Searching for the signature of a pair density wave in YBa2_2Cu3_3O6.67_{6.67} using high energy X-ray diffraction

We have carried out a search for a pair density wave signature using high-energy X-ray diffraction in fields up to 16 T. We do not see evidence for a signal at the predicted wavevector. This is a report on the details of our experiment, with information on where in reciprocal space we looked.Comment: 5 pages, report on experimental result

Structural Evolution and Onset of the Density Wave Transition in the CDW Superconductor LaPt2_2Si2_2 Clarified with Synchrotron XRD

The quasi-2D Pt-based rare earth intermetallic material LaPt$_2$Si$_2$ has attracted attention as it exhibits strong interplay between charge density wave (CDW) and and superconductivity (SC). However, the most of the results reported on this material come from theoretical calculations, preliminary bulk investigations and powder samples, which makes it difficult to uniquely determine the temperature evolution of its crystal structure and, consequently, of its CDW transition. Therefore, the published literature around LaPt$_2$Si$_2$ is often controversial. In this paper, we clarify the complex evolution of the crystal structure, and the temperature dependence of the development of density wave transitions, in good quality LaPt$_2$Si$_2$ single crystals, with high resolution synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. According to our findings, on cooling from room temperature LaPt$_2$Si$_2$ undergoes a series of subtle structural transitions which can be summarised as follows: second order commensurate tetragonal ($P4/nmm$)-to-incommensurate structure followed by a first order incommensurate-to-commensurate orthorhombic ($Pmmn$) transition and then a first order commensurate orthorhombic ($Pmmn$)-to-commensurate tetragonal ($P4/nmm$). The structural transitions are accompanied by both incommensurate and commensurate superstructural distortions of the lattice. The observed behavior is compatible with discommensuration of the CDW in this material

Crystal Symmetry of Stripe Ordered La1.88Sr0.12CuO4

We present a combined x-ray and neutron diffraction study of the stripe ordered superconductor \lscox{0.12}. The average crystal structure is consistent with the orthorhombic $Bmab$ space group as commonly reported in the literature. This structure however is not symmetry compatible with a second order phase transition into the stripe order phase, and, as we report here numerous Bragg peaks forbidden in the $Bmab$ space group are observed. We have studied and analysed these $Bmab$-forbidden Bragg reflections. Fitting of the diffraction intensities yields monoclinic lattice distortions that are symmetry consistent with charge stripe order.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 5 Table

Origin of the quasi-quantized Hall effect in ZrTe5

The quantum Hall effect (QHE) is traditionally considered a purely two-dimensional (2D) phenomenon. Recently, a three-dimensional (3D) version of the QHE has been reported in the Dirac semimetal ZrTe5. It was proposed to arise from a magnetic-field-driven Fermi surface instability, transforming the original 3D electron system into a stack of 2D sheets. Here, we report thermodynamic, thermoelectric and charge transport measurements on ZrTe5 in the quantum Hall regime. The measured thermodynamic properties: magnetization and ultrasound propagation, show no signatures of a Fermi surface instability, consistent with in-field single crystal X-ray diffraction. Instead, a direct comparison of the experimental data with linear response calculations based on an effective 3D Dirac Hamiltonian suggests that the quasi-quantization of the observed Hall response is an intrinsic property of the 3D electronic structure. Our findings render the Hall effect in ZrTe5 a truly 3D counterpart of the QHE in 2D systems

Anisotropic magnetic excitations and incipient N\’eel order in \mathrm{Ba}{({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1\ensuremath{-}x}{\mathrm{Mn}}_{x})}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{2}

