Spin-zero anomaly in the magnetic quantum oscillations of a two-dimensional metal

We report on an anomalous behavior of the spin-splitting zeros in the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) signal of a quasi-two-dimensional organic superconductor. The zeros as well as the angular dependence of the amplitude of the second harmonic deviate remarkably from the standard Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) prediction. In contrast, the angular dependence of the fundamental dHvA amplitude as well as the spin-splitting zeros of the Shubnikov-de Haas signal follow the LK theory. We can explain this behavior by small chemical-potential oscillations and find a very good agreement between theory and experiment. A detailed wave-shape analysis of the dHvA signal corroborates the existence of an oscillating chemical potential

Fermi-surface topology of the iron pnictide LaFe2_2P2_2

We report on a comprehensive de Haas--van Alphen (dHvA) study of the iron pnictide LaFe$_2$P$_2$. Our extensive density-functional band-structure calculations can well explain the measured angular-dependent dHvA frequencies. As salient feature, we observe only one quasi-two-dimensional Fermi-surface sheet, i.e., a hole-like Fermi-surface cylinder around $\Gamma$, essential for $s_\pm$ pairing, is missing. In spite of considerable mass enhancements due to many-body effects, LaFe$_2$P$_2$ shows no superconductivity. This is likely caused by the absence of any nesting between electron and hole bands.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Fermi surface of the superconductor BaIr

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Superconducting phase diagram of Rh<SUB>17</SUB>S<SUB>15</SUB>

We report on measurements of the magnetization up to 7 T, of the specific heat and electrical resistivity in fields up to 14 T, and of the magnetic susceptibility in fields up to 20 T of a polycrystalline sample of Rh<SUB>17</SUB>S<SUB>15</SUB>. Our data allow us to complement the superconducting phase diagram. The existence of narrow 4d-band states (and thus of strong electronic correlations that seem not to provide magnetic correlations) is supported by the moderately high electronic contribution to the specific heat of about 107 mJ/molK<SUP>2</SUP>, favoring the existence of a strong superconducting interaction. This fact, and the remarkably high upper critical field (exceeding the simple Pauli limit by a factor of two), give evidence of the uncommon nature of the superconductivity in Rh<SUB>17</SUB>S<SUB>15</SUB>

Competing exchange interactions in Co-doped ZnO: Departure from the superexchange picture

International audienceWe report the results of a comprehensive study of the exchange interactions in Co-doped ZnO using inelastic neutron scattering, electron paramagnetic resonance, and magnetic property measurements. In particular, we observe an unprecedentedly strong spatial anisotropy of the two nearest-neighbor exchanges, J (1) = −25.6 ± 0.3 K and J (2) = −8.5 ± 0.4 K, along with the distant-neighbor J values of ferromagnetic sign. We argue that the superexchange mechanism alone cannot account for the obtained data and we suggest that an additional mechanism leading to a strong ferromagnetic spin coupling is responsible for these findings. We also discuss the origin of this ferromagnetic mechanism

Fermi surface of the superconductor BaIr 2 P 2

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Fermi surface of the superconductor BaIr2 P2

We report on de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) and band-structure studies of the iridium-pnictide superconductor BaIr2P2 (Tc=2.1 K). The observed dHvA frequencies can be well understood by our band-structure calculations with two bands crossing the Fermi energy leading to a strongly corrugated Fermi-surface cylinder around the X point and a highly evolved, multiconnected Fermi surface extending over the whole Brillouin zone. The experimental effective masses are found to be considerably larger than the calculated band masses suggesting strong many-body interactions. Nevertheless, Tc remains only moderate in BaIr2P2 contrary to isostructural iron pnictides which probably is related to the largely different Fermi-surface topologies in these materials

Anisotropic multiband many-body interactions in LuNi2B2C

We present a comprehensive de Haas-van Alphen study on the nonmagnetic borocarbide superconductor LuNi2B2C. The analysis of the angular-dependent effective masses for different bands in combination with full-potential density functional calculations allowed us to determine the mass-enhancement factors, lambda, for the different electronic bands and their wave-vector dependences. Our data clearly show the anisotropic multiband character of the superconductivity in LuNi2B2C.This article is published as Bergk, B., V. Petzold, H. Rosner, S-L. Drechsler, M. Bartkowiak, O. Ignatchik, A. D. Bianchi, I. Sheikin, P. C. Canfield, and J. Wosnitza. "Anisotropic Multiband Many-Body Interactions in LuNi 2 B 2 C." Physical review letters 100, no. 25 (2008): 257004. DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.100.257004. Copyright 2008 American Physical Society. Posted with permission