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In scientific research, both positive and negative results play crucial role in advancing the field. Negative results provide valuable insights that can guide future experiments and prevent repeated failures. Here we present our growth attempts of Sr3Ru2O7 thin films using the hybrid molecular beam epitaxy. X-ray diffraction suggests nominally phase-pure films. A combination of magnetoresistance and magnetization measurements exhibits an onset of ferromagnetism at 170 K and 100 K, along with a metamagnetic-like transition at 40 K. These results could initially be interpreted as intrinsic behavior of strain-engineered Sr3Ru2O7 films. However, detailed microstructural analysis reveals intergrowths of Sr2RuO4, Sr4Ru3O10, and SrRuO3 phases, dispersed throughout the film. Our findings suggest that the Sr3Ru2O7 films are likely paramagnetic, with the observed ferromagnetism arising from the Sr4Ru3O10 and SrRuO3 phases. Our results highlight the need for detailed microstructural analysis when interpreting new material properties influenced by strain and microstructure., Comment: 16 pages

Symmetric anisotropic interaction can be ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic at the same time but for different crystallographic axes. We show that inducing competition of anisotropic interactions of orthogonal irreducible representations represents a general route to obtain new exotic magnetic states. We demonstrate it here by observing the emergence of a continuously tunable 12-layer spatial spin modulation when distorting the square lattice planes in the quasi-2D antiferromagnetic Sr2IrO4 under in situ shear strain. This translation-symmetry-breaking phase is a result of an unusual strain activated anisotropic interaction which is at the 4th order and competing with the inherent quadratic anisotropic interaction. Such a mechanism of competing anisotropy is distinct from that among the ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, and/or the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, and it could be widely applicable and highly controllable in low dimensional magnets.

While geometrically frustrated quantum magnets are known for a variety of exotic spin states that are of great interests of understanding emergent phenomena as well as enabling revolutionary quantum technologies, most of them are necessarily good insulators which are difficult to be integrated with modern electrical circuit that relies on moving charge carriers. The grand challenge of converting fluctuations and excitations of frustrated moments into electronic responses is finding ways to introduce charge carriers that interact with the localized spins without destroying the spin states. Here, we show that, by designing a Bi2Ir2O7/Dy2Ti2O7 heterostructure, the breaking of the spin ice rule in insulating Dy2Ti2O7 can lead to a charge response in the Bi2Ir2O7 conducting layer that can be detected as anomalous magnetoresistance. These results demonstrate a novel and feasible interfacial approach for electronically probing exotic spin states in insulating magnets, laying out a blueprint for the metallization of frustrated quantum magnets.

A long-standing theoretical prediction is that in clean, nodal unconventional superconductors the magnetic penetration depth $\lambda$, at zero temperature, varies linearly with magnetic field. This non-linear Meissner effect is an equally important manifestation of the nodal state as the well studied linear-in-$T$ dependence of $\lambda$, but has never been convincingly experimentally observed. Here we present measurements of the nodal superconductors CeCoIn$_5$ and LaFePO which clearly show this non-linear Meissner effect. We further show how the effect of a small dc magnetic field on $\lambda(T)$ can be used to distinguish gap nodes from non-nodal deep gap minima. Our measurements of KFe$_2$As$_2$ suggest that this material has such a non-nodal state.

The van der Waals ferromagnet Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ has recently attracted extensive research attention due to its intertwined magnetic, electronic and topological properties. Here, using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we systematically investigate the temperature evolution of the electronic structure of bulk Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$. We observe largely dispersive energy bands that are narrowed by a factor of 1.6 compared with ab-initio calculation. Upon heating towards the ferromagnetic transition near 225 K, we observe a massive reduction of quasiparticle coherence in a large energy range, which is attributed to the enhanced magnetic fluctuation in the system. Remarkably, the electron bands barely shift with increasing temperature, which deviates from the exchange splitting picture within the itinerant Stoner model. We argue that the local magnetic moments play a crucial role in the ferromagnetism of Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$, despite its strongly itinerant nature. Our results provide important insights into the electronic and magnetic properties of Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ and shed light on the generic understanding of itinerant magnetism in correlated materials., Comment: 4 figures

Metamagnetism in antiferromagnets exhibits distinct critical behaviors and dynamics when invoking spin reversal and rotation. Here we show a 0.05% anisotropic strain suffices to in-situ modulate the metamagnetic critical field of the Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 by over 50%, enabling electrical switching of the transition. Resonant x-ray scattering and model simulation reveal that the transition is completely tuned from the spin-flop to spin-flip type as the strain introduces C4-symmetry-breaking magnetic anisotropy. Simultaneous transport study indicates the metamagnetic responses are reflected in the large elasto- and magnetoconductance, highlighting the active charge degree of freedom in the spin-orbit-coupled Mott state and its potential for spin-electronics.

