Search

Recently, Sharma et al. [Adv. Sci. 9, 2203473 (2022)] claimed that thin films (around 20 nm) of UO2 deposited on perovskite substrates exhibit strongly enhanced paramagnetism (called induced ferromagnetism by the authors). Moments of up to 3 Bohr magneton/U atom were claimed in magnetic fields of 6 T. We have reproduced such films and, after characterisation, have examined them with X-ray circular magnetic dichroism (XMCD) at the uranium M edges, a technique that is element specific. We do not confirm the published results. We find a small increase, as compared to the bulk, in the magnetic susceptibility of UO2 in such films, but the magnetisation versus field curves, measured by XMCD, are linear with field and there is no indication of any ferromagnetism. The absence of any anomaly around 30 K (the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature of bulk UO2) in the XMCD signal suggests the films do not order magnetically.

High-temperature superconductivity has been observed in binary hydrides such as LaH10 at pressures above 150 GPa. Hydrogen cage structures have been identified as a common motif beneficial for high critical temperatures Tc. Efforts are now focused on finding hydride high-temperature superconductors at lower pressures. We present evidence for high-temperature superconductivity in binary La4H23 with A15-type structure featuring hydrogen cages at a pressure of P = 95 GPa. We synthesise La4H23 from a lanthanum film capped with a palladium catalyst promoting the dissociation of hydrogen. In resistance measurements, we observe superconductivity with a transition temperature Tc = 90 K. In X-ray diffraction on the same sample, we identify the A15-type cubic body centred structure of the lanthanum sublattice. From comparison with earlier XRD and structure prediction studies, we identify this phase with La4H23. Our study reinforces the concept of hydrogen cages for high-temperature superconductivity., Comment: 18 Pages

Superconductivity often emerges as a dome around a quantum critical point (QCP) where long-range order is suppressed to zero temperature. So far, this has been mostly studied in magnetically ordered materials. By contrast, the interplay between charge order and superconductivity at a QCP is not fully understood. Here, we present resistance measurements proving that a dome of superconductivity surrounds the charge-density-wave (CDW) QCP in pristine samples of 1$T$-TiSe$_2$ tuned with hydrostatic pressure. Furthermore, we use quantum oscillation measurements to show that the superconductivity sets in at a Lifshitz transition in the electronic band structure. We use density functional theory to identify the Fermi pockets enabling superconductivity: large electron and hole pockets connected by the CDW wave vector $\vec{Q}$ which emerge upon partial suppression of the zero-pressure CDW gap. Hence, we conclude that superconductivity is of interband type enabled by the presence of hole and electron bands connected by the CDW $\vec{Q}$ vector. Earlier calculations show that interband interactions are repulsive, which suggests that unconventional s$_{\pm}$ superconductivity is realised in TiSe$_2$ - similar to the iron pnictides. These results highlight the importance of Lifshitz transitions in realising unconventional superconductivity and help understand its interaction with CDW order in numerous materials., Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures

We present detailed studies of the superconductivity in high-pressure H3S. X-ray diffraction measurements show that cubic Im-3m H3S was synthesized from elemental sulfur and hydrogen donor ammonia borane (NH3BH3). Our electrical transport measurements confirm superconductivity with a transition temperature Tc = 197 K at 153 GPa. From the analysis of both the normal state resistivity and the slope of the critical field, we conclude that the superconductivity is described by clean-limit behaviour. A significant broadening of the resistive transition in finite magnetic field is found, as expected for superconductors. We identify a linear temperature-over-field scaling of the resistance at the superconducting transition which is not described by existing theories.

We study the iron-pnictide compound BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ for x $\sim$0.23, with a doping concentration near quantum criticality and enhanced nematic fluctuating state in the doping-temperature phase diagram. Transport measurements confirm the presence of a magneto-structural transition at 60K from the tetragonal to the orthorhombic phase, followed by a superconducting transition below 16K. The temperature and polarisation dependent Raman spectra reveal that there is a phonon mode at 211 cm$^{-1}$, followed by two broad modes (BM) between 400 and 700 cm$^{-1}$, having an energy difference of 15 meV, in the temperature range between 300K and 80K. In the non-superconducting state, the phonon mode exhibits expected polarization dependence as well as temperature evolution due to anharmonicity, strong anisotropic and thermally inert behaviour are observed for the BM. Electronic structure calculations for doped and undoped BaFe$_2$As$_2$ show that while Fe $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals do not split in the tetragonal phase, the splitting energy is 13.5 meV in the orthorhombic phase of the doped system, which is reasonably close to the experimentally observed value of the energy separation of the BM. We believe that reported BM possibly are the signature of electronic Raman scattering involving the crystal field levels of $d$-orbitals of Fe$^{2+}$ due to local breaking of the C$_4$ symmetry of the parent compound in the doped system.

