Search

The search for a Fermi surface in the absence of a conventional Fermi liquid has thus far yielded very few potential candidates. Among promising materials are spin-frustrated Mott insulators near the insulator-metal transition, where theory predicts a Fermi surface associated with neutral low energy excitations. Here we reveal another route to experimentally realise a Fermi surface in the absence of a Fermi liquid by the experimental study of a Kondo insulator SmB$_6$ positioned close to the insulator-metal transition. We present experimental signatures down to low temperatures ($\ll 1$ K) associated with a Fermi surface in the bulk, including a sizeable linear specific heat coefficient, and on the application of a finite magnetic field, bulk magnetic quantum oscillations, finite quantum oscillatory entropy, and substantial enhancement in thermal conductivity well below the charge gap energy scale. Thus, the weight of evidence indicates that despite an extreme instance of Fermi liquid breakdown in Kondo insulating SmB$_6$, a Fermi surface arises from novel itinerant low energy excitations that couple to magnetic fields, but not weak DC electric fields.

We evaluate the topological character of TaAs through a detailed study of the angular, magnetic-field and temperature dependence of its magnetoresistivity and Hall-effect(s), and of its bulk electronic structure through quantum oscillatory phenomena. At low temperatures, and for fields perpendicular to the electrical current, we extract an extremely large Hall angle $\Theta_H$ at higher fields, that is $\Theta_H \sim 82.5^{\circ}$, implying a very pronounced Hall signal superimposed into its magnetoresistivity. For magnetic fields and electrical currents perpendicular to the \emph{c}-axis we observe a very pronounced planar Hall-effect, when the magnetic field is rotated within the basal plane. This effect is observed even at higher temperatures, i.e. as high as $T = 100$ K, and predicted recently to result from the chiral anomaly among Weyl points. Superimposed onto this planar Hall, which is an even function of the field, we observe an anomalous planar Hall-signal akin to the one reported for that is an odd function of the field. Below 100 K, negative longitudinal magnetoresistivity (LMR), initially ascribed to the chiral anomaly and subsequently to current inhomogeneities, is observed in samples having different geometries and contact configurations, once the large Hall signal is subtracted. Our measurements reveal a phase transition upon approaching the quantum limit that leads to the reconstruction of the FS and to the concomitant suppression of the negative LMR indicating that it is intrinsically associated with the Weyl dispersion at the Fermi level. For fields along the \emph{a}-axis it also leads to a pronounced hysteresis pointing to a field-induced electronic phase-transition. This collection of unconventional tranport observations points to the prominent role played by the axial anomaly among Weyl nodes., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, Supplemental File not included

Both Nb$_3$Pd$_x$Se$_7$ and Ta$_4$Pd$_3$Te$_{16}$ crystallize in a monoclinic point group while exhibiting superconducting transition temperatures as high as $T_c\sim 3.5$ and $\sim 4.7 $ K, respectively. Disorder was claimed to lead to the extremely large upper critical fields ($H_{c2}$) observed in related compounds. Despite the presence of disorder and heavier elements, $H_{c2}$s in Ta$_4$Pd$_3$Te$_{16}$ are found to be considerably smaller than those of Nb$_3$Pd$_x$Se$_7$ while displaying an anomalous, non-saturating linear dependence on temperature $T$ for fields along all three crystallographic axes. In contrast, crystals of the latter compound displaying the highest $T_c$s display $H_{c2}\propto (1-T/T_c)^{1/2}$, which in monolayers of transition metal dichalcogenides is claimed to be evidence for an Ising paired superconducting state resulting from strong spin-orbit coupling. This anomalous $T$-dependence indicates that the superconducting state of Nb$_3$Pd$_x$Se$_7$ is quasi-two-dimensional in nature. This is further supported by a nearly divergent anisotropy in upper-critical fields, i.e. $\gamma= H_{c2}^{b}/H_{c2}^{a^{\prime}}$, upon approaching $T_c$. Hence, in Nb$_3$Pd$_x$Se$_7$ the increase of $T_c$ correlates with a marked reduction in electronic dimensionality as observed, for example, in intercalated FeSe. For the Nb compound, Density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that an increase in the external field produces an anisotropic orbital response, with especially strong polarization at the Pd sites when the field is perpendicular to their square planar environment. Therefore, DFT suggests the field-induced pinning of the spin to the lattice as a possible mechanism for decoupling the superconducting planes. Overall, our observations represent further evidence for unconventional superconductivity in the Pd chalcogenides., Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures

