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The magnetic glassy state is a fascinating phenomenon, which results from the kinetic arrest of the first order magnetic phase transition. Interesting properties, such as metastable magnetization and nonequilibrium magnetic phases, are naturally developed in the magnetic glassy state. Here, we report magnetic glass property in the low spin state of Co3+ in EuBaCo2O5+{\delta} ({\delta} = 0.47) cobaltite at low temperature (T < 60 K). The measurements of magnetization under the cooling and heating in unequal fields, magnetization relaxation and thermal cycling of magnetization show the kinetic arrest of low magnetization state below 60 K. The kinetically arrested low temperature magnetic phase is further supported through the study of isothermal magnetic entropy, which shows the significant entropy change. The present results will open a new window to search the microscopic relation between the spin state transitions and the kinetic arrest induced magnetic glassy phenomena in complex materials.

The cubic chiral helimagnets with the $P2_13$ space group represent a group of compounds in which the stable skyrmion-lattice state is experimentally observed. The key parameter that controls the energy landscape of such systems and determines the emergence of a topologically nontrivial magnetic structures is the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). Chemical substitution is recognized as a convenient instrument to tune the DMI in real materials and has been successfully utilized in studies of a number of chiral magnets, such as MnSi, FeGe, MnGe, and others. In our study, we applied small-angle neutron scattering to investigate how chemical substitution influences the skyrmionic properties of an insulating helimagnet Cu$_2$OSeO$_3$ when Cu ions are replaced by either Zn or Ni. Our results demonstrate that the DMI is enhanced in the Ni-substituted compounds (Cu,Ni)$_2$OSeO$_3$, but weakened in (Cu,Zn)$_2$OSeO$_3$. The observed changes in the DMI strength are reflected in the magnitude of the spin-spiral propagation vector and the temperature stability of the skyrmion phase., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, accepted in PRB

Weak antilocalization (WAL) effects in Bi2Te3 single crystals have been investigated at high and low bulk charge carrier concentrations. At low charge carrier density the WAL curves scale with the normal component of the magnetic field, demonstrating the dominance of topological surface states in magnetoconductivity. At high charge carrier density the WAL curves scale with neither the applied field nor its normal component, implying a mixture of bulk and surface conduction. WAL due to topological surface states shows no dependence on the nature (electrons or holes) of the bulk charge carriers. The observations of an extremely large, non-saturating magnetoresistance, and ultrahigh mobility in the samples with lower carrier density further support the presence of surface states. The physical parameters characterizing the WAL effects are calculated using the Hikami-Larkin-Nagaoka formula. At high charge carrier concentrations, there is a greater number of conduction channels and a decrease in the phase coherence length compared to low charge carrier concentrations. The extremely large magnetoresistance and high mobility of topological insulators have great technological value and can be exploited in magneto-electric sensors and memory devices., Comment: 5 figures, 6 pages

Doping at the rare-earth site by divalent alkaline-earth ions in perovskite lattice has witnessed a variety of magnetic and electronic orders with spatially correlated charge, spin and orbital degrees of freedom. Here, we report an antisite disorder driven spontaneous exchange bias effect as a result of hole carrier (Sr2+) doping in La2-xSrxCoMnO6 (0 < x < 1) double perovskites. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy have evidenced an increase in disorder with the increase of Sr content up to x = 0.5 and thereby decreases from x = 0.5 to 1. X-ray absorption spectroscopy has revealed that only Co is present in mixed valent Co2+ and Co3+ states with Sr doping to compensate the charge neutrality. Magnetotransport is strongly correlated with the increase of antisite disorder. The antisite disorder at the B-site interrupts the long-range ferromagnetic order by introducing various magnetic interactions and instigates reentrant glassy dynamics, phase separation and canted type antiferromagnetic behavior with the decrease of temperature. This leads to novel magnetic microstructure with unidirectional anisotropy that causes spontaneous exchange bias effect that can be tuned with the amount of antisite disorder., Comment: 22 pages, 9 figs