Metal-insulator transitions in clean, crystalline solids can be driven by two distinct mechanisms. In a conventional insulator, the charge carrier concentration vanishes, when an energy gap separates filled and unfilled electronic states. In the established picture of a Mott insulator, by contrast, electronic interactions cause coherent charge carriers to slow down and eventually stop in electronic grid-lock without materially affecting the carrier concentration itself. This description has so far escaped experimental verification by quantum oscillation measurements, which directly probe the velocity distribution of the coherent charge carriers. By extending this technique to high pressure we were able to examine the evolution of carrier concentration and velocity in the strongly correlated metallic state of the clean, crystalline material NiS$_2$, while tuning the system towards the Mott insulating phase. Our results confirm that pronounced electronic slowing down indeed governs the approach to the insulating state. However, the critical point itself, at which the carrier velocity would reach zero and the effective carrier mass diverge, is concealed by the insulating sector of the phase diagram. In the resulting, more nuanced view of Mott localisation, the inaccessibility of the low temperature Mott critical point resembles that of the threshold of magnetic order in clean metallic systems, where criticality is almost universally interrupted by first order transitions, tricritical behaviour or novel emergent phases such as unconventional superconductivity., Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures

Electronic nematicity in correlated metals often occurs alongside another instability such as magnetism. As a result, the question remains whether nematicity alone can drive unconventional superconductivity or anomalous (quantum critical) transport in such systems. In FeSe, nematicity emerges in isolation, providing a unique opportunity to address this question. Studies to date, however, have proved inconclusive; while signatures of nematic criticality are observed upon sulfur substitution, they appear to be quenched under the application of pressure due to the emergent magnetism. Here, we study the temperature and pressure dependence of the low-temperature resistivity of FeSe$_{1-x}$S$_{x}$ crystals at $x$ values just beyond the nematic quantum critical point. Two distinct components to the resistivity are revealed; one whose magnitude falls with increasing pressure and one which grows upon approaching the magnetic state at higher pressures. These findings indicate that nematic and magnetic critical fluctuations in FeSe$_{1-x}$S$_{x}$ are completely decoupled, in marked contrast to other Fe-based superconductors, and that nematic fluctuations alone may be responsible for the transport signatures of quantum criticality found in FeSe$_{1-x}$S$_{x}$ at ambient pressure.

Cadmium arsenide Cd$_3$As$_2$ hosts massless Dirac electrons in its ambient-conditions tetragonal phase. We report X-ray diffraction and electrical resistivity measurements of Cd$_3$As$_2$ upon cycling pressure beyond the critical pressure of the tetragonal phase and back to ambient conditions. We find that at room temperature the transition between the low- and high-pressure phases results in large microstrain and reduced crystallite size both on rising and falling pressure. This leads to non-reversible electronic properties including self-doping associated with defects and a reduction of the electron mobility by an order of magnitude due to increased scattering. Our study indicates that the structural transformation is sluggish and shows a sizable hysteresis of over 1~GPa. Therefore, we conclude that the transition is first-order reconstructive, with chemical bonds being broken and rearranged in the high-pressure phase. Using the diffraction measurements we demonstrate that annealing at ~200$^\circ$C greatly improves the crystallinity of the high-pressure phase. We show that its Bragg peaks can be indexed as a primitive orthorhombic lattice with a_HP~8.68 A b_HP~17.15 A and c_HP~18.58 A. The diffraction study indicates that during the structural transformation a new phase with another primitive orthorhombic structure may be also stabilized by deviatoric stress, providing an additional venue for tuning the unconventional electronic states in Cd3As2., Comment: 12 pages with 7 figures