Insulators occur in more than one guise, a recent finding was a class of topological insulators, which host a conducting surface juxtaposed with an insulating bulk. Here we report the observation of an unusual insulating state with an electrically insulating bulk that simultaneously yields bulk quantum oscillations with characteristics of an unconventional Fermi liquid. We present quantum oscillation measurements of magnetic torque in high purity single crystals of the Kondo insulator SmB6, which reveal quantum oscillation frequencies characteristic of a large three-dimensional conduction electron Fermi surface similar to the metallic rare earth hexaborides such as PrB6 and LaB6. The quantum oscillation amplitude strongly increases at low temperatures, appearing strikingly at variance with conventional metallic behaviour.

Here, we present a detailed study on the temperature and angular dependence of the Shubnikov-de-Haas (SdH) effect in the semi-metal WTe$_2$. This compound was recently shown to display a very large non-saturating magnetoresistance which was attributed to nearly perfectly compensated densities of electrons and holes. We observe four fundamental SdH frequencies and attribute them to spin-orbit split, electron- and hole-like, Fermi surface (FS) cross-sectional areas. Their angular dependence seems consistent with ellipsoidal FSs with volumes suggesting a modest excess in the density of electrons with respect to that of the holes. We show that density functional theory (DFT) calculations fail to correctly describe the FSs of WTe$_2$. When their cross-sectional areas are adjusted to reflect the experimental data, the resulting volumes of the electron/hole FSs obtained from the DFT calculations would imply a pronounced imbalance between the densities of electrons and holes. We find evidence for field-dependent Fermi surface cross-sectional areas by fitting the oscillatory component superimposed onto the magnetoresistivity signal to several Lifshitz-Kosevich components. We also observe a pronounced field-induced renormalization of the effective masses. Taken together, our observations suggest that the electronic structure of WTe$_2$ evolves with the magnetic field. This evolution might be a factor contributing to its pronounced magnetoresistivity., Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures

We demonstrate efficient terahertz (THz) modulation by coupling graphene strongly with a broadband THz metasurface device. This THz metasurface, made of periodic gold slit arrays, shows near unity broadband transmission, which arises from coherent radiation of the enhanced local-field in the slits. Utilizing graphene as an active load with tunable conductivity, we can significantly modify the local-field enhancement and strongly modulate the THz wave transmission. This hybrid device also provides a new platform for future nonlinear THz spectroscopy study of graphene.

Here, we unveil evidence for a quantum phase-transition in CeCu_2Ge_2 which displays both an incommensurate spin-density wave (SDW) ground-state, and a strong renormalization of the quasiparticle effective masses (mu) due to the Kondo-effect. For all angles theta between an external magnetic field (H) and the crystallographic c-axis, the application of H leads to the suppression of the SDW-state through a 2^nd-order phase-transition at a theta-dependent critical-field H_p(theta) leading to the observation of small Fermi surfaces (FSs) in the paramagnetic (PM) state. For H || c-axis, these FSs are characterized by light mu's pointing also to the suppression of the Kondo-effect at H_p with surprisingly, no experimental evidence for quantum-criticality (QC). But as $H$ is rotated towards the a-axis, these mu's increase considerably becoming undetectable for \theta > 56^0 between H and the c-axis. Around H_p^a~ 30 T the resistivity becomes proportional T which, coupled to the divergence of mu, indicates the existence of a field-induced QC-point at H_p^a(T=0 K). This observation, suggesting FS hot-spots associated with the SDW nesting-vector, is at odds with current QC scenarios for which the continuous suppression of all relevant energy scales at H_p(theta,T) should lead to a line of quantum-critical points in the H-theta plane. Finally, we show that the complexity of its magnetic phase-diagram(s) makes CeCu_2Ge_2 an ideal system to explore field-induced quantum tricritical and QC end-points., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in press)

A search for light sterile neutrino mixing was performed with the first 217 days of data from the Daya Bay Reactor Antineutrino Experiment. The experiment's unique configuration of multiple baselines from six 2.9~GW$_{\rm th}$ nuclear reactors to six antineutrino detectors deployed in two near (effective baselines 512~m and 561~m) and one far (1579~m) underground experimental halls makes it possible to test for oscillations to a fourth (sterile) neutrino in the $10^{\rm -3}~{\rm eV}^{2} < |\Delta m_{41}^{2}| < 0.3~{\rm eV}^{2}$ range. The relative spectral distortion due to electron antineutrino disappearance was found to be consistent with that of the three-flavor oscillation model. The derived limits on $\sin^22\theta_{14}$ cover the $10^{-3}~{\rm eV}^{2} \lesssim |\Delta m^{2}_{41}| \lesssim 0.1~{\rm eV}^{2}$ region, which was largely unexplored., Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures

A new measurement of the $\theta_{13}$ mixing angle has been obtained at the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment via the detection of inverse beta decays tagged by neutron capture on hydrogen. The antineutrino events for hydrogen capture are distinct from those for gadolinium capture with largely different systematic uncertainties, allowing a determination independent of the gadolinium-capture result and an improvement on the precision of $\theta_{13}$ measurement. With a 217-day antineutrino data set obtained with six antineutrino detectors and from six 2.9 GW$_{th}$ reactors, the rate deficit observed at the far hall is interpreted as $\sin^22\theta_{13}=0.083\pm0.018$ in the three-flavor oscillation model. When combined with the gadolinium-capture result from Daya Bay, we obtain $\sin^22\theta_{13}=0.089\pm0.008$ as the final result for the six-antineutrino-detector configuration of the Daya Bay experiment.

Quantum oscillation measurements can provide important information about the Fermi surface (FS) properties of strongly correlated metals. Here, we report a Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect study on the pnictide parent compounds EuFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ (Eu122) and BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$ (Ba122) grown by In-flux. Although both members are isovalent compounds with approximately the same density of states at the Fermi level, our results reveal subtle changes in their fermiology. Eu122 displays a complex pattern in the Fourier spectrum, with band splitting, magnetic breakdown orbits, and effective masses sistematically larger when compared to Ba122, indicating that the former is a more correlated metal. Moreover, the observed pockets in Eu122 are more isotropic and 3D-like, suggesting an equal contribution from the Fe $3d$ orbitals to the FS. We speculate that these FS changes may be responsible for the higher spin-density wave ordering temperature in Eu122., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

LiFeAs is unique among the arsenic based Fe-pnictide superconductors because it is the only nearly stoichiometric compound which does not exhibit magnetic order. This is at odds with electronic structure calculations which and a very stable magnetic state and predict cylindrical hole- and electron-like Fermi surface sheets whose geometry suggests spin uctuations and a possible instability toward long-range ordering at the nesting vector. In fact, a complex magnetic phase-diagram is indeed observed in the isostructural NaFeAs compound. Previous angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiments revealed the existence of both hole and electron-like surfaces, but with rather distinct cross-sectional areas and an absence of the nesting that is thought to underpin both magnetic order and superconductivity in the pnictide family of superconductors. These ARPES observations were challenged by subsequent de Haas van Alphen (dHvA) measurements which detected a few, electron like Fermi surface sheets in rough agreement with the original band calculations. Here, we show a detailed dHvA study unveiling additional, small and nearly isotropic Fermi surface sheets in LiFeAs single crystals, which ought to correspond to hole-like orbits, as previously observed by ARPES. Therefore, our results conciliate the apparent discrepancy between ARPES and the previous dHvA results5. The small size of these Fermi surface pockets suggests a prominent role for the electronic correlations in LiFeAs. The absence of gap nodes, in combination with the coexistence of quasi-two-dimensional and three-dimensional Fermi surfaces, favor a s-wave pairing symmetry for LiFeAs. But similar electron-like Fermi surfaces combined with very different hole pockets between LiFeAs and LiFeP, suggest that the nodes in the gap function of LiFeP might be located on the hole-pockets., Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures

We report the discovery of superconductivity in Nb$_3$Pd$_{x}$Se$_7$ with a $x$-dependent superconducting transition-temperature as high as $T_c \simeq 2.1 $ K for $x \simeq0.7$ (middle point of the resistive transition). Needle-like single crystals display anisotropic upper-critical fields with an anisotropy $\gamma = H^{b}_{c2}/H^{a}_{c2}$ as large as 6 between fields applied along their needle axis (or $b-$axis) or along the $a-$axis. As for the Fe based superconductors $\gamma$ is temperature-dependent suggesting that Nb$_3$Pd$_{0.7}$Se$_7$ is a multi-band superconductor. This is supported by band structure calculations which reveal a Fermi surface composed of quasi-one-dimensional and quasi-two-dimensional sheets of hole character, as well as three-dimensional sheets of both hole- and electron-character. Remarkably, $H^{b}_{c2}$ is observed to saturate at $H^{b}_{c2}(T \rightarrow 0 \text{K}) \simeq 14.1$ T which is $4.26 \times H_p$ where $H_p$ is the Pauli-limiting field in the weak-coupling regime. The synthesis procedure yields additional crystals belonging to the Nb$_2$Pd$_{x}$Se$_5$ phase which also becomes superconducting when the fraction of Pd is varied. For both phases we find that superconductivity condenses out of an anomalous metallic state, i.e. displaying $\partial \rho/ \partial T < 0$ above $T_c$ similarly to what is observed in the pseudogap-phase of the underdoped cuprates. An anomalous metallic state, low-dimensionality, multi-band character, extremely high and anisotropic $H_{c2}$s, are all ingredients for unconventional superconductivity., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, to appear in Physical Review B