We present sharp magnetization jumps and field induced irreversibility in magnetization in multiferroic Y2CoMnO6. Appearance of magnetic relaxation and field sweep rate dependence of magnetization jumps resemble the martensite like scenario and suggests the coexistence of E*-type antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic phases at low temperatures. In Y2CoMnO6, the critical field required for the sharp jump can be increased or decreased depening on the magnitude and direction of the cooling field; this is remarkably different from manganites or other metamagnetic materials where the critical field increases irrespective of the direction of the field cooling. The cooling field dependence on the sharp magnetization jumps has been described by considering exchange pinning mechanism at the interface, like in exchange bias model.

This study shows that a terahertz (THz) wave can be generated from the (001) surface of cleaved Bi$_{\textrm{2}}$Se$_{\textrm{3}}$ and Cu-doped Bi$_{\textrm{2}}$Se$_{\textrm{3}}$ single crystals using 800 nm femtosecond pulses. The generated THz power is strongly dependent on the carrier concentration of the crystals. An examination of the dependence reveals the two-channel free carrier absorption to which Dirac fermions are indispensable. Dirac fermions in Bi$_{\textrm{2}}$Se$_{\textrm{3}}$ are significantly better absorbers of THz radiation than bulk carriers at room temperature. Moreover, the characteristics of THz emission confirm the existence of a recently proposed surface phonon branch that is normalized by Dirac fermions., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, 1 table

The comprehensive low-temperature specific heat C(T) data identify both an isotropic s-wave and an extended s-wave order parameters coexisting in a superconducting single crystal FeSe with Tc=8.11 K. The isotropic gap {\Delta}0=1.33 meV on the hole Fermi sheets and the extended s-wave gap {\Delta}={\Delta}e(1+\alpha*cos2_theta) with {\Delta}e=1.13 meV and \alpha=0.78 on the electron Fermi sheets. The extended s-wave is rather anisotropic but the low energy quasiparticle excitations demonstrate no sign of the accidental nodes. The coefficient \gamma(H) manifesting the quasiparticle contribution to C is a non-linear function of the applied magnetic field H in the mixed state in accord with the anisotropic multi-order parameters., Comment: 4 figures, 2 tables. References updated. Changed title

We report the magnetic field dependent dc magnetization and the pressure-dependent (pmax ~ 16 kbar) ac susceptibilities Xp(T) on both powder and bulk multiferroic BiMnO3 samples, synthesized in different batches under high pressure. A clear ferromagnetic (FM) transition is observed at TC ~ 100 K, and increases with magnetic field. The magnetic hysteresis behavior is similar to that of a soft ferromagnet. Ac susceptibility data indicate that both the FM peak and its temperature (TC) decrease simultaneously with increasing pressure. Interestingly, above a certain pressure (9 ~ 11 kbar), another peak appears at Tp ~ 93 K, which also decreases with increasing pressure, with both these peaks persisting over some intermediate pressure range (9 ~ 13 kbar). The FM peak disappears with further application of pressure; however, the second peak survives until present pressure limit (pmax ~ 16 kbar). These features are considered to originate from the complex interplay of the magnetic and orbital structure of BiMnO3 being affected by pressure., Comment: 4 pages,4 figures, publised in Physical Review B 78, 092404/2008

