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Comparison of Two Different Synthesis Methods of Single Crystals of Superconducting Uranium Ditelluride
Published on: July 8, 2021
Pressure-induced superconducting state of europium metal at low temperatures
M Debessai1, T Matsuoka, J J Hamlin
1Department of Physics, Washington University, CB 1105, One Brookings Drive, Saint Louis, Missouri 63130, USA.
Abstract:
Divalent Eu (4f;{7}, J=7/2) possesses a strong local magnetic moment which suppresses superconductivity. Under sufficient pressure it is anticipated that Eu will become trivalent (4f;{6}, J=0) and a weak Van Vleck paramagnet, thus opening the door for a possible superconducting state, in analogy with Am metal (5f;{6}, J=0) which superconducts at 0.79 K. We present ac susceptibility and electrical resistivity measurements on Eu metal for temperatures 1.5-297 K to pressures as high as 142 GPa. At approximately 80 GPa Eu becomes superconducting at T_{c} approximately 1.8 K; T_{c} increases linearly with pressure to 2.75 K at 142 GPa. Eu metal thus becomes the 53rd known elemental superconductor in the periodic table.
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