Search Results
Quantum fluctuations of charge order induce phonon softening in a superconducting cuprate
2021, Huang, H.Y., Singh, A., Mou, C.Y., Johnston, S., Kemper, A.F., van den Brink, J., Chen, P.J., Lee, T.K., Okamoto, J., Chu, Y.Y., Li, J.H., Komiya, S., Komarek, A.C., Fujimori, A., Chen, C.T., Huang, D.J.
Quantum phase transitions play an important role in shaping the phase diagram of high-temperature cuprate superconductors. These cuprates possess intertwined orders which interact strongly with superconductivity. However, the evidence for the quantum critical point associated with the charge order in the superconducting phase remains elusive. Here we show the short-range charge orders and the spectral signature of the quantum fluctuations in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ (LSCO) near the optimal doping using high-resolution resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. On performing calculations through a diagrammatic framework, we discovered that the charge correlations significantly soften several branches of phonons. These results elucidate the role of charge order in the LSCO compound, providing evidence for quantum critical scaling and discommensurations associated with charge order.
Symmetry regimes for circular photocurrents in monolayer MoSe2
2018, Quereda, J., Ghiasi, T.S., You, J.-S., van den Brink, J., van Wees, B.J., van der Wal, C.H.
In monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides helicity-dependent charge and spin photocurrents can emerge, even without applying any electrical bias, due to circular photogalvanic and photon drag effects. Exploiting such circular photocurrents (CPCs) in devices, however, requires better understanding of their behavior and physical origin. Here, we present symmetry, spectral, and electrical characteristics of CPC from excitonic interband transitions in a MoSe2 monolayer. The dependence on bias and gate voltages reveals two different CPC contributions, dominant at different voltages and with different dependence on illumination wavelength and incidence angles. We theoretically analyze symmetry requirements for effects that can yield CPC and compare these with the observed angular dependence and symmetries that occur for our device geometry. This reveals that the observed CPC effects require a reduced device symmetry, and that effects due to Berry curvature of the electronic states do not give a significant contribution.
Synthetic gravitational horizons in low-dimensional quantum matter
2021, Morice, C., Moghaddam, A., Chernyavsky, D., van Wezel, J., van den Brink, J.
We propose a class of lattice models realizable in a wide range of setups whose low-energy dynamics exactlyreduces to Dirac fields subjected to (1+1)-dimensional [(1+1)D] gravitational backgrounds, including (anti-)deSitter space-time. Wave packets propagating on the lattice exhibit an eternal slowdown for power-law position-dependent hopping integralst(x)∝xγwhenγ 1, signaling the formation of black hole event horizons. Forγ<1 instead the wave packets behave radically different and bounce off the horizon. We show that the eternalslowdown relates to a zero-energy spectral singularity of the lattice model and that the semiclassical wave packetstrajectories coincide with the geodesics on (1+1)D dilaton gravity, paving the way for new and experimentallyfeasible routes to mimic black hole horizons and realize (1+1)D space-times as they appear in certain gravitytheories.
Time-reversal symmetry breaking type-II Weyl state in YbMnBi2
2019, Borisenko, S., Evtushinsky, D., Gibson, Q., Yaresko, A., Koepernik, K., Kim, T., Ali, M., van den Brink, J., Hoesch, M., Fedorov, A., Haubold, E., Kushnirenko, Y., Soldatov, I., Schäfer, R., Cava, R.J.
Spectroscopic detection of Dirac and Weyl fermions in real materials is vital for both, promising applications and fundamental bridge between high-energy and condensed-matter physics. While the presence of Dirac and noncentrosymmetric Weyl fermions is well established in many materials, the magnetic Weyl semimetals still escape direct experimental detection. In order to find a time-reversal symmetry breaking Weyl state we design two materials and present here experimental and theoretical evidence of realization of such a state in one of them, YbMnBi2. We model the time-reversal symmetry breaking observed by magnetization and magneto-optical microscopy measurements by canted antiferromagnetism and find a number of Weyl points. Using angle-resolved photoemission, we directly observe two pairs of Weyl points connected by the Fermi arcs. Our results not only provide a fundamental link between the two areas of physics, but also demonstrate the practical way to design novel materials with exotic properties.
Towards Oxide Electronics: a Roadmap
2019, Coll, M., Fontcuberta, J., Althammer, M., Bibes, M., Boschker, H., Calleja, A., Cheng, G., Cuoco, M., Dittmann, R., Dkhil, B., El Baggari, I., Fanciulli, M., Fina, I., Fortunato, E., Frontera, C., Fujita, S., Garcia, V., Goennenwein, S.T.B., Granqvist, C.-G., Grollier, J., Gross, R., Hagfeldt, A., Herranz, G., Hono, K., Houwman, E., Huijben, M., Kalaboukhov, A., Keeble, D.J., Koster, G., Kourkoutis, L.F., Levy, J., Lira-Cantu, M., MacManus-Driscoll, J.L., Mannhart, J., Martins, R., Menzel, S., Mikolajick, T., Napari, M., Nguyen, M.D., Niklasson, G., Paillard, C., Panigrahi, S., Rijnders, G., Sánchez, F., Sanchis, P., Sanna, S., Schlom, D.G., Schroeder, U., Shen, K.M., Siemon, A., Spreitzer, M., Sukegawa, H., Tamayo, R., van den Brink, J., Pryds, N., Granozio, F.M.
