0000000000595666
AUTHOR
Jiirgen Winterlik
Electronic and structural properties of palladium-based Heusler superconductors
Abstract This work reports on superconductivity in the Heusler compounds Pd2ZrAl and Pd2HfAl. Magnetisation and resistance measurements were carried out to verify their superconducting states. The compounds exhibit transition temperatures of 3.2 K (Zr) and 3.4 K (Hf). From their behaviour in external magnetic fields, it was determined that both compounds are type II superconductors. Similar to the half-metallic ferromagnets, the superconducting Heusler compounds follow an electron counting scheme based on theoretical considerations. As found from ab initio calculations, the superconductivity can be explained by a valence instability at the L -point, that has been used as design criterion.
Exotic magnetism in the alkali sesquioxidesRb4O6andCs4O6
Among the various alkali oxides the sesquioxides ${\text{Rb}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ and ${\text{Cs}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ are of special interest. Electronic-structure calculations using the local spin-density approximation predicted that ${\text{Rb}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ should be a half-metallic ferromagnet, which was later contradicted when an experimental investigation of the temperature-dependent magnetization of ${\text{Rb}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ showed a low-temperature magnetic transition and differences between zero-field-cooled and field-cooled measurements. Such behavior is known from spin glasses and frustrated systems. ${\text{Rb}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ and ${\text{Cs}}_{4}{\text{O}}_{6}$ c…
Electronic structure and transport properties of the Heusler compound Co2TiAl
The properties of the Heusler compound Co2TiAl were investigated in detail by experimental techniques and theoretical methods. X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that as-cast samples of the compound exhibit the L21 structure with a small amount of B2-type disorder. This leads to a reduced saturation magnetization per formula unit of 0.747 μB. The Curie temperature is approximately 120 K. The transport properties are influenced by the change in the electronic structure at the Curie temperature, as revealed experimentally by conductivity, thermal transport and specific heat measurements. Different theoretical models based on ab initio calculations of the electronic structure are used to …