131 research outputs found
Surface Enhancement of Superconductivity in Tin
The possibility of surface enhancement of superconductivity is examined
experimentally. It is shown that single crystal tin samples with cold-worked
surfaces represent a superconductor with a surface-enhanced order parameter (or
negative surface extrapolation length b), whose magnitude can be controlled.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Experimental ratchet effect in superconducting films with periodic arrays of asymmetric potentials
A vortex lattice ratchet effect has been investigated in Nb films grown on
arrays of nanometric Ni triangles, which induce periodic asymmetric pinning
potentials. The vortex lattice motion yields a net dc-voltage when an ac
driving current is applied to the sample and the vortex lattice moves through
the field of asymmetric potentials. This ratchet effect is studied taking into
account the array geometry, the temperature, the number of vortices per unit
cell of the array and the applied ac currents.Comment: 15 pages, figures include
Magnetic Pinning of Vortices in a Superconducting Film: The (anti)vortex-magnetic dipole interaction energy in the London approximation
The interaction between a superconducting vortex or antivortex in a
superconducting film and a magnetic dipole with in- or out-of-plane
magnetization is investigated within the London approximation. The dependence
of the interaction energy on the dipole-vortex distance and the film thickness
is studied and analytical results are obtained in limiting cases. We show how
the short range interaction with the magnetic dipole makes the co-existence of
vortices and antivortices possible. Different configurations with vortices and
antivortices are investigated.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Little-Parks effect and multiquanta vortices in a hybrid superconductor--ferromagnet system
Within the phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory we investigate the phase
diagram of a thin superconducting film with ferromagnetic nanoparticles. We
study the oscillatory dependence of the critical temperature on an external
magnetic field similar to the Little-Parks effect and formation of multiquantum
vortex structures. The structure of a superconducting state is studied both
analytically and numerically.Comment: 7 pages, 1 figure. Submitted to J. Phys.: Condens. Mat
Influence of randomly distributed magnetic nanoparticles on surface superconductivity in Nb films
We report on combined resistance and magnetic measurements in a hybrid
structure (HS) of randomly distributed anisotropic CoPt magnetic nanoparticles
(MN) embedded in a 160 nm Nb thick film. Our resistance measurements exhibited
a sharp increase at the magnetically determined bulk upper-critical fields
Hc2(T). Above these points the resistance curves are rounded, attaining the
normal state value at much higher fields identified as the surface
superconductivity fields Hc3(T). When plotted in reduced temperature units, the
characteristic field lines Hc3(T) of the HS and of a pure Nb film, prepared at
exactly the same conditions, coincide for H10 kOe
they strongly segregate. Interestingly, the characteristic value H=10 kOe is
equal to the saturation field of the MN. The behavior mentioned above is
observed only for the case where the field is normal to the HS, while is absent
when the field is parallel to the film. Our experimental results suggest that
the observed enhancement of surface superconductivity field Hc3(T) is possibly
due to the not uniform local reduction of the external magnetic field by the
dipolar fields of the MN.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev.
