Glassy magnetic freezing of interacting clusters in LK-99-family materials

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Teknowijoyo, Serafim, Napoletani, Domenico, Nikoghosyan, Vahan, Gulian, Armen
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Teknowijoyo, Serafim
Napoletani, Domenico
Nikoghosyan, Vahan
Gulian, Armen
author_facet Teknowijoyo, Serafim
Napoletani, Domenico
Nikoghosyan, Vahan
Gulian, Armen
contents We report reproducible magnetization anomalies appearing below room temperature in copper-doped apatite materials belonging to the LK-99 family synthesized via hydrothermal methods. These anomalies are observed consistently across samples prepared under comparable conditions. Although the extracted Mydosh parameter lies within the range often associated with vortex-glass behavior in superconductors, a detailed analysis of DC magnetization, AC susceptibility, field dependence, and magnetic memory effects demonstrates that the observed phenomena are not related to superconductivity. Instead, the data are consistent with glassy magnetic freezing of interacting clusters. Compositional and structural analysis identifies covellite (CuS), an ubiquitous secondary phase in these intrinsically multiphase materials, as the primary origin of the observed behavior. Our results clarify the magnetic origin of LK-99-related anomalies and highlight the importance of phase complexity in interpreting apparent superconducting signatures in this materials family.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_23377
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Glassy magnetic freezing of interacting clusters in LK-99-family materials
Teknowijoyo, Serafim
Napoletani, Domenico
Nikoghosyan, Vahan
Gulian, Armen
Superconductivity
We report reproducible magnetization anomalies appearing below room temperature in copper-doped apatite materials belonging to the LK-99 family synthesized via hydrothermal methods. These anomalies are observed consistently across samples prepared under comparable conditions. Although the extracted Mydosh parameter lies within the range often associated with vortex-glass behavior in superconductors, a detailed analysis of DC magnetization, AC susceptibility, field dependence, and magnetic memory effects demonstrates that the observed phenomena are not related to superconductivity. Instead, the data are consistent with glassy magnetic freezing of interacting clusters. Compositional and structural analysis identifies covellite (CuS), an ubiquitous secondary phase in these intrinsically multiphase materials, as the primary origin of the observed behavior. Our results clarify the magnetic origin of LK-99-related anomalies and highlight the importance of phase complexity in interpreting apparent superconducting signatures in this materials family.
title Glassy magnetic freezing of interacting clusters in LK-99-family materials
topic Superconductivity
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.23377