28 research outputs found
Paramagnons and high-temperature superconductivity in a model family of cuprates
Cuprate superconductors have the highest critical temperatures (Tc) at ambient pressure, yet
a consensus on the superconducting mechanism remains to be established. Finding an
empirical parameter that limits the highest reachable Tc can provide crucial insight into this
outstanding problem. Here, in the first two Ruddlesden-Popper members of the model Hg-
family of cuprates, which are chemically nearly identical and have the highest Tc among all
cuprate families, we use inelastic photon scattering to reveal that the energy of magnetic
fluctuations may play such a role. In particular, we observe the single-paramagnon spectra to
be nearly identical between the two compounds, apart from an energy scale difference of
~30% which matches their difference in Tc. The empirical correlation between paramagnon
energy and maximal Tc is further found to extend to other cuprate families with relatively high
Tc’s, hinting at a fundamental connection between them
Crystalline and magnetic structure of Ba2CuO3+{\delta} investigated by x-ray absorption spectroscopy and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering
Motivated by the recent synthesis of BaCuO (BCO), a high
temperature superconducting cuprate with putative ground state
symmetry, we investigated its electronic structure by means of Cu x-ray
absorption (XAS) and resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Cu
edge on a polycrystalline sample. We show that the XAS profile of BCO is
characterised by two peaks associated to inequivalent Cu sites, and that its
RIXS response features a single, sharp peak associated to crystal-field
excitations. We argue that these observations are only partially compatible
with the previously proposed crystal structure of BCO. Based on our
spectroscopic results and on previously published powder diffraction
measurements, we propose a crystalline structure characterized by two
inequivalent Cu sites located at alternated planes along the axis:
nominally trivalent Cu(1) belonging to very short Cu-O chains, and divalent
Cu(2) in the oxygen deficient CuO planes. We also analyze the
low-energy region of the RIXS spectra to estimate the magnitude of the magnetic
interactions in BCO and find that in-plane nearest neighbor superexchange
exceeds 120~meV, similarly to that of other layered cuprates. Although these
results do not support the pure ground state scenario, they hint
at a significant departure from the common quasi-2D electronic structure of
superconducting cuprates of pure symmetry
Correlation driven near-flat band Stoner excitations in a Kagome magnet
Among condensed matter systems, Mott insulators exhibit diverse properties
that emerge from electronic correlations. In itinerant metals, correlations are
usually weak, but can also be enhanced via geometrical confinement of
electrons, that manifest as `flat' dispersionless electronic bands. In the fast
developing field of topological materials, which includes Dirac and Weyl
semimetals, flat bands are one of the important components that can result in
unusual magnetic and transport behaviour. To date, characterisation of flat
bands and their magnetism is scarce, hindering the design of novel materials.
Here, we investigate the ferromagnetic Kagom\'{e} semimetal CoSnS
using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering. Remarkably, nearly non-dispersive
Stoner spin excitation peaks are observed, sharply contrasting with the
featureless Stoner continuum expected in conventional ferromagnetic metals. Our
band structure and dynamic spin susceptibility calculations, and thermal
evolution of the excitations, confirm the nearly non-dispersive Stoner
excitations as unique signatures of correlations and spin-polarized electronic
flat bands in CoSnS. These observations serve as a cornerstone for
further exploration of band-induced symmetry-breaking orders in topological
materials.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, and Supplementary Informatio
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Unraveling the Orbital Physics in a Canonical Orbital System KCuF3
We explore the existence of the collective orbital excitations, orbitons, in the canonical orbital system KCuF3 using the Cu L3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. We show that the nondispersive high-energy peaks result from the Cu2+  dd orbital excitations. These high-energy modes display good agreement with the ab initio quantum chemistry calculation, indicating that the dd excitations are highly localized. At the same time, the low-energy excitations present clear dispersion. They match extremely well with the two-spinon continuum following the comparison with Müller ansatz calculations. The localized dd excitations and the observation of the strongly dispersive magnetic excitations suggest that the orbiton dispersion is below the resolution detection limit. Our results can reconcile with the strong local Jahn-Teller effect in KCuF3, which predominantly drives orbital ordering
Detection of a two-phonon mode in a cuprate superconductor via polarimetric RIXS
Recent improvements in the energy resolution of resonant inelastic x-ray
scattering experiments (RIXS) at the Cu-L edge have enabled the study of
lattice, spin, and charge excitations. Here, we report on the detection of a
low intensity signal at 140meV, twice the energy of the bond-stretching (BS)
phonon mode, in the cuprate superconductor
(Bi-2212).
Ultra-high resolution polarimetric RIXS measurements allow us to resolve the
outgoing polarization of the signal and identify this feature as a two-phonon
excitation. Further, we study the connection between the two-phonon mode and
the BS one-phonon mode by constructing a joint density of states toy model that
reproduces the key features of the data
The OTELO survey: A case study of [O III] lambda 4959,5007 emitters at z=0.83
Context. The OSIRIS Tunable Filter Emission Line Object (OTELO) survey is a very deep, blind exploration of a selected region of the Extended Groth Strip and is designed for finding emission-line sources (ELSs). The survey design, observations, data reduction, astrometry, and photometry, as well as the correlation with ancillary data used to obtain a final catalogue, including photo-z estimates and a preliminary selection of ELS, were described in a previous contribution.
Aims. Here, we aim to determine the main properties and luminosity function (LF) of the [O III] ELS sample of OTELO as a scientific demonstration of its capabilities, advantages, and complementarity with respect to other surveys.
Methods. The selection and analysis procedures of ELS candidates obtained using tunable filter pseudo-spectra are described. We performed simulations in the parameter space of the survey to obtain emission-line detection probabilities. Relevant characteristics of [O III] emitters and the LF ([O III]), including the main selection biases and uncertainties, are presented.
Results. From 541 preliminary emission-line source candidates selected around z = 0.8, a total of 184 sources were confirmed as [O III] emitters. Consistent with simulations, the minimum detectable line flux and equivalent width in this ELS sample are ∼5 × 10−19 erg s−1 cm2 and ∼6 Å, respectively. We are able to constrain the faint-end slope (α = −1.03 ± 0.08) of the observed LF ([O III]) at a mean redshift of z = 0.83. This LF reaches values that are approximately ten times lower than those from other surveys. The vast majority (84%) of the morphologically classified [O III] ELSs are disc-like sources, and 87% of this sample is comprised of galaxies with stellar masses of M⋆ <  1010 M⊙
Synchrotron radiographic studies of ultrasonic melt processing of metal matrix nano composites
Fast synchrotron radiography was used to investigate ultrasonic cavitation bubble formation and their dynamics during liquid metal processing of Al-Cu metal matrix nano composites (MMNC) in comparison with conventional alloys. The experimental observations showed enhanced cavitation potential in MMNC melts, due to the presence of Al2O3 nano particles which believed to be acting as heterogeneous nuclei for bubble formation. Quantitative image analysis demonstrates that the addition of nano particles increases melt agitation partially, while introducing higher flow velocity variations across the melt. This suggests that the presence of nano particles may substantially alter propensity for ultrasonic treatment effects during solidification processing of MMNCs.the ExoMet Project, which is co-funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme (contract FP7-NMP3-LA-2012-280421), by the European Space Agency and by the individual partner organisations. UK EPSRC grants (EP/I02249X/1, EP/K00588X/1, EP/K005804) and the Research Complex at Harwell
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead