Entire Range Of Magnetic Fields Research Articles

Nuclear hyperpolarization in electron-transfer proteins: Revealing unexpected light-induced 15N signals with field-cycling magic-angle spinning NMR

The solid-state photo-CIDNP (photo-chemically induced dynamic nuclear polarization) effect allows for nuclear hyperpolarization, i.e., non-Boltzmann nuclear spin population. The effect relies on the light-induced formation of a spin-correlated radical pair (SCRP) and has been observed in various photosynthetic reaction center (RC) proteins and flavin-containing light, oxygen, voltage (LOV) proteins. Both systems exhibit strongly enhanced NMR signals originating from the electron transfer partners. Here, we present experimental data on the magnetic field dependence of the 15N solid-state photo-CIDNP effect in both phototropin LOV1 C57S from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii and the bacterial photosynthetic RC from Rhodobacter sphaeroides. Using a pneumatic field-cycling system, samples containing a frozen solution of the proteins are explored between 0.25 T and 9.4 T. Both systems yield hyperpolarized 15N NMR signals across the entire magnetic field range originating from the electron transfer moieties. Also, in both systems, hyperpolarized signals from unexpected positions are detected between 1.0 T and 2.0 T: position N-1 of the flavin in the LOV1 protein and the τ-N of the axial magnesium-coordinating histidine of the donor. A first attempt to explain the occurrence of these unexpected signals based on quantum chemical calculations is presented.

Temporal Evolution of Defects and Related Electric Properties in He-Irradiated YBa2Cu3O7-δ Thin Films.

Thin films of the superconductor YBa2Cu3O7-δ (YBCO) were modified by low-energy light-ion irradiation employing collimated or focused He+ beams, and the long-term stability of irradiation-induced defects was investigated. For films irradiated with collimated beams, the resistance was measured in situ during and after irradiation and analyzed using a phenomenological model. The formation and stability of irradiation-induced defects are highly influenced by temperature. Thermal annealing experiments conducted in an Ar atmosphere at various temperatures demonstrated a decrease in resistivity and allowed us to determine diffusion coefficients and the activation energy ΔE=(0.31±0.03) eV for diffusive oxygen rearrangement within the YBCO unit cell basal plane. Additionally, thin YBCO films, nanostructured by focused He+-beam irradiation into vortex pinning arrays, displayed significant commensurability effects in magnetic fields. Despite the strong modulation of defect densities in these pinning arrays, oxygen diffusion during room-temperature annealing over almost six years did not compromise the signatures of vortex matching, which remained precisely at their magnetic fields predicted by the pattern geometry. Moreover, the critical current increased substantially within the entire magnetic field range after long-term storage in dry air. These findings underscore the potential of ion irradiation in tailoring the superconducting properties of thin YBCO films.

High-Pressure Synthesis and the Enhancement of the Superconducting Properties of FeSe0.5Te0.5.

A series of FeSe0.5Te0.5 bulk samples have been prepared using the high gas pressure and high-temperature synthesis (HP-HTS) method to optimize the growth conditions for the first time and investigated for their superconducting properties using structural, microstructure, transport, and magnetic measurements to reach the final conclusions. Ex situ and in situ processes are used to prepare bulk samples under a range of growth pressures using Ta-tube and without Ta-tube. The parent compound synthesized by convenient synthesis method at ambient pressure (CSP) exhibits a superconducting transition temperature of 14.8 K. Our data demonstrate that the prepared FeSe0.5Te0.5 sealed in a Ta-tube is of better quality than the samples without a Ta-tube, and the optimum growth conditions (500 MPa, 600 °C for 1 h) are favorable for the development of the tetragonal FeSe0.5Te0.5 phase. The optimum bulk FeSe0.5Te0.5 depicts a higher transition temperature of 17.3 K and a high critical current density of the order of >104 A/cm2 at 0 T, which is improved over the entire magnetic field range and almost twice higher than the parent compound prepared using CSP. Our studies confirm that the high-pressure synthesis method is a highly efficient way to improve the superconducting transition, grain connectivity, sample density, and pinning properties of a superconductor.

