Resonating Valence Bond Mechanism of Impurity Band Superconductivity in Diamond

Superconductivity in an uncompensated boron doped diamond, a very recent observation, is strikingly close to an earlier observation of Anderson–Mott insulator to metal transition, prompting us to suggest an electron correlation driven superconductivity in an impurity band. Random coulomb potential remove a three fold orbital degeneracy of boron acceptor states, resulting in an effective single, narrow, tight binding and half-filled band of holes. Singlet coupling between spins of neighboring neutral acceptors B ⁰–B ⁰ is the seed of pairing. Across the insulator to metal transition, a small and equal fraction of charged B ⁺ and B ⁻ states (free carriers) get spontaneously generated and delocalize. Thereupon neutral singlets resonate and get charged resulting in a resonating valence bond (RVB) superconducting state.     

Phase Diagram and Upper Critical Field of Homogeneously Disordered Epitaxial 3-Dimensional NbN Films

We report the evolution of superconducting properties with disorder, in 3-dimensional homogeneously disordered epitaxial NbN thin films. The effective disorder in NbN is controlled from moderately clean limit down to Anderson metal?Cinsulator transition by changing the deposition conditions. We propose a phase diagram for NbN in temperature-disorder plane. With increasing disorder, we observe that as k _F l??1 the superconducting transition temperature (T _c ) and normal state conductivity in the limit T??0 (?? ₀) go to zero. The phase diagram shows that in homogeneously disordered 3-D NbN films, the metal?Cinsulator transition and the superconductor?Cinsulator transition occur at a single quantum critical point, k _F l??1.     

Impact of the transition metal ion-doped on the electrical and magnetic properties of La0.67Ca0.33MnO3Ag0.15-based polycrystalline ceramics

In this work, high-quality La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃:Ag_0.15 and La_0.67Ca_0.33Mn_0.98B_0.02O₃:Ag_0.15 (B = Fe, Co, Ni) ceramics were prepared by the sol–gel route. The slight substitution of the Mn sites has significantly affected the metal–insulator transition and the ferromagnetic–paramagnetic transition. The Mn site doping leads also to a decrease in the temperature of the metal–insulator transition, an enhancement in resistivity, and a reduction in the saturation magnetization. More specifically, the Fe doping approach can significantly increase the peak temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR_peak), since the TCR_peak increases from 62.5%·K^?1 to 75.4%·K^?1. In addition, Fe, Co, and Ni doping can effectively elevate the peak magnetoresistance (MR_peak), of which the modification induced by Fe is the most significant since it enhances from 71.5% to 87.0%. Both the TCR_peak and MR_peak obtained are the highest in the current study, which can greatly promote the application of the manganate materials in the field of infrared detection and magnetic sensitivity.     

T c as a Function of Electron Doping in Mg10B2 Using Sc for Mg Substitution

We have studied the variation of superconducting critical temperature T _c as a function of electron doping in the Mg¹⁰B₂ system using Sc for Mg substitution. The critical temperature in the¹⁰B isotope substituted system Mg_{1? x} Sc _x ¹⁰B₂ increases by increasing the scandium content x in the range 0<x<0.012 up to 41.4 K, while the T _c of the natural boron system Mg_{1? x} Sc _x B₂ is nearly constant. The overall difference of T _c in Mg_{1? x} Sc _x B₂ as function of x between the natural B and ¹⁰B isotope system seems to indicate that the isotope effect shows large variations with electron doping as expected for the T _c enhancement driven by a shape resonance.     

Microstructure, electrical and magnetic properties of polycrystalline La0.85K0.15MnO3 manganites prepared by different synthesis routes

Influence of different synthesis techniques (solid state reaction, sol–gel and co-precipitation) on the structure, microstructure, magnetic and electrical properties of polycrystalline La_0.85K_0.15MnO₃ (LKMO) sintered at 900 °C is investigated. All the as-synthesized compounds were confirmed as single phase and hexagonal structure at room temperature. The nano-crystallite size and average grain size were increased from the sample synthesized through solid state, sol–gel and co-precipitation techniques. The electrical and magneto-transport properties of polycrystalline LKMO was relied on the synthesis method. Significant decreases in metal–insulator transition temperature (T_p) with the increment of resistivity were observed for co-precipitation synthesized sample when comparing with solid state and sol–gel synthesized samples. Magnetization was decreased while ferro-paramagnetic transition temperature (T _c) was shifted toward lower temperature from solid state synthesized sample to co-precipitation synthesized sample. Furthermore, co-precipitation synthesized sample achieved the highest negative magnetoresistance at room temperature.     

