85 research outputs found
Bond-order modulated staggered flux phase for the model on the square lattice
Motivated by the observation of inhomogeneous patterns in some high-T
cuprate compounds, several variational Gutzwiller-projected wave-functions with
built-in charge and bond order parameters are proposed for the extended
model on the square lattice at low doping. First, following a recent
Gutzwiller-projected mean-field approach by one of us (Phys. Rev. B. {\bf 72},
060508(R) (2005)), we investigate, as a function of doping and Coulomb
repulsion, the stability of the staggered flux phase with respect to small
spontaneous modulations of squared unit cells ranging from to
. It is found that a bond-order (BO)
modulation appears spontaneously on top of the staggered flux pattern for hole
doping around 1/8. A related wave-function is then constructed and optimized
accurately and its properties studied extensively using an approximation-free
variational Monte Carlo scheme. Finally, the competition of the BO-modulated
staggered flux wave-function w.r.t. the d-wave RVB wave-function or the
commensurate flux state is investigated. It is found that a short range Coulomb
repulsion penalizes the d-wave superconductor and that a moderate Coulomb
repulsion brings them very close in energy. Our results are discussed in
connection to the STM observations in the under-doped regime of some cuprates.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Angle-dependence of quantum oscillations in YBa2Cu3O6.59 shows free spin behaviour of quasiparticles
Measurements of quantum oscillations in the cuprate superconductors afford a
new opportunity to assess the extent to which the electronic properties of
these materials yield to a description rooted in Fermi liquid theory. However,
such an analysis is hampered by the small number of oscillatory periods
observed. Here we employ a genetic algorithm to globally model the field,
angular, and temperature dependence of the quantum oscillations observed in the
resistivity of YBa2Cu3O6.59. This approach successfully fits an entire data set
to a Fermi surface comprised of two small, quasi-2-dimensional cylinders. A key
feature of the data is the first identification of the effect of Zeeman
splitting, which separates spin-up and spin-down contributions, indicating that
the quasiparticles in the cuprates behave as nearly free spins, constraining
the source of the Fermi surface reconstruction to something other than a
conventional spin density wave with moments parallel to the CuO2 planes.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure
Advances in single crystal growth and annealing treatment of electron-doped HTSC
High quality electron-doped HTSC single crystals of and have been
successfully grown by the container-free traveling solvent floating zone
technique. The optimally doped and crystals have transition temperatures
of \,K and \,K, respectively, with a transition width of less than
\,K. We found a strong dependence of the optimal growth parameters on the Ce
content . We discuss the optimization of the post-growth annealing treatment
of the samples, the doping extension of the superconducting dome for both
compounds as well as the role of excess oxygen. The absolute oxygen content of
the as-grown crystals is determined from thermogravimetric experiments and is
found to be . This oxygen surplus is nearly completely removed by a
post-growth annealing treatment. The reduction process is reversible as
demonstrated by magnetization measurements. In as-grown samples the excess
oxygen resides on the apical site O(3). This apical oxygen has nearly no doping
effect, but rather influences the evolution of superconductivity by inducing
additional disorder in the CuO layers. The very high crystal quality of
is particularly manifest in magnetic quantum
oscillations observed on several samples at different doping levels. They
provide a unique opportunity of studying the Fermi surface and its dependence
on the carrier concentration in the bulk of the crystals.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Eur. Phys. J.
Chemical potential oscillations from a single nodal pocket in the underdoped high-Tc superconductor YBa2Cu3O6+x
The mystery of the normal state in the underdoped cuprates has deepened with
the use of newer and complementary experimental probes. While photoemission
studies have revealed solely `Fermi arcs' centered on nodal points in the
Brillouin zone at which holes aggregate upon doping, more recent quantum
oscillation experiments have been interpreted in terms of an ambipolar Fermi
surface, that includes sections containing electron carriers located at the
antinodal region. To address the question of whether an ambipolar Fermi surface
truly exists, here we utilize measurements of the second harmonic quantum
oscillations, which reveal that the amplitude of these oscillations arises
mainly from oscillations in the chemical potential, providing crucial
information on the nature of the Fermi surface in underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x. In
particular, the detailed relationship between the second harmonic amplitude and
the fundamental amplitude of the quantum oscillations leads us to the
conclusion that there exists only a single underlying quasi-two dimensional
Fermi surface pocket giving rise to the multiple frequency components observed
via the effects of warping, bilayer splitting and magnetic breakdown. A range
of studies suggest that the pocket is most likely associated with states near
the nodal region of the Brillouin zone of underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x at high
magnetic fields.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Superconductivity and Pseudogap in Quasi-Two-Dimensional Metals around the Antiferromagnetic Quantum Critical Point
Spin fluctuations (SF) and SF-mediated superconductivity (SC) in
quasi-two-dimensional metals around the antiferrromagnetic (AF) quantum
critical point (QCP) are investigated by using the self-consistent
renormalization theory for SF and the strong coupling theory for SC. We
introduce a parameter y0 as a measure for the distance from the AFQCP which is
approximately proportional to (x-xc), x being the electron (e) or hole (h)
doping concentration to the half-filled band and xc being the value at the
AFQCP. We present phase diagrams in the T-y0 plane including contour maps of
the AF correlation length and AF and SC transition temperatures TN and Tc,
respectively. The Tc curve is dome-shaped with a maximum at around the AFQCP.