The magnetic phase variations under hydrostatic pressure on multiferroic BiMnO3 have been examined by the dc magnetization [Mg(T)], magnetic hysteresis [Ueff(H)], and ac susceptibility [X'g(T)]. Three magnetic transitions, manifested as kinks I, II, and III on the Mg(T)], curves, were identified at 8.7 and 9.4 kbar. With increasing pressure, transition temperatures of kink I and kink II TkI and TkII tend to decrease, but the temperature of kink III TkIII showed more complex variation. Under increasing magnetic field, TkI and TkII increase; however, TkIII decreases. Combining [Mg(T)] curves with Ueff(H) and X'g(T), more detailed properties of these three kinks would be shown as follows. Kink I is a long-range soft ferromagnetic transition which occurs at TkI 100 K under ambient pressure but is suppressed completely at 11.9 kbar. Kink II emerges at 8.7 kbar along with TkII 93 K which is also long-range soft ferromagnetic but canted in nature. Kink III, a canted antiferromagnetic transition, appears at TkIII 72.5 K along with kink II also at 8.7 kbar. The proposed phase diagrams at ambient pressure, 9.4 and 11.9 kbar show the different magnetic features of BiMnO3. These findings are believed to result from the variations in crystal structure influenced by the external pressure. These results also indicate the common complicated, Comment: 6 paages, 5 gifures, published in Physical Review B 80, 184426/2009

Colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) and electroresistance (CER) induced by the electric field in spinel multiferroic CdCr2S4 are reported. It is found that a metal-insulator transition (MIT) in CdCr2S4 is triggered by the electrical field. In magnetic fields, the resistivity of CdCr2S4 responds similarly to that of CMR manganites. Combing previous reports, these findings make CdCr2S4 the unique compound to possess all four properties of the colossal magnetocapacitive (CMC), colossal electrocapacitive (CEC), CER, and CMR. The present results open a new venue for searching new materials to show CMR by tuning electric and magnetic fields., Comment: 3 pages, 4 figures, accepted by Applied Physics Letters

High-field magnetization, M($H$), on Ni$_{5}$(TeO$_{3}$)$_{4}$X$_{2}$ (X = Br and Cl) were measured by using a pulse magnet. These compounds have a two dimensional crystal structure and a distorted kagome spin frustrated system which is builded by the Ni$^{2+}$ ions ($\textbf{S}$ = 1). The N\'eel transition temperatures are $T_{N} \sim$ 28 and 23 K for X = Br and Cl, respectively. When $T < T_{N}$, we observed a step-like transition at $H_{c} \sim$ 11 and 10 T for X = Br and Cl, respectively. On the other hand, at $T > T_{N}$, the field-dependent magnetization curves behaved like a monotonically increasing straight line up to 55 T. The $H_{c}$ value is close to those obtained by previous spin resonance studies in which a model of spin-flop scenario was proposed to explain the field-dependent resonance spectra. Their model predicts a further transition at around 23 T, however, our observations did not show any plateau behaviors, saturation or other anomalies up to 55 T, suggesting that the further transition possibly exists at a much higher field region., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

To resolve the discrepancies of the superconducting order parameter in quasi-two-dimensional NbSe_2, comprehensive specific-heat measurements have been carried out. By analyzing both the zero-field and mixed-state data with magnetic fields perpendicular to and parallel to the c axis of the crystal and using the two-gap model, we conclude that (1) more than one energy scale of the order parameter is required for superconducting NbSe_2 due to the thermodynamic consistency; (2)delta_L=1.26 meV and delta_S=0.73 meV are obtained; (3) N_S(0)/N(0)=11%~20%; (4) The observation of the kink in gamma(H) curve suggests that the two-gap scenario is more favorable than the anisotropic s-wave model to describe the gap structure of NbSe_2; and (5)delta_S is more isotropic and has a three-dimensional-like feature and is located either on the Se or the bonding Nb Fermi sheets., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures

Low-temperature specific-heat study has been performed on the insulating giant dielectric constant material CaCu3Ti4O12 and two related compounds, Bi2/3Cu3Ti4O12 and La0.5Na0.5Cu3Ti4O12, from 0.6 to 10 K. From analyzing the specific heat data at very low-temperature range, 0.6 to 1.5 K, and moderately low-temperature range, 1.5 to 5 K, in addition to the expected Debye terms, we noticed significant contributions originated from the linear and Einstein terms, which we attributed as the manifestation of low-lying elementary excitations due to lattice vibrations occurred at the grain boundaries and induced by local defects. Together with the findings on electronic and mechanical properties, a phenomenological model is proposed to explain the high dielectric constant behaviors at both low and high frequency regions.