We report results of Raman scattering experiments on twin-free BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ with the main focus placed on understanding the influence of electronic and spin degrees of freedom on the lattice dynamics. In particular, we scrutinize the $E_g$ modes and the As $A_{1g}$ mode. Each of the two $E_g$ phonons in the tetragonal phase is observed to split into a $B_{2g}$ and a $B_{3g}$ mode upon entering the orthorhombic stripe-magnetic phase. The splitting amounts to approximately 10\,cm$^{-1}$ and less than 5\,cm$^{-1}$ for the low- and the high-energy $E_g$ mode, respectively. The detailed study of the fully symmetric As mode using parallel incident and outgoing photon polarizations along either the antiferromagnetic or the ferromagnetic Fe-Fe direction reveals an anisotropic variation of the spectral weight with the energy of the exciting laser indicating a polarization-dependent resonance effect. Along with the experiments we present results from density functional theory calculations of the phonon eigenvectors, the dielectric function, and the Raman tensor elements. The comparison of theory and experiment indicates that (i) orbital-selective electronic correlations are crucial to understand the lattice dynamics and (ii) all phonon anomalies originate predominantly from the magnetic ordering and the corresponding reconstruction of the electronic bands at all energies.

We study the interplay of fluctuations and superconductivity in BaFe$_2$As$_2$ (Ba-122) compounds with Ba and Fe substituted by K ($p$ doping) and Co ($n$ doping), respectively. To this end we measured electronic Raman spectra as a function of polarisation and temperature. We observe gap excitations and fluctuations for all doping levels studied. The response from fluctuations is much stronger for Co substitution and, according to the selection rules and the temperature dependence, originates from the exchange of two critical spin fluctuations with characteristic wave vectors $(\pm\pi, 0)$ and $(0,\pm\pi)$. At 22\% K doping ($p=0.22$), we find the same selection rules and spectral shape for the fluctuations but the intensity is smaller by a factor of 5. Since there exists no nematic region above the orthorhombic spin-density-wave (SDW) phase the identification of the fluctuations via the temperature dependence is not possible. The gap excitations in the superconducting state indicate strongly anisotropic near-nodal gaps for Co substitution which make the observation of collective modes difficult. The variation with doping of the spectral weights of the $A_{1g}$ and $B_{1g}$ gap features does not support the influence of fluctuations on Cooper pairing. Therefore, the observation of Bardasis-Schrieffer modes inside the nearly clean gaps on the K-doped side remains the only experimental evidence for the relevance of fluctuations for pairing., Comment: 10 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Status Solidi B

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) monolayers MXY (M=Mo, W, X(not equal to)Y=S, Se, Te) are two-dimensional polar semiconductors. Setting WSeTe monolayer as an example and using density functional theory calculations, we investigate the manipulation of Rashba spin orbit coupling (SOC) in the MXY monolayer. It is found that the intrinsic out-of-plane electric field due to the mirror symmetry breaking induces the large Rashba spin splitting around the Gamma point, which, however, can be easily tuned by applying the in-plane biaxial strain. Through a relatively small strain (from -2% to 2%), a large tunability (from around -50% to 50%) of Rashba SOC can be obtained due to the modified orbital overlap, which can in turn modulate the intrinsic electric field. The orbital selective external potential method further confirms the significance of the orbital overlap between W-dz2 and Se-pz in Rashba SOC. In addition, we also explore the influence of the external electric field on Rashba SOC in the WSeTe monolayer, which is less effective than strain. The large Rashba spin splitting, together with the valley spin splitting in MXY monolayers may make a special contribution to semiconductor spintronics and valleytronics.

