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    High-energy magnetic excitations from heavy quasiparticles in CeCu2Si2
    ([London] : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Song, Yu; Wang, Weiyi; Cao, Chongde; Yamani, Zahra; Xu, Yuanji; Sheng, Yutao; Löser, Wolfgang; Qiu, Yiming; Yang, Yi-feng; Birgeneau, Robert J.; Dai, Pengcheng
    Magnetic fluctuations is the leading candidate for pairing in cuprate, iron-based, and heavy fermion superconductors. This view is challenged by the recent discovery of nodeless superconductivity in CeCu2Si2, and calls for a detailed understanding of the corresponding magnetic fluctuations. Here, we mapped out the magnetic excitations in superconducting (S-type) CeCu2Si2 using inelastic neutron scattering, finding a strongly asymmetric dispersion for E ≲ 1.5 meV, which at higher energies evolves into broad columnar magnetic excitations that extend to E ≳ 5 meV. While low-energy magnetic excitations exhibit marked three-dimensional characteristics, the high-energy magnetic excitations in CeCu2Si2 are almost two-dimensional, reminiscent of paramagnons found in cuprate and iron-based superconductors. By comparing our experimental findings with calculations in the random-phase approximation,we find that the magnetic excitations in CeCu2Si2 arise from quasiparticles associated with its heavy electron band, which are also responsible for superconductivity. Our results provide a basis for understanding magnetism and superconductivity in CeCu2Si2, and demonstrate the utility of neutron scattering in probing band renormalization in heavy fermion metals.
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    Distinct itinerant spin-density waves and local-moment antiferromagnetism in an intermetallic ErPd2 Si2 single crystal
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2015) Li, Hai-Feng; Cao, Chongde; Wildes, Andrew; Schmidt, Wolfgang; Schmalzl, Karin; Hou, Binyang; Regnault, Louis-Pierre; Zhang, Cong; Meuffels, Paul; Löser, Wolfgang; Roth, Georg
    Identifying the nature of magnetism, itinerant or localized, remains a major challenge in condensed-matter science. Purely localized moments appear only in magnetic insulators, whereas itinerant moments more or less co-exist with localized moments in metallic compounds such as the doped-cuprate or the iron-based superconductors, hampering a thorough understanding of the role of magnetism in phenomena like superconductivity or magnetoresistance. Here we distinguish two antiferromagnetic modulations with respective propagation wave vectors at Q± = (H ± 0.557(1), 0, L ± 0.150(1)) and QC = (H ± 0.564(1), 0, L), where (H, L) are allowed Miller indices, in an ErPd2Si2 single crystal by neutron scattering and establish their respective temperature- and field-dependent phase diagrams. The modulations can co-exist but also compete depending on temperature or applied field strength. They couple differently with the underlying lattice albeit with associated moments in a common direction. The Q± modulation may be attributed to localized 4f moments while the QC correlates well with itinerant conduction bands, supported by our transport studies. Hence, ErPd2Si2 represents a new model compound that displays clearly-separated itinerant and localized moments, substantiating early theoretical predictions and providing a unique platform allowing the study of itinerant electron behavior in a localized antiferromagnetic matrix.