457 research outputs found
Zooming into the coexisting regime of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in ErRh4B4 single crystals
High resolution measurements of the dynamic magnetic susceptibility are
reported for ferromagnetic re-entrant superconductor, ErRhB.
Detailed investigation of the coexisting regime reveals unusual
temperature-asymmetric and magnetically anisotropic behavior. The
superconducting phase appears via a series of discontinuous steps upon warming
from the ferromagnetic normal phase, whereas the ferromagnetic phase develops
via a gradual transition. A model based on local field inhomogeneity is
proposed to explain the observations
The Suprafroth (Superconducting Froth)
The structure and dynamics of froths have been subjects of intense interest
due to the desire to understand the behaviour of complex systems where
topological intricacy prohibits exact evaluation of the ground state. The
dynamics of a traditional froth involves drainage and drying in the cell
boundaries, thus it is irreversible. We report a new member to the froths
family: suprafroth, in which the cell boundaries are superconducting and the
cell interior is normal phase. Despite very different microscopic origin,
topological analysis of the structure of the suprafroth shows that statistical
von Neumann and Lewis laws apply. Furthermore, for the first time in the
analysis of froths there is a global measurable property, the magnetic moment,
which can be directly related to the suprafroth structure. We propose that this
suprafroth is a new, model system for the analysis of the complex physics of
two-dimensional froths
Equilibrium topology of the intermediate state in type-I superconductors of different shapes
High-resolution magneto-optical technique was used to analyze flux patterns
in the intermediate state of bulk Pb samples of various shapes - cones,
hemispheres and discs. Combined with the measurements of macroscopic
magnetization these results allowed studying the effect of bulk pinning and
geometric barrier on the equilibrium structure of the intermediate state.
Zero-bulk pinning discs and slabs show hysteretic behavior due to geometric
barrier that results in a topological hysteresis -- flux tubes on penetration
and lamellae on flux exit. (Hemi)spheres and cones do not have geometric
barrier and show no hysteresis with flux tubes dominating the intermediate
field region. It is concluded that flux tubes represent the equilibrium
topology of the intermediate state in reversible samples, whereas laminar
structure appears in samples with magnetic hysteresis (either bulk or
geometric). Real-time video is available in
http://www.cmpgroup.ameslab.gov/supermaglab/video/Pb.html
NOTE: the submitted images were severely downsampled due to Arxiv's
limitations of 1 Mb total size
Effect of proton irradiation on the normal state low-energy excitations of Ba(FeRh)As superconductors
We present a \asnmr Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and resistivity study of
the effect of 5.5 MeV proton irradiation on the optimal electron doped (
0.068) and overdoped ( 0.107) Ba(FeRh)As iron based
superconductors. While the proton induced defects only mildly suppress the
critical temperature and increase residual resistivity in both compositions,
sizable broadening of the NMR spectra was observed in all the irradiated
samples at low temperature. The effect is significantly stronger in the
optimally doped sample where the Curie Weiss temperature dependence of the line
width suggests the onset of ferromagnetic correlations coexisting with
superconductivity at the nanoscale. 1/T measurements revealed that the
energy barrier characterizing the low energy spin fluctuations of these
compounds is enhanced upon proton irradiation, suggesting that the defects are
likely slowing down the fluctuations between ( and (,0) nematic
ground states.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure
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