Electron density changes at the crystal lattice sites upon superconducting phase transition

It is established that complex copper oxides exhibit a relationship between a change in the electron density at the metal crystal lattice site and the temperature (T _c) of a phase transition to the superconducting state. In crystals containing two structurally inequivalent positions of copper atoms, a change in the electron density upon the transition is different for these lattice sites. In particular, there is a limiting value of the electron density variation upon the superconducting transition, which is different for Cu(1) and Cu(2) lattice sites and corresponds to the two different minimum values of the correlation length. The electron density changes at the sites of a Kronig-Penney crystal lattice upon the superconducting transition are calculated. It is established that the transition from normal to superconducting phase is accompanied by an increase in the charge density at the center of the unit cell. This growth increases with T _c, which agrees with the Mössbauer spectroscopy data.     

Progress Toward Redetermining the Boltzmann Constant with a Fixed-Path-Length Cylindrical Resonator

A single, fixed-path-length cylindrical-cavity resonator was used to measure c ₀ = (307.825 2 ± 0.001 2) m · s^?1, the zero-density limit of the speed of sound in pure argon at the temperature of the triple point of water. Three even and three odd longitudinal modes were used in this measurement. Based on the ratio M/?? ₀ = (23.968 644 ± 0.000 033) g · mol^?1, determined from an impurity and isotopic analysis of the argon used in this measurement and the measured c ₀, the value k _B = 1.380 650 6 × 10^?23J · K^?1 was obtained for the Boltzmann constant. This value of k _B has a relative uncertainty u _r(k _B) = 7.9 × 10^?6 and is fractionally, (0.12 ± 8.1) × 10^?6 larger than the value recommended by CODATA in 2006. (The uncertainty is one standard uncertainty.) Several, comparatively large imperfections of our prototype cavity affect the even longitudinal modes more than the odd modes. The models for these imperfections are approximate, but they suggest that an improved cavity will significantly reduce the uncertainty of c ₀.     

Structural Characterization and Magneto Electrical Behavior of Sm Doped La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 Manganites

The La_0.7?x Sm _x Ca_0.3MnO₃ with x=0.0 and 0.1 compounds were fabricated by compositional solid state reaction method and investigated for their structural and magnetoelectrical properties. The samples are characterized structurally by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The electrical and magnetotransport properties of bulk samples have been investigated in the temperature range 5–300 K and a magnetic field up to 7 T. The metal–insulator transition temperature, T _MI, decreased with samarium (Sm) doping and also it is increased slightly with the application of magnetic field. The results of Sm doped LCMO compound showed that the maximum magneto resistance (MR) is about 54 % and it appears near the transition temperature.     

Role of diffusion-annealing temperature on the microstructural and superconducting properties of Cu-doped MgB2 superconductors

This study deals with not only investigate the effect of the copper diffusion on the microstructural and superconducting properties of MgB₂ superconducting samples employing dc resistivity as a function of temperature, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements but also calculate the diffusion coefficient and the activation energy of copper for the first time. Electrical-resistivity measurements indicate that both the room-temperature resistivity value and zero resistivity transition temperatures (T _c ) increase with increasing the diffusion-annealing temperature from 650 to 850?°C. SEM measurements show that not only the surface morphology and grain connectivity improve but also the grain size of the samples increases with the increase in the diffusion-annealing temperature up to 850?°C. As for the XRD results, all the samples contain the MgB₂ phase only and exhibit the polycrystalline superconducting phase with more intensity of diffraction lines, leading to the increasement in the lattice parameter a and c. Additionally, the diffusion coefficient is observed to increase from 6.81?×?10^?8 to 4.69?×?10^?7?cm²?s^?1 as the diffusion-annealing temperature increases, confirming that the Cu diffusion at lower temperatures is much less significant. Temperature dependence of the Cu diffusion coefficient is described with the aid of the Arrhenius relation D?=?3.75?×?10^?3 exp (?1.15?±?0.10?eV/k _B T) and the corresponding activation energy of copper in MgB₂ system is found to be about 1.15?eV. The possible reasons for the observed improvement in microstructural and superconducting properties of the samples due to Cu diffusion are also discussed.     

