Conductivity fluctuations in proton-implanted ZnO microwires

Electric noise can be an important limitation for applications of conducting elements in the nanometer size range. The intrinsic electrical noise of prospective materials for opto-spintronics applications like ZnO has not yet been characterized. In this study, we have investigated the conductivity fluctuations in 10 nm thick current paths produced by proton implantation of ZnO microwires at room temperature. The voltage noise under a constant dc current bias in undoped, as well as in Li-doped microwires, is characterized by [Formula: see text] power spectra with [Formula: see text]. The noise intensity scales with the square of the bias current pointing to bias-independent resistivity fluctuations as a source of the observed noise. The normalized power spectral density appears inversely proportional to the number of carriers in the probed sample volume, in agreement with the phenomenological Hooge law. For the proton-implanted ZnO microwire and at 1 Hz we obtain a normalized power spectral density as low as [Formula: see text] Hz(-1).

Study of the negative magneto-resistance of single proton-implanted lithium-doped ZnO microwires

The magneto-transport properties of single proton-implanted ZnO and of Li(7%)-doped ZnO microwires have been studied. The as-grown microwires were highly insulating and not magnetic. After proton implantation the Li(7%) doped ZnO microwires showed a non-monotonous behavior of the negative magneto-resistance (MR) at temperature above 150 K. This is in contrast to the monotonous NMR observed below 50 K for proton-implanted ZnO. The observed difference in the transport properties of the wires is related to the amount of stable Zn vacancies created at the near surface region by the proton implantation and Li doping. The magnetic field dependence of the resistance might be explained by the formation of a magnetic/non-magnetic heterostructure in the wire after proton implantation.

Reply to the Commentary on "Graphite and its hidden superconductivity"

A Reply to the Commentary by E. M. Forgan [Pap. Phys. 5, 050008 (20013)].Received: 30 October 2013, Accepted: 4 November 2013; Edited by: S. A. Grigera; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/10.4279/PIP.050009Cite as: P. Esquinazi, Papers in Physics 5, 050009 (2013)

Large local Hall effect in pin-hole dominated multigraphene spin-valves

We report local and non-local measurements in pin-hole dominated mesoscopic multigraphene spin-valves. Local spin-valve measurements show spurious switching behavior in resistance during magnetic field sweeping similar to the signal observed due to spin injection into multigraphene. The switching behavior has been explained in terms of a local Hall effect due to a thickness irregularity of the tunnel barrier. The local Hall effect appears due to a large local magnetostatic field produced near the roughness in the AlO(x) tunnel barrier. In our samples the resistance change due to the local Hall effect remains negligibly small above 75 K. A strong local Hall effect might hinder spin injection into multigraphene, resulting in no spin signal in non-local measurements.

Can doping graphite trigger room temperature superconductivity? Evidence for granular high-temperature superconductivity in water-treated graphite powder

Granular superconductivity in powders of small graphite grains (several tens of micrometers) is demonstrated after treatment with pure water. The temperature, magnetic field and time dependence of the magnetic moment of the treated graphite powder provides evidence for the existence of superconducting vortices with some similarities to high-temperature granular superconducting oxides but even at temperatures above 300 K. Room temperature superconductivity in doped graphite or at its interfaces appears to be possible.

Revealing the origin of the vertical hysteresis loop shifts in an exchange biased Co/YMnO3 bilayer

We have investigated exchange bias effects in bilayers composed of the antiferromagnetic o-YMnO(3) and ferromagnetic Co thin film by means of SQUID magnetometry, magnetoresistance, anisotropic magnetoresistance and the planar Hall effect. The magnetization and magneto-transport properties show pronounced asymmetries in the field and magnetization axes of the field hysteresis loops. Both exchange bias parameters, the exchange bias field H(E)(T) as well as the magnetization shift M(E)(T), vanish around the Néel temperature T(N) =/~ 45 K. We show that the magnetization shift M(E)(T) is also measured by a shift in the anisotropic magnetoresistance and planar Hall resistance having a similar temperature dependence as the one obtained from magnetization measurements. Because the o-YMnO(3) film is highly insulating, our results demonstrate that the M(E)(T) shift originates at the interface within the ferromagnetic Co layer. To show that the main results obtained are general and not because of some special characteristics of the o-YMO(3) layer, similar measurements were done in Co/CoO micro-wires. The transport and magnetization characterization of the micro-wires supports the main conclusion that these effects are related to the response of the ferromagnetic Co layer at the interface.

