Coulomb Gap: How a Metal Film Becomes an Insulator

Electron tunneling measurements of the density of states (DOS) in ultra-thin Be films reveal that a correlation gap mediates their insulating behavior. In films with sheet resistance $R<5000\Omega$ the correlation singularity appears as the usual perturbative $ln(V)$ zero bias anomaly (ZBA) in the DOS. As R is increased further, however, the ZBA grows and begins to dominate the DOS spectrum. This evolution continues until a non-perturbative $|V|$ Efros-Shklovskii Coulomb gap spectrum finally emerges in the highest R films. Transport measurements of films which display this gap are well described by a universal variable range hopping law $R(T)=(h/2e^2)exp(T_o/T)^{1/2}$.Comment: 4 figure

Fermi Surface of Cr1−x_{1-x}Vx_x across the Quantum Critical Point

We have measured de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of Cr$_{1-x}$V$_x$, $0 \le x \le 0.05$, at high fields for samples on both sides of the quantum critical point at $x_c=0.035$. For all samples we observe only those oscillations associated with a single small hole band with magnetic breakdown orbits of the reconstructed Fermi surface evident for $x<x_c$. The absence of oscillations from Fermi surface sheets most responsible for the spin density wave (SDW) in Cr for $x>x_c$ is further evidence for strong fluctuation scattering of these charge carriers well into the paramagnetic regime. We find no significant mass enhancement of the carriers in the single observed band at any $x$. An anomalous field dependence of the dHvA signal for our $x=0.035$ crystal at particular orientations of the magnetic field is identified as due to magnetic breakdown that we speculate results from a field induced SDW transition at high fields.Comment: 8 pages with 7 figure

Quantum oscillations and a non-trivial Berry phase in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd

We report the measurements of de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations in the noncentrosymmetric superconductor BiPd. Several pieces of a complex multi-sheet Fermi surface are identified, including a small pocket (frequency 40 T) which is three dimensional and anisotropic. From the temperature dependence of the amplitude of the oscillations, the cyclotron effective mass is ($0.18$ $\pm$ 0.1) $m_e$. Further analysis showed a non-trivial $\pi$-Berry phase is associated with the 40 T pocket, which strongly supports the presence of topological states in bulk BiPd and may result in topological superconductivity due to the proximity coupling to other bands.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Electrical anisotropy and coexistence of structural transitions and superconductivity in IrT e2

We report experimental investigations of the electrical transport, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties of IrTe2 single crystals. The resistivity, magnetization, and specific heat display anomalies at TS1≈283K,TS2≈167K, and Tc≈2.5K, corresponding to two structural and one superconducting phase transitions, respectively, demonstrating the coexistence of all of these transitions in high-quality stoichiometric samples. While there is little magnetic anisotropy, a large ab-plane (ρab) and c-axis (ρc) electrical resistivity ratio (ρc/ρab≈730 at T=4K) is observed. This two-dimensional (2D) electronic character is further reflected in the disparate temperature dependences of ρab and ρc, with ρab exhibiting a Fermi-liquid-like T2 dependence below ∼25K, while ρc deviates significantly from this standard metallic behavior. In contrast, the magnetization is almost isotropic and negative over a wide temperature range. This can be explained by larger diamagnetism induced by electronic structure reconstruction as probed by the Hall effect and smaller positive contribution from itinerant electrons due to a low density of states (DOS) at the Fermi level. A small electronic specific heat coefficient with γ≈1.8mJ/molK2 confirms this assertion. This implies that IrTe2 is a weakly coupled superconductor. The connection between the superconductivity and the two structural transitions is discussed