It is currently understood that high temperature superconductivity (SC) in the transition metal (M) substituted iron arsenides Ba(Fe1−xMx)2As2 is promoted by magnetic excitations with wave vectors (π,0) or (0,π). It is known that while a small amount of Co substitution lead to SC, the same does not occur for Mn for any value of x. In this work, magnetic excitations in the iron arsenides Ba(Fe1−xMnx)2As2(x=0.0,0.007,0.009,0.08) are investigated by means of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Fe L3 edge, for momentum transfer q along the high symmetry Brillouin zone (π,0) and (π,π) directions. It is shown that with increasing Mn content (x), the excitations become anisotropic both in dispersion and lineshape. Both effects are detected even for small values of x, evidencing a cooperative phenomenon between the Mn impurities, that we ascribe to emerging Néel order of the Mn spins. Moreover, for x=0.08, the excitations along q∥(π,0) are strongly damped and nearly nondispersive. This result suggests that phases of arsenides containing local moments at the FeAs layers, as in Mn or Cr substituted phases, do not support high temperature SC due to the absence of the appropriate magnetic excitations

Engineering a pure Dirac regime in ZrTe5

Real-world topological semimetals typically exhibit Dirac and Weyl nodes that coexist with trivial Fermi pockets. This tends to mask the physics of the relativistic quasiparticles. Using the example of ZrTe5, we show that strain provides a powerful tool for in-situ tuning of the band structure such that all trivial pockets are pushed far away from the Fermi energy, but only for a certain range of Van der Waals gaps. Our results naturally reconcile contradicting reports on the presence or absence of additional pockets in ZrTe5, and provide a clear map of where to find a pure three-dimensional Dirac semimetallic phase in the structural parameter space of the material

Engineering a pure Dirac regime in ZrTe5_5

Real-world topological semimetals typically exhibit Dirac and Weyl nodes that coexist with trivial Fermi pockets. This tends to mask the physics of the relativistic quasiparticles. Using the example of ZrTe$_5$, we show that strain provides a powerful tool for in-situ tuning of the band structure such that all trivial pockets are pushed far away from the Fermi energy, but only for a certain range of Van der Waals gaps. Our results naturally reconcile contradicting reports on the presence or absence of additional pockets in ZrTe$_5$, and provide a clear map of where to find a pure three-dimensional Dirac semimetallic phase in the structural parameter space of the material.Comment: 17 page

Weak-signal extraction enabled by deep-neural-network denoising of diffraction data

Removal or cancellation of noise has wide-spread applications for imaging and acoustics. In every-day-life applications, denoising may even include generative aspects which are unfaithful to the ground truth. For scientific applications, however, denoising must reproduce the ground truth accurately. Here, we show how data can be denoised via a deep convolutional neural network such that weak signals appear with quantitative accuracy. In particular, we study X-ray diffraction on crystalline materials. We demonstrate that weak signals stemming from charge ordering, insignificant in the noisy data, become visible and accurate in the denoised data. This success is enabled by supervised training of a deep neural network with pairs of measured low- and high-noise data. This way, the neural network learns about the statistical properties of the noise. We demonstrate that using artificial noise (such as Poisson and Gaussian) does not yield such quantitatively accurate results. Our approach thus illustrates a practical strategy for noise filtering that can be applied to challenging acquisition problems.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure

In situ synchrotron XRD measurements during solidification of a melt in the CaO–SiO2_2 system using an aerodynamic levitation system

Phase formation and evolution was investigated in the CaO–SiO$_2$ system in the range of 70–80 mol% CaO. The samples were container-less processed in an aerodynamic levitation system and crystallization was followed in situ by synchrotron x-ray diffraction at the beamline P21.1 at the German electron synchrotron (DESY). Modification changes of di- and tricalcium silicate were observed and occurred at lower temperatures than under equilibrium conditions. Despite deep sample undercooling, no metastable phase formation was observed within the measurement timescale of 1 s. For the given cooling rates ranging from 300 K s$^{−1}$ to about 1 K s$^{−1}$, no decomposition of tricalcium silicate was observed. No differences in phase evolution were observed between reducing and oxidizing conditions imposed by the levitation gas (Ar and Ar + O$_2$). We demonstrate that this setup has great potential to followcrystallization in refractory oxide liquids in situ. For sub-second primary phase formation faster detection and for polymorph detection adjustments in resolution have to be implemented