An alternative route towards micro- and nano-patterning of oxide films

This paper presents a method to obtain submicron- and nanometer structures of different oxide films and heterostructures combining e-beam lithography and chemical etching. The most relevant advantage of this method is that structures of tens of microns in length and below ∼100 nm width can be produced, keeping the intrinsic bulk film properties, as proven by electrical transport measurements. In this way our method provides a bridge that connects the attractive properties of oxide films and the nanoworld.

Quantum oscillations and ferromagnetic hysteresis observed in iron filled multiwall carbon nanotubes

We report on the electrical transport properties of single multiwall carbon nanotubes with and without an iron filling as a function of temperature and magnetic field. For the iron filled nanotubes the magnetoresistance shows a magnetic behavior induced by iron, which can be explained by taking into account a contribution of s-d hybridization. In particular, ferromagnetic-like hysteresis loops were observed up to 50 K for the iron filled multiwall carbon nanotubes. The magnetoresistance shows quantum interference phenomena such as universal conductance fluctuations and weak localization effects.

Tailoring magnetic interlayer coupling in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrRuO3 superlattices

The magnetic interlayer coupling in La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrRuO3 superlattices was investigated. High quality superlattices with ultrathin La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and SrRuO3 layers were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. The superlattices grew coherently with Mn/Ru intermixing restricted to about one interfacial monolayer. Strong antiferromagnetic interlayer coupling depended delicately on magnetocrystalline anisotropy and intermixing at interfaces. Ab initio calculations elucidated that the antiferromagnetic coupling is mediated by the Mn-O-Ru bond. The theoretical calculations allowed for a quantitative correlation between the total magnetic moment of the superlattice and the degree of Mn/Ru intermixing.

The influence of Ga(+) irradiation on the transport properties of mesoscopic conducting thin films

We studied the influence of 30 keV Ga(+)-ions-commonly used in focused-ion-beam (FIB) devices-on the transport properties of thin crystalline graphite flakes, and La(0.7)Ca(0.3)MnO(3) and Co thin films. The changes in electrical resistance were measured in situ during irradiation and also the temperature and magnetic field dependence before and after irradiation. Our results show that the transport properties of these materials strongly change at Ga(+) fluences much below those used for patterning and ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID), seriously limiting the use of FIB when the intrinsic properties of the materials of interest are of importance. We present a method that can be used to protect the sample as well as to produce selectively irradiation-induced changes.

Disordered electrical potential observed on the surface of SiO2 by electric field microscopy

The electrical potential on the surface of ∼300 nm thick SiO(2) grown on single-crystalline Si substrates has been characterized at ambient conditions using electric field microscopy. Our results show an inhomogeneous potential distribution with fluctuations up to ∼0.4 V within regions of 1 µm. The potential fluctuations observed at the surface of these usual dielectric holders of graphene sheets should induce strong variations in the graphene charge densities and provide a simple explanation for some of the anomalous behaviors of the transport properties of graphene.

Transport properties and atomic structure of ion-beam-deposited W, Pd and Pt nanostructures

We investigate the atomic structure and transport properties as a function of temperature (T) and applied magnetic field (H) of ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID) of tungsten, palladium and platinum micrometer and nanometer sized thin films and wires. The samples show a non-metallic behavior due to the low metallic content. Electron diffraction at room temperature reveals that the samples are amorphous (W, Pt) and polycrystalline (Pd). The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the samples reveal a behavior similar to that found in disordered or granular conductors. The resistivity rho decreases with T following a function of the type rho(T) = a-bT(alpha)+cT(-beta) (alpha,beta > or = 0) and the magnetoresistance of all samples shows a scaling of the form [rho(H,T)-rho(0,T)]/rho(0,T) = f(H/C(T)), with a temperature-and sample-dependent parameter C(T).

Transport properties and growth parameters of PdC and WC nanowires prepared in a dual-beam microscope

In this work we investigate the electrical transport properties and growth conditions of tungsten carbon (WC) and palladium carbon (PdC) nanostructures on Si substrates using a focused ion beam and scanning electron microscope. In situ energy dispersive x-ray (EDX) characterizations reveal that electron-beam-induced WC and PdC nanostructure depositions (EBID) show a lower metal concentration (below 3% atomic percentage) than in ion-beam-induced deposition (IBID) (above 20%). In the case of PdC the growth pattern and the Pd/C content were optimized by adjusting the deposition temperature of the precursor material. In situ measurements of the resistivity of the nanostructures as a function of thickness reveal a minimum at a thickness approximately 200 nm. The lowest resistivity obtained for the PdC and WC structures is two orders of magnitude higher than the corresponding bulk values for pure Pd and W. The EBID samples show a non-metallic behaviour due to the low metal content. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the IBID structures reveal a behaviour similar to disordered or granular conductors. The upper critical field and critical current density of the WC structures were measured below the superconducting critical temperature of approximately 5 K.