Magnetization reversal in long chains of submicrometric Co dots
This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.Long chains of 400 nm diam Co dots prepared by combined electron-beam lithography exhibit interesting magnetotransport properties. The magnetoresistance of the chains of dots is markedly different from single Co films, indicating a strongly modified magnetization reversal process. Magnetic force microscopy(MFM) shows that, after magnetic saturation, in the remanent state the single-domain dots are all oriented with their magnetic moment along the chain. A comparison of the magnetoresistance and the MFM reveals that the magnetization reversal occurs by coherent rotation of the magnetic moment in the single-domain dots forming the chain
The impact of bead milling on the thermodynamics and kinetics of the structural phase transition of VO2 particulate materials and their potential for use in thermochromic glazing
The thermodynamics and kinetics of the structural phase transition from monoclinic VO2 (M) to rutile VO2 (R) and vice versa were studied for particulate materials obtained by bead milling of VO2 (M) powder. Using wet bead milling, we decreased the particle size of VO2 (M) powder from ∼1 μm to 129 nm. With progressive milling, the switching enthalpy decreased from 47 J g−1 to 29 J g−1 due to a loss of crystallinity. The switching kinetics were studied using Friedman's differential isoconversional method. The activation energy |Eα| decreases with increasing difference between the actual temperature of the material and its switching temperature (T0). Furthermore, |Eα| decreases with progressive milling, and kinetic asymmetry is induced. For milled particulate materials, |Eα| is lower for the switch from VO2 (R) to VO2 (M) than for the opposite switch. For hydrothermally synthesized nanoparticles, |Eα| is in the same order of magnitude, albeit with inverse switching asymmetry. Latter may result from different defects that are introduced during both preparation techniques. Applying layers of milled particulate material to glass sheets yielded thermochromic coatings with luminous transmission of 40.7% and solar modulation of 8.3%. This demonstrates that milled VO2 particles have potential for use in energy efficient thermochromic windows
Hysteresis and Fractional Matching in Thin Nb Films with Rectangular Arrays of Nanoscaled Magnetic Dots
We have investigated the periodic pinning of magnetic flux quanta in thin Nb
films with rectangular arrays of magnetic dots. In this type of pinning
geometry, a change in the periodicity and shape of the minima in the
magnetoresistance occurs for magnetic fields exceeding a certain threshold
value. This has been explained recently in terms of a reconfiguration
transition of the vortex lattice due to an increasing vortex-vortex interaction
with increasing magnetic field. In this picture the dominating elastic energy
at high fields forces the vortex lattice to form a square symmetry rather than
being commensurate to the rectangular geometry of the pinning array. In this
paper we present a comparative study of rectangular arrays with Ni-dots,
Co-dots and holes. In the magnetic dot arrays, we found a strong fractional
matching effect up to the second order matching field. In contrast, no clear
fractional matching is seen after the reconfiguration. Additionally, we
discovered the existence of hysteresis in the magnetoresistance in the
crossover between the low and the high field regime. We found evidence that
this effect is correlated to the reconfiguration phenomenon rather than to the
magnetic state of the dots. The temperature and angular dependences of the
effect have been measured and possible models are discussed to explain this
behavior.Comment: 1 Table, 5 Figure
Individual and Multi Vortex Pinning in Systems with Periodic Pinning Arrays
We examine multi and individual vortex pinning in thin superconductors with
periodic pinning arrays. For multi-vortex pinning we observe peaks in the
critical current of equal magnitude at every matching field, while for
individual vortex pinning we observe a sharp drop in the critical current after
the first matching field in agreement with experiments. We examine the scaling
of the critical current at commensurate and incommensurate fields for varied
pinning strength and show that the depinning force at incommensurate fields
decreases faster than at the commensurate fields.Comment: 4 figuure
Vortex structure of thin mesoscopic disks in the presence of an inhomogeneous magnetic field
The vortex states in a thin mesoscopic disk are investigated within the
phenomenological Ginzburg-Landau theory in the presence of different ''model''
magnetic field profiles with zero average field which may result from a
ferromagnetic disk or circulating currents in a loop near the superconductor.
We calculated the dependences of both the ground and metastable states on the
magnitude and shape of the magnetic field profile for different values of the
order parameter angular moment, i.e. the vorticity. The regions of existence of
the multi-vortex state and the giant vortex state are found. We analysed the
phase transitions between these states and studied the contribution from
ring-shaped vortices. A new transition between different multi-vortex
configurations as the ground state is found. Furthermore, we found a vortex
state consisting of a central giant vortex surrounded by a collection of
anti-vortices which are located in a ring around this giant vortex. The limit
to a disk with an infinite radius, i.e. a film, will also be discussed. We also
extended our results to ''real'' magnetic field profiles and to the case in
which an external homogeneous magnetic field is present.Comment: 17 pages, 23 figures. Submitted to PR
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