Here, we report the discovery of superconductivity in a new transition metal-chalcogenide compound, i.e. Nb2Pd0.81S5, with a transition temperature Tc > 6.6 K. Despite its relatively low Tc, it displays remarkably high and anisotropic superconducting upper critical fields, e.g. mu_0 H_{c2} (T approaching 0 K). 37 T for fields applied along the crystallographic b-axis. For a field applied perpendicularly to the b-axis, mu_0 H_{c2} shows a linear dependence in temperature which coupled to a temperature-dependent anisotropy of the upper critical fields, suggests that Nb2Pd0.81S5 is a multi-band superconductor. This is consistent with band structure calculations which reveal nearly cylindrical and quasi-one-dimensional Fermi surface sheets having hole and electron character, respectively. The static spin susceptibility as calculated through the random phase approximation, reveals strong peaks suggesting proximity to a magnetic state and therefore the possibility of unconventional superconductivity., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Diatomic molecules (e.g., O$_2$) in intense laser field exhibit a peculiar suppressed ionization behavior compared to their companion atoms. Several physical models have been proposed to account for this suppression while no consensus has been achieved. In this letter, we aim to clarify the underlying mechanisms behind this molecular ionization suppression. Experimental data recorded at midinfrared laser wavelength and its comparison with that at near-infrared wavelength revealed a peculiar wavelength and intensity dependence of the suppressed ionization of O$_2$ with respect to its companion atom of Xe, while N$_2$ behaves like a structureless atom. It is found that the S-matrix theory calculation can reproduce well the experimental observations and unambiguously identifies the significant role of two-center interference effect in the ionization suppression of O$_2$., Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures

Magnetic field penetration and magnetization hysteresis loops (MHLs) have been measured in KxFe2-ySe2 single crystals. The magnetic field penetration shows a two-step feature with a very small full-magnetic-penetration field (Hp1= 300 Oe at 2 K), and accordingly the MHL exhibits an abnormal vanishing of the central peak near zero field below 13 K. The width of the MHL in KxFe2-ySe2 at the same temperature is in general much smaller than that measured in the relatives Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 and Ba(Fe0.92Co0.08)2As2, and the MHLs in the latter two samples show the normal central peak near zero field. All these anomalies found in KxFe2-ySe2 can be understood in the picture that the sample is percolative with weakly coupled superconducting islands., Comment: 5 page, 4 figures

The symmetry and structure of the superconducting gap in the Fe-based superconductors are the central issue for understanding these novel materials. So far the experimental data and theoretical models have been highly controversial. Some experiments favor two or more constant or nearly-constant gaps, others indicate strong anisotropy and yet others suggest gap zeros ("nodes"). Theoretical models also vary, suggesting that the absence or presence of the nodes depends quantitatively on the model parameters. An opinion that has gained substantial currency is that the gap structure, unlike all other known superconductors, including cuprates, may be different in different compounds within the same family. A unique method for addressing this issue, one of the very few methods that are bulk and angle-resolved, calls for measuring the electronic specific heat in a rotating magnetic field, as a function of field orientation with respect to the crystallographic axes. In this Communication we present the first such measurement for an Fe-based high-Tc superconductor (FeBSC). We observed a fourfold oscillation of the specific heat as a function of the in-plane magnetic field direction, which allowed us to identify the locations of the gap minima (or nodes) on the Fermi surface. Our results are consistent with the expectations of an extended s-wave model with a significant gap anisotropy on the electron pockets and the gap minima along the \Gamma M (or Fe-Fe bond) direction., Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures

