1,162 research outputs found
Negative electronic compressibility and nanoscale inhomogeneity in ionic-liquid gated two-dimensional superconductors
When the electron density of highly crystalline thin films is tuned by
chemical doping or ionic liq- uid gating, interesting effects appear including
unconventional superconductivity, sizeable spin-orbit coupling, competition
with charge-density waves, and a debated low-temperature metallic state that
seems to avoid the superconducting or insulating fate of standard
two-dimensional electron systems. Some experiments also find a marked tendency
to a negative electronic compressibility. We suggest that this indicates an
inclination for electronic phase separation resulting in a nanoscopic inhomo-
geneity. Although the mild modulation of the inhomogeneous landscape is
compatible with a high electron mobility in the metallic state, this
intrinsically inhomogeneous character is highlighted by the peculiar behaviour
of the metal-to-superconductor transition. Modelling the system with super-
conducting puddles embedded in a metallic matrix, we fit the peculiar
resistance vs. temperature curves of systems like TiSe2, MoS2, and ZrNCl. In
this framework also the low-temperature debated metallic state finds a natural
explanation in terms of the pristine metallic background embedding
non-percolating superconducting clusters. An intrinsically inhomogeneous
character naturally raises the question of the formation mechanism(s). We
propose a mechanism based on the interplay be- tween electrons and the charges
of the gating ionic liquid.Comment: substantially modified presentation: 12 pages 7 figure
Phase separation and long wave-length charge instabilities in spin-orbit coupled systems
We investigate a two-dimensional electron model with Rashba spin-orbit
interaction where the coupling constant depends on the electronic
density. It is shown that this dependence may drive the system unstable towards
a long-wave length charge density wave (CDW) where the associated second order
instability occurs in close vicinity to global phase separation. For very low
electron densities the CDW instability is nesting-induced and the modulation
follows the Fermi momentum . At higher density the instability criterion
becomes independent of and the system may become unstable in a broad
momentum range. Finally, upon filling the upper spin-orbit split band, finite
momentum instabilities disappear in favor of phase separation alone. We discuss
our results with regard to the inhomogeneous phases observed at the
LaAlO/SrTiO or LaTiO/SrTiO interfaces.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Theory of the spin galvanic effect at oxide interfaces
The spin galvanic effect (SGE) describes the conversion of a non-equilibrium
spin polarization into a transverse charge current. Recent experiments have
demonstrated a large conversion efficiency for the two-dimensional electron gas
formed at the interface between two insulating oxides, LaAlO and SrTiO.
Here we analyze the SGE for oxide interfaces within a three-band model for the
Ti t orbitals which displays an interesting variety of effective
spin-orbit couplings in the individual bands that contribute differently to the
spin-charge conversion. Our analytical approach is supplemented by a numerical
treatment where we also investigate the influence of disorder and temperature,
which turns out to be crucial to provide an appropriate description of the
experimental data.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Dynamical charge density waves rule the phase diagram of cuprates
In the last few years charge density waves (CDWs) have been ubiquitously
observed in high-temperature superconducting cuprates and are now the most
investigated among the competing orders in the still hot debate on these
systems. A wealth of new experimental data raise several fundamental issues
that challenge the various theoretical proposals. Here, we account for the
complex experimental temperature vs. doping phase diagram and we provide a
coherent scenario explaining why different CDW onset curves are observed by
different experimental probes and seem to extrapolate at zero temperature into
seemingly different quantum critical points (QCPs) in the intermediate and
overdoped region. We also account for the pseudogap and its onset temperature
T*(p) on the basis of dynamically fluctuating CDWs. The nearly singular
anisotropic scattering mediated by these fluctuations also account for the
rapid changes of the Hall number seen in experiments and provides the first
necessary step for a possible Fermi surface reconstruction fully establishing
at lower doping. Finally we show that phase fluctuations of the CDWs, which are
enhanced in the presence of strong correlations near the Mott insulating phase,
naturally account for the disappearance of the CDWs at low doping with yet
another QCP.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure
Phase diagrams of voltage-gated oxide interfaces with strong Rashba coupling
We propose a model for the two-dimensional electron gas formed at the
interface of oxide heterostructures that includes a Rashba spin-orbit coupling
proportional to an electric field oriented perpendicularly to the interface.