Hysteresis loss and field dependence of magnetic entropy change of Zn-doped Mn5Ge3 system

In this work, a series of Mn5Ge3-xZnx samples were prepared by the arc-melting method. The Rietveld structure refinement of the powder XRD spectrum was performed using the FullProf program. The lattice parameters and cell volume increase with the doping of Zn atoms. From the magnetization curve at 5 K, the compounds show a decreased magnetic moment of the Mn atom with increasing Zn content, resulting from mixing the 3d electronic state of Mn atoms and the 3d electronic state of Zn atoms. The small hysteresis loss and soft ferromagnetism of Mn5Ge3-xZnx indicate that it is suitable for magnetic refrigeration. Thermomagnetic M(T) curves show an increase in thermal hysteresis concurrent with increasing Zn concentration, which is verified by the DSC curve. It is found that the magnetic entropy change and effective magnetic moment decrease with the increase of Zn content, which can be attributable to the doping of Zn atoms resulting in the weakening of the exchange interaction between Mn-Mn atoms and the decrease of magnetic entropy change. In addition, the specific power-law relationships between the magnetic entropy change, the maximum magnetic entropy change, the relative cooling capacity, and the magnetic field of this system were determined, which provides a tool for evaluating the performance of the magnetic refrigerant in the entire magnetic field range. Finally, the specific heat was calculated by the magnetic entropy change obtained by the experiment, and the specific heat curve proves that the sample undergoes a second-order phase transition, consistent with the results of Arrott plots. The TC obtained by the specific heat -ΔCP−T curve is in good agreement with the TC obtained by the magnetic measurement, revealing that TC obtained by the specific heat is also an effective method.

Effect of cubic and hexagonal boron nitride additions on the microstructure and properties of bulk MgB2 superconductors

MgB2 is a promising material for intermediate temperature applications where conventional low temperature superconductors cannot be used, especially if the range of magnetic fields over which is has acceptable current carrying performance can be expanded. However, its applicability is limited by poor properties at elevated magnetic fields. Carbon-based dopants can be used to dramatically improve the high-field performance of MgB2, but at the cost of a reduction in the superconducting transition temperature (T c) that limits the operation temperature to 20 K or below. Here we report an enhancement of superconducting performance of MgB2 with the addition of cubic and hexagonal boron nitride (BN), without any significant reduction in T c. Ex-situ bulk samples of MgB2 with two forms of BN addition were manufactured by the field assisted sintering technique after high energy ball milling of powder mixtures. We find that hexagonal BN (hBN) nanoparticles mixed homogenously with MgB2 powder react much more easily to produce Mg–N–B impurities than larger cubic BN (cBN) particles (∼10 µm) under the same processing conditions. The addition of 1 wt% hBN or 5 wt% cBN combined with 6 h of milling has been demonstrated to improve the critical current density (J c) of MgB2 over the entire magnetic field range. It is proposed that the nano-sized Mg–N–B impurities, that typically reside at MgB2 grain boundaries, increase pinning strength by introducing additional flux pinning centres. In addition, excess Mg may benefit the low-field performance by improving the connectivity. This work shows the significance of microstructural characterization on inhomogeneous superconducting materials to analyse their performance.

Lignin-containing cellulose nanofibers made with microwave-aid green solvent treatment for magnetic fluid stabilization

Lignin-containing cellulose nanofibers (LCNFs), prepared from energy cane bagasse (ECB) using microwave-assisted natural deep eutectic solvent (MW-NADES) pretreatment combined with microfluidization, are utilized as stabilizing agents for magnetic particles (MNPs) in magnetorheological fluids (MRFs). The as-prepared LCNFs helped suspend negatively charged MNPs in MRFs effectively due to the presence of physically entangled network of LCNFs and the electrostatic repulsion between LCNFs and MNPs. Consequently, the presence of LCNFs increased the viscosity, yield stress and dynamic moduli of MRFs within the entire magnetic field range (0–1 T). Moreover, the as-developed LCNF-MRFs exhibited superior magnetorheological properties, i.e., widely controllable viscosity, yield stress and dynamic moduli, rapid magnetic response, good reversibility and outstanding cycling stability. This work demonstrates the sustainable, ultrafast production of LCNFs from cellulosic biomass using MW-NADES for MRF stabilization, paving the way for the development of high-performance, and eco-friendly MRFs.

Ultracold neutral plasma expansion in a strong uniform magnetic field.

In strongly magnetized neutral plasmas, electron motion is reduced perpendicular to the magnetic field direction. This changes dynamical plasma properties such as temperature equilibration, spatial density evolution, electron pressure, and thermal and electrical conductivity. In this paper we report measurements of free plasma expansion in the presence of a strong magnetic field. We image laser-induced fluorescence from an ultracold neutral Ca^{+} plasma to map the plasma size as a function of time for a range of magnetic field strengths. The asymptotic expansion velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field direction falls rapidly with increasing magnetic field strength. We observe that the initially Gaussian spatial distribution remains Gaussian throughout the expansion in both the parallel and perpendicular directions. We compare these observations with a diffusion model and with a self-similar expansion model and show that neither of these models reproduces the observed behavior over the entire range of magnetic fields used in this study. Modeling the expansion of a magnetized ultracold plasma poses a nontrivial theoretical challenge.

