Y. Bugoslavsky

High critical current density and improved irreversibility field in bulk MgB2 made by a scaleable, nanoparticle addition route

Bulk samples of MgB2 were prepared with 5, 10, and 15 wt % Y2O3 nanoparticles, added using a simple solid-state reaction route. Transmission electron microscopy showed a fine nanostructure consisting of ∼3–5 nm YB4 nanoparticles embedded within MgB2 grains of ∼400 nm size. Compared to an undoped control sample, an improvement in the in-field critical current density JC was observed, most notably for 10% doping. At 4.2 K, the lower bound JC value was ∼2×105 A cm−2 at 2 T. At 20 K, the corresponding value was ∼8×104 A cm−2. Irreversibility fields were 11.5 T at 4.2 K and 5.5 T at 20 K.

Thin-film alternating current nanocalorimeter for low temperatures and high magnetic fields

Thin-film nanocalorimeter for low temperatures and high magnetic fields is described. The calorimeter is based on a commercial microchip module (thermal conductivity vacuum gauge TCG 3880 from Xensor Integration, NL). The gauge consists of submicron silicon nitride membrane with a film-thermopile and a resistive film-heater with dimensions of 50×100μm2 located at the center of the membrane. The gauge is mounted in a thermostat filled with helium exchange gas. The method of alternating current (ac) calorimetry is applied for heat capacity measurements. The noise-floor sensitivity of the calorimeter is better than 1nJ∕K below 100K and about 3nJ∕K at 300K. This allows for reliable measurements to be performed on sub-microgram samples. It is proved that the method is applicable for heat capacity measurements at temperatures in the range of 5–300K and in high magnetic fields up to 8T. We present a theoretical analysis of the thermal processes in the gauge-sample-surrounding gas system. On this basis a calibrat...

Structural, magnetic, and transport properties of thin films of the Heusler alloy Co2MnSi

Thin films of Co2MnSi have been grown on a-plane sapphire substrates from three elemental targets by dc magnetron cosputtering. These films are single phase, have a strong (110) texture, and a saturation magnetization of 4.95μB/formula unit at 10 K. Films grown at the highest substrate temperature of 715 K showed the lowest resistivity (47 μΩ cm at 4.2 K) and the lowest coercivity (18 Oe). The spin polarization of the transport current was found to be of the order of 54% as determined by point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy. A decrease in saturation magnetization with a decrease in film thickness and different transport behavior in thinner films indicate graded disorder in these films grown on nonlattice matched substrates.

Reducing the operational magnetic field in the prototype magnetocaloric system Gd5Ge4 by approaching the single cluster size limit

We studied polycrystalline samples of the prototype magnetocaloric system Gd5Ge4 using scanning Hall imaging and global magnetometry. The magnetic field required to complete the phase transition that is critical for magnetocaloric application is reduced by up to 20% when small fragments, each consisting of several randomly oriented crystallites, are removed from the bulk. The removal of competing strain fields from neighboring grains when the fragment is embedded in the bulk underlies the observation. We support the results by showing local Hall imaging of phase separation in the bulk. When the bulk is ground into a fine powder, the effect vanishes.

Geometric Manipulation of the High-Field Linear Magnetoresistance in InSb Epilayers on GaAs(001)

We address the inherent high-field magnetoresistance (MR) of indium antimonide epilayers on GaAs (001), studying the modification of the MR when processed into a set of geometries. The changes produced by the geometries are quite subtle. The extraordinary MR geometry produces the highest low-field MR while the Corbino geometry produces the largest high-field magnetoresistance. We demonstrate that any material with an unsaturating linear intrinsic MR, will also have an unsaturating linear Corbino MR, and that the ideal material for linear MR sensors in conventional geometries would have a high mobility and a small, linear intrinsic MR.

