Magnetic orientation and control of magnetic anisotropy in thermoelectric and superconducting materials with layered crystal structures

We report magnetic orientation of layered functional materials, thermoelectric and superconducting compounds, with feeble magnetic susceptibility using three different magnetic orientation techniques and control of their magnetic anisotropies. For thermoelectric layered oxides, the combination of magnetic orientation and electrophoretic deposition enabled the fabrication of multi-layered thermoelectric modules containing a highly oriented thermoelectric layer formed by the static field. For superconducting compounds, tri-axial orientation of RF-based high critical temperature superconductors with and without twin microstructure using a modulated rotation magnetic field was attempted, and their magnetization axes at room temperature were determined. Moreover, we now focus on the magnetic orientation of Iron-based pnictide superconductors in epoxy resin, and these magnetic orientation techniques are useful for the fabrication of functional materials with high performance and for the clarification of mechanism of superconductivity in Iron-based pnictides. (author)