Nanostructure-driven complex magnetic behavior of Sm2CoMnO6 double perovskite

Magnetic double perovskite oxides have steadily emerged as an important class of functional materials. A clear understanding of the complex interactions that govern the magnetic behavior, and thereby, the functionality in these mixed valence compounds, however, remains elusive. In this study, we show that the complex nanostructure that forms in these compounds is at the root of their magnetic behavior. Using complementary experimental and micromagnetic simulation results, we have uncovered the complex nanostructure of polycrystalline Sm2CoMnO6, a typical double perovskite oxide, and established how the nanostructure drives its magnetic behavior. Our results show that Sm2CoMnO6 exhibits a Griffiths phase with the formation of ferromagnetic clusters above the ordering temperature. The isothermal magnetization curves show no sign of saturation, even at the highest measured field (9 T), and irreversibility in the entire magnetic field range. Despite a very clear indication of the presence of antiferromagnetic antisite defects, surprisingly, no antisite defect-induced exchange bias occurs. This is explained from the micromagnetic simulations that confirm the presence of ferromagnetic nanoclusters and nanosized, random, and uncorrelated antisite defects, resulting in no exchange bias. This work provides a clear understanding of the role of antisite defects, in particular, on how their structure can lead to the presence/absence of exchange bias. The fundamental insight offered in this work fills an important knowledge gap in the field and will be of immense value in realizing the true potential of double perovskite oxides for future technological applications.

Enhancement of critical current density in CaKFe4As4 single crystals through 3 MeV proton irradiation

We study the influence of random point disorder on the vortex dynamics and critical current densities Jc of CaKFe4As4 single crystals by performing magnetization measurements. Different samples were irradiated with a proton (p) beam at constant energy of 3 MeV to fluencies from 2 × 1015 p cm−2 to 4 × 1016 p cm−2. The results show the addition of extrinsic random point disorder enhances the Jc values at low and intermediate temperatures over the entire range of magnetic fields applied. The optimum pinning enhancement is achieved with a proton fluence of 3 × 1016 p cm−2, increasing Jc at 5 K by factors ≈5 and 14 at self-field and μ0H = 3 T, respectively. We analyze the vortex dynamics using the collective creep theory. The enhancement in Jc matches with a systematic reduction in the flux creep relaxation rates as a consequence of a gradual increase in the collective pinning energy U0. The substantial increment in Jc produced by random point disorder, reaching values of 9 MA cm−2 at 5 K and self-field, makes CaKFe4As4 a promising material for applications based on current carrying capacity at high magnetic fields.

Electron-phonon coupling across the superconductor-insulator transition

We measured current-voltage characteristics on both sides of the magnetic-field-driven superconductor-insulator transition. On both sides, these show strong nonlinearities leading to a conduction branch that is independent of phonon temperature. We show that a picture of electron overheating can quantitatively explain our data over the entire magnetic field range. We find that electron-phonon coupling strength remains roughly constant throughout the insulating state and across the superconductor-insulator transition, dropping dramatically as the magnetic field approaches zero. Our findings shed light on the origin of the highly debated saturation of resistance at low temperature, which has been interpreted by some as evidence for a new anomalous metallic phase and by others as a result of electrons failing to cool down. At the heart of this treatment lies the assumption that resistance is a function of electron temperature and not the phononic one. The applicability of this framework implies that the conduction mechanism, present in the superconductor and throughout the insulating phase, does not rely on a phonon bath.

Understanding the methyl-TROSY effect over a wide range of magnetic fields.

The use of relaxation interference in the methyl Transverse Relaxation-Optimized SpectroscopY (TROSY) experiment has opened new avenues for the study of large proteins and protein assemblies in nuclear magnetic resonance. So far, the theoretical description of the methyl-TROSY experiment has been limited to the slow-tumbling approximation, which is correct for large proteins on high-field spectrometers. In a recent paper, favorable relaxation interference was observed in the methyl groups of a small protein at a magnetic field as low as 0.33 T, well outside the slow-tumbling regime. Here, we present a model to describe relaxation interference in methyl groups over a broad range of magnetic fields, not limited to the slow-tumbling regime. We predict that the type of multiple-quantum transition that shows favorable relaxation properties change with the magnetic field. Under the condition of fast methyl-group rotation, methyl-TROSY experiments can be recorded over the entire range of magnetic fields from a fraction of 1 T up to 100 T.

