2,981 research outputs found
On the Coexistence in RuSr2GdCu2O8 of Superconductivity and Ferromagnetism
We review the reasons that make superconductivity unlikely to arise in a
ferromagnet. Then, in light of the report by Tallon and collaborators that
RuSr2GdCu2O8 becomes superconducting at approximately 35 K which is well below
the Curie temperature of 132 K, we consider whether the objections really apply
to this compound. Our considerations are supported by local spin density
calculations for this compound, which indeed indicate a ferromagnetic RuO2
layer. The Ru moment resides in t_2g orbitals but is characteristic of
itinerant magnetism (and is sensitive to choice of exchange-correlation
potential and to the atomic positions). Based on the small exchange splitting
that is induced in the Cu-O layers, the system seems capable of supporting
singlet superconductivity an FFLO-type order parameter and possibly a pi-phase
alternation between layers. If instead the pairing is triplet in the RuO2
layers, it can be distinguished by a spin-polarized supercurrent. Either type
of superconductivity seems to imply a spontaneous vortex phase if the
magnetization is rotated out of the plane.Comment: 3 revtex pages, 2 embedded figures. In press, Proc. HTS99 Conf.,
Miami, 199
Electron Confinement, Orbital Ordering, and Orbital Moments in - Oxide Heterostructures
The (SrTiO)/(SrVO) multilayer system is studied
with first principles methods through the observed insulator-to-metal
transition with increasing thickness of the SrVO layer. When correlation
effects with reasonable magnitude are included, crystal field splittings from
the structural relaxations together with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) determines
the behavior of the electronic and magnetic structures. These confined slabs of
SrVO prefer =() orbital ordering of and
() orbitals within the plane, accompanied by
=(0,0) spin order (ferromagnetic alignment). The result is a
SOC-driven ferromagnetic Mott insulator. The orbital moment of 0.75
strongly compensates the spin moment on the sublattice. The
insulator-metal transition for (occurring between =4 and
=5) is reproduced. Unlike in the isoelectronic TiO/VO
(rutile structure) system and in spite of some similarities in orbital
ordering, no semi-Dirac point [{\it Phys. Rev. Lett.} {\bf 102}, 166803 (2009)]
is encountered, but the insulator-to-metal transition occurs through a
different type of unusual phase. For n=5 this system is very near (or at) a
unique semimetallic state in which the Fermi energy is topologically determined
and the Fermi surface consists of identical electron and hole Fermi circles
centered at =0. The dispersion consists of what can be regarded as a
continuum of radially-directed Dirac points, forming a "Dirac circle".Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure
Disorder-Induced Stabilization of the Pseudogap in Strongly Correlated Systems
The interplay of strong interaction and strong disorder, as contained in the
Anderson-Hubbard model, is addressed using two non-perturbative numerical
methods: the Lanczos algorithm in the grand canonical ensemble at zero
temperature and Quantum Monte Carlo. We find distinctive evidence for a
zero-energy anomaly which is robust upon variation of doping, disorder and
interaction strength. Its similarities to, and differences from, pseudogap
formation in other contexts, including perturbative treatments of interactions
and disorder, classical theories of localized charges, and in the clean Hubbard
model, are discussed.Comment: 4.2 pages, 4 figure
Origin of Superconductivity in Boron-doped Diamond
Superconductivity of boron-doped diamond, reported recently at T_c=4 K, is
investigated exploiting its electronic and vibrational analogies to MgB2. The
deformation potential of the hole states arising from the C-C bond stretch mode
is 60% larger than the corresponding quantity in MgB2 that drives its high Tc,
leading to very large electron-phonon matrix elements. The calculated coupling
strength \lambda ~ 0.5 leads to T_c in the 5-10 K range and makes phonon
coupling the likely mechanism. Higher doping should increase T_c somewhat, but
effects of three dimensionality primarily on the density of states keep doped
diamond from having a T_c closer to that of MgB2.Comment: Four pages with two embedded figures, corrected fig1. (To appear in
Physical Review Letters(2004)
NaAlSi: a self-doped semimetallic superconductor with free electrons and covalent holes
The layered ternary sp conductor NaAlSi, possessing the iron-pnictide "111"
crystal structure, superconducts at 7 K. Using density functional methods, we
show that this compound is an intrinsic (self-doped) low-carrier-density
semimetal with a number of unusual features. Covalent Al-Si valence bands
provide the holes, and free-electron-like Al 3s bands, which propagate in the
channel between the neighboring Si layers, dip just below the Fermi level to
create the electron carriers. The Fermi level (and therefore the
superconducting carriers) lies in a narrow and sharp peak within a pseudogap in
the density of states. The small peak arises from valence bands which are
nearly of pure Si, quasi-two-dimensional, flat, and coupled to Al conduction
bands. Isostructural NaAlGe, which is not superconducting above 1.6 K, has
almost exactly the same band structure except for one missing piece of small
Fermi surface. Certain deformation potentials induced by Si and Na
displacements along the c-axis are calculated and discussed. It seems likely
that the mechanism of pairing is related to that of several other lightly doped
two-dimensional nonmagnetic semiconductors (TiNCl, ZrNCl, HfNCl), which is not
well understood but apparently not of phonon origin.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
Pressure-Induced Simultaneous Metal-Insulator and Structural-Phase Transitions in LiH: a Quasiparticle Study
A pressure-induced simultaneous metal-insulator transition (MIT) and
structural-phase transformation in lithium hydride with about 1% volume
collapse has been predicted by means of the local density approximation (LDA)
in conjunction with an all-electron GW approximation method. The LDA wrongly
predicts that the MIT occurs before the structural phase transition. As a
byproduct, it is shown that only the use of the generalized-gradient
approximation together with the zero-point vibration produces an equilibrium
lattice parameter, bulk modulus, and an equation of state that are in excellent
agreement with experimental results.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Europhysics Letter
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