1/T_1 shows that bulk superconductivity is realized in the zero-resistance state. The pressure dependence of 1/T_1T just above T_c shows a plateau as well as the pressure dependence of T_c, which gives clear evidence of the close relationship between 1/T_1T and T_c. Spin fluctuations are suggested to contribute to the mechanism of superconductivity.Comment: 4pages, 6figures: to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol.78 No.6 (2009

Temperature dependence of iron local magnetic moment in phase-separated superconducting chalcogenide

We have studied local magnetic moment and electronic phase separation in superconducting K$_{x}$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$ by x-ray emission and absorption spectroscopy. Detailed temperature dependent measurements at the Fe K-edge have revealed coexisting electronic phases and their correlation with the transport properties. By cooling down, the local magnetic moment of Fe shows a sharp drop across the superconducting transition temperature (T$_c$) and the coexisting phases exchange spectral weights with the low spin state gaining intensity at the expense of the higher spin state. After annealing the sample across the iron-vacancy order temperature, the system does not recover the initial state and the spectral weight anomaly at T$_c$ as well as superconductivity disappear. The results clearly underline that the coexistence of the low spin and high spin phases and the transitions between them provide unusual magnetic fluctuations and have a fundamental role in the superconducting mechanism of electronically inhomogeneous K$_{x}$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$ system.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figure

Rab8a and Rab8b are essential for several apical transport pathways but insufficient for ciliogenesis

The small GTP-binding protein Rab8 is known to play an essential role in intracellular transport and cilia formation. We have previously demonstrated that Rab8a is required for localising apical markers in various organisms. Rab8a has a closely related isoform, Rab8b. To determine whether Rab8b can compensate for Rab8a, we generated Rab8b-knockout mice. Although the Rab8b-knockout mice did not display an overt phenotype, Rab8a and Rab8b double-knockout mice exhibited mislocalisation of apical markers and died earlier than Rab8a-knockout mice. The apical markers accumulated in three intracellular patterns in the double-knockout mice. However, the localisation of basolateral and/or dendritic markers of the double-knockout mice seemed normal. The morphology and the length of various primary and/or motile cilia, and the frequency of ciliated cells appeared to be identical in control and double-knockout mice. However, an additional knockdown of Rab10 in double-knockout cells greatly reduced the percentage of ciliated cells. Our results highlight the compensatory effect of Rab8a and Rab8b in apical transport, and the complexity of the apical transport process. In addition, neither Rab8a nor Rab8b are required for basolateral and/or dendritic transport. However, simultaneous loss of Rab8a and Rab8b has little effect on ciliogenesis, whereas additional loss of Rab10 greatly affects ciliogenesis