National Institute Of Materials Physics - Romania

We have investigated the superconducting properties of Ag/YBa2Cu3O7-x thick multilayers grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition, and found that the artificial pinning centres induced by Ag nanodots lead to a significant increase in critical current, especially in high applied magnetic fields. Transmission Electron Microscopy showed a columnar growth of YBa2Cu3O7-x, induced by Ag nanodots, while angle-dependent transport measurements revealed the existence of strong, both isotropic and c-axis correlated, artificial pinning centres. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A FePt-based hard-magnetic nanocomposite of exchange spring type was prepared by isothermal annealing of melt-spun Fe52Pt28Nb2B18 (atomic percent) ribbons. The relationship between microstructure and magnetic properties was investigated by qualitative and quantitative structural analysis based on the x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fe-57 Mossbauer spectrometry on one hand and the superconducting quantum interference device magnetometry on the other hand. The microstructure consists of L1(0)-FePt hard-magnetic grains (15-45 nm in diameter) dispersed in a soft magnetic medium composed by A1 FePt, Fe2B, and boron-rich (FeB)PtNb remainder phase. The ribbons annealed at 700 degrees C for 1 h exhibit promising hard-magnetic properties at room temperature: M-r/M-s=0.69; H-c=820 kA/m and (BH)(max)=70 kJ/m(3). Strong exchange coupling between hard and soft magnetic phases was demonstrated by a smooth demagnetizing curve and positive delta M-peak in the Henkel plot. The magnetic properties measured from 5 to 750 K reveals that the hard characteristics remains rather stable up to 550 K, indicating a good prospect for the use of these permanent magnets in a wide temperature range. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3504245]

In core-shell systems with non-magnetic core and magnetic shell the electron transport and magnetic properties are expected to show enhanced behavior due to the particular morpho structural features of the conductive and magnetic regions This may lead to novel advanced GMR materials and spin valves This is the case of core-shell Ag-Co colloidal nanoscale particles that organize into regular arrays An insight on the structure and morphology of the newly synthesized Ag-Co nanoparticles deposited on different substrates will be presented The influence of the substrate on different morphologies and organization dynamics is discussed It is shown that the magnetic behavior of the Ag-Co nanoparticles is highly influenced by the corona-like morphology of Co shell chemical environment of the magnetic atoms and by the fact that they exhibit strongly reduced coordination due to the surface states (C) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS All rights reserved

We have introduced artificial pinning centres in thick (>1 mu m) YBCO films grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition using substrate decoration, quasi-multilayers, and target doping approaches. We have found that the frequency dependence of critical current density is consistent with a logarithmic dependence of pinning potential on current density. For most of materials used as nano-dots, artificially-induced pinning centres have a larger potential than natural ones. From angle-dependent in-field transport measurements and from Transmission Electron Microscopy we have found evidence of c-axis correlated pinning centres. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We report on magnetization data obtained as a function of temperature and magnetic field in Li-2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)(3)B and Li2Pd3B non-centro-symmetric superconductors. Reversible magnetization curves were plotted as M-1/2 versus T. This allows study of the asymptotic behavior of the averaged order parameter amplitude (gap) near the superconducting transition. Results of the analysis show, as expected, a mean field superconducting transition for Li2Pd3B. By contrast, a large deviation from the mean field behavior is revealed for Li-2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)(3)B. This is interpreted as due to the strength of the non-s-wave spin-triplet pairing in this Pt-containing compound which produces nodes in the order parameter and, consequently, phase fluctuations. The diamagnetic signal above T-c(H) in Li2Pd3B is well explained by superconducting Gaussian fluctuations and agrees with the observed mean field transition. For Li-2(Pd0.8Pt0.2)(3)B the diamagnetic signal above T-c(H) is much higher than the expected Gaussian values and appears to be well explained by three-dimensional critical fluctuations of the lowest-Landau-level type, which somehow agrees with the scenario of a phase mediated transition.

Superconductor MgB2 has a significant potential for practical applications, but undesirable flux jumps in magnetization curves at low temperature and at moderate or intermediate magnetic fields prevent its widespread use. In the present work, we analyzed the flux-jumps tendency in MgB2 bulk doped with SiC, B4C and metallic Mg. Samples were prepared by field-assisted-sintering (FAST) as composites with up to three intercalated Fe-foils. Samples produced by FAST showed quite different phase structures clearly influencing pinning and thermo-magnetic instability features due to inhomogeneous materials structure or due to dopants. The largest flux jumps are observed in samples with high critical current density, as usually observed in conventional MgB2 bulks. However, jumps patterns are different and do not perfectly follow the jumps critical current dependence, especially for the samples with Mg-addition.

We investigated the influence of fullerene (C-60) addition on the superconducting parameters of MgB2 bulk samples obtained by spark plasma sintering (SPS). It was found that 1.5 wt% C-60 addition leads to the reduction of the critical temperature by a few K, whereas the magnetically determined critical current density increases by approximately one order of magnitude in an applied magnetic field H = 70 kOe at temperature T = 10 K. This indicates substitution of B by C in C-60 added MgB2 processed by SPS, contrary to some data reported in the literature obtained using conventional methods. For our relatively large specimens, the occurrence of macroscale flux jumps was observed over a wide (H, T) domain. The relaxation of the irreversible magnetization suggests that the macroscale flux jumps transform into microscale flux jumps with increasing H and T

Spin valve like AF/Fe/Cu/Fe (AF = Fe50Mn50 and Ir50Mn50) multilayer systems have been prepared by molecular beam epitaxy. Thin tracer layers enriched in the Fe-57 isotope were artificially grown at the AF/Fe and Fe/Cu interfaces and the interfacial atomic diffusion was observed via Fe-57 conversion electron Mossbauer spectroscopy. The results show that the atomic interdiffusion at all involved interfaces is lower in the IrMn based structures as compared to the FeMn based ones. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Li-N-H and Li-Si-N-H composites have been synthesized by ball milling starting from lithium amide, lithium hydride and silicon powders. Hydrogen sorption behaviour was investigated for the Si-containing composites and a Li-N-H reference sample. The as-milled Si-containing sample showed the presence of the constituent powders but after few absorption-desorption cycles an important amount of Li(2)SiN(2) appeared in both de-hydrogenated and re-hydrogenated composites. This phase was present in higher amount in the de-hydrogenated sample than in the re-hydrogenated one. The presence of this phase was also confirmed by XPS measurements. Li-N-H and Li-Si-N-H composites in de-hydrogenated state also contained lithium imide. X-ray diffraction data indicated a reversible hydrogen generating reaction between lithium amide, lithium hydride and silicon to produce Li(2)SiN(2). lithium imide and hydrogen. The plateau pressure of Li-N-Si-H system is twice the one for Li-N-H at the same temperature (about 265 degrees C), as shown by pressure-composition isotherms in desorption mode. For the first time it has been observed a thermodynamic destabilization of Li-N-H by mixing it with Si. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We measured the critical current density J(c) of optimally doped YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) (- delta) thin films obtained by dc sputtering on (100) oriented SrTiO(3) substrates and by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) on (100) oriented MgO substrates with SrTiO(3) buffers. J(c) at various temperatures T was determined from the magnetization curves registered with a vibrating sample magnetometer for an external magnetic field H (oriented along the c axis) up to 90 kOe. It was found that J(c) of the films obtained by PLD usually overcomes the J(c) values of the sputtered films in the whole investigated (H, T) domain.