We present electrical resistance measurements of elemental yttrium on bulk and film samples, and both exhibit superconductivity at very high pressures. We show that the pressure dependence of the superconducting transition temperature above 100 GPa is in good agreement with the predicted Fddd phase by Chen et al. [Phys. Rev. lett. 109, 157004 (2012)]. This result together with a new Rietveld refinement made on X-ray data at 123 GPa from Samudrala et al. [J. Phys. Condens. Matter 24, 362201 (2012)] offer strong evidence that the atomic structure of yttrium above 100 GPa is orthorhombic Fddd. Furthermore, our process of evaporating yttrium film directly on a diamond anvil is expected to be a valuable asset for future synthesis of new superhydride superconductors.

Superconductivity is often found in a dome around quantum critical points, i.e. 2nd-order quantum phase transitions. Here, we show that an enhancement of superconductivity is avoided at the critical pressure of the charge-density-wave (CDW) state in NbSe$_2$. We present comprehensive high-pressure Hall effect and magnetic susceptibility measurements of the CDW and superconducting state in NbSe$_2$. Initially, the 2nd-order CDW transition is suppressed smoothly but it drops to zero abruptly at PCDW = 4.4 GPa thus indicating a change to 1st order whilstthe superconducting transition temperature Tc rises continuously up to PCDW but is constant above. The putative 1st-order nature of the CDW transition is suggested as the cause for the absence of a superconducting dome at PCDW. Indeed, we show that the suppression of the superconducting state at low pressures is due to the loss of density of states inside the CDW phase whilst the initial suppression of the CDW state is accounted for by the stiffening of the underlying bare phonon mode., Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, SI

The origin of intrinsic quantum criticality in the heavy-fermion superconductor $\beta$-YbAlB$_4$ has been attributed to strong Yb valence fluctuations and its peculiar crystal structure. Here, we assess these contributions individually by studying the isostructural but fixed-valence compound $\beta$-LuAlB$_4$. Quantum oscillation measurements and DFT calculations reveal a Fermi surface markedly different from that of $\beta$-YbAlB$_4$, consistent with a `large' Fermi surface there. We also find an unexpected in-plane anisotropy of the electronic structure, in contrast to the isotropic Kondo hybridization in $\beta$-YbAlB$_4$., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The evolution of the charge carrier concentrations and mobilities are examined across the charge-density-wave (CDW) transition in TiSe2. Combined quantum oscillation and magnetotransport measurements show that a small electron pocket dominates the electronic properties at low temperatures whilst an electron and hole pocket contribute at room temperature. At the CDW transition, an abrupt Fermi surface reconstruction and a minimum in the electron and hole mobilities are extracted from two-band and Kohler analysis of magnetotransport measurements. The minimum in the mobilities is associated with the overseen role of scattering from the softening CDW mode. With the carrier concentrations and dynamics dominated by the CDW and the associated bosonic mode, our results highlight TiSe2 as a prototypical system to study the Fermi surface reconstruction at a density-wave transition., Comment: 15 pages, 3 figures, including supplementary information

Understanding collective electronic states such as superconductivity and charge density waves is pivotal for fundamental science and applications. The layered transition metal dichalcogenide 1T-TiSe2 hosts a unique charge density wave (CDW) phase transition whose origins are still not fully understood. Here, we present ultrafast time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (TR-ARPES) measurements complemented by time-resolved reflectivity (TRR) which allows us to establish the contribution of excitonic and electron-phonon interactions to the CDW. We monitor the energy shift of the valence band (VB) and coupling to coherent phonons as a function of laser fluence. The VB shift, directly related to the CDW gap closure, exhibits a markedly slower recovery dynamics at fluences above Fth = 60 microJ cm-2. This observation coincides with a shift in the relative weight of coherently coupled phonons to higher frequency modes in time-resolved reflectivity (TRR), suggesting a phonon bottleneck. Using a rate equation model, the emergence of a high-fluence bottleneck is attributed to an abrupt reduction in coupled phonon damping and an increase in exciton dissociation rate linked to the loss of CDW superlattice phonons. Thus, our work establishes the important role of both excitonic and phononic interactions in the CDW phase transition and the advantage of combining complementary femtosecond techniques to understand the complex interactions in quantum materials., Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures

