Anisotropic properties of aligned weak-ferromagnetic superconductor RuSr$_2$GdCu$_{2}$O$_{8}$

The $\it{ab}$-plane aligned powder in epoxy matrix for the tetragonal RuSr$_{2}$GdCu$_{2}$O$_{8}$ weak-ferromagnetic superconductor was achieved using a field powder alignment method with $\it{ab}$-plane parallel to the applied magnetic field. The $\it{c}$-axis aligned powder can also be obtained using the field-rotation method where $\it{c}$-axis is perpendicular to the applied magnetic field and along the rotation axis. The temperature dependence of magnetic moment m (T) for the aligned powder provides the desired anisotropic properties where larger magnetic moment along the $\it{ab}$- plane was observed. The field-cooled (FC) and zero-field-cooled (ZFC) data in low applied field (1 G) for both directions indicate a weak-ferromagnetic (canted-antiferromagnetic) transition of Ru moment at T$_N$(Ru) = 131 K and a superconducting transition in the CuO$_{2}$ plane at T$_{c}$ = 39 K. The low temperature antiferromagnetic ordering of the rare earth Gd moment is observed at T$_{N}$(Gd) = 2.5 K. Diamagnetic superconducting shielding signal is much weaker than bulk sample due to small powder diameter (1-10 $\mu$m), long penetration depth $\lambda$ and the two-dimensional (2D) character of CuO$_{2}$ plane. Low temperature, low field magnetization data m(B$_{a}$,T) will be discussed.