We present evidence for nuclear spin-lattice relaxation driven by glassy nematic fluctuations in isovalent P-doped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ single crystals. Both the $^{75}$As and $^{31}$P sites exhibit stretched-exponential relaxation similar to the electron-doped systems. By comparing the hyperfine fields and the relaxation rates at these sites we find that the As relaxation cannot be explained solely in terms of magnetic spin fluctuations. We demonstrate that nematic fluctuations couple to the As nuclear quadrupolar moment and can explain the excess relaxation. These results suggest that glassy nematic dynamics are a universal phenomenon in the iron-based superconductors., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We present electrical resistivity and ac-susceptibility measurements of GdTe$_3$, TbTe$_3$ and DyTe$_3$ performed under pressure. An upper charge-density-wave (CDW) is suppressed at a rate of $\mathrm{d}T_{\mathrm{CDW,1}}/\mathrm{d}P$ = $-$85 K/GPa. For TbTe$_3$ and DyTe$_3$, a second CDW below $T_{\mathrm{CDW,2}}$ increases with pressure until it reaches the $T_{\mathrm{CDW,1}}$($P$) line. For GdTe$_3$, the lower CDW emerges as pressure is increased above $\sim$ 1 GPa. As these two CDW states are suppressed with pressure, superconductivity (SC) appears in the three compounds at lower temperatures. Ac-susceptibility experiments performed on TbTe$_3$ provide compelling evidence for bulk SC in the low-pressure region of the phase diagram. We provide measurements of superconducting critical fields and discuss the origin of a high-pressure superconducting phase occurring above 5 GPa., Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures

We perform, as a function of uniaxial stress, an optical-reflectivity investigation of the representative 'parent' ferropnictide BaFe$_2$As$_2$ in a broad spectral range, across the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic phase transition and the onset of the long-range antiferromagnetic order (AFM). The infrared response reveals that the $dc$ transport anisotropy in the orthorhombic AFM state is determined by the interplay between the Drude spectral weight and the scattering rate, but that the dominant effect is clearly associated with the metallic spectral weight. In the paramagnetic tetragonal phase, though, the $dc$ resistivity anisotropy of strained samples is almost exclusively due to stress-induced changes in the Drude weight rather than in the scattering rate, definitively establishing the anisotropy of the Fermi surface parameters as the primary effect driving the $dc$ transport properties in the electronic nematic state., Comment: figures with low resolution because of limit by upload

The bistability of ordered spin states in ferromagnets (FMs) provides the magnetic memory functionality. Traditionally, the macroscopic moment of ordered spins in FMs is utilized to write information on magnetic media by a weak external magnetic field, and the FM stray field is used for reading. However, the latest generation of magnetic random access memories demonstrates a new efficient approach in which magnetic fields are replaced by electrical means for reading and writing. This concept may eventually leave the sensitivity of FMs to magnetic fields as a mere weakness for retention and the FM stray fields as a mere obstacle for high-density memory integration. In this paper we report a room-temperature bistable antiferromagnetic (AFM) memory which produces negligible stray fields and is inert in strong magnetic fields. We use a resistor made of an FeRh AFM whose transition to a FM order 100 degrees above room-temperature, allows us to magnetically set different collective directions of Fe moments. Upon cooling to room-temperature, the AFM order sets in with the direction the AFM moments pre-determined by the field and moment direction in the high temperature FM state. For electrical reading, we use an antiferromagnetic analogue of the anisotropic magnetoresistance (AMR). We report microscopic theory modeling which confirms that this archetypical spintronic effect discovered more than 150 years ago in FMs, can be equally present in AFMs. Our work demonstrates the feasibility to realize room-temperature spintronic memories with AFMs which greatly expands the magnetic materials base for these devices and offers properties which are unparalleled in FMs.

An intriguing aspect of unconventional superconductivity is that it always appears in the vicinity of other competing phases, whose suppression brings the full emergence of superconductivity. In the iron-pnictides, these competing phases are marked by a tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition and a collinear spin-density-wave (SDW) transition. There has been macroscopic evidence for competition between these phases and superconductivity as the magnitude of both the orthorhombicity and magnetic moment are suppressed in the superconducting state. Here, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy on detwinned underdoped $Ba_{1-x}K_xFe_2As_2$, we observe a coexistence of both the SDW gap and superconducting gap in the same electronic structure. Furthermore, our data reveal that following the onset of superconductivity, the SDW gap decreases in magnitude and shifts in a direction consistent with a reduction of the orbital anisotropy. This observation provides direct spectroscopic evidence for the dynamic competition between superconductivity and both SDW and electronic nematic orders in these materials.

We systematically investigate temperature- and spectrally-dependent optical reflectivity dynamics in AAs$_{2}$Fe$_{2}$, (A=Ba, Sr and Eu), iron-based superconductors parent spin-density-wave (SDW) compounds. Two different relaxation processes are identified. The behavior of the slower process, which is strongly sensitive to the magneto-structural transition, is analyzed in the framework of the relaxation-bottleneck model involving magnons. The results are compared to recent time resolved angular photoemission results (TR-ARPES) and possible alternative assignment of the slower relaxation to the magneto-structural order parameter relaxation is discussed.

