# Magneto-Transport Properties of the Rutheno-Cuprate RuSr2GdCu2O8

## 1 INTRODUCTION

The original motivation for the synthesis of RuSr<sub>2</sub>GdCu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>8</sub> was to incorporate a metallic interlayer between the CuO<sub>2</sub> planes, increasing their coupling and hence their critical current. However, soon after the first successful synthesis  the material was found to display not only superconductivity, but coexisting ferromagnetism as well, first in the sister compound $`R_{1.4}`$Ce<sub>0.6</sub>RuSr<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>10-δ</sub> ($`R`$=Gd and Eu), and then in Ru-1212 itself. Evidence has accumulated from static magnetisation and muon spin rotation ($`\mu `$SR) studies, and more recently from Gd-eSR indicating that the two phases coexist on a truly microscopic scale. In this paper we explore the interaction between the transport carriers in the CuO<sub>2</sub> layers and the ferromagnetic Ru moments. We analyse magnetisation and MR data for the same sample in terms of the s-d model, and derive a value for the exchange interaction energy.

## 2 EXPERIMENTAL

Phase-pure sintered pellets of RuSr<sub>2</sub>GdCu<sub>2</sub>O<sub>8</sub> were synthesized via solid-state reaction of a stoichiometric mixture of high-purity metal oxides and SrCO<sub>3</sub>. A final extended anneal at 1060C in flowing high-purity O<sub>2</sub> produced a marked improvement in the crystallinity of the compound and a corresponding lower residual resistivity (Fig 1a).

Bars of approximate dimensions 4$`\times `$0.8$`\times `$0.4mm were cut using a diamond wheel and mounted on quartz substrates in a six-contact configuration allowing both resistance and Hall voltage to be measured simultaneously.

Field-sweeps were performed at constant temperature by controlling with a capacitance thermometer. A small correction was made for the drift in capacitance, and hence temperature, with time (typically $`<`$150mK during one 0-11-0T field cycle). A Cernox thermometer was used to control the temperature sweeps for the resistivity measurements, for which alternating current densities of around 0.25Acm<sup>-2</sup> were used.

Magnetisation measurements were made on a sample of dimensions $``$ 10$`\times `$1$`\times `$1mm using a commercial SQUID magnetometer, with the field parallel to the long axis up to a maximum of 50 kOe.

## 3 RESULTS

### 3.1 Transport data

Figure 1a shows the zero-field resistivity as a function of temperature. It is metallic in character at high temperatures, with a slight upturn above $`T_c`$. In this sample both the size of the upturn, and the residual resistance have been lowered relative to the as-grown sample by the extended anneal mentioned above, while the TEP and Hall coefficient show little change. This suggests that the upturn is due to grain boundary effects.

The Hall effect data (Fig. 1b) are similar to those obtained for heavily under-doped polycrystalline YBa<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7-δ</sub>, which has $`R_H=6.1\times 10^9`$m<sup>3</sup>C<sup>-1</sup> at 300K  for an oxygen deficiency, $`\delta =0.62`$. The thermoelectric power (TEP) data are also characteristic of a heavily under-doped high-$`T_c`$ cuprate, with about 0.06 to 0.07 holes per Cu atom.

Figure 2 shows a selection of the MR data for temperatures above and below $`T_{Curie}`$. For $`T>T_{Curie}`$ the MR is always negative and it decreases as $`H^2`$ for temperatures well above $`T_{Curie}`$. This field dependence arises from the freezing out of spin-disorder scattering as the Ru moments become aligned with the magnetic field. Close to $`T_{Curie}`$ the MR becomes quite linear over the range of $`H`$ investigated, and for lower temperatures displays a positive peak at 15 to 20kOe (Fig. 2b).

### 3.2 Magnetisation Data

Magnetisation measurements were made both as a function of temperature and field. The temperature sweeps may be fitted using a ferromagnetic (Curie-Weiss) plus paramagnetic (Curie) expression of the form $`\chi (T)=\frac{C_1}{T\theta }+\frac{C_2}{T}`$ . The ferromagnetic term, $`C_1`$, is associated with the Ru moments, while the Gd moments are paramagnetic. Fitting our $`\chi \left(T\right)`$ data in this way for temperatures between 150 and 300 K gives $`\mu _{Ru}=1.1\mu _B`$ and $`\mu _{Gd}=7.4\mu _B`$, in agreement with previous results. The $`C_2/T`$ term is later subtracted from data obtained via the field sweeps, leaving just the ferromagnetic component which we then compare with the MR data.

### 3.3 Exchange energy

We employ the Zener, or s-d model of a ferromagnetic metal, in which itinerant $`s`$ electrons interact with $`d`$ electrons localized at atomic sites. This model was extended by Kasuya to calculate the MR of dilute magnetic alloys. Assuming negligible potential scattering from the spatially ordered Ru moments, the magnetic contribution to the resistivity becomes

$$\mathrm{\Delta }\rho \frac{2\pi N_{ϵ_F}}{zN_V}\frac{m}{e^2\mathrm{}}cJ_{ex}^2S(S+1)\alpha ^2\frac{4}{27}$$
(1)   
Where $`N_{ϵ_F}`$ is the density of states per spin per unit cell and $`N_V`$ is the number of unit cells per unit volume, each containing $`z`$ conduction electrons of mass $`m`$. $`J_{ex}`$ is the exchange interaction between the spins and conduction electrons and $`c`$ is the spin concentration.

In the limit of high temperatures $`\left(\alpha =\frac{g\mu _BH}{k_BT}1\right)`$, $`S_zS(S+1)\alpha /3`$ and the magnetisation is $`M=\mu _BgS_z`$. Substituting into eqn. 1 gives the well-known experimental result $`\mathrm{\Delta }\rho M^2`$ for dilute magnetic alloys.

Figure 3 shows the magnetoresistance plotted against magnetic field for three temperatures above T<sub>Curie</sub>. The square of the Ru magnetisation is also plotted, the paramagnetic Gd component having been subtracted.

Though this material is not a dilute alloy, the s-d model is a good fit to the data for temperatures well above T<sub>Curie</sub>, allowing an estimate of the exchange interaction $`J_{ex}`$ to be made. The Uemura relation gives $`n_s/m=4.8\times 10^{56,}`$ based on a $`T_c`$ of 46K, and with $`N_{ϵ_F}3\times 10^{19}`$ J<sup>-1,</sup>  we derive an exchange interaction of 27-47 meV depending on the choice of $`c`$, the higher value being for transport solely in the CuO<sub>2</sub> planes. These values are of the order of the superconducting energy gap and so would be expected to have a significant effect on the superconducting properties.

## 4 CONCLUSIONS

The above results lead us to two possible scenarios. The first is that the RuO<sub>2</sub> layer is a local-moment ferromagnet, the transport occurring in the CuO<sub>2</sub> layers. In this case it is easy to understand the resistivity, TEP and Hall data, but difficult to see why such a large exchange field between the carriers and Ru moments does not seriously affect the superconductivity. The second scenario is that significant current flows in the RuO<sub>2</sub> planes and the material is therefore an itinerant ferromagnet. In this case the MR is determined by interactions between Ru spins and RuO<sub>2</sub> carriers, which can be large without affecting the superconductivity. It is, however, more difficult to understand the resistivity, TEP and Hall data within this scenario.

## ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to thank J.W. Loram for many helpful discussions. This work was supported by the UK EPSRC, grant RG26680.