The calculated one-electron spectral density shows a pseudogap in the
high-density-of-states region near (pi,0) below around a certain temperature T*
and gives a contour map at the Fermi energy reminiscent of the Fermi arc. These
results are discussed in comparison with e- and h-doped high-Tc cuprates.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Indication for the coexistence of closed orbit and quantum interferometer with the same cross section in the organic metal (ET)4(H3O)[Fe(C2O4)3].C6H4Cl2: Persistence of SdH oscillations above 30 K
Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) and de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations spectra of
the quasi-two dimensional charge transfer salt
"-(ET)(HO)[Fe(CO)]CHCl have been
investigated in pulsed magnetic fields up to 54 T. The data reveal three basic
frequencies F, F and F, which can be interpreted on the basis
of three compensated closed orbits at low temperature. However a very weak
thermal damping of the Fourier component F, with the highest amplitude, is
evidenced for SdH spectra above about 6 K. As a result, magnetoresistance
oscillations are observed at temperatures higher than 30 K. This feature, which
is not observed for dHvA oscillations, is in line with quantum interference,
pointing to a Fermi surface reconstruction in this compound.Comment: published in Eur. Phys. J. B 71 203 (2009
Determining the in-plane Fermi surface topology in underdoped high Tc superconductors using angle-dependent magnetic quantum oscillations
We propose a quantum oscillation experiment by which the rotation of an
underdoped YBa2Cu3O6+x sample about two different axes with respect to the
orientation of the magnetic field can be used to infer the shape of the
in-plane cross-section of corrugated Fermi surface cylinder(s). Deep
corrugations in the Fermi surface are expected to give rise to nodes in the
quantum oscillation amplitude that depend on the magnitude and orientation of
the magnetic induction B. Because the symmetry of electron and hole cyclinders
within the Brillouin zone are expected to be very different, the topology can
provide essential clues as to the broken symmetry responsible for the observed
oscillations
Electronic structure in underdoped cuprates due to the emergence of a pseudogap
The phenomenological Green's function developed in the works of Yang, Rice
and Zhang has been very successful in understanding many of the anomalous
superconducting properties of the deeply underdoped cuprates. It is based on
considerations of the resonating valence bond spin liquid approximation and is
designed to describe the underdoped regime of the cuprates. Here we emphasize
the region of doping, , just below the quantum critical point at which the
pseudogap develops. In addition to Luttinger hole pockets centered around the
nodal direction, there are electron pockets near the antinodes which are
connected to the hole pockets by gapped bridging contours. We determine the
contours of nearest approach as would be measured in angular resolved
photoemission experiments and emphasize signatures of the Fermi surface
reconstruction from the large Fermi contour of Fermi liquid theory (which
contains hole states) to the Luttinger pocket (which contains hole
states). We find that the quasiparticle effective mass renormalization
increases strongly towards the edge of the Luttinger pockets beyond which it
diverges.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Quantum oscillations from Fermi arcs
When a metal is subjected to strong magnetic field B nearly all measurable
quantities exhibit oscillations periodic in 1/B. Such quantum oscillations
represent a canonical probe of the defining aspect of a metal, its Fermi
surface (FS). In this study we establish a new mechanism for quantum
oscillations which requires only finite segments of a FS to exist. Oscillations
periodic in 1/B occur if the FS segments are terminated by a pairing gap. Our
results reconcile the recent breakthrough experiments showing quantum
oscillations in a cuprate superconductor YBCO, with a well-established result
of many angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies which consistently
indicate "Fermi arcs" -- truncated segments of a Fermi surface -- in the normal
state of the cuprates.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
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