Tuning colossal magnetoresistance response at roomtemperature by La2/3+ySr1/3−yMn1−yCryO3

The special formula of La_2/3+ySr_1/3−yMn_1−yCr_yO₃ with [Mn³⁺]/([Mn⁴⁺] + [Cr³⁺]) ratio fixed at optimal proportion 2:1 was designed to tune colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) response around room temperature and test the possibility of ferromagnetic (FM) interaction of hetero-ionic coupling between Mn³⁺ and Cr³⁺. The polycrystalline bulk samples were fabricated by the traditional solid-state reaction method. The structural, magnetic, electrical transports and magnetoresistance (MR) properties were investigated. An enhancement of CMR at room temperature with appropriate content y has been observed, meanwhile, substituting Cr for Mn in manganites shows inefficiency in lowering ferromagnetic–paramagnetic (FM–PM) transition temperature T_c and metal–insulator (M–I) transition temperature T_p. Experimental results indicate that there might exist a FM coupling between Mn³⁺ and Cr³⁺.     

The Phonon Modes with Strong Electron–Phonon Interactions in p- and n-Type High T c Superconductors

The phonon modes with strong electron–phonon interactions were investigated by two-phonon Raman scattering in p- and n-type high T _c superconductors. In p-type superconductors, the strong electron–phonon interaction mode changes from the breathing mode at (π, π) to the half breathing mode at (π, 0) as carrier density increases across the optimum doping in LSCO or the 60 K phase in YBCO. It is in good accordance with the change of the superconducting coherent peak position in k-space. In n-type superconductors, the strong electron–phonon interaction modes change from (0.4π, 0.4π) to (0.4π, 0) at the insulator–superconductor transition. Electron–phonon interactions play an important role in superconductivity.     

Effect of Short-Range Ferromagnetic Ordering on the Electrical Transport Properties of (La0.9Bi0.1)2/3Ca1/3MnO3 in the Magnetic Field up to 40 T

The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the resistance of polycrystalline sample (La_0.9Bi_0.1)_2/3Ca_1/3MnO₃ was investigated in pulsed high magnetic field up to 40 T over a wide temperature region. In order to describe the magnetotransport properties of the sample, an extended Mott hopping conduction model was employed. Instead of B _J (gμ _B J(T)B/k _B T) in the ferromagnetic (FM) state and $B_{J}^{2}(g\mu_{B}J(T)B/k_{B}T)$ in the paramagnetic (PM) state, the magnetic field dependence of the resistance could scale nicely with the Brillouin function B _J (gμ _B J(T)B/k _B T) in all the given temperatures (above and below the Curie temperature T _c ). The deduced value of the average spin moment J(T) increases with the increasing of the temperature and reaches the maximum value (～35) around T _c . The large value of J(T) indicate the presence of magnetic clusters in the sample which is induced by the short-range ferromagnetic ordering, however, compared to the un-doped compound La_2/3Ca_1/3MnO₃, the value of J(T) is much smaller, which might be ascribe to the location of the 6s² lone pair electrons of Bi³⁺ ions in the sample (La_0.9Bi_0.1)_2/3Ca_1/3MnO₃.     

Effect of Ga doping on micro/structural, electrical and optical properties of pulsed laser deposited ZnO thin films

Undoped and Ga doped ZnO thin films (1% GZO, 3% GZO and 5% GZO) were grown on c-Al₂O₃ substrates using the 1, 3 and 5 at. wt.% Ga doped ZnO targets by pulsed laser deposition. X-ray diffraction studies revealed that highly c-axis oriented, single phase, undoped and Ga doped ZnO thin films with wurtzite structure were deposited. Micro-Raman scattering analysis showed that Ga doping introduces defects in the host lattice. The E₂^High mode of ZnO in Ga doped ZnO thin film was observed to shift to higher wavenumber indicating the presence of residual compressive stress. Appearance of the normally Raman inactive B₁ modes (B₁^Low, 2B₁^Low and B₁^High) due to breaking of local translational symmetry, also indicated that defects were introduced into the host lattice due to Ga incorporation. Band gap of the Ga doped ZnO thin films was observed to shift to higher energy with the increase in doping concentration and is explicated by the Burstein-Moss effect. Electrical resistivity measurements of the undoped and GZO thin films in the temperature range 50 to 300 K revealed the metal to semiconductor transition for 3 and 5% GZO thin films.     

