Magnetization of Superconducting LaAl₂ Single Crystals

Abstract

Magnetization and critical field measurements were carried out on a high-purity LaAl2 single crystal (RRR = 830) in the temperature range from 80 mK to the transition temperature (Tc=3.301 K). The material was identified to be a type-II superconductor with κ(Tc)=0.75±0.01 and µ0Hc2(0)=92.04 mT. As expected from the magnitude of κ, evidence for a first-order phase transition at Hcl is found. Experiments on the anisotropy of Hc2 in the (100)-plane show a field modulation of about 1% at 2 K. A complete evaluation of superconductive parameters will be presented.

Optical properties and electronic structure of single crystals ofLuAl2andYbAl2Lee1, Hong2, Fisher3 et al. 2000Phys. Rev. B24290View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…The rare-earth dialuminides, RAl 2 (Rϭrare earth), have been investigated extensively because they show a variety of physical phenomena and properties: magnetism, [1][2][3][4] superconductivity, 5,6 de Haas-van Alphen effect, 7 thermal property, 8 and electronic properties. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Nevertheless, the role of 4 f electrons in determining the physical characteristics of these materials is still under investigation.…”

Optical and magneto-optical properties and electronic structures of single-crystallineRAl2(R=Y,

“…Rare-earth and transition-metal dialuminides have been investigated extensively because of a variety of interesting physical properties they exhibit, such as magnetism, [1][2][3][4] superconductivity, 5,6 the de Haas-van Alphen ͑dHvA͒ effect, 7 and thermal 8 and electronic properties. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Most of the compounds crystallize in the cubic Laves (MgCu 2 ) structure, in which the rare-earth or transition-metal atoms are arranged in the diamond structure consisting of two fcc lattices displaced from each other by one-fourth of a body diagonal, and the Al atoms are on sites of rhombohedral symmetry (3 m) in tetrahedra, with four rare-earth or transitionmetal atoms as next-nearest neighbors.…”