High-temperature magnetic anomaly in the Kitaev hyperhoneycomb compound β-Li2IrO3

We report the existence of a high-temperature magnetic anomaly in the three-dimensional Kitaev candidate material, β-Li2IrO3. Signatures of the anomaly appear in magnetization, heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation measurements. The onset coincides with a reordering of the principal axes of magnetization, which is thought to be connected to the onset of Kitaev-like correlations in the system. The anomaly also shows magnetic hysteresis with a spatially anisotropic magnitude that follows the spin-anisotropic exchange anisotropy of the underlying Kitaev Hamiltonian. We discuss possible scenarios for a bulk and impurity origin

Enhancing Electron Coherence via Quantum Phonon Confinement in Atomically Thin Nb3SiTe6

The extraordinary properties of two dimensional (2D) materials, such as the extremely high carrier mobility in graphene and the large direct band gaps in transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Mo or W, X = S, Se) monolayers, highlight the crucial role quantum confinement can have in producing a wide spectrum of technologically important electronic properties. Currently one of the highest priorities in the field is to search for new 2D crystalline systems with structural and electronic properties that can be exploited for device development. In this letter, we report on the unusual quantum transport properties of the 2D ternary transition metal chalcogenide - Nb3SiTe6. We show that the micaceous nature of Nb3SiTe6 allows it to be thinned down to one-unit-cell thick 2D crystals using microexfoliation technique. When the thickness of Nb3SiTe6 crystal is reduced below a few unit-cells thickness, we observed an unexpected, enhanced weak-antilocalization signature in magnetotransport. This finding provides solid evidence for the long-predicted suppression of electron-phonon interaction caused by the crossover of phonon spectrum from 3D to 2D.Comment: Accepted by Nature Physic

Shubnikov-de Haas quantum oscillations reveal a reconstructed Fermi surface near optimal doping in a thin film of the cuprate superconductor Pr1.86Ce0.14CuO4±δ

We study magnetotransport properties of the electron-doped superconductor Pr2-xCexCuO4±δ with x=0.14 in magnetic fields up to 92 T, and observe Shubnikov-de Haas magnetic quantum oscillations. The oscillations display a single frequency F=255±10 T, indicating a small Fermi pocket that is ∼1% of the two-dimensional Brillouin zone and consistent with a Fermi surface reconstructed from the large holelike cylinder predicted for these layered materials. Despite the low nominal doping, all electronic properties including the effective mass and Hall effect are consistent with overdoped compounds. Our study demonstrates that the exceptional chemical control afforded by high quality thin films will enable Fermi surface studies deep into the overdoped cuprate phase diagram

High-temperature magnetic anomaly in the Kitaev hyperhoneycomb compound β-Li2IrO3

We report the existence of a high-temperature magnetic anomaly in the three-dimensional Kitaev candidate material, β-Li2IrO3. Signatures of the anomaly appear in magnetization, heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation measurements. The onset coincides with a reordering of the principal axes of magnetization, which is thought to be connected to the onset of Kitaev-like correlations in the system. The anomaly also shows magnetic hysteresis with a spatially anisotropic magnitude that follows the spin-anisotropic exchange anisotropy of the underlying Kitaev Hamiltonian. We discuss possible scenarios for a bulk and impurity origin

Interplay of structure and charge order revealed by quantum oscillations in thin films of Pr2CuO4±δ INTERPLAY of STRUCTURE and CHARGE ORDER ... NICHOLAS P. BREZNAY et al.

The discovery of quantum oscillations in hole- A nd electron-doped cuprate families has underscored the importance of the Fermi surface in cuprate superconductivity. While the observed quantum oscillations in both families have revealed the presence of reconstructed Fermi surfaces, there remains an important distinction between the two. In hole-doped cuprates the oscillations are thought to arise from the effects of a charge density wave, while in the electron-doped cuprates it is thought that these oscillations occur from an antiferromagnetically reconstructed Fermi surface, despite the fact that the oscillations are observed in overdoped compounds, far from the putative antiferromagnetic critical point. In this work we study thin films of Pr2CuO4±δ, whose apparent doping can be finely tuned by annealing, allowing studies of quantum oscillations in samples straddling the critical point. We show that even though there is a mass enhancement of the quasiparticles, there are only small changes to the Fermi surface itself, suggesting that charge order is a more likely origin, with electronic correlations that are strongly dependent on the structural parameters