No Arabic abstract
We report clear observations of the magnetic Meissner effect in arrays of superconducting 4 {AA} carbon nanotubes grown in the linear channels of AlPO4-5 (AFI) zeolite single crystals. Both bulk magnetization and magnetic torque experiments show a clear signature of the lower critical Hc1 transition, a pronounced difference in zero-field cooled and field cooled branches during temperature sweeps below 6K, and signatures of 1D superconducting fluctuations below ~15-18 K. These experiments extend the magnetic phase diagram we obtained previously by resistive experiments [Z. Wang et al., Phys. Rev. B 81, 174530 (2010)] towards low magnetic fields and within the range of zero resistance.
We report Meissner effect for type-II superconductors with a maximum Tc of 19 K, which is the highest value among those in new-carbon related superconductors, found in the honeycomb arrays of multi-walled CNTs (MWNTs). Drastic reduction of ferromagnetic catalyst and efficient growth of MWNTs by deoxidization of catalyst make the finding possible. The weak magnetic anisotropy, superconductive coherence length (- 7 nm), and disappearance of the Meissner effect after dissolving array structure indicate that the graphite structure of an MWNT and those intertube coupling in the honeycomb array are dominant factors for the mechanism.
We report ac magnetic susceptibility and dc magnetization measurements on the superconducting ferromagnet UCoGe (with superconducting and Curie temperatures of $T_{{rm SC}} sim 0.5$~K and $T_{{rm Curie}} sim 2.5$~K, respectively). In the normal, ferromagnetic state ($T_{{rm SC}} < T < T_{{rm Curie}}$), the magnetization curve exhibits a hysteresis loop similar to that of a regular itinerant ferromagnet. Upon lowering the temperature below $T_{{rm SC}}$, the spontaneous magnetization is unchanged, but the hysteresis is markedly enhanced. Even deeply inside the superconducting state, ferromagnetism is not completely shielded, and there is no Meissner region, a magnetic field region of $H < H_{rm c1}$ (a lower critical field). From these results, we suggest that UCoGe is the first material in which ferromagnetism robustly survives in the superconducting state and a spontaneous vortex state without the Meissner state is realized.
A long-standing theoretical prediction is that in clean, nodal unconventional superconductors the magnetic penetration depth $lambda$, at zero temperature, varies linearly with magnetic field. This non-linear Meissner effect is an equally important manifestation of the nodal state as the well studied linear-in-$T$ dependence of $lambda$, but has never been convincingly experimentally observed. Here we present measurements of the nodal superconductors CeCoIn$_5$ and LaFePO which clearly show this non-linear Meissner effect. We further show how the effect of a small dc magnetic field on $lambda(T)$ can be used to distinguish gap nodes from non-nodal deep gap minima. Our measurements of KFe$_2$As$_2$ suggest that this material has such a non-nodal state.
The magnetic field dependence of the superconductivity in nanocrystalline boron doped diamond thin films is reported. Evidence of a glass state in the phase diagram is presented, as demonstrated by electrical resistance and magnetic relaxation measurements. The position of the phase boundary in the H-T plane is determined from resistance data by detailed fitting to zero-dimensional fluctuation conductivity theory. This allows determination of the boundary between resistive and non-resistive behavior to be made with greater precision than the standard ad hoc onset/midpoint/offset criterion.
Recent experimental and theoretical results on intrinsic superconductivity in ropes of single-wall carbon nanotubes are reviewed and compared. We find strong experimental evidence for superconductivity when the distance between the normal electrodes is large enough. This indicates the presence of attractive phonon-mediated interactions in carbon nanotubes, which can even overcome the repulsive Coulomb interactions. The effective low-energy theory of rope superconductivity explains the experimental results on the temperature-dependent resistance below the transition temperature in terms of quantum phase slips. Quantitative agreement with only one fit parameter can be obtained. Nanotube ropes thus represent superconductors in an extreme 1D limit never explored before.