Synthesis, structure, magnetic properties and EPR spectroscopy of a copper(II) coordination polymer with a ditopic hydrazone ligand and acetate bridges.

A new one dimensional coordination polymer of copper(II), [Cu4(L)2(µ2-1,1-OAc)2(µ2-1,3-OAc)4]n (1), has been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic methods and single crystal X-ray analysis [HL = (E)-N'-(phenyl(pyridin-2-yl)methylene)isonicotinhydrazide, OAc = acetate anion]. The coordination polymer contains two kinds of Cu(II) dimers which are connected by two types of acetate (µ2-1,1- and µ2-1,3-) bridging groups. The ditopic isonicotinhydrazone ligand coordinates to the Cu1 center through the N2O-donor set and connects to the Cu2 center by a pyridine group of the isonicotine part. The EPR and magnetic susceptibility measurements confirm the existence of two kinds of Cu(II) dimers. The intradimer isotropic exchange was estimated to be +0.80(1) cm(-1) for the ferromagnetic Cu1···Cu1 dimeric unit and -315 (1) cm(-1) for the antiferromagnetic Cu2···Cu2 dimeric unit.

Domain-wall superconductivity in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids.

Superconductivity and magnetism are two antagonistic cooperative phenomena, and the intriguing problem of their coexistence has been studied for several decades. Recently, artificial hybrid superconductor-ferromagnet systems have been commonly used as model systems to reveal the interplay between competing superconducting and magnetic order parameters, and to verify the existence of new physical phenomena, including the predicted domain-wall superconductivity (DWS). Here we report the experimental observation of DWS in superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids using a niobium film on a BaFe(12)O(19) single crystal. We found that the critical temperature T(c) of the superconductivity nucleation in niobium increases with increasing field until it reaches the saturation field of BaFe(12)O(19). In accordance with the field-shift of the maximum value of T(c), pronounced hysteresis effects have been found in resistive transitions. We argue that the compensation of the applied field by the stray fields of the magnetic domains as well as the change in the domain structure is responsible for the appearance of the DWS and the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetism in the superconductor-ferromagnet hybrids.