27,863 research outputs found
Properties of superconducting MgB_2 wires: "in-situ" versus "ex-situ" reaction technique
We have fabricated a series of iron-sheathed superconducting wires prepared
by the powder-in-tube technique from (MgB_2)_{1-x}:(Mg+2B)_x initial powder
mixtures taken with different proportions, so that x varies from 0 to 1. It
turned out that "ex-situ" prepared wire (x = 0) has considerable disadvantages
compared to all the other wires in which "in-situ" assisted (0 < x < 1) or pure
"in-situ" (x = 1) preparation was used due to weaker inter-grain connectivity.
As a result, higher critical current densities J_c were measured over the
entire range of applied magnetic fields B_a for all the samples with x > 0.
Pinning of vortices in MgB_2 wires is shown to be due to grain boundaries.
J_c(B_a) behavior is governed by an interplay between the transparency of grain
boundaries and the amount of "pinning" grain boundaries. Differences between
thermo-magnetic flux-jump instabilities in the samples and a possible threat to
practical applications are also discussed.Comment: To be published in Supercond. Sci. Technol. (2003), in pres
Future wave climate over the west-European shelf seas
In this paper, we investigate changes in the wave climate of the west-European shelf seas under global warming scenarios. In particular, climate change wind fields corresponding to the present (control) time-slice 1961–2000 and the future (scenario) time-slice 2061–2100 are used to drive a wave generation model to produce equivalent control and scenario wave climate. Yearly and seasonal statistics of the scenario wave climates are compared individually to the corresponding control wave climate to identify relative changes of statistical significance between present and future extreme and prevailing wave heights. Using global, regional and linked global–regional wind forcing over a set of nested computational domains, this paper further demonstrates the sensitivity of the results to the resolution and coverage of the forcing. It suggests that the use of combined forcing from linked global and regional climate models of typical resolution and coverage is a good option for the investigation of relative wave changes in the region of interest of this study. Coarse resolution global forcing alone leads to very similar results over regions that are highly exposed to the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, fine resolution regional forcing alone is shown to be insufficient for exploring wave climate changes over the western European waters because of its limited coverage. Results obtained with the combined global–regional wind forcing showed some consistency between scenarios. In general, it was shown that mean and extreme wave heights will increase in the future only in winter and only in the southwest of UK and west of France, north of about 44–45° N. Otherwise, wave heights are projected to decrease, especially in summer. Nevertheless, this decrease is dominated by local wind waves whilst swell is found to increase. Only in spring do both swell and local wind waves decrease in average height
Josephson scanning tunneling microscopy
We propose a set of scanning tunneling microscopy experiments in which the
surface of superconductor is scanned by a superconducting tip. Potential
capabilities of such experimental setup are discussed. Most important
anticipated results of such an experiment include the position-resolved
measurement of the superconducting order parameter and the possibility to
determine the nature of the secondary component of the order parameter at the
surface. The theoretical description based on the tunneling Hamiltonian
formalism is presented.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
Direct visualization of iron sheath shielding effect in MgB_2 superconducting wires
Local magneto-optical imaging and global magnetization measurement techniques
were used in order to visualize shielding effects in the superconducting core
of MgB_2 wires sheathed by ferromagnetic iron (Fe). The magnetic shielding can
provide a Meissner-like state in the superconducting core in applied magnetic
fields up to ~1T. The maximum shielding fields are shown to correlate with the
saturation fields of magnetization in Fe-sheaths. The shielding has been found
to facilitate the appearance of an overcritical state, which is capable of
achieving a critical current density (J_c) in the core which is larger than J_c
in the same wire without the sheath by a factor of ~2. Other effects caused by
the magnetic interaction between the sheath and the superconducting core are
discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Superconducting screening on different length scales in high-quality bulk MgB2 superconductor
High quality bulk MgB2 exhibit a structure of voids and agglomeration of
crystals on different length-scales. Because of this, the superconducting
currents percolate between the voids in the ensuing structure. Magnetic
measurements reveal that the superconducting currents circulate on at least
three different length-scales, of ~1 micrometre, ~10 micrometre and whole of
the sample (~millimetre). Each of these screenings contributes to the measured
irreversible magnetic moment (Dm). The analysis of the field dependence of Dm
for samples of subsequently decreasing size showed that the critical current
obtained using the simple critical state model is erroneous. This leads to the
artefact of the sample size-dependent critical current and irreversibility
field. Our data analysis enables the separation of the contribution of each of
