Superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7

We report the superconducting properties of the pyrochlore oxide Cd2Re2O7. The bulk superconducting transition temperature Tc is about 1.0 K, and the upper critical field Hc2 determined by the measurement of specific heat under magnetic fields is 0.29 T. The superconducting coherence length is estimated to be 34 nm. Specific heat data measured on single crystals suggest that the superconducting gap of Cd2Re2O7 is nodeless.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, to be published in J. Chem. Phys. Solid

Magnetotransport and the upper critical magnetic field in MgB2

Magnetotransport measurements are presented on polycrystalline MgB2 samples. The resistive upper critical magnetic field reveals a temperature dependence with a positive curvature from Tc = 39.3 K down to about 20 K, then changes to a slightly negative curvature reaching 25 T at 1.5 K. The 25- Tesla upper critical field is much higher than what is known so far on polycrystals of MgB2 but it is in agreement with recent data obtained on epitaxial MgB2 films. The deviation of Bc2(T) from standard BCS might be due to the proposed two-gap superconductivity in this compound. The observed quadratic normal-state magnetoresistance with validity of Kohler's rule can be ascribed to classical trajectory effects in the low-field limit.Comment: 6 pages, incl. 3 figure

Superconducting Properties of MgB2 Bulk Materials Prepared by High Pressure Sintering

High-density bulk materials of a newly discovered 40K intermetallic MgB2 superconductor were prepared by high pressure sintering. Superconducting transition with the onset temperature of 39K was confirmed by both magnetic and resistive measurements. Magnetization versus field (M-H) curve shows the behavior of a typical Type II superconductor and the lower critical field Hc1(0) estimated from M-H curve is 0.032T. The bulk sample shows good connection between grains and critical current density Jc estimated from the magnetization hysteresis using sample size was 2x104A/cm2 at 20K and 1T. Upper critical field Hc2(0) determined by extrapolating the onset of resistive transition and assuming a dirty limit is 18T.Comment: 3Pages PD

Low-Temperature Rapid Synthesis and Superconductivity of Fe-Based Oxypnictide Superconductors

we were able to develop a novel method to synthesize Fe-based oxypnictide superconductors. By using LnAs and FeO as the starting materials and a ball-milling process prior to solid-state sintering, Tc as high as 50.7 K was obtained with the sample of Sm 0.85Nd0.15FeAsO0.85F0.15 prepared by sintering at temperatures as low as 1173 K for times as short as 20 min.Comment: 2 pages,2 figures, 1 tabl

Temperature dependence of the superheating field for superconductors in the high-k London limit

We study the metastability of the superheated Meissner state in type II superconductors with k >> 1 beyond Ginzburg-Landau theory, which is applicable only in the vicinity of the critical temperature. Within Eilenberger's semiclassical approximation, we use the local electrodynamic response of the superconductor to derive a generalized thermodynamic potential valid at any temperature. The stability analysis of this functional yields the temperature dependence of the superheating field. Finally, we comment on the implications of our results for superconducting cavities in particle accelerators.Comment: 7.5 pages, 2 figure

Enhancement of Superconductivity in Disordered Films by Parallel Magnetic Field

We show that the superconducting transition temperature T_c(H) of a very thin highly disordered film with strong spin-orbital scattering can be increased by parallel magnetic field H. This effect is due to polarization of magnetic impurity spins which reduces the full exchange scattering rate of electrons; the largest effect is predicted for spin-1/2 impurities. Moreover, for some range of magnetic impurity concentrations the phenomenon of {\it superconductivity induced by magnetic field} is predicted: superconducting transition temperature T_c(H) is found to be nonzero in the range of magnetic fields $0 < H^* <= H <= H_c$.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Two types of Hc2(T) dependences in Bi_2Sr_2Ca_(1-x)Y_xCu_2O_(8+delta) with different Yttrium content

We reanalyze the magnetization data collected on Bi_2Sr_2Ca_(1-x)Y_xCu_2O_(8+y) samples (Kim at al, Phys. Rev. B 72, 64525 (2005)) and argue that the method, which was used for the analysis of equilibrium magnetization data, is not adequate to the experimental situation. As a result, the temperature dependencies of the upper critical field Hc2(T) and the magnetic field penetration depth lambda (T), obtained in this work, are misinterpreted. Using a different approach to analysis, we demonstrate that the normalizedHc2(T) curves are rather different from those presented in the original publication and do not follow predictions of the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg theory. Another important observation is that the Hc2(T) dependencies for two samples with different levels of doping are qualitatively different.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

The BCS critical temperature in a weak external electric field via a linear two-body operator

We study the critical temperature of a superconductive material in a weak external electric potential via a linear approximation of the BCS functional. We reproduce a similar result as in [Frank, Hainzl, Seiringer, Solovej, 2016] using the strategy introduced in [Frank, Hainzl, Langmann, 2018], where we considered the case of an external constant magnetic field.Comment: Dedicated to Herbert Spohn on the occasion of his seventieth birthday; 29 page

Fluctuation and Order of Antiferromagnetism induced by Paramagnetic Pair-Breaking in Superconducting Vortex Lattice

Effects of the strong Pauli-paramagnetic pair-breaking (PPB) on the vortex lattice in d-wave superconductors are theoretically studied by putting emphasis on consequences of the PPB-induced antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering in the spatial modulation in the vortex lattice. It is shown that the PPB-induced AFM fluctuation in the superconducting state leads to an enhancement of the vortex lattice form factor which is a measure of spatial variations of the internal magnetic field and that the enhancement becomes more remarkable as an AFM instability is approached. It is also demonstrated that the PPB-induced AFM ordering is assisted by the vortex-lattice modulation, and thus, that the resulting AFM order is spatially modulated, while it is not localized in the vortex cores but coexistent with the nonvanishing superconducting order parameter. These results are discussed in connection with two phenomena observed in CeCoIn5, the anomalous field dependence of the vortex lattice form factor and the AFM order appearing inside the high-field and low-temperature superconducting phase.Comment: 26 pages, 13 figure

The BCS Critical Temperature in a Weak External Electric Field via a Linear Two-Body Operator

We study the critical temperature of a superconductive material in a weak external electric potential via a linear approximation of the BCS functional. We reproduce a similar result as in Frank et al. (Commun Math Phys 342(1):189–216, 2016, [5]) using the strategy introduced in Frank et al. (The BCS critical temperature in a weak homogeneous magnetic field, [2]), where we considered the case of an external constant magnetic field