We investigated the electronic properties of epitaxially stabilized perovskite SrIrO3 and demonstrated the effective strain-control on its electronic structure. Comprehensive transport measurements showed that the strong spin-orbit coupling renders a novel semimetallic phase for the J_eff=1/2 electrons rather than an ordinary correlated metal, elucidating the nontrivial mechanism underlying the dimensionality-controlled metal-insulator transition in iridates. The electron-hole symmetry of this correlated semimetal was found to exhibit drastic variation when subject to bi-axial strain. Under compressive strain, substantial electron-hole asymmetry is observed in contrast to the tensile side, where the electron and hole effective masses are comparable, illustrating the susceptivity of the J_eff=1/2 to structural distortion. Tensile strain also shrinks the Fermi surface, indicative of an increasing degree of correlation which is consistent with optical measurements. These results pave a pathway to investigate and manipulate the electronic states in spin-orbit-coupled correlated oxides, and lay the foundation for constructing 5d transition metal heterostructures., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

High quality epitaxial thin films of Jeff=1/2 Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 with increasing in-plane tensile strain have been grown on top of SrTiO3(001) substrates. Increasing the in-plane tensile strain up to ~0.3% was observed to drop the c/a tetragonality by 1.2 %. X-ray absorption spectroscopy detected a strong reduction of the linear dichroism upon increasing in-plane tensile strain towards a reduced anisotropy in the local electronic structure. While the most relaxed thin film shows a consistent dependence with previously reported single crystal bulk measurements, electrical transport reveals a charge gap reduction from 200 meV down to 50 meV for the thinnest and most epitaxy-distorted film. We argue that the reduced tetragonality plays a major role in the change of the electronic structure, which is reflected in the change of the transport properties. Our work opens the possibility for exploiting epitaxial strain as a tool for both structural and functional manipulation of spin-orbit Mott systems.

Charge and spin density waves, periodic modulations of the electron and magnetization densities, respectively, are among the most abundant and non-trivial low-temperature ordered phases in condensed matter. The ordering direction is widely believed to result from the Fermi surface topology. However, several recent studies indicate that this common view needs to be supplemented. Here, we show how an enhanced electron-lattice interaction can contribute to or even determine the selection of the ordering vector in the model charge density wave system ErTe3. Our joint experimental and theoretical study allows us to establish a relation between the selection rules of the electronic light scattering spectra and the enhanced electron-phonon coupling in the vicinity of band degeneracy points. This alternative proposal for charge density wave formation may be of general relevance for driving phase transitions into other broken-symmetry ground states, particularly in multiband systems such as the iron based superconductors.

We measure the transport properties of mechanically strained single crystals of BaFe$_{2}$(As$_{1-x}$P$_{x}$)$_{2}$ over a wide range of $x$. The N\'eel transition is extremely sensitive to stress and this sensitivity increases as optimal doping is approached, even though the transition itself is strongly suppressed. Furthermore, we observe significant changes in the superconducting transition temperature with applied strain, which mirror changes as a function of the composition $x$. These experiments are a direct illustration of the intimate coupling between different degrees of freedom in iron-based superconductors, revealing the importance of magneto-elastic coupling to the magnetic and superconducting transition temperatures., Comment: 7 pages, 7 Figures and 4 appendices

We performed resonant soft X-ray diffraction on known charge density wave (CDW) compounds, rare earth tri-tellurides. Near the $M_5$ (3d - 4f) absorption edge of rare earth ions, an intense diffraction peak is detected at a wavevector identical to that of CDW state hosted on Te$_2$ planes, indicating a CDW-induced modulation on the rare earth ions. Surprisingly, the temperature dependence of the diffraction peak intensity demonstrates an exponential increase at low temperatures, vastly different than that of the CDW order parameter. Assuming 4f multiplet splitting due to the CDW states,we present a model to calculate X-ray absorption spectrum and resonant profile of the diffraction peak, agreeing well with experimental observations. Our results demonstrate a situation where the temperature dependence of resonant X-ray diffraction peak intensity is not directly related to the intrinsic behavior of the order parameter associated with the electronic order, but is dominated by the thermal occupancy of the valence states., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