Textures of Superfluid 3He-B in Applied Flow and?Comparison with Hydrostatic Theory

Measurements of the order parameter texture of rotating superfluid ³He-B have been performed as a function of the applied azimuthal counterflow velocity down to temperatures of 0.2 T _c. The results are compared to the hydrostatic theory of ³He-B. Good agreement is found at all measured temperatures and rotation velocities when the flow anisotropy contribution to the textural free energy is adjusted. This gives a superfluid energy gap ??(T) which agrees with that measured by Todoshchenko et al., with ??(0)=1.97 k _B T _c at 29.0 bar. The B-phase susceptibility, longitudinal resonance frequency, and textural phase transition have been extracted from the measurements as a function of temperature and azimuthal counterflow velocity. Owing to decreasing absorption intensities the present measuring method, based on the line shape analysis of the NMR spectrum, loses its sensitivity with decreasing temperature. However, we find that in practice the measurement of vortex numbers and counterflow velocities is still feasible down to 0.2 T _c.     

Two‐Dimensional Mott Insulators in SrVO3 Ultrathin Films

Strongly correlated oxides that undergo a metal‐insulator transition (MIT) are a subject of great current interest for their potential application to future electronics as switches and sensors. Recent advances in thin film technology have opened up new avenues to tailor MIT for novel devices beyond conventional CMOS scaling. Here, dimensional‐crossover‐driven MITs are demonstrated in high‐quality epitaxial SrVO₃ (SVO) thin films grown by a pulsed electron‐beam deposition technique. Thick SVO films (∼25 nm) exhibit metallic behavior with the electrical resistivity following the T² law corresponding to a Fermi liquid system. A temperature driven MIT is induced in SVO ultrathin films with thicknesses below 6.5 nm. The transition temperature T_MIT is at 50 K for the 6.5 nm film, 120 K for the 5.7 nm film and 205 K for the 3 nm film. The emergence of the observed MIT can be attributed to the dimensional crossover from a three‐dimensional metal to a two‐dimensional Mott insulator, as the resulting reduction in the effective bandwidth W opens a band gap at the Fermi level. The magneto‐transport study of the SVO ultrathin films also confirm the observed MIT is due to the electron‐electron interactions other than disorder‐induced localization.     

Magnetoresistance Study of Y3Ba5Cu8O18 Superconducting Phase Substituted by Nd3+ and Ca2+ Ions

Superconducting samples of type Y_3?x Nd _x Ba_5?x Ca _x Cu₈O₁₈ with 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.4 have been prepared via the solid-state reaction technique. The prepared samples were characterized using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) technique for phase analysis. The elemental content of the prepared samples was determined using particle-induced X-ray emission (PIXE). In addition, the oxygen content of these samples was obtained using non-Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS) at 3 MeV proton beam. The results indicate that these substitutions do not affect the orthorhombic structure, while they decrease the oxygen content of Y-358 phase. The electrical resistivity of the prepared samples was measured by the conventional four-probe technique from room temperature down to the zero superconducting transition temperature (T ₀). A slight change in the superconducting transition temperature (T _c) is observed for 0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1, and then it decreases linearly with further increase in x. The linear decrease in T _c is attributed mainly to the partial substitution of Ba²⁺ ions by Ca²⁺ ions rather than the partial substitution of Y³⁺ ions by Nd³⁺ ions. The effect of magnetic fields up to 4.44 kG on the electrical resistivity has been studied to investigate the vortex dynamics for the prepared samples. The experimental data, in the second stage of superconducting transition, fit well with the thermally activated flux creep (TAFC) model, and the activation energy U(B) shows a power law dependence on magnetic field as B ^?β . Also, the transition width is related to the magnetic field according to the relation ΔT α B ⁿ . The values of β and n are strongly dependent on the Nd³⁺ and Ca²⁺ ion substitution. The magnetic field and temperature dependence of the activation energy U(B, T) is found to be U(B, T)? ΔT B ^?η , where η = β + n. Furthermore, the critical current density at zero temperature, J _c(0), as a function of the applied field was calculated for all the prepared samples. The result shows an enhancement in J _c(0) of Y-358 phase at x equals 0.4 at different applied fields.     

