4,658 research outputs found
Crystal growth and quantum oscillations in the topological chiral semimetal CoSi
We survey the electrical transport properties of the single-crystalline,
topological chiral semimetal CoSi which was grown via different methods.
High-quality CoSi single crystals were found in the growth from tellurium
solution. The sample's high carrier mobility enables us to observe, for the
first time, quantum oscillations (QOs) in its thermoelectrical signals. Our
analysis of QOs reveals two spherical Fermi surfaces around the R point in the
Brillouin zone corner. The extracted Berry phases of these electron orbits are
consistent with the -2 chiral charge as reported in DFT calculations. Detailed
analysis on the QOs reveals that the spin-orbit coupling induced band-splitting
is less than 2 meV near the Fermi level, one order of magnitude smaller than
our DFT calculation result. We also report the phonon-drag induced large Nernst
effect in CoSi at intermediate temperatures
A Dedicated M-Dwarf Planet Search Using The Hobby-Eberly Telescope
We present first results of our planet search program using the 9.2 meter
Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) at McDonald Observatory to detect planets around
M-type dwarf stars via high-precision radial velocity (RV) measurements.
Although more than 100 extrasolar planets have been found around solar-type
stars of spectral type F to K, there is only a single M-dwarf (GJ 876, Delfosse
et al. 1998; Marcy et al. 1998; Marcy et al. 2001) known to harbor a planetary
system. With the current incompleteness of Doppler surveys with respect to
M-dwarfs, it is not yet possible to decide whether this is due to a fundamental
difference in the formation history and overall frequency of planetary systems
in the low-mass regime of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, or simply an
observational bias. Our HET M-dwarf survey plans to survey 100 M-dwarfs in the
next 3 to 4 years with the primary goal to answer this question. Here we
present the results from the first year of the survey which show that our
routine RV-precision for M-dwarfs is 6 m/s. We found that GJ 864 and GJ 913 are
binary systems with yet undetermined periods, while 5 out of 39 M-dwarfs reveal
a high RV-scatter and represent candidates for having short-periodic planetary
companions. For one of them, GJ 436 (rms = 20.6 m/s), we have already obtained
follow-up observations but no periodic signal is present in the RV-data.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in the Astronomical
Journa
Ab initio phonon dispersion curves and interatomic force constants of barium titanate
The phonon dispersion curves of cubic BaTiO_3 have been computed within a
first-principles approach and the results compared to the experimental data.
The curves obtained are very similar to those reported for KNbO_3 by Yu and
Krakauer [Phys. Rev. Lett. 74, 4067 (1995)]. They reveal that correlated atomic
displacements along chains are at the origin of the ferroelectric
instability. A simplified model illustrates that spontaneous collective
displacements will occur when a dozen of aligned atoms are coupled. The
longitudinal interatomic force constant between nearest neighbour Ti and O
atoms is relatively weak in comparison to that between Ti atoms in adjacent
cells. The small coupling between Ti and O displacements seems however
necessary to reproduce a ferroelectric instability.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figure
First-principles study of the structural energetics of PdTi and PtTi
The structural energetics of PdTi and PtTi have been studied using
first-principles density-functional theory with pseudopotentials and a
plane-wave basis. We predict that in both materials, the experimentally
reported orthorhombic phase will undergo a low-temperature phase
transition to a monoclinic ground state. Within a soft-mode framework,
we relate the structure to the cubic structure, observed at high
temperature, and the structure to via phonon modes strongly
coupled to strain. In contrast to NiTi, the structure is extremely close
to hcp. We draw on the analogy to the bcc-hcp transition to suggest likely
transition mechanisms in the present case.Comment: 8 pages 5 figure
Recommended from our members
Field-free platform for Majorana-like zero mode in superconductors with a topological surface state
Superconducting materials exhibiting topological properties are emerging as an exciting platform to realize fundamentally new excitations from topological quantum states of matter. In this letter, we explore the possibility of a field-free platform for generating Majorana zero energy excitations by depositing magnetic Fe impurities on the surface of candidate topological superconductors, LiFeAs and PbTaSe2. We use scanning tunneling microscopy to probe localized states induced at the Fe adatoms on the atomic scale and at sub-Kelvin temperatures. We find that each Fe adatom generates a striking zero-energy bound state inside the superconducting gap, which do not split in magnetic fields up to 8 T, underlining a nontrivial topological origin. Our findings point to magnetic Fe adatoms evaporated on bulk superconductors with topological surface states for exploring Majorana zero modes and quantum information science under field-free conditions
Ferroelectricity induced by interatomic magnetic exchange interaction
Multiferroics, where two or more ferroic order parameters coexist, is one of
the hottest fields in condensed matter physics and materials science[1-9].
However, the coexistence of magnetism and conventional ferroelectricity is
physically unfavoured[10]. Recently several remedies have been proposed, e.g.,
improper ferroelectricity induced by specific magnetic[6] or charge orders[2].
Guiding by these theories, currently most research is focused on frustrated
magnets, which usually have complicated magnetic structure and low magnetic
ordering temperature, consequently far from the practical application. Simple
collinear magnets, which can have high magnetic transition temperature, have
never been considered seriously as the candidates for multiferroics. Here, we
argue that actually simple interatomic magnetic exchange interaction already
contains a driving force for ferroelectricity, thus providing a new microscopic
mechanism for the coexistence and strong coupling between ferroelectricity and
magnetism. We demonstrate this mechanism by showing that even the simplest
antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator MnO, can display a magnetically induced
ferroelectricity under a biaxial strain
The SOPHIE search for northern extrasolar planets. II. A multi-planet system around HD9446
We report the discovery of a planetary system around HD9446, performed from
radial velocity measurements secured with the spectrograph SOPHIE at the 193-cm
telescope of the Haute-Provence Observatory during more than two years. At
least two planets orbit this G5V, active star: HD9446b has a minimum mass of
0.7 M_Jup and a slightly eccentric orbit with a period of 30 days, whereas
HD9446c has a minimum mass of 1.8 M_Jup and a circular orbit with a period of
193 days. As for most of the known multi-planet systems, the HD9446-system
presents a hierarchical disposition, with a massive outer planet and a lighter
inner planet.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in A&
Disorder-Driven Pretransitional Tweed in Martensitic Transformations
Defying the conventional wisdom regarding first--order transitions, {\it
solid--solid displacive transformations} are often accompanied by pronounced
pretransitional phenomena. Generally, these phenomena are indicative of some
mesoscopic lattice deformation that ``anticipates'' the upcoming phase
transition. Among these precursive effects is the observation of the so-called
``tweed'' pattern in transmission electron microscopy in a wide variety of
materials. We have investigated the tweed deformation in a two dimensional
model system, and found that it arises because the compositional disorder
intrinsic to any alloy conspires with the natural geometric constraints of the
lattice to produce a frustrated, glassy phase. The predicted phase diagram and
glassy behavior have been verified by numerical simulations, and diffraction
patterns of simulated systems are found to compare well with experimental data.
Analytically comparing to alternative models of strain-disorder coupling, we
show that the present model best accounts for experimental observations.Comment: 43 pages in TeX, plus figures. Most figures supplied separately in
uuencoded format. Three other figures available via anonymous ftp
- …