Taking into account the electron density dependence of this electric field
confining the electron gas at the interface, we report the occurrence of a
phase separation instability (signaled by a negative compressibility) for
realistic values of the spin-orbit coupling and of the electronic
band-structure parameters at zero temperature. We extend the analysis to finite
temperatures and in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field, thereby
obtaining two phase diagrams which exhibit a phase separation dome. By varying
the gating potential the phase separation dome may shrink and vanish at zero
temperature into a quantum critical point where the charge fluctuates
dynamically. Similarly the phase separation may be spoiled by a planar magnetic
field even at zero temperature leading to a line of quantum critical points.Comment: 17 pages, 17 figure
Kinks and waterfalls as signatures of competing order in angle-resolved photoemission spectra of La_{2-x}Sr_xCuO_4
We show that the so-called kinks and waterfalls observed in angle-resolved
photoemission spectra of La2-xSrxCuO4, a prototypical high-Tc superconducting
cuprate, result from the coupling of quasiparticles with two distinct nearly
critical collective modes with finite characteristic wave vectors, typical of
charge and spin fluctuations near a stripe instability. Both phonon-like charge
and spin collective modes are needed to account for the kinked quasiparticle
dispersions. This clarifies the long-standing question whether kinks are due to
phonons or spin waves and the nature of the bosonic mediators of the
electron-electron effective interaction in La2-xSrxCuO4.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Density inhomogeneities and Rashba spin-orbit coupling interplay in oxide interfaces
There is steadily increasing evidence that the two-dimensional electron gas
(2DEG) formed at the interface of some insulating oxides like LaAlO3/SrTiO3 and
LaTiO3/SrTiO3 is strongly inhomogeneous. The inhomogeneous distribution of
electron density is accompanied by an inhomogeneous distribution of the
(self-consistent) electric field confining the electrons at the interface. In
turn this inhomogeneous transverse electric field induces an inhomogeneous
Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC). After an introductory summary on two
mechanisms possibly giving rise to an electronic phase separation accounting
for the above inhomogeneity,we introduce a phenomenological model to describe
the density-dependent RSOC and its consequences. Besides being itself a
possible source of inhomogeneity or charge-density waves, the density-dependent
RSOC gives rise to interesting physical effects like the occurrence of
inhomogeneous spin-current distributions and inhomogeneous quantum-Hall states
with chiral "edge" states taking place in the bulk of the 2DEG. The
inhomogeneous RSOC can also be exploited for spintronic devices since it can be
used to produce a disorder-robust spin Hall effect.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figure
Doping-driven transition to a time-reversal breaking state in the phase diagram of the cuprates
Motivated by recent tunnelling and Andreev-reflection experiments, we study
the conditions for a quantum transition within the superconducting phase of the
cuprates,in which a bulk imaginary (time-reversal breaking) component
appears in addition to the order parameter.
We examine in detail the role of some important physical features of the
cuprates.In particular we show that a closed Fermi surface,a bilayer splitting,
an orthorhombic distortion,and the proximity to a quantum critical point around
optimal doping favor the appearance of the imaginary component. These findings
could explain why the mixed order parameter is
observed in YBCO and LSCO, and suggest that it could appear also in Bi2212. We
also predict that, in all cuprates, the mixed state should be stable only in a
limited doping region all contained beneath the dome. The
behavior of the specific heat at the secondary transition is discussed.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures. Expanded text, 1 extra figur
Electronic polymers and soft-matter-like broken symmetries in underdoped cuprates
Empirical evidence in heavy fermion, pnictide, and other systems suggests
that unconventional superconductivity appears associated to some form of
real-space electronic order. For the cuprates, despite several proposals, the
emergence of order in the phase diagram between the commensurate
antiferromagnetic state and the superconducting state is not well understood.
Here we show that in this regime doped holes assemble in "electronic polymers."
Within a Monte Carlo study we find, that in clean systems by lowering the
temperature the polymer melt condenses first in a smectic state and then in a
Wigner crystal both with the addition of inversion symmetry breaking. Disorder
blurs the positional order leaving a robust inversion symmetry breaking and a
nematic order, accompanied by vector chiral spin order and with the persistence
of a thermodynamic transition. Such electronic phases, whose properties are
reminiscent of soft-matter physics, produce charge and spin responses in good
accord with experiments.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures plus supplementary informatio
Possible mechanisms of electronic phase separation in oxide interfaces
LaAlO3/SrTiO3 ad LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces are known to host a strongly
inhomogeneous (nearly) two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). In this work we
present three unconventional electronic mechanisms of electronic phase
separation (EPS) in a 2DEG as a possible source of inhomogeneity in oxide
interfaces. Common to all three mechanisms is the dependence of some
(interaction) potential on the 2DEG's density. We first consider a mechanism
resulting from a sizable density-dependent Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Next, we
point out that an EPS may also occur in the case of a density-dependent
superconducting pairing interaction. Finally, we show that the confinement of
the 2DEG to the interface by a density-dependent, self-consistent electrostatic
potential can by itself cause an EPS.Comment: 4 pages and 4 figures, Proceedings of the International Conference
"Superstripes 2014", 25-31 July 2015, Erice, Ital
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