PhD (Physics) / Department of Physics / Understanding how and why superconductivity (SC) occurs in a given material has been very challenging for physicists for more than a hundred years, notwithstanding the major milestones, such as the London theory, the Landau-Ginzburg theory, and the BCS theory. The extreme challenge to predict the occurrence of SC is symbolized by the long string of unanticipated but breathtaking advances, i.e., the unexpected discoveries of cuprates and Fe-pnictides being the dramatic modern examples. Because of their incompatibility, the nucleation of SC near a ferromagnet is di cult and has never been realized except for the case that another superconductor provides proximity-boosted Cooper pairs. This perceived necessity to start with another superconductor is engrained in the exten- sive study of the proximity e ect in superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) powder sample, where all the structures involve a superconductor with either stable or metastable struc- ture. Compounding the di culty, it is also generally recognized that SC with substantial Tc is favourable in low dimensionality because of strong quantum uctuation. In this thesis, we report a serendipitous nding of SC that emerges under the most implausible circumstances in low eld microwave absorption measurement. This new revelation may lead to unconventional avenues to explore novel SC for applications in superconducting spintronics. By means of a varienty of techniques, including EPR, SEM, FTIR, PPMS/VSM and XRD, nanonickel incorporated YBCO in di erent weighting factors have been studied. With its complex chemical structure and magnetic properties, Ni-YBCO is far from well understood and the magentic behavior of the system under di erent conditions is investi- gated. From the dilute mixture of nanonickel particles, it is found that groups of normal Josephson junctions (JJs) and JJs due to YBCO-nickel-YBCO interparticle weaklinks form as nickel is ferromagnetic. We experimentally show, for the rst time multiple phase reversals in the non-resonant microwave absorption (NRMA) spectra from Ni-YBCO pos- sibly, due to the formation of JJs. We also show that these multiple phase reversals then vii depend on microwave power and temperature. We argue that microwave power induced coherence among some groups of JJs and breaking of some of the weaker JJs can then lead to the disappearance of multiple phase reversals at higher microwave power levels. Further, we also report a role of pair breaking e ects that shall give a linear eld de- pendence of the derivative microwave absorption signal, which is essentially the NRMA signal. This pair-breaking e ect dominates at temperatures closer to Tc as expected thermodynamically. The presence of two peaks in the system, results in high permeability ferromagnet which acts as a magnetic short circuit for magnetic ux density and creates low reluctance path. A transition from normal to anomalous does not occur in this work, because of the possibility of junction in the sample. As predictable at the region around the origin where the weaklinks are supposed to be very strong for a very low doping or low nanonickel addition ( 0.5 % wt), not much e ect was observed. However, when the nanonickel addition is increased to 2 % and 3% we see a signi cant change in the magnetization and the associated hysteresis, indicating ux pinning. / NRF

Measuring with high precision the electrical resistance of highly ordered natural graphite samples from a Brazil mine, we have identified a transition at ∼350 K with ∼40 K transition width. The steplike change in temperature of the resistance, its magnetic irreversibility and time dependence after a field change, consistent with trapped flux and flux creep, and the partial magnetic flux expulsion obtained by magnetization measurements, suggest the existence of granular superconductivity below 350 K. The zero-field virgin state can only be reached again after zero field cooling the sample from above the transition. Paradoxically, the extraordinarily high transition temperature we found for this and several other graphite samples is the reason why this transition remained undetected so far. The existence of well ordered rhombohedral graphite phase in all measured samples has been proved by x-rays diffraction measurements, suggesting its interfaces with the Bernal phase as a possible origin for the high-temperature superconductivity, as theoretical studies predicted. The localization of the granular superconductivity at these two dimensional interfaces prevents the observation of a zero resistance state or of a full Meissner state.

In this thesis, the results of analyzing the electronic structure of two iron-based superconductors: FeSe and LiFeAs are presented. To access the electronic structure, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy was used. In our analysis, we focus on the structure of the superconducting gap and the influence of nematicity on the electronic structure. We have revealed changes in the electronic structure of FeSe caused by nematicity in all parts of the Brillouin zone. A scale of these changes is smaller than it was believed earlier. Also, we have observed an anomalous shift of the dispersions in opposite directions with temperature in this material. We have observed anisotropic superconducting gap on all sheets of the Fermi surfaces of both: FeSe and LiFeAs. We have shown that in LiFeAs, rotational symmetry is broken in the superconducting state, which manifests not only in the gap symmetry but also in the shapes of the Fermi surfaces sheets. This result indicates a realization of a novel phenomenon of superconductivity-induced nematicity:1 Iron-based superconductors 1.1 Introduction to iron-based superconductors 1.2 LiFeAs - special iron-based superconductor 1.3 FeSe - structurally simplest iron-based superconductor 2 Angle-Resolved Photoemission 3 Temperature evolution of the electronic structure of FeSe 3.1 Effects of nematicity from low-temperature measurements 3.2 Temperature dependent shift of the dispersions 3.3 Discussion and conclusions 4 Three-dimensional superconducting gap in FeSe 4.1 Superconducting gap on the electron-like pockets 4.2 Superconducting gap on the hole-like pocket 4.3 Discussion and conclusions 5 Superconductivity-induced nematicity in LiFeAs 5.1 Superconducting gap 5.2 Nematicity 5.3 Discussion and conclusions Summary

