S=1/2 Kagome antiferromagnets Cs2_2Cu3MF_3MF_{12}$ with M=Zr and Hf

Magnetization and specific heat measurements have been carried out on Cs$_2$Cu$_3$ZrF$_{12}$ and Cs$_2$Cu$_3$HfF$_{12}$ single crystals, in which Cu$^{2+}$ ions with spin-1/2 form a regular Kagom\'{e} lattice. The antiferromagnetic exchange interaction between neighboring Cu$^{2+}$ spins is $J/k_{\rm B}\simeq 360$ K and 540 K for Cs$_2$Cu$_3$ZrF$_{12}$ and Cs$_2$Cu$_3$HfF$_{12}$, respectively. Structural phase transitions were observed at $T_{\rm t}\simeq 210$ K and 175 K for Cs$_2$Cu$_3$ZrF$_{12}$ and Cs$_2$Cu$_3$HfF$_{12}$, respectively. The specific heat shows a small bend anomaly indicative of magnetic ordering at $T_\mathrm{N}= 23.5$ K and 24.5 K in Cs$_2$Cu$_3$ZrF$_{12}$ and Cs$_2$Cu$_3$HfF$_{12}$, respectively. Weak ferromagnetic behavior was observed below $T_\mathrm{N}$. This weak ferromagnetism should be ascribed to the antisymmetric interaction of the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya type that are generally allowed in the Kagom\'{e} lattice.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure. Conference proceeding of Highly Frustrated Magnetism 200

The suppression of superconductivity in MgCNi3 by Ni-site doping

The effects of partial substitution of Cu and Co for Ni in the intermetallic perovskite superconductor MgCNi3 are reported. Calculation of the expected electronic density of states suggests that electron (Cu) and hole (Co) doping should have different effects. For MgCNi3-xCux, solubility of Cu is limited to approximately 3% (x = 0.1), and Tc decreases systematically from 7K to 6K. For MgCNi3-xCox, solubility of Co is much more extensive, but bulk superconductivity disappears for Co doping of 1% (x = 0.03). No signature of long range magnetic ordering is observed in the magnetic susceptibility of the Co doped material.Comment: submitted, Solid State Communication

Electric field control of multiferroic domains in Ni3_3V2_2O8_8 imaged by X-ray polarization enhanced topography

The magnetic structure of multiferroic Ni$_3$V$_2$O$_8$ has been investigated using non-resonant X-ray magnetic scattering. Incident circularly polarized X-rays combined with full polarization analysis of the scattered beam is shown to yield high sensitivity to the components of the cycloidal magnetic order, including their relative phases. New information on the magnetic structure in the ferroelectric phase is obtained, where it is found that the magnetic moments on the "cross-tie" sites are quenched relative to those on the "spine" sites. This implies that the onset of ferroelectricity is associated mainly with spine site magnetic order. We also demonstrate that our technique enables the imaging of multiferroic domains through polarization enhanced topography. This approach is used to image the domains as the sample is cycled by an electric field through its hysteresis loop, revealing the gradual switching of domains without nucleation.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Coupled Negative magnetocapacitance and magnetic susceptibility in a Kagome staircase-like compound Co3V2O8

The dielectric constant of the Kagome staircase-like Co3V2O8 polycrystalline compound has been measured as function of temperature and magnetic field up to 14T. It is found that the application of an external magnetic field suppresses the anomaly for the dielectric constant beyond 6.1K. Furthermore, its magnetic field dependence reveals a negative magnetocapacitance which is proportional to the magnetic susceptibility, suggesting a common magnetostrictive origin for the magnetic field dependence of the two quantities. This result is very different from that obtained from the isostructural compound Ni3V2O8 that presents a peak in the dielectric constant at the incommensurate magnetic phase transition coupled to a sign change of the magnetocapacitance

Absence of a structural transition up to 40 Gpa in MgB2 and the relevance of magnesium non-stoichiometry

We report measurements on MgB2 up to ~40GPa. Increasing pressure yields a monotonous decrease of the lattice parameters and of the c/a ratio, but no structural transition down to parameters smaller than those of AlB2. The transition superconducting temperature also decreases with temperature in a sample dependent way. The results are explained by an increase of the filling of the 2D pxy bands with pressure, the Mg stoichiometry determining the starting position of the Fermi level. Our measurements indicate that these hole bands are the relevant ones for superconductivity.Comment: submitted March 9th 2001, PRB accepte

Direct observation of nm-scale Mg- and B-oxide phases at grain boundaries in MgB2

Here we describe the results of an atomic resolution study of the structure and composition of both the interior of the grains, and the grain boundaries in polycrystalline MgB2. We find that there is no oxygen within the bulk of the grains but significant oxygen enrichment at the grain boundaries. The majority of grain boundaries contain BOx phases smaller than the coherence length, while others contain larger areas of MgO sandwiched between BOx layers. Such results naturally explain the differences in connectivity between the grains observed by other techniques

Competing Magnetic Phases on a "Kagome Staircase"

We present thermodynamic and neutron data on Ni_3V_2O_8, a spin-1 system on a kagome staircase. The extreme degeneracy of the kagome antiferromagnet is lifted to produce two incommensurate phases at finite T - one amplitude modulated, the other helical - plus a commensurate canted antiferromagnet for T ->0. The H-T phase diagram is described by a model of competing first and second neighbor interactions with smaller anisotropic terms. Ni_3V_2O_8 thus provides an elegant example of order from sub leading interactions in a highly frustrated systemComment: 4 pages, 3 figure