Unusual Normal and Superconducting State Properties Observed in Hydrothermal Fe_(1-δ)Se Flakes

The electronic and superconducting properties of Fe_(1-δ)Se single-crystal flakes grown hydrothermally are studied by the transport measurements under zero and high magnetic fields up to 38.5 T.The results contrast sharply with those previously reported for nematically ordered Fe Se by chemical-vapor-transport(CVT)growth.No signature of the electronic nematicity,but an evident metal-to-nonmetal crossover with increasing temperature,is detected in the normal state of the present hydrothermal samples.Interestingly,a higher superconducting critical temperature T_c of 13.2 K is observed compared to a suppressed T_c of 9 K in the presence of the nematicity in the CVT Fe Se.Moreover,the upper critical field in the zero-temperature limit is found to be isotropic with respect to the field direction and to reach a higher value of-42 T,which breaks the Pauli limit by a factor of 1.8.

Anisotropic Superconducting Properties of Kagome Metal CsV_3Sb_5

We systematically measure the superconducting(SC)and mixed state properties of high-quality CsV_3 Sb_5 single crystals with T_c-3.5 K.We find that the upper critical field H_(c2)(T)exhibits a large anisotropic ratio of H_(c2)^(ab)/H_(c2)^c^9 at zero temperature and fitting its temperature dependence requires a minimum two-band effective model.Moreover,the ratio of the lower critical field,H_(c1)^(ab)/H_(c1)^c,is also found to be larger than 1,which indicates that the in-plane energy dispersion is strongly renormalized near Fermi energy.Both H_(c1)(T)and SC diamagnetic signal are found to change little initially below T_c-3.5 K and then to increase abruptly upon cooling to a characteristic temperature of-2.8 K.Furthermore,we identify a two-fold anisotropy of in-plane angular-dependent magnetoresistance in the mixed state.Interestingly,we find that,below the same characteristic T-2.8 K,the orientation of this two-fold anisotropy displays a peculiar twist by an angle of 60°characteristic of the Kagome geometry.Our results suggest an intriguing superconducting state emerging in the complex environment of Kagome lattice,which,at least,is partially driven by electron-electron correlation.

Structural and superconducting properties in Y_(0.6)Gd_(0.4)Ba_2(Nb)Cu_3O_(7-y) cuprates doped with niobium

Polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O7-y （YBCO） and Y0.6Gd0.4Ba2-xNbxCu3O7-y （YGBNCO） compounds with 0≤x≤0.225 were synthesized using standard solid state reaction technique. The structure for all samples was characterized by X-ray difference （XRD） and scanning electron microscopy （SEM）. The transport properties were measured by the （FPP） method in the temperature range from 70 to 130 K. As the Nb content in the samples increased, a diffused phase indicating a niobium perovskite phase and a small amount of unidentified phase appeared. With the increase of Nb content, the superconducting transition temperature Tconset increased slowly with x≤0.125, and then it remained unchanged or slowly decreased with 0.125≤x≤0.225. It could be found that there was a slow decrease of zero-resistance temperature, Tcoffset, with the increase of Nb content. The larger transition width might result from the YBa2NbO6 phase, impurity and unidentified phases of the sample due to the Nb doping.

First-principles study on superconductive properties of compressive strain-engineered cryogenic superconducting heavy metal lead(Pb)

As one of the main materials in the practical application.of superconductor,lead(Pb)has been used to manufacture superconducting AC power cable,and some weak current fields.With the development of manufacturing,technology,more and more researchers focus on exploring the physical and chemical properties of cryogenic superconducting materials,instead of blindly pursuing the improvement of the superconducting transition temperature(T_(c)).In this paper,the structural properties and superconducting transition temperature under high pressure of Pb have been studied by first-principles calculations.It has shown that Pb can withstand the compressive strain up to 10%while the lattice structure remains stable,indicated by the calculations of phonon band structures.From 0%to 10%compressive strain,there is neither a band-gap nor changing of the band structure.The.changing of electronic DOS.at the Fermi level leads to a decreasing of T_(c).Our calculations show that Pb is a stable elemental metallic superconductor even under high pressure,which explains the reason why it has been used in practical productions.

Improvement in structure and superconductivity of YBa2Cu3O6＋δ ceramics superconductors by optimizing sintering processing

Polycrystalline YBa2Cu3O6＋δbulks were synthesized by sol-gel method. Sintering processing played a vital role in the evolution of phase structure and microstructure, and thus significantly influenced their superconducting properties. The influence of calcination temperature, sintering temperature, on the bulks structure, morphology and superconducting behaviors were investigated. The results showed that the oxygen content drastically increased with calcination temperature and sintering temperature. The SEM images revealed that the grains grew up monotonously with increase of calcination temperature. With increased calcination and sintering temperature, the resistivity was reduced gradually and the superconducting properties increased. Moreover, it was found that the optimal superconducting properties（with the highest superconducting transition temperature Tc^onset and the narrowest transition width ΔT） were obtained at calcination temperature of 900℃ and sintering temperature of 950 ℃.

Structural evolution and superconductivity tuned by valence electron concentration in the Nb-Mo-Re-Ru-Rh high-entropy alloys

The crystal structure and physical properties of Nb_(25)Mo_(5+x)Re_(35)Ru_(25-x)Rh_(10)(0≤x≤10)and Nb_(5)Mo_(35-y)Re_(15+y)Ru_(35)Rh_(10)(0≤y≤15)high-entropy alloys(HEAs)have been studied by X-ray diffraction,electrical resistivity,magnetic susceptibility,and specific heat measurements.The results show that the former HEAs with valence electron concentration(VEC)values of 6.7-6.9 crystallize in a noncentrosymmetric cubicα-Mn structure,while the latter ones with VEC values of 7.1-7.25 adopt a centrosymmetric hexagonal close-packed(hcp)structure.Despite different structures,both series of HEAs are found to be bulk superconductors with a full energy gap,and the superconducting transition temperature Tc tends to decrease with the increase of VEC.Nevertheless,the Tc values of the hcp-type HEAs are higher than those of theα-Mn-type ones,likely due to a stronger electron phonon coupling.Furthermore,we show that VEC and electronegativity difference are two key parameters to control the stability ofα-Mn and hcp-type HEAs.These results not only are helpful for the design of such HEAs,but also represent the first realization of structurally different HEA superconductors without changing the constituent elements.

Tailoring surface roughness of LaMnO_(3) buffer layers for YBCO-coated conductors

LaMnO3 (LMO) cap layers with different surface roughness were prepared on epi-MgO/ion-beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) MgO/solution deposition planarized (SDP) Y2O3/Hastelloy tape. The effects of the surface roughness of LMO on the crystallization, texture and superconducting properties of YBa2Cu3O7?δ (YBCO) films were systematically investigated. The crystallization and epitaxial texture of resulting YBCO film are significantly improved with the surface roughness of LMO decreasing from 7.0 to 1.3nm. High-performance YBCO-coated conductors could be achieved if surface roughness of LMO cap layer is well controlled.