Investigation of superconducting and non-superconducting phases of Na₀Ì£₃CoO₂·1.3H₂0

The discovery of unconventional superconductivity in hydrated Na₀Ì£₃CoO₂·1.3H₂0 has lead to active research work on the material over the last year due to its similarities and possible insight into the high-T[sub]c copper oxide superconductors as well as the possibility of other rich physical phenomenon. In this thesis, experimental evidence is presented illustrating the existence and properties of a previously unknown non-superconducting phase of Na₀Ì£₃CoO₂·1.3H₂0. This evidence includes magnetic susceptibility and x-ray scattering studies which suggest that the appearance of this phase is not due to underhydration and that a superconducting state can be restored via annealing at temperatures above roughly 340 K. Furthermore, synchrotron x-ray scattering of the non-superconductor reveals a 3-c modulation which is clearly absent in the superconducting phase of the material as well as unexpected temperature dependence behavior in the associated Bragg peaks.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Garcia, Daniel Robert, 1982-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Young S. Lee.

• Physics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32738

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/32738