Magnetic and electronic structures of superconducting RuSr2_2GdCu2_2O8_8

The coexistence of ferromagnetism and superconductivity in RuSr$_2$GdCu$_2$O$_8$ was reported both from experiments (by Tallon et. al.) and first-principles calculations (by Pickett et. al.). Here we report that our first-principles full-potential linearized augmented plane wave (FLAPW) calculations, employing the precise crystal structure with structural distortions (i.e., RuO$_6$ rotations) determined by neutron diffraction, demonstrate that antiferromagnetic ordering of the Ru moments is energetically favored over the previously proposed ferromagnetic ordering. Our results are consistent with recently performed magnetic neutron diffraction experiments (Lynn et. al). Ru $t_{2g}$ states, which are responsible for the magnetism, have only a very small interaction with Cu $e_g$ states, which results in a small exchange splitting of these states. The Fermi surface, characterized by strongly hybridized $dp\sigma$ orbitals, has nesting features similar to those in the two-dimensional high $T_c$ cuprate superconductors.Comment: 6 pages,6 figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Neutron Scattering Study of Crystal Field Energy Levels and Field Dependence of the Magnetic Order in Superconducting HoNi2B2C

Elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements have been carried out to investigate the magnetic properties of superconducting (Tc~8K) HoNi2B2C. The inelastic measurements reveal that the lowest two crystal field transitions out of the ground state occurat 11.28(3) and 16.00(2) meV, while the transition of 4.70(9) meV between these two levels is observed at elevated temperatures. The temperature dependence of the intensities of these transitions is consistent with both the ground state and these higher levels being magnetic doublets. The system becomes magnetically long range ordered below 8K, and since this ordering energy kTN ~ 0.69meV << 11.28meV the magnetic properties in the ordered phase are dominated by the ground-state spin dynamics only. The low temperature structure, which coexists with superconductivity, consists of ferromagnetic sheets of Ho{3+ moments in the a-b plane, with the sheets coupled antiferromagnetically along the c-axis. The magnetic state that initially forms on cooling, however, is dominated by an incommensurate spiral antiferromagnetic state along the c-axis, with wave vector qc ~0.054 A-1, in which these ferromagnetic sheets are canted from their low temperature antiparallel configuration by ~17 deg. The intensity for this spiral state reaches a maximum near the reentrant superconducting transition at ~5K; the spiral state then collapses at lower temperature in favor of the commensurate antiferromagnetic state. We have investigated the field dependence of the magnetic order at and above this reentrant superconducting transition. Initially the field rotates the powder particles to align the a-b plane along the field direction, demonstrating that the moments strongly prefer to lie within this plane due to the crystal field anisotropy. Upon subsequently increasing the field atComment: RevTex, 7 pages, 11 figures (available upon request); Physica

Superconductivity in a Ferromagnetic Layered Compound

We examine superconductivity in layered systems with large Fermi-surface splitting due to coexisting ferromagnetic layers. In particular, the hybrid ruthenate-cuprate compound RuSr_2GdCu_2O_8 is examined on the coexistence of the superconductivity and the ferromagnetism, which has been observed recently. We calculate critical fields of the superconductivity taking into account the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in a model with Fermi-surfaces which shapes are similar to those obtained by a band calculation. It is shown that the critical field is enhanced remarkably due to a Fermi-surface effect, and can be high enough to make the coexistence possible in a microscopic scale. We also clarify the direction of the spatial oscillation of the order parameter, which may be observed by scanning tunneling microscope experiments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, (Latex, revtex.sty, epsf.sty

Extreme Electron-Phonon Coupling in Boron-based Layered Superconductors

The phonon-mode decomposition of the electron-phonon coupling in the MgB2-like system Li_{1-x}BC is explored using first principles calculations. It is found that the high temperature superconductivity of such systems results from extremely strong coupling to only ~2% of the phonon modes. Novel characteristics of E_2g branches include (1) ``mode lambda'' values of 25 and greater compared to a mean of $\sim 0.4$ for other modes, (2) a precipitous Kohn anomaly, and (3) E_2g phonon linewidths within a factor of ~2 of the frequency itself, indicating impending breakdown of linear electron-phonon theory. This behavior in borne out by recent inelastic x-ray scattering studies of MgB2 by Shukla et al.Comment: 4 two-column pages, 4 figures. Equations simplified. Figure 4 changed. Comparison with new data include

Changes in Optical Conductivity due to Readjustments in Electronic Density of States

Within the model of elastic impurity scattering, we study how changes in the energy dependence of the electronic density of states (EDOS) $N(\epsilon)$ around the Fermi energy $\epsilon_F$ are reflected in the frequency-dependent optical conductivity $\sigma(\omega)$. While conserving the total number of states in $N(\epsilon)$ we compute the induced changes in $\sigma(\omega)$ as a function of $\omega$ and in the corresponding optical scattering rate $1/\tau_{\rm op}(\omega)$. These quantities mirror some aspects of the EDOS changes but the relationship is not direct. Conservation of optical oscillator strength is found not to hold, and there is no sum rule on the optical scattering rate although one does hold for the quasiparticle scattering. Temperature as well as increases in impurity scattering lead to additional changes in optical properties not seen in the constant EDOS case. These effects have their origin in an averaging of the EDOS around the Fermi energy $\epsilon_F$ on an energy scale set by the impurity scattering.Comment: 13 pages, 7 figure

