Investigating magnetism and superconductivity using high magnetic fields

Thesis

This thesis investigates a number of transition-metal coordination polymers and iron-pnictide superconductors through the use of high magnetic fields, low temperatures, and on occasion, high pressures.

The thesis will begin by describing my development of the proximity detector dynamic susceptometer, a novel technique that can be used for magnetometery and transport measurements in high magnetic fields. This technique is highly compact and has no moving parts, making it suitable for use in pressure cells, hence opening the way for a variety of new experiments.

Through high-field magnetometery and other measurements, I will demonstrate that the pressure can be used to directly control the magnetic properties of the polymeric magnet CuF₂(H₂O)₂(pyrazine). In particular, I observe a transition from quasi-two-dimensional to quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnetism at 9~kbar, driven by the rotation of the Jahn-Teller axis.

I will then present a series of measurements on two coordination polymers, showing how a small chemical difference can lead to drastically different magnetic properties. I show that [Cu(pyrazine)H₂O(glycine)₂]ClO₄ is an excellent spin-chain, while the sister compound [Cu(pyrazine)(glycine)]ClO₄ is a dimerised material that shows a spin-gap and is disordered down to very low temperatures, but then undergoes a field-induced phase transition to an ordered phase.

I will also describe a series of pulsed-field measurements of the upper critical field of the iron-based superconductors NaFe_1-xCo_xAs across the whole of the doping phase diagram. It is shown that paramagnetic pair-breaking effects dominate the critical field when the field is parallel to the crystal planes. In the parent compound the paramagnetic limit is equal to that expected from BCS theory, but becomes significantly enhanced above the BCS limit upon doping. It is shown that the multi-band nature of the superconductivity leads to a convex curvature in the evolution of the critical field as the temperature is reduced.

Authors: Ghannadzadeh, S

• Publication date: 2014
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-xq267m7kr
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: high pressure; superconductivity; high magnetic fields; molecular magnets; pnictide; proximity detector oscillator
• Subjects: Condensed Matter Physics