In addition to unconventional high-Tc superconductivity, the iron arsenides exhibit strong magnetoelastic coupling and a notable electronic anisotropy within the a-b plane. We relate these properties by studying underdoped Ba(Fe{1-x}Co{x})2As2 by x-ray diffraction in pulsed magnetic fields up to 27.5 Tesla. We exploit magnetic detwinning effects to demonstrate anisotropy in the in-plane susceptibility, which develops at the structural phase transition despite the absence of magnetic order. The degree of detwinning increases smoothly with decreasing temperature, and a single- domain condition is realized over a range of field and temperature. At low temperatures we observe an activated behavior, with a large hysteretic remnant effect. Detwinning was not observed within the superconducting phase for accessible magnetic fields., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We report a neutron diffraction study of the magnetic phase transitions in the charge-density-wave (CDW) TbTe$_3$ compound. We discover that in the paramagnetic phase there are strong 2D-like magnetic correlations, consistent with the pronounced anisotropy of the chemical structure. A long-range incommensurate magnetic order emerges in TbTe$_3$ at $T_{mag1}$ = 5.78 K as a result of continuous phase transitions. We observe that near the temperature $T_{mag1}$ the magnetic Bragg peaks appear around the position (0,0,0.24) (or its rational multiples), that is fairly close to the propagation vector $(0,0,0.29)$ associated with the CDW phase transition in TbTe$_3$. This suggests that correlations leading to the long-range magnetic order in TbTe$_3$ are linked to the modulations that occur in the CDW state.

We report Fe K beta x-ray emission spectroscopy study of local magnetic moments in various iron based superconductors in their paramagnetic phases. Local magnetic moments are found in all samples studied: PrFeAsO, Ba(Fe,Co)2As2, LiFeAs, Fe1+x(Te,Se), and A2Fe4Se5 (A=K, Rb, and Cs). The moment size varies significantly across different families. Specifically, all iron pnictides samples have local moments of about 1 $\mu_B$/Fe, while FeTe and K2Fe4Se5 families have much larger local moments of ~2$\mu_B$/Fe, ~3.3$\mu_B$/Fe, respectively. In addition, we find that neither carrier doping nor temperature change affects the local moment size., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We study the anisotropic in-plane optical conductivity of detwinned Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 single crystals for x=0, 2.5% and 4.5% in a broad energy range (3 meV-5 eV) across their structural and magnetic transitions. For temperatures below the Neel transition, the topology of the reconstructed Fermi surface, combined with the distinct behavior of the scattering rates, determines the anisotropy of the low frequency optical response. For the itinerant charge carriers, we are able to disentangle the evolution of the Drude weights and scattering rates and to observe their enhancement along the orthorhombic antiferromagnetic a-axis with respect to the ferromagnetic b-axis. For temperatures above Ts, uniaxial stress leads to a finite in-plane anisotropy. The anisotropy of the optical conductivity, leading to a significant dichroism, extends to high frequencies in the mid- and near-infrared regions. The temperature dependence of the dichroism at all dopings scales with the anisotropy ratio of the dc conductivity, suggesting the electronic nature of the structural transition. Our findings bear testimony to a large nematic susceptibility that couples very effectively to the uniaxial lattice strain. In order to clarify the subtle interplay of magnetism and Fermi surface topology we compare our results with theoretical calculations obtained from density functional theory within the full-potential linear augmented plane-wave method., Comment: 17 pages, 9 figures

We use scanning SQUID microscopy to investigate the behavior of vortices in the presence of twin boundaries in the pnictide superconductor Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2. We show that the vortices avoid pinning on twin boundaries. Individual vortices move in a preferential way when manipulated with the SQUID: they tend to not cross a twin boundary, but rather to move parallel to it. This behavior can be explained by the observation of enhanced superfluid density on twin boundaries in Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2. The observed repulsion from twin boundaries may be a mechanism for enhanced critical currents observed in twinned samples in pnictides and other superconductors.

The weak antilocalization effect of InSb film in perpendicular as well as tilted magnetic field is investigated. It is found that the InSb film has quasi-two-dimensional feature and the Nyquist mechanism dominates decoherence. The two dimensionality is also verified further and the influence of roughness effect and Zeeman effect on weak antilocalization effect is studied by systematically investigating the anisotropy of weak field magnetoresistance with respect to magnetic field. It is also found that the existence of in-plane field can effectively suppress the weak antilocalization effect of InSb film and the roughness effect plays an important role in the anisotropy., Comment: revised

