Search for new phases in the Praseodymium-Silicon system

ORAL

Abstract

We searched for new superconducting and magnetic phases in the Pr-Si system using high-pressure high-temperature and conventional arc melting syntheses. High pressure synthesis is a unique technique which allows incorporation of elements into compounds which otherwise cannot be synthesized at ambient pressure Both high and low Si concentration areas of the phase diagram were explored. To investigate the high Si concentration compounds, PrSi$_2$ with an excess of Si was subjected to HP-HT synthesis. To explore the high Pr concentration binary compound Pr$_5$Si$_3$, we have synthesized undoped Pr$_5$Si$_3$ as well as different samples doped with C or B. High resolution X-ray powder diffraction, Magnetic Field Modulated Microwave Spectroscopy and magnetic characterization found that the addition of C gave rise to multiple previously-unknown ferromagnetic phases. Furthermore, X-ray refinement of the undoped samples confirmed the existence of the so far unconfirmed Pr$_3$Si$_2$ phase.

*Work supported by AFOSR MURI \#F49550-09-1-0577 dedicated to Search for New Superconductors for Energy and Power A . Use of the Advanced Photon Source at ANL was supported by the U. S. DoE, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Contract No. DE-AC02-06CH11357.

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Authors

  • Jose de la Venta

    • University of California San Diego

  • Ali C. Basaran

    • University of California San Diego
    • Center for Advanced Nanoscience, Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • University of California - San Diego

  • Ted Grant

    • University of California Irvine

  • J. Gallardo-Amores

    • Universidad Complutense

  • Gabriel Ramirez

    • University of California San Diego
    • University of California, San Diego

  • Matthew Suchomel

    • Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory
    • X-Ray Science Division Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois 60439, USA

  • M.A. Alario-Franco

    • Universidad Complutense

  • Zachary Fisk

    • University of California Irvine
    • University of California, Irvine
    • University of California - Irvine

  • Ivan K. Schuller

    • Department of Physics and Center for Advanced Nanoscience, University of California-San Diego, USA
    • University of California San Diego
    • Center for Advanced Nanoscience, Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093, U.S.A
    • University of California, San Diego
    • University of California - San Diego