Title: U in metastable systems: structure, magnetism, and superconductivity Author: Volodymyr Buturlim Department / Institute: Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University Supervisor of the doctoral thesis: Doc. RNDr. Ladislav Havela, CSc., Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Prague, The Czech Republic Abstract: This thesis presents studies of U-Nb and U-Ti alloys and hydrides synthesized via different technological paths. Investigation of the microstructure of the alloys with different concentrations of Ti (Nb) allowed to find the optimum setting for stabilization of the metastable bcc U allotrope. Ultra-fast cooling accompanied by alloying leads to retention of materials with high degree of atomic disorder apparent from the studies of their transport properties. The alloys exhibit a weakly paramagnetic ground state and low-temperature superconductivity, the critical temperature of which has only moderate variations with Ti (Nb) concentrations and which has very high upper critical fields. Interaction with hydrogen allows to stabilize two distinctive forms of hydride: β-UH3 and UTi2Hx. β-UH3 alloyed by Ti (Nb) orders ferromagnetically with transition temperatures exceeding 170 K, weakly influenced...

We have studied two different systems of compounds, YPd2Al3 and CenTmIn3n+2m. Polycrystalline YPd2Al3, a new member of the REPd2Al3 system, was prepared by arc melting. The X-ray diffraction confirmed that YPd2Al3 crystallizes in the hexagonal PrNi2Al3-type structure as the other REPd2Al3 compounds. Magnetization, AC susceptibility, specific heat and resistivity measurements revealed superconductivity below Ts ≈ 2.2 K. The second part of the work was focused on studies of Ce2PdIn8 and Pd-doped CenRhIn3n+2. Single crystals of Ce2Rh1-xPdxIn8 with x = 0, 0.10, 0.15, 0.30, 0.45, 0.85, 1 and CeRh1-xPdxIn5 with x = 0, 0.1, 0.25 were prepared by solution growth method. The quality of crystals was confirmed by microprobe analysis and X-ray diffraction. The effect of Pd doping on magnetism of CenRh1-xPdxIn3n+2 was studied by specific heat, magnetization and resistivity measurements. The Pd doping gradually suppresses the Néel temperature in both systems, however the effect is stronger in Ce2Rh1-xPdxIn8. Temperature dependence of resistivity of CeRh0.75Pd0.25In5 was studied in pressure up to 2.2 GPa. Similar to CeRhIn5, the antiferromagnetism is gradually suppressed by the applied pressure, while superconductivity is induced and coexists with antiferromagnetism.

Presented thesis focuses on the study of transport properties of two intermetallic compounds, CeRhSi3 and CeCuAl3, under high external pressure. High-pressure dependence of previously reported pressure induced superconductivity in CeRhSi3 is studied closely up to 4.6 GPa, focusing on the, so-far-unstudied, pressure region above 3 GPa. After reaching maximal value at 2.9 GPa, the critical temperature of superconducting transition is gradually suppressed by further pressure application. Extensive search for possible pressure induced superconductivity in CeCuAl3 is conducted, employing solid-pressure-medium Bridgman anvil cells with theoretical pressure limit of 12 GPa. No pressure induced superconductivity is observed up to 4.5 GPa and down to 8 mK. Additionally, a calibration study of three liquid pressure exchange media from Daphne Oil 7000 series is carried out in order to advance high pressure experimental techniques. Comprehensive results about hydrostaticity, solidification, pressure drop and compressibility of individual pressure media are presented.

This work is focused on the parent compounds of the Fe-chalcogenide superconductors. For this purpose poly- and single-crystalline forms of tetragonal β-FexSe, Fe1+yTe, Fe1+yTe1-xSex and Fe(1+y)-xMxTe (M = Ni, Co) have been prepared. Second focal points of this study are the low-temperature structural phase transitions and physical property changes in tetragonal Fe1+yTe which are induced by composition, external pressure, and cationic substitution.

This thesis is devoted to studies of high temperature superconductors and related materials using the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Though there is no accepted theory of superconductivity, encompassing high-$T_{\\rm c}$ materials, there is enough evidence to believe that superconductivity can always be interpreted as stemming from pairing of electrons by interaction with bosons, and $T_{\\rm c}$ is determined by effectiveness of such a pairing. ARPES, owing to the possibility of recording energy- and momentum-resolved electronic spectrum, is a powerful probe of the normal-state electronic structure, which is an important prerequisite for the superconductivity, and implications of the electron pairing, such as emergence of the superconducting gap and finer features below $T_{\\rm c}$. Based on ARPES data one can quantify the electronic interactions by analysis of kinks in the dispersion curves, spectral line widths etc. In current work new methods of ARPES data analysis were developed and applied to the spectra taken from cuprate and iron-based high-$T_{\\rm c}$. The possibility to analyze the macroscopic response of solids in the normal state as well as in the superconducting and charge-density-wave phases basing on the experimentally measured renormalized band dispersion and anisotropic superconducting and charge-density-wave gap was shown. The thesis consists of five parts. Part 1 introduces the employed notions of electrons in solids and methods of their investigation. Part 2 describes the Voigt fitting procedure, allowed for purification of the spectra from resolution effects, and, consequently, for determination of the quasiparticle scattering rate with enhanced precision. In Part 3 the calculation of the temperature-dependent Hall coefficient in the charge-density-wave-bearing 2H-TaSe$_2$ from the band dispersion, measured in ARPES, is presented, and comparison to the independent magnetotransport measurements is shown. The extraction of the band dispersion of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_{x}$Fe$_2$As$_2$ and LiFeAs from ARPES data can be found in Part 4. Agreement with Hall effect measurements on the same samples is demonstrated. Part 5 introduces the extraction of the momentum-dependent superconducting gap in iron arsenides from fitting of ARPES spectra to Dynes function. The superfluid density was calculated from the band dispersion and the superconducting gap, measured in ARPES, and compared to the ones measured by different techniques.