Nematicity, defined as broken rotational symmetry, has recently been observed in competing phases proximate to the superconducting phase in the cuprate high temperature superconductors. Similarly, the new iron-based high temperature superconductors exhibit a tetragonal to orthorhombic structural transition (i.e. a broken C4 symmetry) that either precedes or is coincident with a collinear spin density wave (SDW) transition in undoped parent compounds, and superconductivity arises when both transitions are suppressed via doping. Evidence for strong in-plane anisotropy in the SDW state in this family of compounds has been reported by neutron scattering, scanning tunneling microscopy, and transport measurements. Here we present an angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of detwinned single crystals of a representative family of electron-doped iron-arsenide superconductors, Ba(Fe1-xCox)2As2 in the underdoped region. The crystals were detwinned via application of in-plane uniaxial stress, enabling measurements of single domain electronic structure in the orthorhombic state. At low temperatures, our results clearly demonstrate an in-plane electronic anisotropy characterized by a large energy splitting of two orthogonal bands with dominant dxz and dyz character, which is consistent with anisotropy observed by other probes. For compositions x>0, for which the structural transition (TS) precedes the magnetic transition (TSDW), an anisotropic splitting is observed to develop above TSDW, indicating that it is specifically associated with TS. For unstressed crystals, the band splitting is observed close to TS, whereas for stressed crystals the splitting is observed to considerably higher temperatures, revealing the presence of a surprisingly large in-plane nematic susceptibility in the electronic structure., Comment: final version published in PNAS, including supplementary information

We investigate the optical conductivity as a function of temperature with light polarized along the in-plane orthorhombic $a$- and $b$-axes of Ba(Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$)$_2$As$_2$ for $x$=0 and 2.5$\%$ under uniaxial pressure. The charge dynamics at low frequencies on these detwinned, single domain compounds tracks the anisotropic $dc$ transport properties across their structural and magnetic phase transitions. Our findings allow us to estimate the dichroism, which extends to relatively high frequencies. These results are consistent with a scenario in which orbital order plays a significant role in the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition.

The temporal evolution of systems undergoing symmetry breaking phase transitions (SBTs) is of great fundamental interest not only in condensed matter physics, but extends from cosmology to brain function and finance \cite{topology,Kibble,Eltsov,Finance}. However, the study of such transitions is often hindered by the fact that they are difficult to repeat, or they occur very rapidly. Here we report for the first time on a high-time-resolution study of the evolution of both bosonic and fermionic excitations through a second order electronic charge-ordering SBT in a condensed matter system. Using a new three-pulse femtosecond spectroscopy technique, we periodically quench our model system into the high-symmetry state, detecting hitherto unrecorded coherent aperiodic undulations of the order parameter (OP), critical slowing down of the collective mode, and evolution of the particle-hole gap appearing through the Peierls-BCS mechanism as the system evolves through the transition. Numerical modeling based on Ginzburg-Landau theory is used to reproduce the observations without free parameters. The close analogy with other Higgs potentials in particle physics\cite{Higgs} gives new insight into hitherto unexplored dynamics of both single particle and collective excitations through a SBT. Of particular interest is the observation of spectro-temporal distortions caused by disturbances of the field arising from spontaneous annihilation of topological defects, similar to those discussed by the Kibble-Zurek cosmological model., Comment: 4 figures

We report on a thorough optical investigation over a broad spectral range and as a function of temperature of the charge dynamics in Ba(Co$_x$Fe$_{1-x}$)$_2$As$_2$ compounds for Co-doping ranging between 0 and 18%. For the parent compound as well as for $x$=0.025 we observe the opening of a pseudogap, due to the spin-density-wave phase transition and inducing a reshuffling of spectral weight from low to high frequencies. For compounds with 0.051$\le x \le$ 0.11 we detect the superconducting gap, while at $x$=0.18 the material stays metallic at all temperatures. We describe the effective metallic contribution to the optical conductivity with two Drude terms, representing the combination of a coherent and incoherent component, and extract the respective scattering rates. We establish that the $dc$ transport properties in the normal phase are dominated by the coherent Drude term for 0$\le x \le$0.051 and by the incoherent one for 0.061$\le x \le$0.18, respectively. Finally through spectral weight arguments, we give clear-cut evidence for moderate electronic correlations for 0$\le x \le$0.061, which then crossover to values appropriate for a regime of weak interacting and nearly-free electron metals for $x\ge$0.11.