Sample-size effects in the magnetoresistance of graphite

Conduction electrons in graphite are expected to have micrometer large de Broglie wavelength as well as mean free path. A direct influence of these lengths in the electric transport properties of finite-size samples was neglected in the past. We provide a direct evidence of this effect through the size dependence of the magnetoresistance, which decreases with the sample size even for samples hundreds of micrometers large. Our findings may explain the absence of magnetoresistance in small few graphene layers samples and ask for a general revision of the experimental and theoretical work on the transport properties of this material.

pi-electron ferromagnetism in metal-free carbon probed by soft x-ray dichroism

Elemental carbon represents a fundamental building block of matter and the possibility of ferromagnetic order in carbon has attracted widespread attention. However, the origin of magnetic order in such a light element is only poorly understood and has puzzled researchers. We present a spectromicroscopy study at room temperature of proton irradiated metal-free carbon using the elemental and chemical specificity of x-ray magnetic circular dichroism. We demonstrate that the magnetic order in the investigated system originates only from the carbon pi-electron system.

Electrostatic force microscopy on oriented graphite surfaces: coexistence of insulating and conducting behaviors

We present measurements of the electric potential fluctuations on the surface of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite using electrostatic force and atomic force microscopy. Micrometric domainlike potential distributions are observed even when the sample is grounded. Such potential distributions are unexpected given the good metallic conductivity of graphite because the surface should be an equipotential. Our results indicate the coexistence of regions with "metalliclike" and "insulatinglike" behaviors showing large potential fluctuations of the order of 0.25 V. In lower quality graphite, this effect is not observed. Experiments are performed in Ar and air atmospheres.

Induced magnetic ordering by proton irradiation in graphite

We provide evidence that proton irradiation of energy 2.25 MeV on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite samples triggers ferro- or ferrimagnetism. Measurements performed with a superconducting quantum interferometer device and magnetic force microscopy reveal that the magnetic ordering is stable at room temperature.

Reentrant metallic behavior of graphite in the quantum limit

Magnetotransport measurements performed on several well-characterized highly oriented pyrolitic graphite and single crystalline Kish graphite samples reveal a reentrant metallic behavior in the basal-plane resistance at high magnetic fields, when only the lowest Landau levels are occupied. The results suggest that the quantum Hall effect and Landau-level-quantization-induced superconducting correlations are relevant to understand the metalliclike state(s) in graphite in the quantum limit.

Magnetic carbon

The discovery of nanostructured forms of molecular carbon has led to renewed interest in the varied properties of this element. Both graphite and C60 can be electron-doped by alkali metals to become superconducting; transition temperatures of up to 52 K have been attained by field-induced hole-doping of C60 (ref. 2). Recent experiments and theoretical studies have suggested that electronic instabilities in pure graphite may give rise to superconducting and ferromagnetic properties, even at room temperature. Here we report the serendipitous discovery of strong magnetic signals in rhombohedral C60. Our intention was to search for superconductivity in polymerized C60; however, it appears that our high-pressure, high-temperature polymerization process results in a magnetically ordered state. The material exhibits features typical of ferromagnets: saturation magnetization, large hysteresis and attachment to a magnet at room temperature. The temperature dependences of the saturation and remanent magnetization indicate a Curie temperature near 500 K.

Angle dependence of the transverse thermal conductivity in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) single crystals: Doppler shift and Andreev scattering contributions

We have measured the transverse thermal conductivity kappa(xy) of twinned and untwinned YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7) single crystals as a function of angle theta between the magnetic field applied parallel to the CuO(2) planes and the heat current direction. For both crystals we observed a clear twofold variation in the field-angle dependence of kappa(xy)(theta) = -kappa(0)(xy)(T,B)sin(2 theta). We have found that the oscillation amplitude kappa(0)(xy) depends on temperature and magnetic field. Our results show that kappa(0)(xy) = aBln(1/bB) with the temperature- and sample-dependent parameters a and b. We discuss our results in terms of Andreev scattering of quasiparticles by vortices and a recently proposed theory based on the Doppler shift in the quasiparticle spectrum.