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 $5\times10^{-5}\mathrm{\mu\Omega\cdot cm^{2}}$ at a temperature of 100 K.Comment: 3 color figure