Critical Slowing Down of Triangular Lattice Spin-3/2 Heisenberg Antiferromagnet Li7RuO6 via 7Li NMR

We report 7Li NMR studies of single crystals of triangular-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet Li7RuO6. Slow critical divergence with a wide critical region of |T/TN - 1|< 7 was observed in 7Li nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate. The slowing down of staggered spin fluctuations was analyzed in a renormalized classical region of a two-dimensional triangular-lattice non-linear sigma model. A spin stiffness constant was found to reduce to about 20 % from the value in a spin-wave approximation. The effect of spin frustration, e.g., Z2 vortex excitations on the critical phenomena is suggested.

59Co, 23Na, and 1H NMR Studies of Double-Layer Hydrated Superconductors NaxCoO2-yH2O

We present our NMR studies of double-layer hydrated cobalt oxides NaxCoO2-yH2O (x ~ 0.35, y ~ 1.3) with various Tc = 0 - 4.8 K and magnetic transition temperatures. High-resolution $^{1}$H NMR spectrum served as an evidence for the existence of H$_{3}$O$^{+}$ oxonium ions. $^{23}$Na nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates served to detect local field fluctuations sensitive to Tc. $^{59}$Co nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectra served to classify the various Tc samples. From the classification by $^{59}$Co NQR frequency, the double-layer hydrated compounds were found to have two superconducting phases closely located to a magnetic phase. In the normal state and at a magnetic field in the $ab$-plane, two $^{59}$Co NMR signals with different Knight shifts and different $^{59}$Co nuclear spin-lattice relaxation times $^{59}T_{1}$ were observed. The two $^{59}$Co NMR signals suggest magnetic disproportionation of two Co sites or in-plane (XY) anisotropy of a single Co site. Non Korringa behavior and power law behavior in zero-field NQR 1/$^{59}T_{1}$ above and below Tc suggest non-Fermi liquid and unconventional superconductivity.

$^{23}$Na NMR Study of Layered Superconductor $Na_xCoO_2- yH_2O$

We measured $^{23}$Na-NMR spectra and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rates $^{23}(1/T_1)$ of superconducting and non-superconducting bilayer hydrate $Na_xCoO_2-yH_2O$ (x ~ 0.3, y ~ 1.3). The central resonance frequency shows a small but various shift due to the difference in the shielding effect by intercalated $H_2O$ molecules. The different shielding effect also gives a large difference in the magnitude of $^{23}(1/T_1)$.

Weak Magnetic Order in the Bilayered-hydrate Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O Structure Probed by Co Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance - Proposed Phase Diagram in Superconducting Na$_x$CoO$_{2} cdot$ $y$H$_2$O

A weak magnetic order was found in a non-superconducting bilayered-hydrate Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O sample by a Co Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance (NQR) measurement. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate divided by temperature $1/T_1T$ shows a prominent peak at 5.5 K, below which a Co-NQR peak splits due to an internal field at the Co site. From analyses of the Co NQR spectrum at 1.5 K, the internal field is evaluated to be $sim$ 300 Oe and is in the $ab$-plane. The magnitude of the internal field suggests that the ordered moment is as small as $sim 0.015$ $mu_B$ using the hyperfine coupling constant reported previously. It is shown that the NQR frequency $ u_Q$ correlates with magnetic fluctuations from measurements of NQR spectra and $1/T_1T$ in various samples. The higher-$ u_Q$ sample has the stronger magnetic fluctuations. A possible phase diagram in Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O is depicted using $T_c$ and $ u_Q$, in which the crystal distortion along the c-axis of the tilted CoO$_2$ octahedron is considered to be a physical parameter. Superconductivity with the highest $T_c$ is seemingly observed in the vicinity of the magnetic phase, suggesting strongly that the magnetic fluctuations play an important role for the occurrence of the superconductivity.

Correlation between Superconducting Transition Temperature $T_c$ and Increase of Nuclear Spin-Lattice Relaxation Rate Devided by Temperature $1/T_1T$ at $T_c$ in the Hydrate Cobaltate Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O

We have performed Co-nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies on Na$_{x}$CoO$_{2}cdot y$H$_{2}$O compounds with different Na ($x$) and hydrate ($y$) contents. Two samples with different Na contents but nearly the same $T_c$ values ($x$ = 0.348, $T_c$ = 4.7 K ; $x$ = 0.339, $T_c$ = 4.6 K) were investigated. The spin-lattice relaxation rate $1/T_1$ in the superconducting (SC) and normal states is almost the same for the two samples except just above $T_c$. NQR measurements were also performed on different-hydrate-content samples with different $T_c$ values, which were prepared from the same Na-content ($x$ = 0.348) sample. From measurements of $1/T_1$ using the different-hydrate-content samples, it was found that a low-$T_c$ sample with $T_c = 3.9$ K has a larger residual density of states (DOS) in the SC state and a smaller increase of $1/T_1T$ just above $T_c$ than a high-$T_c$ sample with $T_c$ = 4.7 K. The former behavior is consistent with that observed in unconventional superconductors, and the latter suggests the relationship between $T_c$ and the increase in DOS just above $T_c$. This increase, which is seemingly associated with the two-dimensionality of the CoO$_2$ plane, is considered to be one of the most important factors for the occurrence of superconductivity.