We propose a genuine multi-party correlation measure for a multi-party quantum system as the trace norm of the cumulant of the state. The legitimacy of our multi-party correlation measure is explicitly demonstrated by proving it satisfies the five basic conditions required for a correlation measure. As an application we construct an efficient algorithm for the calculation of our measures for all stabilizer states., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure, to be published in Phys. Rev. A

We investigate quantum correlations of the $N$-qubit states via a collective pseudo-spin interaction ($\propto J_y^2$) on arbitrary pure separable states for a given interval of time. Based on this dynamical generation of the $N$-qubit maximal entangled states, a quantum secret sharing protocol with $N$ continuous classical secrets is developed., Comment: 12 pages, 3 figures

We present a scheme for a projective measurement of the parity operator $P_z=\prod_{i=1}^N \sigma_z^{(i)}$ of $N$-qubits. Our protocol uses a single ancillary qubit, or a probe qubit, and involves manipulations of the total spin of the $N$ qubits without requiring individual addressing. We illustrate our protocol in terms of an experimental implementation with atomic ions in a two-zone linear Paul trap, and further discuss its extensions to several more general cases., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

We prove a new impossibility for quantum information (the no-splitting theorem): an unknown quantum bit (qubit) cannot be split into two complementary qubits. This impossibility, together with the no-cloning theorem, demonstrates that an unknown qubit state is a single entity, which cannot be cloned or split. This sheds new light on quantum computation and quantum information., Comment: 9 pages, 1 figure

We discuss the canonical form for a pure state of three identical bosons in two modes, and classify its entanglement correlation into two types, the analogous GHZ and the W types as well known in a system of three distinguishable qubits. We have performed a detailed study of two important entanglement measures for such a system, the concurrence $\mathcal{C}$ and the triple entanglement measure $\tau$. We have also calculated explicitly the spin squeezing parameter $\xi$ and the result shows that the W state is the most ``anti-squeezing'' state, for which the spin squeezing parameter cannot be regarded as an entanglement measure., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures; corrected figure sequence. Thanks to Dr. Han Pu

We propose two protocols to encode a logical qubit into physical qubits relying on common types of qubit-qubit interactions in as simple forms as possible. We comment on its experimental implementation in several quantum computing architectures, e.g. with trapped atomic ion qubits, atomic qubits inside a high Q optical cavity, solid state Josephson junction qubits, and Bose-Einstein condensed atoms., Comment: to be published, corrected confusing terminology in the title and text. Thanks to Dr. E. Knill

We find that a class of entanglement measures for bipartite pure state can be expressed by the average values of quantum operators, which are related to any complete basis of one partite operator space. Two specific examples are given based on two different ways to generalize Pauli matrices to $d$ dimensional Hilbert space and the case for identical particle system is also considered. In addition, applying our measure to mixed state case will give a sufficient condition for entanglement., Comment: 9 pages, no figures

We revisit the criterion of multi-particle entanglement based on the overlaps of a given quantum state $\rho$ with maximally entangled states. For a system of $m$ particles, each with $N$ distinct states, we prove that $\rho$ is $m$-particle negative partial transpose (NPT) entangled, if there exists a maximally entangled state $|{\rm MES}>$, such that $<{\rm MES}|\rho|{\rm MES}>>{1}/{N}$. While this sufficiency condition is weaker than the Peres-Horodecki criterion in all cases, it applies to multi-particle systems, and becomes especially useful when the number of particles ($m$) is large. We also consider the converse of this criterion and illustrate its invalidity with counter examples., Comment: 4 pages

A protocol of quantum communication is proposed in terms of the multi-qubit quantum teleportation through cluster states (Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{86}, 910 (2001)). Extending the cluster state based quantum teleportation on the basic unit of three qubits (or qudits), the corresponding multi-qubit network is constructed for both the qubits and qudits (multi-level) cases. The classical information costs to complete this communication task is also analyzed. It is also shown that this quantum communication protocol can be implemented in the spin-spin system on lattices., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures

The concept of qudit (a d-level system) cluster state is proposed by generalizing the qubit cluster state (Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{86}, 910 (2001)) according to the finite dimensional representations of quantum plane algebra. We demonstrate their quantum correlations and prove a theorem which guarantees the availability of the qudit cluster states in quantum computation. We explicitly construct the network to show the universality of the one-way computer based on the defined qudit cluster states and single-qudit measurement. And the corresponding protocol of implementing one-way quantum computer can be suggested with the high dimensional "Ising" model which can be found in many magnetic systems., Comment: Revtex4, 15 pages, 3 eps figures