Effect of malonic acid and of different doping methods on the superconducting properties of MgB2 superconductors

In this paper, malonic acid was tested as a new carbon source and its effects on the structural and superconducting properties of bulk MgB2 have been systematically investigated. The detailed pyrolysis process of malonic acid was analyzed to understand the possible doping mechanism of malonic acid added MgB2 samples. The weight fraction of MgO phase and the actual carbon substitution level in bulk MgB2 increased with a higher amount of malonic acid addition, which was proven to be mainly caused by the reaction of Mg and CO2 gas. A moderate amount of malonic acid addition resulted in grain refinement and enhanced flux pinning. Bulk MgB2 with 10 wt% malonic acid addition showed much higher Jc values in the entire magnetic field range. Three different doping methods with the same amount of malonic acid addition were compared. MgB2 samples using malonic acid and ethanol processed boron showed the highest Jc value, which was 7.2 times larger than that of the pure MgB2 at 20 K and 5 T.

Studies on probe measurements in presence of magnetic field in dust containing hydrogen plasma

The accuracy of plasma parameters measured by Langmuir probe in presence of magnetic field is studied in our present work. It is observed that the ratio of electron to ion saturation current shows almost identical behavior with that of unmagnetized hydrogen plasma when r L > 10r p (here r L : Larmor radius and r p : probe radius). At magnetic field strength, B = 594 gauss, the electron temperature (T e ) shows an overestimated value up to ~35–40%, whereas at B ≤ 37 gauss, T e shows around ≤10% overestimated value w.r.t. unmagnetized case. A bi-Maxwellian electron energy probability function is observed for entire magnetic field range for both pristine and dust containing hydrogen plasma. The bulk (cold) electron collection by the Langmuir probe is strongly suppressed whereas the higher energetic electron collection remains unaffected in presence of magnetic field. In presence of dust grains, it is found that the low energy electron population decreases even more than the magnetized plasma and the high-energy tail slightly increases compared to the pristine plasma.

Universal curves in assessing the order of magnetic transition of La0.7−xPrxCa0.3MnO3 compounds exhibiting giant magnetocaloric effect

The magnetic properties of La0.7-xPrxCa0.3MnO3 (x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) compounds fabricated by a solid-state reaction are studied by using Arrott plots and universal curves. The Arrott plots near the Curie temperature show negative slopes over the entire magnetic field range up to 50 kOe, indicating a first-order magnetic phase transition (according to Banerjee's criterion) for the x = 0.0, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 samples. For the x = 0.5 sample, however, the plots show positive slopes at low magnetic fields below 10 kOe, indicating a second-order transition. These results are further checked by universal curves of the normalized entropy change versus reduced temperature. The universal curves show a divergence among the curves with different magnetic fields for a first-order magnetic transition, but for a second-order transition, they collapse onto the same curve. The Curie temperature, around which the maximum magnetic entropy change occurs, decreases continuously from 260 to 110 K as x increases from 0.0 to 0.5. In the same x range, the maximum entropy change measured at a magnetic field span of 50 kOe decreases from 10.70 to 7.14 J/kg K, but the relative cooling power increases from 278 to 380 J/kg under the same magnetic field span.

Nonequilibrium chemical potential in a two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum-Hall-effect regime

The nonequilibrium state of a two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum-Hall-effect regime is studied in Hall bars equipped with additional inner contacts situated within the bar. The magnetic-field dependence of the voltage drop between different contact pairs are studied at various temperatures. It was found that the voltage between the inner and outer contacts exhibits peaks of significant amplitude in narrow magnetic-field intervals near integer filling factors. Furthermore, the magnetic-field dependence of the voltage in these intervals exhibits a hysteresis, whereas the voltage between the outer contacts remains zero in the entire magnetic-field range. The appearance of the observed voltage peaks and their hysteretic behavior can be explained by an imbalance between the chemical potentials of edge and bulk states, resulting from nonequilibrium charge redistribution between the edge and bulk states when the magnetic field sweeps under conditions of the quantum Hall effect. The results of the study significantly complement the conventional picture of the quantum Hall effect, explicitly indicating the existence of a significant imbalance at the edge of the two-dimensional electron gas: the experimentally observed difference between the electrochemical potentials of the edge and bulk exceeds the distance between Landau levels by tens of times.