The RMn2O5 (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu) oxides showing magnetoelectric (ME) behavior have been prepared in polycrystalline form by a standard citrate route. The lattice parameters, obtained from the powder XRD analysis, follow the rare-earth contraction indicating the trivalent character of the R ions. Cusp-like anomalies in the magnetic susceptibility curve and sharp peaks in the specific heat were reported at the corresponding temperatures in RMn2O5 (R=Pr, Nd, Sm, and Eu) indicating the magnetic or electric ordering transitions., Comment: 2 pages, 1 table, 3 figures, will be published in the Proceedings of the 24th International Conference on Low Temperature Physics

The magnetic field dependence of low temperature specific heat in YNi2B2C was measured and analyzed using various pairing order parameters. At zero magnetic field, the two-gap model which has been successfully applied to MgB2 and the point-node model, appear to describe the superconducting gap function of YNi2B2C better than other models based on the isotropic s-wave, the d-wave line nodes, or the s+g wave. The two energy gaps, delta_L=2.67 meV and delta_S=1.19 meV are obtained. The observed nonlinear field dependence of electronic specific heat coefficient, gamma(H)~H0.47, is quantitatively close to gamma(H)~H0.5 expected for nodal superconductivity or can be qualitatively explained using two-gap scenario. Furthermore, the positive curvature in Hc2(T) near Tc is qualitatively similar to that in the other two-gap superconductor MgB2., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Physical Review B

To shed light on the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in Na_xCoO_2-yH_2O, the Mn doping effects are studied. X-ray absorption spectroscopy verifies that the doped Mn impurities occupy the Co sites and are with a valance close to +4. Impurity scattering by Mn is in the unitary limit that, however, does not lead to strong Tc suppression. This absence of the strong impurity effects on T_c is not consistent with the simple picture of a sign-changing order parameter. Coexistence of the s-wave and unconventional order parameters is proposed to reconcile all existing experiments and has been directly observed by the specific heat experiments., Comment: 5 pages; 5 figures; evidence of two phases in Na_xCoO_2-yH2O from the specific heat experiments

Magnetic field dependence of low temperature specific heat of spinel oxide superconductor LiTi_2O_4 has been elaborately investigated. In the normal state, the obtained electronic coefficient of specific heat gamma_n = 19.15 mJ/mol K2, the Debye temperature is 657 K and some other parameters are compared with those reported earlier. The superconducting transition at Tc ~ 11.4 K is very sharp (DeltaTc ~ 0.3 K) and the estimated delataC/gamma_nTc is ~ 1.78. In the superconducting state, the best fit of data leads to the electronic specific heat C_es/Gamma_nTc = 9.87 exp (-1.58 Tc/T) without field and gamma(H) ~ H^0.95 with fields. In addition, Hc2(0) ~ 11.7 T, Hc(0) ~ 0.32 T, xi_GL(0) ~ 5.5 nm, lambda_GL(0) ~ 160 nm, and Hc1(0) ~ 26 mT are estimated from Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) theory or other relevant relations. All results from the present study indicate that LiTi2O4 can be well described by a typical type-II, BCS-like, moderate coupling, and fully gapped superconductor in the dirty limit. It is further suggested that LiTi2O4 is a moderately electron-electron correlated system., Comment: 6 pages, 2 tables, 6 figures; Physical Review B, in press

