308 research outputs found
Vortex Lattice Depinning vs. Vortex Lattice Melting: a pinning-based explanation of the equilibrium magnetization jump
In this communication we argue that the Vortex Lattice Melting scenario fails
to explain several key experimental results published in the literature. From a
careful analysis of these results we conclude that the Flux Line Lattice (FLL)
does not melt along a material- and sample-dependent boundary but the
opposite, it de-couples from the superconducting matrix becoming more ordered.
When the FLL depinning is sharp, the difference between the equilibrium
magnetization of the pinned and unpinned FLL leads to the
observed step-like change . We demonstrate that the
experimentally obtained can be well accounted for by a
variation of the pinning efficiency of vortices along the boundary.Comment: 8 pages, 1 Figur
Proton-induced magnetic order in carbon: SQUID measurements
In this work we have studied systematically the changes in the magnetic
behavior of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) samples after proton
irradiation in the MeV energy range. Superconducting quantum interferometer
device (SQUID) results obtained from samples with thousands of localized spots
of micrometer size as well on samples irradiated with a broad beam confirm
previously reported results. Both, the para- and ferromagnetic contributions
depend strongly on the irradiation details. The results indicate that the
magnetic moment at saturation of spots of micrometer size is of the order of
emu.Comment: Invited contribution at ICACS2006 to be published in Nucl. Instr. and
Meth. B. 8 pages and 6 figure
Trace element content and magnetic properties of commercial HOPG samples studied by ion beam microscopy and SQUID magnetometry
In this study, the impurity concentration and magnetic response of nine
highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) samples with different grades and
from different providers were determined using ion beam microscopy and SQUID
magnetometry. Apart from sideface contaminations in the as-received state, bulk
contamination of the samples in most cases consists of disk-shaped micron-sized
particles made of Ti and V with an additional Fe contamination around the grain
perimeter. The saturation magnetization typically increases with Fe
concentration, however, there is no simple correlation between Fe content and
magnetic moment. The saturation magnetization of one, respectively six, out of
nine samples clearly exceeds the maximum contribution from pure Fe or Fe3C. For
most samples the temperature dependence of the remanence decreases linearly
with T - a dependence found previously for defect-induced magnetism (DIM) in
HOPG. We conclude that apart from magnetic impurities, additional contribution
to the ferromagnetic magnetization exists in pristine HOPG in agreement with
previous studies. A comparative study between the results of ion beam
microscopy and the commonly used EDX analysis shows clearly that EDX is not a
reliable method for quantitative trace elemental analysis in graphite,
clarifying weaknesses and discrepancies in the element concentrations given in
the recent literature.Comment: submitted to Carbo
Experimental Evidence for Two-Dimensional Magnetic Order in Proton Bombarded Graphite
We have prepared magnetic graphite samples bombarded by protons at low
temperatures and low fluences to attenuate the large thermal annealing produced
during irradiation. An overall optimization of sample handling allowed us to
find Curie temperatures K at the used fluences. The
magnetization versus temperature shows unequivocally a linear dependence, which
can be interpreted as due to excitations of spin waves in a two dimensional
Heisenberg model with a weak uniaxial anisotropy.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
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