Universality of the magnetization irreversibility curve of systems with competing interactions (manganites, cobaltites, ferrites)

Experimental data on the temperature dependences of the magnetization of manganites, cobaltites, and ferrites are analyzed. Their common feature is magnetization irreversibility: below a temperature T* for a fixed field strength, the magnetization is different for cooling in a field (MFC) and in zero field (MZFC). It is shown that the T*(H) curve is universal for all the dispersed oxides (nanocompound, nanopowder) and is consistent with the theoretical Almeida-Thouless curve (T* ∼ H2/3) over the entire range of magnetic fields. In the case of monolithic samples (single crystals, ceramics), in strong magnetic fields there is a transition to a quadratic dependence T* ∼ H2 in agreement with the Gabay-Toulousse theory. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of spin-glass polyamorphism.

Magnetoelectric effect and magnetostriction in the paramagnetic piezoelectric NiSO4 · 6H2O

The direct magnetoelectric effect, the magnetostriction, and the magnetic moment in piezoelectric paramagnetic NiSO4 · 6H2O single crystals is comprehensively studied over a wide temperature range in magnetic fields up to 14 T for several magnetic field directions with respect to crystallographic axes. At temperatures above 20 K, the magnetoelectric effect is rigorously quadratic in magnetic field over the entire magnetic field range. As the temperature decreases, the region of quadratic behavior shifts toward low fields. To explain the magnetoelectric effect, the contribution of the magnetostriction-induced piezoelectric effect is considered. It is shown that the piezoelectric effect may be neglected at the helium temperature, where the magnetoelectric effect is high, since its value does not exceed 1%. However, the relative contribution of the piezoelectric effect increases to 10% at T = 40 K, where the magnetoelectric polarization decreases strongly. In contrast to the earlier assumption that the magnetoelectric effect is rapidly and fully saturated in fields higher than 3 T, complete saturation is actually not detected even at 14 T.

Effect of graphene oxide doping on superconducting properties of bulk MgB2

In the present paper we report the effect of graphene oxide (GO) doping on the structural and superconducting properties of MgB2. Bulk polycrystalline samples have been synthesized via a solid state reaction route with compositions MgB2 + x wt% of GO (x = 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 10) by sintering at ∼850 ° C in a reducing atmosphere of Ar/H2 (9:1). The x-ray diffraction results confirm the formation of the MgB2 phase in all samples, together with traces of a MgO impurity phase. The XRD data results also show substitution of carbon for boron, but in the present case the actual amount of carbon substituting for boron is very small as compared to other carbon sources. A substantial improvement in the critical current density, Jc(H), has been observed in the entire magnetic field range (0–8 T) for samples x = 1, 2 and 3 as compared to the undoped sample. In addition to Jc(H), marginal improvements in the upper critical field (Hc2) and the irreversibility field (Hirr) have been observed for the doped samples x = 1, 2 and 3 with respect to pristine MgB2. Furthermore, a curious result of the present investigation is that there is no change in the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) up to a doping level of 10 wt%. The possible mechanisms of flux pinning and correlations between the observed superconducting properties and structural characteristics of the samples have been described and discussed in this paper.

Influences of oxygen content on the carrier concentration and transport properties of Bi-2212 bulks

Abstract Bi2.1Sr1.96Ca0.95Cu2.0O8 (Bi-2212) bulks have been obtained with Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) method, with the precursor powders synthesized by co-precipitation process. Due to the vacuum environment involved in SPS, oxygen loss can be expected during sintering. Therefore, extra annealing processes under oxygen atmosphere were performed to enhance the superconducting properties of the bulks. Seebeck coefficient has been measured after different annealing process, in order to calculate the carrier concentration change with annealing process. The carrier concentration underwent a change from 0.178 to 0.198 per Cu ions after the 34 h annealing in oxygen at 773 K. The magnetic field dependence of critical current density, Jc, has been measured at 20 K on the samples with different annealing time. The critical current density increase from 550 to 5100 Acm-2 at zero field after the 34 h annealing, and the optimized Jc value can be obtained at the 34 h annealing sample over the entire magnetic field range.

Pinning in a porous high-temperature superconductor Bi2223

The current-voltage characteristics of a porous superconductor Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox (Bi2223) have been measured at temperature range from 10 to 90 K. The experimental dependences have been analyzed within the model allowing for pinning by clusters of a normal phase with fractal boundaries, as well as the model taking into account phase transformations of vortex matter. It has been found that the electrical resistance of the superconductor material significantly increases at temperatures of 60-70 K over the entire range of magnetic fields under consideration without changing in the sign of the curvature of the R(I) dependence. The melting of the vortex structure occurs at these temperatures. It has been assumed that this behavior is associated with the specific feature of the pinning in a highly porous high-temperature superconductor, which lies in the fractal distribution of pinning centers in a wide range of self-similarity scales.