the screening currents to Dm. The field dependence of each of the currents
follows a stretched exponential form. The currents flowing around whole of the
sample give a dominant contribution to Dm in the intermediate fields (1T < H <
4T at 20K) and they can be used to obtain the value of Jc from critical state
model, which corresponds to the transport Jc
The origin of paramagnetic magnetization in field-cooled YBa2Cu3O7 films
Temperature dependences of the magnetic moment have been measured in
YBa_2Cu_3O_{7-\delta} thin films over a wide magnetic field range (5 <= H <=
10^4 Oe). In these films a paramagnetic signal known as the paramagnetic
Meissner effect has been observed. The experimental data in the films, which
have strong pinning and high critical current densities (J_c ~ 2 \times 10^6
A/cm^2 at 77 K), are quantitatively shown to be highly consistent with the
theoretical model proposed by Koshelev and Larkin [Phys. Rev. B 52, 13559
(1995)]. This finding indicates that the origin of the paramagnetic effect is
ultimately associated with nucleation and inhomogeneous spatial redistribution
of magnetic vortices in a sample which is cooled down in a magnetic field. It
is also shown that the distribution of vortices is extremely sensitive to the
interplay of film properties and the real experimental conditions of the
measurements.Comment: RevTex, 8 figure
Measurement of an Exceptionally Weak Electron-Phonon Coupling on the Surface of the Topological Insulator BiSe Using Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy
Gapless surface states on topological insulators are protected from elastic
scattering on non-magnetic impurities which makes them promising candidates for
low-power electronic applications. However, for wide-spread applications, these
states should have to remain coherent at ambient temperatures. Here, we studied
temperature dependence of the electronic structure and the scattering rates on
the surface of a model topological insulator, BiSe, by high resolution
angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We found an extremely weak
broadening of the topological surface state with temperature and no anomalies
in the state's dispersion, indicating exceptionally weak electron-phonon
coupling. Our results demonstrate that the topological surface state is
protected not only from elastic scattering on impurities, but also from
scattering on low-energy phonons, suggesting that topological insulators could
serve as a basis for room temperature electronic devices.Comment: published version, 5 pages, 4 figure
Microscopic origin of local moments in a zinc-doped high- superconductor
The formation of a local moment around a zinc impurity in the high-
cuprate superconductors is studied within the framework of the bosonic
resonating-valence-bond (RVB) description of the model. A topological
origin of the local moment has been shown based on the phase string effect in
the bosonic RVB theory. It is found that such an moment distributes
near the zinc in a form of staggered magnetic moments at the copper sites. The
corresponding magnetic properties, including NMR spin relaxation rate, uniform
spin susceptibility, and dynamic spin susceptibility, etc., calculated based on
the theory, are consistent with the experimental measurements. Our work
suggests that the zinc substitution in the cuprates provide an important
experimental evidence for the RVB nature of local physics in the original (zinc
free) state.Comment: The topological reason of local moment formation is given. One figure
is adde
A new approach to the inverse problem for current mapping in thin-film superconductors
A novel mathematical approach has been developed to complete the inversion of
the Biot-Savart law in one- and two-dimensional cases from measurements of the
perpendicular component of the magnetic field using the well-developed
Magneto-Optical Imaging technique. Our approach, especially in the 2D case, is
provided in great detail to allow a straightforward implementation as opposed
to those found in the literature. Our new approach also refines our previous
results for the 1D case [Johansen et al., Phys. Rev. B 54, 16264 (1996)], and
streamlines the method developed by Jooss et al. [Physica C 299, 215 (1998)]
deemed as the most accurate if compared to that of Roth et al. [J. Appl. Phys.
65, 361 (1989)]. We also verify and streamline the iterative technique, which
was developed following Laviano et al. [Supercond. Sci. Technol. 16, 71 (2002)]
to account for in-plane magnetic fields caused by the bending of the applied
magnetic field due to the demagnetising effect. After testing on
magneto-optical images of a high quality YBa2Cu3O7 superconducting thin film,
we show that the procedure employed is effective
Effect of the sample geometry on the second magnetization peak in single crystalline BaKBiO thick film
Magnetization hysteresis loop measurements performed on a single
crystalline BaKBiO superconducting thick film reveal
pronounced sample geometry dependence of the "second magnetization peak" (SMP),
i.e. a maximum in the width of occurring at the field .
In particular, it is found that the SMP vanishes decreasing the film dimension.
We argue that the observed sample geometry dependence of the SMP cannot be
accounted for by models which assume a vortex pinning enhancement as the origin
of the SMP. Our results can be understood considering the thermomagnetic
instability effect and/or non-uniform current distribution at
in large enough samples.Comment: 8 pages 3 figure
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