Josephson Plasma in RuSr2GdCu2O8

Josephson plasma in RuSr$_{2}$GdCu$_{2}$O$_{8}$, Ru$_{1-x}$Sr$_{2}$GdCu$_{2+x}$O$_{8}$ (x = 0.3), and RuSr$_{2}$Eu$_{2-x}$Ce$_{x}$Cu$_{2}$O$_{10}$ (x = 0.5) compounds is investigated by the sphere resonance method. The Josephson plasma is observed in a low-frequency region (around 8.5 cm$^{-1}$ at T $\ll$ $T_{c}$) for ferromagnetic RuSr$_{2}$GdCu$_{2}$O$_{8}$, while it increases to 35 cm$^{-1}$ for non-ferromagnetic Ru$_{1-x}$Sr$_{2}$GdCu$_{2+x}$O$_{8}$ (x = 0.3), which represents a large reduction in the Josephson coupling at ferromagnetic RuO$_{2}$ block layers. The temperature dependence of the plasma does not shift to zero frequency ({\it i.e.} $j_{c}$ = 0) at low temperatures, indicating that there is no transition from the 0-phase to the $\pi$-phase in these compounds. The temperature dependence and the oscillator strength of the peak are different from those of other non-magnetic cuprates, and the origins of these anomalies are discussed.Comment: to appear in Phys. Rev.B Rapid Com

Influence of next-nearest-neighbor electron hopping on the static and dynamical properties of the 2D Hubbard model

Comparing experimental data for high temperature cuprate superconductors with numerical results for electronic models, it is becoming apparent that a hopping along the plaquette diagonals has to be included to obtain a quantitative agreement. According to recent estimations the value of the diagonal hopping $t'$ appears to be material dependent. However, the values for $t'$ discussed in the literature were obtained comparing theoretical results in the weak coupling limit with experimental photoemission data and band structure calculations. The goal of this paper is to study how $t'$ gets renormalized as the interaction between electrons, $U$, increases. For this purpose, the effect of adding a bare diagonal hopping $t'$ to the fully interacting two dimensional Hubbard model Hamiltonian is investigated using numerical techniques. Positive and negative values of $t'$ are analyzed. Spin-spin correlations, $n(\bf{k})$, $\langle n\rangle$ vs $\mu$, and local magnetic moments are studied for values of $U/t$ ranging from 0 to 6, and as a function of the electronic density. The influence of the diagonal hopping in the spectral function $A(\bf{k},\omega)$ is also discussed, and the changes in the gap present in the density of states at half-filling are studied. We introduce a new criterion to determine probable locations of Fermi surfaces at zero temperature from $n(\bf{k})$ data obtained at finite temperature. It appears that hole pockets at ${\bf{k}}=(\pi/2,\pi/2)$ may be induced for negative $t'$ while a positive $t'$ produces similar features at ${\bf{k}}=(\pi,0)$ and $(0,\pi)$. Comparisons with the standard 2D Hubbard ($t'=0$) model indicate that a negative $t'$ hopping amplitude appears to be dynamically generated. In general, we conclude that it is very dangerous to extract a bare parameter of the Hamiltonian $(t')$ from PES data whereComment: 9 pages (RevTex 3.0), 12 figures (postscript), files packed with uufile

Soft phonons and structural phase transition in superconducting Ba0.59K0.41BiO3

We have observed a softening of phonons and a structural phase transition in a superconducting Ba0.59K0.41BiO3 (Tc = 31 K) single crystal using elastic and inelastic neutron scattering measurements. The soft phonon occurs for the [111] transverse acoustic mode at the zone boundary. The phonon energies in this vicinity are found to continuously decrease with decreasing temperature from above room temperature to 200 K, where a structural phase transition from cubic to tetragonal symmetry occurs. The overall results are consistent with previous data that reported phonon softening and a (0.5, 0.5, 0.5) type superstructure in several Ba1-xKxBiO3 systems. However, we also find weak (0.5, 0.5, 0) type superstructure peaks that reveal an additional component to the modulation. No significant change related to the superconductivity was observed for the soft phonon energies or linewidths.Comment: 15 page

Spin Susceptibility and Superexchange Interaction in the Antiferromagnet CuO

Evidence for the quasi one-dimensional (1D) antiferromagnetism of CuO is presented in a framework of Heisenberg model. We have obtained an experimental absolute value of the paramagnetic spin susceptibility of CuO by subtracting the orbital susceptibility separately from the total susceptibility through the $^{63}$Cu NMR shift measurement, and compared directly with the theoretical predictions. The result is best described by a 1D $S=1/2$ antiferromagnetic Heisenberg (AFH) model, supporting the speculation invoked by earlier authors. We also present a semi-quantitative reason why CuO, seemingly of 3D structure, is unexpectedly a quasi 1D antiferromagnet.Comment: 7 pages including 4 tables and 9 figure

Palaeontology, the biogeohistory of Victoria

The broad-scale distribution of fossils within Victoria is controlled by general global patterns in the biological evolution of life on Earth, the local development and environmental evolution of habitats, and the occurrence of geological processes conducive to the preservation of fossil floras and faunas. Early Palaeozoic fossils are mostly marine in origin because of the predominance of marine sedimentary rocks in Victoria and because life on land was not significant during most of this time interval. Middle Palaeozoic sequences have both terrestrial and marine fossil records. Within Victoria, marine rocks are only very minor components of strata deposited during the late Palaeozoic, so that few marine fossils are known from this time period. A similar situation existed during most of the Mesozoic except towards the end of this era when marine conditions began to prevail in the Bass Strait region. During long intervals in the Cainozoic, large areas of Victoria were flooded by shallow-marine seas, particularly in the southern basins of Bass Strait, as well as in the northwest of the State (Murray Basin). Cainozoic sediments contain an extraordinary range of animal and plant fossils. During the Quaternary, the landscape of Victoria became, and continues to be, dominated by continental environments including, at times, extensive freshwater lake systems. Fossil floras and faunas from sediments deposited in these lake systems and from other continental sediments, as well as from Quaternary sediments deposited in marginal marine environments, collectively record a history of rapid fluctuations in climate and sea level.<br /