2021, Amigó, Maria Lourdes, Maljuk, Andrey, Manna, Kaustuv, Stahl, Quirin, Felser, Claudia, Hess, Christian, Wolter, Anja U.B., Geck, Jochen, Seiro, Silvia, Büchner, Bernd

The quasi-one-dimensional antiferromagnetic insulator BaFe2S3 becomes superconducting under a hydrostatic pressure of ∼10 GPa. Single crystals of this compound are usually obtained by melting and further slow cooling of BaS or Ba, Fe, and S, and are small and needle-shaped (few mm long and 50–200 μm wide). A notable sample dependence on the antiferromagnetic transition temperature, transport behavior, and presence of superconductivity has been reported. In this work, we introduce a novel approach for the growth of high-quality single crystals of BaFe2S3 based on a laser-assisted floating zone method that yields large samples free of ferromagnetic impurities. We present the characterization of these crystals and the comparison with samples obtained using the procedure reported in the literature.

2020, Stahl, Quirin, Kusch, Maximilian, Heinsch, Florian, Garbarino, Gaston, Kretzschmar, Norman, Hanff, Kerstin, Rossnagel, Kai, Geck, Jochen, Ritschel, Tobias

Photo-induced switching between collective quantum states of matter is a fascinating rising field with exciting opportunities for novel technologies. Presently, very intensively studied examples in this regard are nanometer-thick single crystals of the layered material 1T-TaS2, where picosecond laser pulses can trigger a fully reversible insulator-to-metal transition (IMT). This IMT is believed to be connected to the switching between metastable collective quantum states, but the microscopic nature of this so-called hidden quantum state remained largely elusive up to now. Here, we characterize the hidden quantum state of 1T-TaS2 by means of state-of-the-art x-ray diffraction and show that the laser-driven IMT involves a marked rearrangement of the charge and orbital order in the direction perpendicular to the TaS2-layers. More specifically, we identify the collapse of interlayer molecular orbital dimers as a key mechanism for this non-thermal collective transition between two truly long-range ordered electronic crystals.

2022, Ritschel, Tobias, Stahl, Quirin, Kusch, Maximilian, Trinckauf, Jan, Garbarino, Gaston, Svitlyk, Volodymyr, Mezouar, Mohamed, Yang, Junjie, Cheong, Sang-Wook, Geck, Jochen

Doped IrTe2 is considered a platform for topological superconductivity and therefore receives currently a lot of interest. In addition, the superconductivity in these materials exists in close vicinity to electronic order and the formation of molecular orbital crystals, which we explore here by means of high-pressure single crystal x-ray diffraction in combination with density functional theory. Our crystallographic refinements provide detailed information about the structural evolution as a function of applied pressure up to 42 GPa. Using this structural information for density functional theory calculations, we show that the local multicenter bonding in IrTe2 is driven by changes in the Ir-Te-Ir bond angle. When the electronic order sets in, this bond angle decreases drastically, leading to a stabilization of a multicenter molecular orbital bond. This unusual local mechanism of bond formation in an itinerant material provides a natural explanation for the different electronic orders in IrTe2. It further illustrates the strong coupling of the electrons with the lattice and is most likely relevant for the superconductivity in this material.