Quantum critical points (QCPs) emerge when a 2nd order phase transition is suppressed to zero temperature. In metals the quantum fluctuations at such a QCP can give rise to new phases including unconventional superconductivity. Whereas antiferromagnetic QCPs have been studied in considerable detail ferromagnetic (FM) QCPs are much harder to access. In almost all metals FM QCPs are avoided through either a change to 1st order transitions or through an intervening spin-density-wave (SDW) phase. Here, we study the prototype of the second case, NbFe$_2$. We demonstrate that the phase diagram can be modelled using a two-order-parameter theory in which the putative FM QCP is buried within a SDW phase. We establish the presence of quantum tricritical points (QTCPs) at which both the uniform and finite $q$ susceptibility diverge. The universal nature of our model suggests that such QTCPs arise naturally from the interplay between SDW and FM order and exist generally near a buried FM QCP of this type. Our results promote NbFe$_2$ as the first example of a QTCP, which has been proposed as a key concept in a range of narrow-band metals, including the prominent heavy-fermion compound YbRh$_2$Si$_2$., Comment: 21 pages including SI

The stannide family of materials A3T4Sn13 (A = La,Sr,Ca, T = Ir,Rh) is interesting due to the interplay between a tunable lattice instability and phonon-mediated superconductivity with Tc ~ 5-7 K. In Sr3Ir4Sn13 a structural transition temperature T* ~ 147 K associated with this instability has been reported, which is believed to result from a superlattice distortion of the high temperature phase on cooling. Here we report the first experimental study of the electronic structure of a member of this material family - Sr3Ir4Sn13 through measurements of quantum oscillations and comparison with density functional theory calculations. Our measurements reveal good agreement with theory using the lattice parameters consistent with a body-centred cubic lattice of symmetry I-43d of the low temperature phase. The study of the fermiology of Sr3Ir4Sn13 we present here should help inform models of multiband superconductivity in the superconducting stannides., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

The heavy-fermion metal YbRh$_{2}$Si$_{2}$ is a weak antiferromagnet below $T_{N} = 0.07$ K. Application of a low magnetic field $B_{c} = 0.06$ T ($\perp c$) is sufficient to continuously suppress the antiferromagnetic (AF) order. Below $T \approx 10$ K, the Sommerfeld coefficient of the electronic specific heat $\gamma(T)$ exhibits a logarithmic divergence. At $T < 0.3$ K, $\gamma(T) \sim T^{-\epsilon}$ ($\epsilon: 0.3 - 0.4$), while the electrical resistivity $\rho(T) = \rho_{0} + aT$ ($\rho_{0}$: residual resistivity). Upon extrapolating finite-$T$ data of transport and thermodynamic quantities to $T = 0$, one observes (i) a vanishing of the "Fermi surface crossover" scale $T^{*}(B)$, (ii) an abrupt jump of the initial Hall coefficient $R_{H}(B)$ and (iii) a violation of the Wiedemann Franz law at $B = B_{c}$, the field-induced quantum critical point (QCP). These observations are interpreted as evidence of a critical destruction of the heavy quasiparticles, i.e., propagating Kondo singlets, at the QCP of this material., Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, SCES 2013

We present band structure calculations and quantum oscillation measurements on LuRh2Si2, which is an ideal reference to the intensively studied quantum critical heavy-fermion system YbRh2Si2. Our band structure calculations show a strong sensitivity of the Fermi surface on the position of the silicon atoms zSi within the unit cell. Single crystal structure refinement and comparison of predicted and observed quantum oscillation frequencies and masses yield zSi = 0.379c in good agreement with numerical lattice relaxation. This value of zSi is suggested for future band structure calculations on LuRh2Si2 and YbRh2Si2. LuRh2Si2 with a full f electron shell represents the "small" Fermi surface configuration of YbRh2Si2. Our experimentally and ab initio derived quantum oscillation frequencies of LuRh2Si2 show strong differences with earlier measurements on YbRh2Si2. Consequently, our results confirm the contribution of the f electrons to the Fermi surface of YbRh2Si2 at high magnetic fields. Yet the limited agreement with refined fully itinerant local density approximation calculations highlights the need for more elaborated models to describe the Fermi surface of YbRh2Si2., Comment: 12 pages 10 figures

