Origin of charge density wave formation in insulators from a high resolution photoemission study of BaIrO3

We investigate the origin of charge density wave (CDW) formation in insulators by studying BaIrO3 using high resolution (1.4 meV) photoemission spectroscopy. The spectra reveal the existence of localized density of states at the Fermi level in the vicinity of room temperature. These localized states are found to vanish as the temperature is lowered thereby, opening a soft gap at the Fermi level, as a consequence of CDW transition. In addition, the energy dependence of the spectral density of states reveals the importance of magnetic interactions, rather than well-known Coulomb repulsion effect, in determining the electronic structure thereby implying a close relationship between ferromagnetism and CDW observed in this compound. Also, Ba core level spectra surprisingly exhibit an unusual behavior prior to CDW transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Physical Review Letter

Observation of pseudogap in MgB2

Pseudogap phase in superconductors continues to be an outstanding puzzle that differentiates unconventional superconductors from the conventional ones (BCS-superconductors). Employing high resolution photoemission spectroscopy on a highly dense conventional superconductor, MgB2, we discover an interesting scenario. While the spectral evolution close to the Fermi energy is commensurate to BCS descriptions as expected, the spectra in the wider energy range reveal emergence of a pseudogap much above the superconducting transition temperature indicating apparent departure from the BCS scenario. The energy scale of the pseudogap is comparable to the energy of E2g phonon mode responsible for superconductivity in MgB2 and the pseudogap can be attributed to the effect of electron-phonon coupling on the electronic structure. These results reveal a scenario of the emergence of the superconducting gap within an electron-phonon coupling induced pseudogap.Comment: 4 figure

Importance of conduction electron correlation in a Kondo lattice, Ce2CoSi3

Kondo systems are usually described by the interaction of strong correlation induced local moment with the highly itinerant conduction electrons. Here, we study the role of electron correlations among conduction electrons in the electronic structure of a Kondo lattice compound, Ce$_2$CoSi$_3$, using high resolution photoemission spectroscopy and {\it ab initio} band structure calculations, where Co 3$d$ electrons contribute in the conduction band. High energy resolution employed in the measurements helped to reveal signature of Ce 4$f$ states derived Kondo resonance feature at the Fermi level and dominance of Co 3$d$ contributions at higher binding energies in the conduction band. The line shape of the experimental Co 3$d$ band is found to be significantly different from that obtained from the band structure calculations within the local density approximations, LDA. Consideration of electron-electron Coulomb repulsion, $U$ among Co 3$d$ electrons within the LDA+$U$ method leads to a better representation of experimental results. Signature of electron correlation induced satellite feature is also observed in the Co 2$p$ core level spectrum. These results clearly demonstrate the importance of the electron correlation among conduction electrons in deriving the microscopic description of such Kondo systems.Comment: 6 figure

Observation of particle hole asymmetry and phonon excitations in non-Fermi liquid systems: A high-resolution photoemission study of ruthenates

We investigate the temperature evolution of the electronic states in the vicinity of the Fermi level of a non-Fermi liquid (NFL) system, CaRuO3 using ultra high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy; isostructural SrRuO3 exhibiting Fermi liquid behavior despite similar electron interaction parameters as that of CaRuO3, is used as a reference. High-energy resolution in this study helps to reveal particle-hole asymmetry in the excitation spectra of CaRuO3 in contrast to that in SrRuO3. In addition, we observe signature of phonon excitations in the photoemission spectra of CaRuO3 at finite temperatures while these are weak in SrRuO3.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figure

Evolution of the Kondo resonance feature and its relationship to spin-orbit coupling across the quantum critical point in Ce2Rh{1-x}CoxSi3

We investigate the evolution of the electronic structure of Ce2Rh{1-x}CoxSi3 as a function of x employing high resolution photoemission spectroscopy. Co substitution at the Rh sites in antiferromagnetic Ce2RhSi3 leads to a transition from an antiferromagnetic system to a Kondo system, Ce2CoSi3 via the Quantum Critical Point (QCP). High resolution photoemission spectra reveal distinct signature of the Kondo resonance feature (KRF) and its spin orbit split component (SOC) in the whole composition range indicating finite Kondo temperature scale at the quantum critical point. We observe that the intensity ratio of the Kondo resonance feature and its spin orbit split component, KRF/SOC gradually increases with the decrease in temperature in the strong hybridization limit. The scenario gets reversed if the Kondo temperature becomes lower than the magnetic ordering temperature. While finite Kondo temperature within the magnetically ordered phase indicates applicability of the spin density wave picture at the approach to QCP, the dominant temperature dependence of the spin-orbit coupled feature suggests importance of spin-orbit interactions in this regime.Comment: 6 figure