4,263 research outputs found
Surface electronic structure of a topological Kondo insulator candidate SmB6: insights from high-resolution ARPES
The Kondo insulator SmB6 has long been known to exhibit low temperature (T <
10K) transport anomaly and has recently attracted attention as a new
topological insulator candidate. By combining low-temperature and high
energy-momentum resolution of the laser-based ARPES technique, for the first
time, we probe the surface electronic structure of the anomalous conductivity
regime. We observe that the bulk bands exhibit a Kondo gap of 14 meV and
identify in-gap low-lying states within a 4 meV window of the Fermi level on
the (001)-surface of this material. The low-lying states are found to form
electron-like Fermi surface pockets that enclose the X and the Gamma points of
the surface Brillouin zone. These states disappear as temperature is raised
above 15K in correspondence with the complete disappearance of the 2D
conductivity channels in SmB6. While the topological nature of the in-gap
metallic states cannot be ascertained without spin (spin-texture) measurements
our bulk and surface measurements carried out in the
transport-anomaly-temperature regime (T < 10K) are consistent with the
first-principle predicted Fermi surface behavior of a topological Kondo
insulator phase in this material.Comment: 4 Figures, 6 Page
Selective interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between the Cu spins in YBa Cu O grown on top of La Ca MnO
Studies to date on ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor heterostructures focus
mainly on the effects at or near the interfaces while the response of bulk
properties to heterostructuring is overlooked. Here we use resonant soft x-ray
scattering spectroscopy to reveal a novel c-axis ferromagnetic coupling between
the in-plane Cu spins in YBa Cu O (YBCO) superconductor when it
is grown on top of ferromagnetic La Ca MnO (LCMO) manganite
layer. This coupling, present in both normal and superconducting states of
YBCO, is sensitive to the interfacial termination such that it is only observed
in bilayers with MnO_2but not with La Ca interfacial
termination. Such contrasting behaviors, we propose, are due to distinct
energetic of CuO chain and CuO plane at the La Ca and
MnO terminated interfaces respectively, therefore influencing the transfer
of spin-polarized electrons from manganite to cuprate differently. Our findings
suggest that the superconducting/ferromagnetic bilayers with proper interfacial
engineering can be good candidates for searching the theorized
Fulde-Ferrel-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state in cuprates and studying the
competing quantum orders in highly correlated electron systems.Comment: Please note the change of the title. Text might be slightly different
from the published versio
Lifshitz transition and van Hove singularity in a Topological Dirac Semimetal
A topological Dirac semimetal is a novel state of quantum matter which has
recently attracted much attention as an apparent 3D version of graphene. In
this paper, we report critically important results on the electronic structure
of the 3D Dirac semimetal Na3Bi at a surface that reveals its nontrivial
groundstate. Our studies, for the first time, reveal that the two 3D Dirac
cones go through a topological change in the constant energy contour as a
function of the binding energy, featuring a Lifshitz point, which is missing in
a strict 3D analog of graphene (in other words Na3Bi is not a true 3D analog of
graphene). Our results identify the first example of a band saddle point
singularity in 3D Dirac materials. This is in contrast to its 2D analogs such
as graphene and the helical Dirac surface states of a topological insulator.
The observation of multiple Dirac nodes in Na3Bi connecting via a Lifshitz
point along its crystalline rotational axis away from the Kramers point serves
as a decisive signature for the symmetry-protected nature of the Dirac
semimetal's topological groundstate.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Figures, Related papers on topological Fermi arcs and Weyl
Semimetals (WSMs) are at
http://physics.princeton.edu/zahidhasangroup/index.htm
Charge ordering in the spinels AlVO and LiVO
We develop a microscopic theory for the charge ordering (CO) transitions in
the spinels AlVO and LiVO (under pressure). The high degeneracy
of CO states is lifted by a coupling to the rhombohedral lattice deformations
which favors transition to a CO state with inequivalent V(1) and V(2) sites
forming Kagom\'e and trigonal planes respectively. We construct an extended
Hubbard type model including a deformation potential which is treated in
unrestricted Hartree Fock approximation and describes correctly the observed
first-order CO transition. We also discuss the influence of associated orbital
order. Furthermore we suggest that due to different band fillings AlVO
should remain metallic while LiVO under pressure should become a
semiconductor when charge disproportionation sets in
Complex-Orbital Order in Fe_3O_4 and Mechanism of the Verwey Transition
Electronic state and the Verwey transition in magnetite (Fe_3O_4) are studied
using a spinless three-band Hubbard model for 3d electrons on the B sites with
the Hartree-Fock approximation and the exact diagonalisation method.
Complex-orbital, e.g., 1/sqrt(2)[|zx> + i |yz>], ordered (COO) states having
noncollinear orbital moments ~ 0.4 mu_B on the B sites are obtained with the
cubic lattice structure of the high-temperature phase. The COO state is a novel
form of magnetic ordering within the orbital degree of freedom. It arises from
the formation of Hund's second rule states of spinless pseudo-d molecular
orbitals in the Fe_4 tetrahedral units of the B sites and ferromagnetic
alignment of their fictitious orbital moments. A COO state with longer
periodicity is obtained with pseudo-orthorhombic Pmca and Pmc2_1 structures for
the low-temperature phase. The state spontaneously lowers the crystal symmetry
to the monoclinic and explains experimentally observed rhombohedral cell
deformation and Jahn-Teller like distortion. From these findings, we consider
that at the Verwey transition temperature, the COO state remaining to be
short-range order impeded by dynamical lattice distortion in high temperature
is developed into that with long-range order coupled with the monoclinic
lattice distortion.Comment: 16 pages, 13 figures, 6 tables, accepted for publication in J. Phys.
Soc. Jp
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