Detailed study of the LDOS associated with the surface-state-band near a step-edge of the strong topological-insulator Bi2Te3, reveal a one-dimensional bound state that runs parallel to the stepedge and is bound to it at some characteristic distance. This bound state is clearly observed in the bulk gap region, while it becomes entangled with the oscillations of the warped surface band at high energy, and with the valence band states near the Dirac point. Using the full effective Hamiltonian proposed by Zhang et al., we obtain a closed formula for this bound state that fits the data and provide further insight into the general topological properties of the electronic structure of the surface band near strong structural defects., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Pulsed magnetic fields of up to 55T are used to investigate the transport properties of the topological insulator Bi_2Se_3 in the extreme quantum limit. For samples with a bulk carrier density of n = 2.9\times10^16cm^-3, the lowest Landau level of the bulk 3D Fermi surface is reached by a field of 4T. For fields well beyond this limit, Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations arising from quantization of the 2D surface state are observed, with the \nu =1 Landau level attained by a field of 35T. These measurements reveal the presence of additional oscillations which occur at fields corresponding to simple rational fractions of the integer Landau indices., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We provide optical reflectivity data collected over a broad spectral range and as a function of temperature on the ErTe$_3$ and HoTe$_3$ materials, which undergo two consecutive charge-density-wave (CDW) phase transitions at $T_{CDW1}$= 265 and 288 K and at $T_{CDW2}$= 157 and 110 K, respectively. We observe the temperature dependence of both the Drude component, due to the itinerant charge carriers, and the single-particle peak, ascribed to the charge-density-wave gap excitation. The CDW gap progressively opens while the metallic component gets narrow with decreasing temperature. An important fraction of the whole Fermi surface seems to be affected by the CDW phase transitions. It turns out that the temperature and the previously investigated pressure dependence of the most relevant CDW parameters share several common features and behaviors. Particularly, the order parameter of the CDW state is in general agreement with the predictions of the BCS theory.

The three-dimensional Fermi surface morphology of superconducting BaFe_2(As_0.37}P_0.63)_2 with T_c=9K, is determined using the de Haas-van Alphen effect (dHvA). The inner electron pocket has a similar area and k_z interplane warping to the observed hole pocket, revealing that the Fermi surfaces are geometrically well nested in the (\pi,\pi) direction. These results are in stark contrast to the Fermiology of the non-superconducting phosphides (x=1), and therefore suggests an important role for nesting in pnictide superconductivity., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We present an ab-initio density function theory to investigate the electronic and magnetic structures of the bilayer graphene with intercalated atoms C, N, and O. The intercalated atom although initially positioned at the middle site of the bilayer interval will finally be adsorbed to one graphene layer. Both N and O atoms favor the bridge site (i.e. above the carbon-carbon bonding of the lower graphene layer), while the C atom prefers the hollow site (i.e. just above a carbon atom of the lower graphene layer and simultaneously below the center of a carbon hexagon of the upper layer). Concerning the magnetic property, both C and N adatoms can induce itinerant Stoner magnetism by introducing extended or quasilocalized states around the Fermi level. Full spin polarization can be obtained in N-intercalated system and the magnetic moment mainly focuses on the N atom. In C-intercalated system, both the foreign C atom and some carbon atoms of the bilayer graphene are induced to be spin-polarized. N and O atoms can easily get electrons from carbon atoms of bilayer graphene, which leads to Fermi level shifting downward to valence band and thus producing the metallic behavior in bilayer graphene., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures

The two-dimensional rare-earth tri-tellurides undergo a unidirectional charge-density-wave (CDW) transition at high temperature and, for the heaviest members of the series, a bidirectional one at low temperature. Raman scattering experiments as a function of temperature on DyTe$_3$ and on LaTe$_3$ at 6 GPa provide a clear-cut evidence for the emergence of the respective collective CDW amplitude excitations. In the unidirectional CDW phase, we surprisingly discover that the amplitude mode develops as a succession of two mean-field, BCS-like transitions in different temperature ranges.

Through a systematic high resolution angle-resolved photoemission study of the iron pnictide compounds (Ba,Sr)Fe$_2$As$_2$, we show that the electronic structures of these compounds are significantly reconstructed across the spin density wave ordering, which cannot be described by a simple folding scenario of conventional density wave ordering. Moreover, we find that LDA calculations with an incorporated suppressed magnetic moment of 0.5$\mu_{\tiny{\textrm{B}}}$ can match well the details in the reconstructed electronic structure, suggesting that the nature of magnetism in the pnictides is more itinerant than local, while the origin of suppressed magnetic moment remains an important issue for future investigations.

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies on high-quality Bi$_2$Te$_3$ crystals exhibit perfect correspondence to ARPES data, hence enabling identification of different regimes measured in the local density of states (LDOS). Oscillations of LDOS near a step are analyzed. Within the main part of the surface band oscillations are strongly damped, supporting the hypothesis of topological protection. At higher energies, as the surface band becomes concave, oscillations appear which disperse with a particular wave-vector that may result from an unconventional hexagonal warping term., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Revised manuscript with improved analysis and figures

We report a de Haas-van Alphen effect study of the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 using low temperature torque magnetometry up to 45 T. This system is a close structural analogue of the collapsed tetragonal non-magnetic phase of CaFe2As2. We find the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 to differ from other related ternary phosphides in that its topology is highly dispersive in the c-axis, being three-dimensional in character and with identical mass enhancement on both electron and hole pockets (~1.5). The dramatic change in topology of the Fermi surface suggests that in a state with reduced (c/a) ratio, when bonding between pnictogen layers becomes important, the Fermi surface sheets are unlikely to be nested.

