4,591 research outputs found
Vortex pinning and stability in the low field, superconducting phases of UPt_3
We use an array of miniature Hall probe magnetometers to probe the entry and flow of flux in a single crystal torus or the heavy fermion superconductor UPt_3. Local measurements over the hole are exquisitely sensitive to vortex motion anywhere in the torus, and they permit us to detect avalanches restricted to and with a sharp onset in the lower temperature superconducting phase. Computer simulations support a mechanism dependent upon the degenerate nature of the superconducting order parameter
Local magnetometry at high fields and low temperatures using InAs Hall sensors
We characterize the temperature (0.3⩽T⩽300 K), magnetic field(0⩽H⩽80 kOe), and thickness (0.1, 0.5, and 2.5 μm) dependence of the Hall response of high purity InAs epilayers grown using metalorganic chemical vapor deposition. The high sensitivity, linearity, and temperature independence of the response make them attractive for local Hall probe magnetometry, and uniquely qualified for high field applications below liquid helium temperatures. As a stringent test of performance, we use a six element micron-sized array to monitor the internal field gradient during vortex avalanches at milliKelvin temperatures in a single crystal of YBa_2Cu_3O_(7−δ)
Field-dependent specific heat and multiple superconducting phases in UPt_3
We have measured the specific heat, C, of single-crystal UPt_3 in the superconducting regime as a function of temperature, T, and magnetic field, H, parallel to the c axis. We find that C(T) at fixed H<H_(c2) shows no evidence for different superconducting states. In contrast, our field-sweep data, C(H) at fixed T, have sharp changes in slope at H≊H_(c2)/2. The phase diagram deduced from these features agrees with neutron-scattering and torsional-oscillator results on the same samples. These thermodynamic measurements as a function of magnetic field constrain theories of exotic superconductivity in UPt_3
Quantum spin glass in anisotropic dipolar systems
The spin-glass phase in the \LHx compound is considered. At zero transverse
field this system is well described by the classical Ising model. At finite
transverse field deviations from the transverse field quantum Ising model are
significant, and one must take properly into account the hyperfine
interactions, the off-diagonal terms in the dipolar interactions, and details
of the full J=8 spin Hamiltonian to obtain the correct physical picture. In
particular, the system is not a spin glass at finite transverse fields and does
not show quantum criticality.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures, to appear in J. Phys. Condens. Matter
(proceedings of the HFM2006 conference
Dipole interactions with random anisotropy in a frozen ferrofluid
Glassy behavior (including hysteresis, irreversibility, a peak in the zero-field-cooled magnetization, and nonexponential relaxation) is observed in a quenched ferrofluid system consisting of 50-angstrom magnetite particles. An Arrott plot, M^2 vs H/M, shows clear features of random anisotropy similar to what is found in amorphous ferromagnets. We discuss the glassy behavior in terms of both the random anisotropy and the dipole interactions, and we contrast the unusual response of our system with canonical spin glasses
Experimental Observation of Continuous Melting into a Hexatic Phase
This paper reports the results of an x-ray diffuse scattering study of the melting transition of monolayer xenon on the surface of single crystals of exfoliated graphite. It is found that the two-dimensional xenon solid melts into an orientationally ordered liquid (or hexatic) phase. The temperature dependence of the orientational correlations suggests that the hexatic phase exists as a consequence of the continuous melting process, not the substrate
Microscopic and Macroscopic Signatures of Antiferromagnetic Domain Walls
Magnetotransport measurements on small single crystals of Cr, the elemental
antiferromagnet, reveal the hysteretic thermodynamics of the domain structure.
The temperature dependence of the transport coefficients is directly correlated
with the real-space evolution of the domain configuration as recorded by x-ray
microprobe imaging, revealing the effect of antiferromagnetic domain walls on
electron transport. A single antiferromagnetic domain wall interface resistance
is deduced to be of order at a
temperature of 100 K.Comment: 3 color figure
Quantum Barkhausen Noise Induced by Domain Wall Co-Tunneling
Most macroscopic magnetic phenomena (including magnetic hysteresis) are
typically understood classically. Here, we examine the dynamics of a uniaxial
rare-earth ferromagnet deep within the quantum regime, so that domain wall
motion, and the associated hysteresis, is dominated by large-scale quantum
tunneling of spins, rather than classical thermal activation over a potential
barrier. The domain wall motion is found to exhibit avalanche dynamics,
observable as an unusual form of Barkhausen noise. We observe non-critical
behavior in the avalanche dynamics that only can be explained by going beyond
traditional renormalization group methods or classical domain wall models. We
find that this ``quantum Barkhausen noise'' exhibits two distinct mechanisms
for domain wall movement, each of which is quantum-mechanical, but with very
different dependences on an external magnetic field applied transverse to the
spin (Ising) axis. These observations can be understood in terms of the
correlated motion of pairs of domain walls, nucleated by co-tunneling of
plaquettes (sections of domain wall), with plaquette pairs correlated by
dipolar interactions; this correlation is suppressed by the transverse field.
Similar macroscopic correlations may be expected to appear in the hysteresis of
other systems with long-range interactions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
Quantum and classical relaxation in the proton glass
The hydrogen-bond network formed from a crystalline solution of ferroelectric RbH_2PO_4 and antiferroelectric NH_4H_2PO_4 demonstrates glassy behavior, with proton tunneling the dominant mechanism for relaxation at low temperature. We characterize the dielectric response over seven decades of frequency and quantitatively fit the long-time relaxation by directly measuring the local potential energy landscape via neutron Compton scattering. The collective motion of protons rearranges the hydrogen bonds in the network. By analogy with vortex tunneling in superconductors, we relate the logarithmic decay of the polarization to the quantum-mechanical action
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