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Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
X-ray-diffraction and electrical-transport imaging of superconducting superhydride (La,Y)H10
Abdul Haseeb Manayil Marathamkottil1, Kui Wang2, Nilesh P Salke2
1Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA. amanay2@uic.edu.
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Understanding how microscopic structural domains govern macroscopic electronic properties is central to advancing hydride superconductors, yet such correlations remain poorly resolved under pressure. We report the synthesis and characterization of (La0.9Y0.1)H10 superhydrides exhibiting coexisting cubic and hexagonal clathrate phases observed over the pressure range from 168 GPa down to 136 GPa. Using synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction imaging at the upgraded Advanced Photon Source, we spatially resolved μm-scale distributions of these phases, revealing structural inhomogeneity across the sample. Four-probe resistance measurements confirmed superconductivity with two distinct transitions: an onset at 244 K associated with the cubic phase and a second near 220 K linked to the hexagonal phase. Notably, resistance profiles collected from multiple current and voltage permutations showed variations in transition width and onset temperature that correlated with the spatial phase distribution. These findings demonstrate a direct connection between local structural domains and superconducting behavior.
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