Structural and Magneto-Transport Properties of Copper Doped Double Layered Manganites La1.4Ca1.6Mn2O7

Samples of La_1.4Ca_1.6Mn_2?x Cu _x O₇ with 0≤x≤0.075 were prepared by a solid state reaction and characterized. The cell parameters and volume increase with increasing doped content in all the samples. The metal–insulator (MI) transition was observed in all the samples except for x=0.075. The doping increases the MI transition temperature and resistivity. The application of a magnetic field increases the transition temperature. It can be referred to the suppression of the ferromagnetic–insulator state around it. The magnetoresistance (MR) of the undoped and 0.025 Cu-doped samples is observed on a wide range of temperatures (3.5–283 K). The undoped one exhibits a maximum value of 39.7 % at 5.07 K under 5 T. The 0.025 Cu-doped one exhibits a maximum value of 40.65 % at 44 K in the same magnetic field. No MR effect is shown for the 0.05 doped sample. The 0.075 doped sample exhibits a small negative MR behavior and a second peak of resistivity at a very low temperature.     

Physical Properties and Diffusion-Coefficient Calculation of Iron Diffused Bi-2223 System

This study includes two parts: (I)?investigation of the effect of different annealing time (10?h, 30?h, and 60?h) on physical, superconducting, and microstructural properties of Fe-diffused Bi-2223 superconductor ceramics prepared by the conventional solid-state reaction method with the aid of the X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dc resistivity (???CT) and transport critical current density (J _c ) measurements, and (II) determination of the diffusion coefficient and the activation energy of iron in the Bi-2223 system. In the former part, the zero-resistivity transition temperature (T _c ), phase purity, volume fraction, hole-carrier concentration, lattice parameters, surface morphology, texturing, crystallinity, grain connectivity, grain size, and room temperature resistivity values of the bulk samples are found and compared with each other. The results obtained show that both the zero resistivity transition temperature (T _c ) and transport critical current density (J _c ) regularly enhance with the increment in the diffusion-annealing time. The maximum T _c of 107±0.2 K and J _c of 50.0?A?cm^?2 are observed for the sample annealed at 830?°C for 60?h. As for the XRD investigations, according to the refinement of cell parameters done by considering the structural modulation, the enhancement in the diffusion-annealing is confirmed by both a decrease of the cell parameter a and an increase of the lattice parameter c of the samples, meaning that the greatest Bi-2223 phase fraction belongs to the sample annealed at 830?°C for 60?h. Moreover, SEM images display that the sample has the best crystallinity, grain connectivity, and largest grain size. Based on the results, the superconducting and microstructural properties improve with the increase in the diffusion-annealing time. In the latter part, Fe diffusion in the Bi-2223 system is examined in a range of 500?C830?°C by the variation of the lattice parameters evaluated from the XRD patterns. The temperature dependence of the Fe diffusion coefficient is described by the Arrhenius relation D=4.27×10^?5exp(?1.27±0.10) eV/k_BT, and the related activation energy of the iron in the Bi-2223 system is found to be about 1.27?eV. The relatively low value of activation energy obtained illustrates that the migration of the Fe ions primarily proceeds through defects such as pore surfaces and grain boundaries in the polycrystalline structure, leading to the improvement of the microstructural and superconducting properties of the samples, supported by the results of part?I. All in all, the aim of the present study is not only to analyze the role of diffusion-annealing time on superconducting and microstructural properties of Fe-diffused Bi-2223 superconductors, but also to find the diffusion coefficient and activation energy of Fe in the Bi-2223 system.     

A correlation of critical points

Critical points were correlated for fluids which obey the three-parameter equation of state according to which the compressibility factor, $\text{Z=}\text{P}\text{dRT}$, is given by Z=1 + k_Bδκ (θ, δ), in which κ (θ, δ) is a universal function of reduced temperature, $\text{θ =}\text{T}\text{T}{}_{\mathrm{B}}$, and reduced density, $\text{δ =}\text{d}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>O</mtext>}}$. The three parameters which distinguish one fluid from another are k_B, T_B, and d_O. It is shown that experimental inflection points of the pressure versus density isotherms of gases obeying this equation of state all fall on the same reduced curve of θ versus δ. Critical points also must lie on this curve, at a location dependent on k_B. Critical densities are too uncertain experimentally to permit a definite correlation, but the critical temperatures of sixteen fluids are shown to fall on a common θ_c versus k_B curve with an average deviation of 0.4 degrees. The critical pressures of these same fluids lie within a few tenths of an atmosphere on a common π_c ($\text{π =}\text{P}\text{d}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>O</mtext>}}\text{RT}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>B</mtext>}}$) versus k_B line. This correlation of critical points is accomplished using values of the three parameters that had previously been determined by fitting supercritical PVT data to the equation of state.