The Hall effect on selected samples of the dilution series Nb1-yFe2+y is studied. Normal and anomalous contributions are observed, with positive normal Hall effect dominating at high temperatures. Consistent analysis of the anomalous contribution is only possible for Fe-rich Nb0.985Fe2.015 featuring a ferromagnetic ground state. Here, a positive normal Hall coefficient is found at all temperatures with a moderate maximum at the spin-density-wave transition. The anomalous Hall effect is consistent with an intrinsic (Berry-phase) contribution which is constant below the ordering temperature TC and continuously vanishes above TC. For stoichiometric NbFe2 and Nb-rich Nb1.01Fe1.99 - both having a spin-density-wave ground state - an additional contribution to the Hall resistivity impedes a complete analysis and indicates the need for more sophisticated models of the anomalous Hall effect in itinerant antiferromagnets., Comment: 6 pages 5 figures

YbRh2Si2 is a model system for quantum criticality. Particularly, Hall effect measurements helped identify the unconventional nature of its quantum critical point. Here, we present a high-resolution study of the Hall effect and magnetoresistivity on samples of different quality. We find a robust crossover on top of a sample dependent linear background contribution. Our detailed analysis provides a complete characterization of the crossover in terms of its position, width, and height. Importantly, we find in the extrapolation to zero temperature a discontinuity of the Hall coefficient occurring at the quantum critical point for all samples. Particularly, the height of the jump in the Hall coefficient remains finite in the limit of zero temperature. Hence, our data solidify the conclusion of a collapsing Fermi surface. Finally, we contrast our results to the smooth Hall-effect evolution seen in Chromium, the prototype system for a spin-density-wave quantum critical point., Comment: minor revisions, accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter

Quantum criticality arises when a macroscopic phase of matter undergoes a continuous transformation at zero temperature. While the collective fluctuations at quantum-critical points are being increasingly recognized as playing an important role in a wide range of quantum materials, the nature of the underlying quantum-critical excitations remains poorly understood. Here we report in-depth measurements of the Hall effect in the heavy-fermion metal YbRh2Si2, a prototypical system for quantum criticality. We isolate a rapid crossover of the isothermal Hall coefficient clearly connected to the quantum-critical point from a smooth background contribution; the latter exists away from the quantum-critical point and is detectable through our studies only over a wide range of magnetic field. Importantly, the width of the critical crossover is proportional to temperature, which violates the predictions of conventional theory and is instead consistent with an energy over temperature, E/T, scaling of the quantum-critical single-electron fluctuation spectrum. Our results provide evidence that the quantum-dynamical scaling and a critical Kondo breakdown simultaneously operate in the same material. Correspondingly, we infer that macroscopic scale-invariant fluctuations emerge from the microscopic many-body excitations associated with a collapsing Fermi-surface. This insight is expected to be relevant to the unconventional finite-temperature behavior in a broad range of strongly correlated quantum systems., Comment: 5 pages, plus supporting material

The Hall effect of LuRh2Si2--the non-magnetic homologue of the heavy-fermion material YbRh2Si2--is studied with two different setups: In the conventional single-field geometry, the field dependence is analyzed in terms of the differential Hall coefficient. Beyond that, the recently developed crossed-field experiment allows to examine the linear-response Hall coefficient as a function of magnetic field. The results reveal the expected analogy between both experiments which corroborates the equivalent findings in YbRh2Si2. This emphasizes the applicability to investigate field-induced quantum critical points with both methods., Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication in physica status solidi to QCNP2009

Quantum criticality in Yb(Rh0.97Co0.03)2Si2 is investigated by means of resistivity and magnetoresistance. The partial substitution of Co leads to a stabilization of the magnetism as expected according to the application of chemical pressure for Yb systems. However, the signature of the Kondo-breakdown remains at the same position in the temperature-magnetic field phase diagram compared to stoichiometric YbRh2Si2. As a consequence, the Kondo-breakdown is situated within the antiferromagnetic phase. These results fit well within the global phase diagram under chemical pressure [1]., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to ICM/SCES2009