Emerging Diluted Ferromagnetism in High-T_c Superconductors Driven by Point Defect Clusters.

ABSTRACT: Defects in ceramic materials are generally seen as detrimental to their functionality and applicability. Yet, in some complex oxides, defects present an opportunity to enhance some of their properties or even lead to the discovery of exciting physics, particularly in the presence of strong correlations. A paradigmatic case is the high-temperature superconductor YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (Y123), in which nanoscale defects play an important role as they can immobilize quantized magnetic flux vortices. Here previously unforeseen point defects buried in Y123 thin films that lead to the formation of ferromagnetic clusters embedded within the superconductor are unveiled. Aberration-corrected scanning transmission microscopy has been used for exploring, on a single unit-cell le

SUBMITTER: Gazquez J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5069566 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature