TY - JOUR A1 - Hanna, Abanoub R. N. A1 - Abdel-Hafiez, Mahmoud T1 - Single-crystal growth and small anisotropy of the lower critical field in oxypnictides: NdFeAsO1 − xFx T2 - Crystals N2 - High-quality single crystals of the unconventional superconductor NdFeAsO1 − xFx were grown. We developed a new optimized flux technique to overcome the difficulties in single-crystal growth and the sample quality limitations of NdFeAsO1 − xFx. The normal state of the F-doped samples exhibits simple metallic behavior upon cooling down from room temperature, followed by a sharp superconducting transition. The values of residual resistivity ratio (RRR) is 3.2, 6.4, and 10.3 for x = 0.1, 0.15, and 0.2, respectively. Both the large RRR and the narrow superconducting transition signpost the high quality of the crystals. We have examined the in- and out-of-plane lower critical fields, and the field at which vortices penetrate the sample of NdFeAsO1 − xFx (x = 0.1). The anisotropy ratio [γHc1 (0)] increased slightly with increasing temperature from 0.8 Tc to Tc. The temperature dependence of the first vortex penetration field was obtained under the static magnetic field, H, parallel to the c- and ab- axis, and pronounced changes in the Hc1(T) curvature were observed, which are attributed to the multi-band superconductivity. KW - crystal growth KW - unconventional superconductor KW - lower critical field Y1 - 2020 UR - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/54792 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-547925 SN - 2073-4352 VL - 10 IS - 362 PB - MDPI CY - Basel ER -