Interface effects in highly oriented films of the Heusler alloy Co2MnSi on GaAs(001)

Highly (001) oriented thin films of Co2MnSi have been grown on lattice-matched GaAs(001) without a buffer layer. Stoichiometric films grown at the highest substrate temperature of 689 K showed the lowest resistivity (33μΩcm at 4.2 K) and the lowest coercivity (14 Oe). Twofold in-plane magnetic anisotropy was observed due to the inequivalence of the ⟨110⟩ directions, and this was attributed to the nature of the bonding at the reconstructed GaAs surface. Interfacial reactions resulted in the formation of an epitaxial Mn-As region and a thin interfacial layer that was Co-Ga rich. This prevented the desired lattice matching and resulted in films with a saturation magnetization slightly below the bulk value. In spite of this, the spin polarization of the free surface was measured to be 55%, similar to bulk material.

Carrier-induced ferromagnetism in Ge(Mn,Fe) magnetic semiconductor thin-film structures

We report on the carrier-induced ferromagnetism in Ge(Mn,Fe) magnetic semiconductor insulating-type thin-film structures prepared using sequential deposition at Tg=520K with subsequent annealing at Tg. In the resulting films Mn and Fe are diffused in the Ge matrix without compromising the epitaxial structure. The anomalous Hall effect serves as a manifestation of the carrier-induced magnetism, with p-type conductivity and the Curie temperature TC=209K. The additional doping with Fe stabilizes epitaxial growth and carrier-mediated magnetism at levels of magnetic doping exceeding 10%. We conclude that indirect ferromagnetic exchange is mediated by localized holes with concentration n∼1020cm−3 and mobility μ∼10cm2∕(Vs).

Synthesis and physical properties of arc melted NiMnSb

Several polycrystalline samples of the half-Heusler alloy NiMnSb were grown by arc melting of stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric amounts of high-purity constituent elements. The structure and the phase-purity of the prepared samples were examined systematically by powder x-ray diffraction. The transport properties of the best sample, with saturation magnetization M-s(5 K)=4 mu(B)/formula unit, were studied by measuring electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and thermopower. Features in both magnetic and transport data are consistent with NiMnSb being in a half-metallic state at low temperatures, i.e., the conduction electrons are fully spin polarized. However, point-contact Andreev reflection measurements on the same sample at 4.2 K demonstrate only similar to45% spin polarization.

Temperature insensitivity of the spin-polarization in Co2MnSi films on GaAs (001)

The Heusler alloys Co2MnSi and NiMnSb are predicted to be 100% spin-polarized and are leading candidate materials for spin-injection and detection in hybrid spintronic devices. Co2MnSi is lattice matched with GaAs, whereas NiMnSb is strongly mismatched to GaAs. Here, we study the temperature and thickness dependence of the anomalous Hall (AH) effect in a series of textured, predominantly (001) oriented, sputter deposited Co2MnSi thin films on GaAs, and compare the behaviour to that of a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown NiMnSb film on GaAs (001) with low antisite disorder. We show that the Co2MnSi films have temperature independent AH conductivity, even for the thinnest films with strongly temperature dependent saturation magnetization. We discuss whether a temperature insensitive AH conductivity necessarily indicates that the spin-polarization of charge carriers is also temperature independent.

Effect of magnetic field on the two superconducting gaps in MgB2

Double-gap superconductivity in an epitaxial MgB2 film has been studied by means of point-contact spectroscopy in magnetic field up to 8 Tesla. The relatively fast disappearance of the feature associated with the pi-band gap at a field around 1 T is caused by the line broadening due to strong pair breaking rather than to a collapse of the double-gap state. This pair breaking was found to increase linearly with field. Field dependences of the order parameters Delta_pi and Delta_sigma in the pi and sigma bands were measured in field applied parallel and perpendicular to the film, at T = 4.2 K. In perpendicular field, both order parameters survive to a common Hc2, which is about 6.5 T for this direction. In parallel field, the decrease of Delta_sigma is much more gradual, consistent with the Hc2 being about 4 times greater in this ori-entation. The difference in Delta_pi measured in the two field orientations is however smaller than the difference of Delta_sigma. We compare these results with the data on tunnelling spectroscopy and specific heat measurements of MgB2 single crystals and find consistency between the different experimental approaches.