In this thesis, specific heat, magnetic susceptibility and resistivity studies on the iron-pnictide superconductors LiFeAs, NaFe1-xCoxAs, AFe2As2 (A = K, Ca, Ba), M1-xNaxFe2As2 (M = Ca, Ba), and Ca(Fe1-xCox)2Fe2As2 are presented, from which different intrinsic physical properties are resolved. The combined first-order spindensity wave/structural transition which occurs in the parent compounds of the 122 pnictide systems is shown to gradually shift to lower temperature for low doping levels. Upon higher doping, this transition is completely suppressed and simultaneously, superconductivity appears at lower temperature. In contrast, the phase diagram in Ca(Fe1-xCox)2Fe2As2 is shown to exhibit a pronounced region of coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity. Further important results reported in this work concern the electronic properties and superconducting-gap characteristics. In LiFeAs, the zero-field temperature dependence of the electronic specific heat can be well described by two s-wave gaps, whose magnitudes are in agreement with ARPES results. Our gap analysis in KFe2As2, Ca0.32Na0.68Fe2As2, and Ba0.65Na0.35Fe2As2 single crystals also implies the presence of two s-wave-like gaps. The magnetic phase diagram of LiFeAs and KFe2As2 for magnetic fields along both principal orientations has been constructed and an anisotropy of Hc2(T) of 3 and 5, respectively, has been obtained.

In spite of the failures to find an ultimate theory of unconventional superconductivity, after many years of research the scientific community possesses a considerable store of theoretical knowledge about the problem. Over time, the focus is gradually shifted from finding a theoretical description of an experimentally observed phenomenon to distinguishing between multiple models that offer comparably reasonable descriptions. From the point of view of an experimentalist, this means that any qualitative under-standing of an experimental observation would no longer suffice. Instead, the empha-sis in the experimental research should be shifted to accurate quantification of obser-vations, which becomes possible only if the results available from all the available ex-perimental methods are connected together by the theoretical glue. Among the meth-ods that are to be unified, ARPES plays a central role. The reason for this is that it gives access to the single-particle excitation spectrum of the material as a function of both momentum and energy with very high resolution. Other experimental techniques, such as inelastic neutron scattering (INS), Raman spectroscopy, or the newly estab-lished Fourier-transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy (FT-STS) probe more com-plicated two-particle spectra of the electrons and up to now can not achieve the mo-mentum resolution comparable with that of ARPES. Such reasoning serves as the mo-tivation for the present work, in which some steps are done towards understanding the anomalous effects observed in the single-particle excitation spectra of cuprates and relating the ARPES technique to other experimental methods. First, the electronic properties of BSCCO are considered — the superconducting cuprate most studied by surface-sensitive methods. The recent progress in un-derstanding the electronic structure of this material is reported, focusing mainly on the many-body effects (renormalization) and their manifestation in the ARPES spectra. The main result of this part of the work is a model of the Green’s function that is later used for calculating the two-particle excitation spectrum. Then, the matrix element effects in the photoemission spectra of cuprates are discussed. After a general introduction to the problem, the thesis focuses on the recently discovered anomalous behavior of the ARPES spectra that partially originates from the momentum-dependent photoemission matrix element. The momentum- and excitation energy dependence of the anomalous high-energy dispersion, termed “waterfalls”, is covered in full detail. Understanding the role of the matrix element effects in this phenomenon proves crucial, as they obstruct the view of the underlying excitation spectrum that is of indisputable interest. Finally, the work describes the relation of ARPES with other experimental methods, with the special focus on the INS spectroscopy. For the optimally doped bilayer Bi-based cuprate, the renormalized two-particle correlation function in the superconducting state is calculated from ARPES data within an itinerant model based on the random phase approximation (RPA). The results are compared with the experimental INS data on BSCCO and YBCO. The calculation is based on numerical models for the normal and anomalous Green’s functions fitted to the experimental single-particle spectra. The renormalization is taken into account both in the single-particle Green’s function by means of the self-energy, and in the two-particle correlation function by RPA. Additionally, two other applications of the same approach are briefly sketched: the relation of ARPES to FT-STS, and the nesting properties of Fermi surfaces in two-dimensional charge density wave systems.