Using x-ray absorption and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, charge dynamics at and near the Fe $L$ edges is investigated in Fe pnictide materials, and contrasted to that measured in other Fe compounds. It is shown that the XAS and RIXS spectra for 122 and 1111 Fe pnictides are each qualitatively similar to Fe metal. Cluster diagonalization, multiplet, and density-functional calculations show that Coulomb correlations are much smaller than in the cuprates, highlighting the role of Fe metallicity and strong covalency in these materials. Best agreement with experiment is obtained using Hubbard parameters $U\lesssim 2$eV and $J\approx 0.8$eV., Comment: 11 pages, 12 figures

We report measurements of the Fermi surface (FS) of the ternary phosphide SrFe$_2$P$_2$ using the de Haas-van Alphen effect. The calculated FS of this compound is very similar to SrFe$_2$As$_2$, the parent compound of the high temperature superconductors. Our data show that the Fermi surface is composed of two electron and two hole sheets in agreement with bandstructure calculations. Several of the sheets show strong c-axis warping emphasizing the importance of three-dimensionality in the non-magnetic state of the ternary pnictides. We find that the electron and hole pockets have a different topology, implying that this material does not satisfy a nesting condition., Comment: 5 pages, 4 Figures, 1 Table

We investigate the surface state of Bi$_2$Te$_3$ using angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and transport measurements. By scanning over the entire Brillouin zone (BZ), we demonstrate that the surface state consists of a single non-degenerate Dirac cone centered at the $\Gamma$ point. Furthermore, with appropriate hole (Sn) doping to counteract intrinsic n-type doping from vacancy and anti-site defects, the Fermi level can be tuned to intersect only the surface states, indicating a full energy gap for the bulk states, consistent with a carrier sign change near this doping in transport properties. Our experimental results establish for the first time that Bi$_2$Te$_3$ is a three dimensional topological insulator with a single Dirac cone on the surface, as predicted by a recent theory., Comment: Submitted for publication on March 03, 2009

We use high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to study the band structure and Fermi surface topology of the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ iron pnictides. We observe two electron bands and two hole bands near the X-point, $(\pi,\pi)$ of the Brillouin zone, in the paramagnetic state for different doping levels, including electron-doped Ba(Co$_{0.06}$Fe$_{0.94}$)$_2$As$_2$, undoped BaFe$_2$As$_2$, and hole-doped Ba$_{0.6}$K$_{0.4}$Fe$_2$As$_2$. Among these four bands, only the electron bands cross the Fermi level, forming two electron pockets around X, while the hole bands approach but never reach the Fermi level. We show that the band structure of the BaFe$_2$As$_2$ family matches reasonably well with the prediction of LDA calculations after a momentum-dependent shift and renormalization. Our finding resolves a number of inconsistencies regarding the electronic structure of pnictides., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

We report a comparison study of LaOFeP and LaOFeAs, two parent compounds of recently discovered iron-pnictide superconductors, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Both systems exhibit some common features that are very different from well-studied cuprates. In addition, important differences have also been observed between these two ferrooxypnictides. For LaOFeP, quantitative agreement can be found between our photoemission data and the LDA band structure calculations, suggesting that a weak coupling approach based on an itinerant ground state may be more appropriate for understanding this new superconducting compound. In contrast, the agreement between LDA calculations and experiments in LaOFeAs is relatively poor, as highlighted by the unexpected Fermi surface topology around (pi,pi). Further investigations are required for a comprehensive understanding of the electronic structure of LaOFeAs and related compounds., Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, for the special issue of Physica C on superconducting pnictides

We review recent experimental measurements of the Fermi surface of the iron-pnictide superconductor LaFePO using quantum oscillation techniques. These studies show that the Fermi surface topology is close to that predicted by first principles density functional theory calculations, consisting of quasi-two-dimensional electron-like and hole-like sheets. The total volume of the two hole sheets is almost equal to that of the two electron sheets, and the hole and electron Fermi surface sheets are close to a nesting condition. No evidence for the predicted three dimensional pocket arising from the Fe $d_{z^2}$ band is found. Measurements of the effective mass suggest a renormalisation of around two, close to the value for the overall band renormalisation found in recent angle resolved photoemission measurements., Comment: Submitted to Physica C special issue on iron-pnictide superconductors