Comprehensive low-temperature specific heat data C(T,H) of Na_0.35CoO2-1.3H_2O with temperature T down to 0.6 K and the magnetic field H up to 8 T are presented. For the normal state, the values of gamma_n=13.94 mJ/mol K2, and Debye temperature 362 K are reported. At zero field, a very sharp superconducting anomaly was observed at Tc=4.5 K with DeltaC/gamma_nTc=1.45. The superconducting volume fraction is estimated to be 47.4 % based on the consideration of entropy balance at Tc for the second-order superconducting phase transition. In the superconducting state, the electronic contribution C_es at H=0 can be well described by the model of the line nodal order parameter. In low H, gamma(H) H^1/2 which is also a manifestation of the line nodes. The behaviors of both Tc(H) and gamma(H) suggest the anisotropy of Hc2 or possible crossovers or transitions occurring in the mixed state., Comment: Published as a Rapid Communication in Phys. Rev. B. New measurements on the new Na_0.35CoO2-1.3H_2O sample. The results in the mixed state are emphasized. Related to cond-mat/0308031. Another paper cond-mat/0409760 from Berkeley group also discusses similar issues

We report measurements of magnetothermopower and magnetoresistivity as a function of temperature on RuSr2Gd1-xLaxCu2O8 (x = 0, 0.1). The normal-state thermopower shows a dramatic decrease after applying a magnetic field of 5 T, whereas the resistivity shows only a small change after applying the same field. Our results suggest that RuO2 layers are conducting and the magnetic field induced decrease of the overall thermopower is caused by the decrease of partial thermopower decrease associated with the spin entropy decrease of the carriers in the RuO2 layers., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures

The newly discovered superconductivity in MgCNi3, though with Tc<8 K lower than that of the celebrated MgB2, is probably even more interesting in its many puzzling physical properties. MgCNi3 has been theoretically speculated to be unstable towards ferromagnetism. However, there are numerous evidences from the specific heat C(T), Tunneling spectroscopy and NMR experiments indicating conventional s-wave superconductivity in MgCNi3. The Hall effect and the thermoelectric power experiments suggest that the carriers responsible for the transport properties are electrons, in obvious contrast to holes predicated by the band structure calculations. In this article, we report the results of C(T) experiments, upper critical field Hc2 measurements, and the pressure effects on MgCNi3. These experimental evidences clearly demonstrate that superconductivity in MgCNi3 is well explained within the conventional electron-phonon interaction scenario, at most with minor modifications from the magnetic interaction. The thermodynamic data C(T) is consistent with the conventional s-wave order parameter. Hc2 of all samples follows a universal WHH relation . Surprisingly, dTc/dP is positive which leaves room for further improvements in band structure calculations. There are other serious discrepancies between experiments and theory like in the transport properties and x-ray photoemission. The possible reconciliation within the two-band model and the consequent difficulties are discussed., Comment: 27 pages, 9 pages, tentatively to appear in ''Horizons in Superconductivity'' by Nova Science Publishers, Inc

The effect of hydrostatic pressure (P) up to 17 kbar on the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of the newly discovered intermetallic non-oxide perovskite superconductor MgCxNi3 has been reported. The TC is found to increase with increasing P at a rate of dTc/dP ~ 0.0134 to 0.0155 K/kbar depending on the value of carbon content x. The absolute value of dTc/dP for MgCxNi3 is about the same as that of intermetallic RNi2B2C (R = rare earths) and metallic superconductors but about one order of magnitude smaller than that of the most recently and intensively studied superconductor MgB2. However, the dlnTc/dP ~ 0.00181 to 0.00224 kbar-1 and the rate of change of Tc with unit cell volume (V), dlnTC/dlnV ~ -3.18 to -2.58 of MgCxNi3 are having the comparable magnitude to that of MgB2 with opposite sign. The increase of Tc with P in MgCxNi3 can be explained in the frame work of density of states (DOS) effect., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. B, in press

X-ray absorption spectroscopy and optical reflectance measurements have been carried out to elucidate the evolution of the electronic structure in (Mg$_{1-x}$Al$_{x}$)B$_{2}$ for $\emph{x}$ = 0.0,0.1, 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4. The important role of B 2$\emph{p}$ $\sigma$ hole states to superconductivity has been identified, and the decrease in the hole carrier number is $\emph{quantitatively}$ determined. The rate of the decrease in the hole concentration agree well with the theoretical calculations. On the other hand,while the evolution of the electronic structure is gradual through the doping range, $T_c$ suppression is most significant at $\emph{x}$ = 0.4. These results suggest that the superstructure in (Mg$_{1-x}$Al$_{x}$)B$_{2}$, in addition to the $\sigma$ holes, can affect the lattice dynamics and contributes to the $T_c$ suppression effect. Other possible explanations like the topological change of the $\sigma$ band Fermi surface are also discussed., Comment: 17 pages, 5 figures. Phys. Rev. B, in press

