Degradation mechanism of the superconducting performance of a Bi2212 cable under magnetic fields

In magnetic confinement fusion reactors, superconducting magnet systems are essential for generating and controlling high magnetic fields. To increase the magnetic field, new superconducting materials such as Bi2212 (Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x) have been selected in the design of magnet systems. However, the stability of the Bi2212 superconductor under magnetic fields must be studied for the routine and safe operation of magnet systems. In this work, the stability and degradation mechanism of a Bi2212 cable under magnetic fields were investigated. With a magnetic field of 5.8 T, the cable carrying 29 kA was exerted with a force of ~168.2 kN per meter. In the core area of the cable, moved wires were detected by computed tomography (CT). The macroscopic movement of the wires would vary with the axial position, which could be related to the twist structure. Then, the cable was decomposed, and the acquired wires were tested under 12 T at 4.2 K by four-probe method. The results indicated that the inner wires had relatively lower critical currents, which should be the reason for the degradation of cable performance. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of the superconducting phase within the wires confirmed that cracks existed in the superconducting phase of the inner wires, while intact crystals were found in that of the outer wires. The variation in microstructures gave rise to changes in the wire performance.

Unified energy law for fluctuating density wave orders in cuprate pseudogap phase

The quantum origin of the cuprate pseudogap is a central conundrum of condensed matter physics. Although many symmetry-broken scenarios were previously proposed, universal quantitative relationships have been rarely studied. Here, we report a unified energy law underlying the pseudogap, which determines the scattering rate, pseudogap energy, and its onset temperature, with a quadratic scaling of the wavevector of density wave order (DWO). The law is validated by data from over one hundred samples, and a further prediction that the master order of pseudogap transforms from fluctuating spin to charge DWO is also confirmed. Furthermore, the energy law enables our derivation of the well-known linear scalings for the resistivity of the strange metal phase and the transition temperature of the superconducting phase. Finally, it is concluded that fluctuating orders provide a critical bridge linking microscopic spectra to macroscopic transport, showing promise for the quantification of other strongly correlated materials.

Динамическая восприимчивость нанокомпозита пористое стекло/Ga-In-Sn в области сверхпроводимости

Interest to studies of gallium alloys increased recently in relation to their prospective applications for self-healing superconducting connections and wires. Special attention is focused on superconductive properties of nanostructured alloys. In the present work we studied the ac susceptibility of a porous glass/Ga-In-Sn nanocomposite within the temperature range from 1.9 to 8 K at bias fields up to 5 T. Two superconducting phase transitions were revealed with temperatures of 5.6 and 3.1 K. Phase diagrams were created. Positive curvature of the parts of critical lines was demonstrated and treated within the framework of a proximity effect model. Vortex activation barriers were found from shifts of the maxima of the imaginary parts of susceptibility with changing the ac frequency. A bend was shown on the field dependence of the activation barriers.

Equation of state for holographic nuclear matter as instanton gas

In a holographic model, which was used to investigate the color superconducting phase of QCD, a dilute gas of instantons is introduced to study the nuclear matter. The free energy of the nuclear matter is computed as a function of the baryon chemical potential in the probe approximation. Then the equation of state is obtained at low temperature. Using the equation of state for the nuclear matter, the Tolman-Oppenheimer-Volkov equations for a cold compact star are solved. We find the mass-radius relation of the star, which is similar to the one for quark star. This similarity implies that the instanton gas given here is a kind of self-bound matter.

Higher-order topological superconductivity from repulsive interactions in kagome and honeycomb systems

We discuss a pairing mechanism in interacting two-dimensional multipartite lattices that intrinsically leads to a second order topological superconducting state with a spatially modulated gap. When the chemical potential is close to Dirac points, oppositely moving electrons on the Fermi surface undergo an interference phenomenon in which the Berry phase converts a repulsive electron-electron interaction into an effective attraction. The topology of the superconducting phase manifests as gapped edge modes in the quasiparticle spectrum and Majorana Kramers pairs at the corners. We present symmetry arguments which constrain the possible form of the electron-electron interactions in these systems and classify the possible superconducting phases which result. Exact diagonalization of the Bogoliubov-de Gennes Hamiltonian confirms the existence of gapped edge states and Majorana corner states, which strongly depend on the spatial structure of the gap. Possible applications to vanadium-based superconducting kagome metals AV$_3$Sb$_3$ (A=K,Rb,Cs) are discussed.

Holographic colour superconductors at finite coupling with NJL Interactions

We study a bottom-up holographic description of the QCD colour superconducting phase in the presence of higher derivative corrections. We expand this holographic model in the context of Gauss–Bonnet (GB) gravity. The Cooper pair condensate has been investigated in the deconfinement phase for different values of the GB coupling parameter $$\lambda _{G B}$$ λ GB , we observe a change in the value of the critical chemical potential $$\mu _c$$ μ c in comparison to Einstein gravity. We find that $$\mu _c$$ μ c grows as $$\lambda _{G B}$$ λ GB increases. We add four fermion interactions and show that in the presence of these corrections the main interesting features of the model are still present and that the intrinsic attractive interaction can not be switched off. This study suggests to find GB corrections to equation of state of holographic QCD matter.

Analisis Pertumbuhan Fase Superkonduktor BSCCO-2212 dan BPSCCO-2212 Akibat Variasi Suhu Sintering Menggunakan Metode Pencampuran Basah

The research was conducted to determine the effect of sintering temperature on the level of purity of the superconducting phase BSCCO-2212 and BPSCCO-2212 using the wet mixing method. Sintering was carried out for 20 hours with variations in sintering temperature: 825, 830, 835 and 840°C. XRD results showed that the phase purity level increased until it reached the optimum point at 835°C sintering temperature and then decreased at 840°C. The highest volume fraction of the BSCCO-2212 sample was obtained at a sintering temperature of 835°C at 71.09% and the highest degree of orientation was obtained at a sintering temperature of 830°C at 26.44%. In the BPSCCO-2212 sample, the highest volume fraction was obtained at a sintering temperature of 835°C at 52.59% and the highest degree of orientation at a sintering temperature of 830°C at 43.49%. The results of the comparison of BSCCO-2212 and BPSCCO-2212 samples showed that the BPSCCO-2212 sample had a higher level of phase purity than BSCCO-2212.