No Arabic abstract
Measurements of the in-plane magnetic field penetration depth lambda_{ab} in Fe-based superconductors with the nominal composition SmFeAsO_0.85 (T_csimeq52K) and NdFeAsO_0.85 (T_csimeq51K) were carried out by means of muon-spin-rotation. The absolute values of lambda_{ab} at T=0 were found to be 189(5)nm and 195(5)nm for Sm and Nd substituted samples, respectively. The analysis of the magnetic penetration depth data within the Uemura classification scheme, which considers the correlation between the superconducting transition temperature T_c and the effective Fermi temperature T_F, reveal that both families of Fe-based superconductors (with and without fluorine) falls to the same class of unconventional superconductors.
In this work we investigate superconducting properties of niobium samples via application of the muon spin rotation/relaxation (muSR) technique. We employ for the first time the muSR technique to study samples that are cutout from large and small grain 1.5 GHz radio frequency (RF) single cell niobium cavities. The RF test of these cavities was accompanied by full temperature mapping to characterize the RF losses in each of the samples. Results of the muSR measurements show that standard cavity surface treatments like mild baking and buffered chemical polishing (BCP) performed on the studied samples affect their surface pinning strength. We find an interesting correlation between high field RF losses and field dependence of the sample magnetic volume fraction measured via muSR. The muSR line width observed in ZF-muSR measurements matches the behavior of Nb samples doped with minute amounts of Ta or N impurities. An upper bound for the upper critical field Hc2 of these cutouts is found.
Muon spin relaxation ($mu$SR) measurements in high transverse magnetic fields ($parallel hat c$) revealed strong field-induced quasi-static magnetism in the underdoped and Eu doped (La,Sr)$_{2}$CuO$_{4}$ and La$_{1.875}$Ba$_{0.125}$CuO$_{4}$, existing well above $T_{c}$ and $T_{N}$. The susceptibility-counterpart of Cu spin polarization, derived from the muon spin relaxation rate, exhibits a divergent behavior towards $T sim 25$ K. No field-induced magnetism was detected in overdoped La$_{1.81}$Sr$_{0.19}$CuO$_{4}$, optimally doped Bi2212, and Zn-doped YBa$_{2}$Cu$_{3}$O$_{7}$.
We argue that claims about magnetic field dependence of the magnetic field penetration depth lambda, which were made on the basis of moun-spin-rotation studies of some superconductors, originate from insufficient accuracy of theoretical models employed for the data analysis. We also reanalyze some of already published experimental data and demonstrate that numerical calculations of Brandt [E.H. Brandt, Phys. Rev. B 68, 54506 (2003)] may serve as a reliable and powerful tool for the analysis of the data collected in experiments with conventional superconductors. Furthermore, one can use this approach in order to distinguish between conventional and unconventional superconductors. It is unfortunate that these calculations have practically never been employed for such analyses.
The performance of superconducting radiofrequency (SRF) cavities used for particle accelerators depends on two characteristic material parameters: field of first flux entry $H_{entry}$ and pinning strength. The former sets the limit for the maximum achievable accelerating gradient, while the latter determines how efficiently flux can be expelled related to the maximum achievable quality factor. In this paper, a method based on muon spin rotation ($mu$SR) is developed to probe these parameters on samples. It combines measurements from two different spectrometers, one being specifically built for these studies and samples of different geometries. It is found that annealing at 1400{deg}C virtually eliminates all pinning. Such an annealed substrate is ideally suited to measure $H_{entry}$ of layered superconductors, which might enable accelerating gradients beyond bulk niobium technology.
In a recent article Tran et al. [Phys. Rev.B 78, 172505 (2008)] report on the result of the muon-spin rotation (muSR) measurements of Mo_3Sb_7 superconductor. Based on the analysis of the temperature and the magnetic field dependence of the Gaussian relaxation rate sigma_{sc} they suggest that Mo_3Sb_7 is the superconductor with two isotropic s-wave like gaps. An additional confirmation was obtained from the specific heat data published earlier by partly the same group of authors in [Acta Mater. 56, 5694 (2008)]. The purpose of this Comment is to point out that from the analysis made by Tran et al. the presence of two superconducting energy gaps in Mo_3Sb_7 can not be justified. The analysis of muSR data does not account for the reduction of sigma_{sc} with increasing temperature, and, hence, yields inaccurate information on the magnetic penetration depth. The specific heat data can be satisfactory described within the framework of the one-gap model with the small residual specific heat component. The experimental data of Tran et al., as well as our earlier published muSR data [Phys. Rev. B 78, 014502 (2008)] all seem to be consistent with is the presence of single isotropic superconducting energy gap in Mo_3Sb_7.