Comprehensive studies of the low-temperature specific heat C(T,H) in NaxCoO2-yH2O are presented. At H=0, a very sharp anomaly was observed at T=4.7 K indicating the existence of bulk superconductivity. There exists the T^2 term in C(T,H=0) in the superconducting state manifesting the line nodal superconducting order parameter. The superconducting volume fraction is estimated to be 26.6 % based on the consideration of entropy conservation at Tc for the second-order superconducting phase transition. An abrupt change of the slope in Tc(H) was observed. Possible scenarios such as the multiple phase transitions in the mixed state are discussed., Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures; the statement of entropy imbalance in the previous version was withdrawn

The low-temperature specific heat C(T,H) of a new superconductor MgCNi3 has been measured in detail. (C/gammasub_nTc=1.97 is estimated from the anomaly at Tc. At low temperatures, the electronic contribution in the superconducting state follows Ces/gammasub_nTc=7.96exp(-1.46Tc/T). The magnetic field dependence of gamma(H) is found to be linear with respect to H. Tc estimated from the McMillan formula agrees well with the observed value. All the specific heat data appear to be consistent with each other within the moderate-coupling BCS context. It is amazing that such a superconductor unstable to ferromagnetism behaves so conventionally. The Debye temperature Thetasub_D=287 K and the normal state gammasub_n=33.6 mJ/mol K2 are determined for the present sample. Discussions on the existence of a small magnetic coupling and unconventional order parameter are also presented., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; Physical Review B, in press

X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES), resistivity and thermoelectric power have been measured on Pr1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7. These data reveal an intriguing electronic structure in Pr-doped cuprates. The absorption peak in XANES associated with the Fehrenbacher-Rice (FR) band has been identified. The Ca-doped holes in Pr1-xCaxBa2Cu3O7 go to both the Zhang-Rice (ZR) and FR bands. Comparative studies on the related samples suggest that the FR band is partially filled and highly localized. Implications of these results on other recent experiments, such as the observation of superconductivity in PrBa2Cu3O7 single crystals, are discussed., Comment: 9 pages, 2 tables, 4 figures

We have measured the low-temperature specific heat C(T) for polycrystalline MgB_2 prepared by high pressure synthesis. C(T) below 10 K vanishes exponentially, which unambiguously indicates a fully opened superconducting energy gap. However, this gap is found to be too small to account for Tc of MgB_2. Together with the small specific heat jump DeltaC/gamma_nTc=1.13, scenarios like anisotropic s-wave or multi-component order parameter are called for. The magnetic field dependence of gamma(H) is neither linear for a fully gapped s-wave superconductor nor H^1/2 for nodal order parameter. It seems that this intriguing behavior of gamma(H) is associated with the intrinsic electronic properties other than flux pinning., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; revised text and figures; references updated, Phys. Rev. Lett., in press

Very recently impurity scattering effects on quasiparticles in d-wave superconductors have attracted much attention. Especially, the thermodynamic properties in magnetic fields H are of interest. We have measured the low-temperature specific heat C(T,H) of La_1.78Sr_0.22Cu_1-xNi_xO4. For the first time, the impurity scattering effects on C(T,H) of cuprate superconductors were clearly observed, and are compared with theory of d-wave superconductivity. It is found that impurity scattering leads to gamma(H)=gamma(0)(1+D((H/H_c2)(ln(H_c2/H)) in small magnetic fields. Most amazingly, the scaling of C(T,H) breaks down due to impurity scattering., Comment: Physical review B, in press