[No abstract available]
RIXS interferometry and the role of disorder in the quantum magnet Ba3 Ti3-x Irx O9
2023, Magnaterra, M., Moretti Sala, M., Monaco, G., Becker, P., Hermanns, M., Warzanowski, P., Lorenz, T., Khomskii, D. I., van Loosdrecht, P. H. M., van den Brink, J., Grüninger, M.
Motivated by several claims of spin-orbit-driven spin-liquid physics in hexagonal Ba3Ti3-xIrxO9 hosting Ir2O9 dimers, we report on resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Ir L3 edge for different x. We demonstrate that magnetism in Ba3Ti3-xIrxO9 is governed by an unconventional realization of strong disorder, where cation disorder affects the character of the local moments. RIXS interferometry, studying the RIXS intensity over a broad range of transferred momentum q, is ideally suited to assign different excitations to different Ir sites. We find pronounced Ir-Ti site mixing. Both ions are distributed over two crystallographically inequivalent sites, giving rise to a coexistence of quasimolecular singlet states on Ir2O9 dimers and spin-orbit-entangled j=1/2 moments of 5d5Ir4+ ions. RIXS reveals different kinds of strong magnetic couplings for different bonding geometries, highlighting the role of cation disorder for the suppression of long-range magnetic order in this family of compounds.
Spin-orbit-driven magnetic structure and excitation in the 5d pyrochlore Cd2Os2O7
2016, Calder, S., Vale, J.G., Bogdanov, N.A., Liu, X., Donnerer, C., Upton, M.H., Casa, D., Said, A.H., Lumsden, M.D., Zhao, Z., Yan, J.-Q., Mandrus, D., Nishimoto, S., van den Brink, J., Hill, J.P., McMorrow, D.F., Christianson, A.D.
Much consideration has been given to the role of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in 5d oxides, particularly on the formation of novel electronic states and manifested metal-insulator transitions (MITs). SOC plays a dominant role in 5d5 iridates (Ir4þ), undergoing MITs both concurrent (pyrochlores) and separated (perovskites) from the onset of magnetic order. However, the role of SOC for other 5d configurations is less clear. For example, 5d3 (Os5þ) systems are expected to have an orbital singlet with reduced effective SOC. The pyrochlore Cd2Os2O7 nonetheless exhibits a MIT entwined with magnetic order phenomenologically similar to pyrochlore iridates. Here, we resolve the magnetic structure in Cd2Os2O7 with neutron diffraction and then via resonant inelastic X-ray scattering determine the salient electronic and magnetic energy scales controlling the MIT. In particular, SOC plays a subtle role in creating the electronic ground state but drives the magnetic order and emergence of a multiple spin-flip magnetic excitation.
Comprehensive scan for nonmagnetic Weyl semimetals with nonlinear optical response
2020, Xu, Q., Zhang, Y., Koepernik, K., Shi, W., van den Brink, J., Felser, C., Sun, Y.
First-principles calculations have recently been used to develop comprehensive databases of nonmagnetic topological materials that are protected by time-reversal or crystalline symmetry. However, owing to the low symmetry requirement of Weyl points, a symmetry-based approach to identifying topological states cannot be applied to Weyl semimetals (WSMs). To date, WSMs with Weyl points in arbitrary positions are absent from the well-known databases. In this work, we develop an efficient algorithm to search for Weyl points automatically and establish a database of nonmagnetic WSMs with Weyl points near the Fermi level based on the experimental non-centrosymmetric crystal structures in the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD). In total, 46 Weyl semimetals were discovered to have nearly clean Fermi surfaces and Weyl points within 300 meV of the Fermi level. Nine of them are chiral structures which may exhibit the quantized circular photogalvanic effect. In addition, the nonlinear optical response is studied and the giant shift current is explored. Besides nonmagnetic WSMs, our powerful tools can also be used in the discovery of magnetic topological materials.
Resonant inelastic x-ray incarnation of Young’s double-slit experiment
2019, Revelli, A., Moretti, Sala, M., Monaco, G., Becker, P., Bohatý, L., Hermanns, M., Koethe, T.C., Fröhlich, T., Warzanowski, P., Lorenz, T., Streltsov, S.V., van Loosdrecht, P.H.M., Khomskii, D.I., van den Brink, J., Grüninger, M.
Young’s archetypal double-slit experiment forms the basis for modern diffraction techniques: The elastic scattering of waves yields an interference pattern that captures the real-space structure. Here, we report on an inelastic incarnation of Young’s experiment and demonstrate that resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measures interference patterns, which reveal the symmetry and character of electronic excited states in the same way as elastic scattering does for the ground state. A prototypical example is provided by the quasi-molecular electronic structure of insulating Ba 3 CeIr 2 O 9 with structural Ir dimers and strong spin-orbit coupling. The double “slits” in this resonant experiment are the highly localized core levels of the two Ir atoms within a dimer. The clear double-slit-type sinusoidal interference patterns that we observe allow us to characterize the electronic excitations, demonstrating the power of RIXS interferometry to unravel the electronic structure of solids containing, e.g., dimers, trimers, ladders, or other superstructures.