227 research outputs found
Order and disorder in the triangular-lattice t-J-V model at 2/3 electron density
Motivated by the recent discovery of superconductivity in NaCoOHO, we use series expansion methods and cluster mean-field theory to
study spontaneous charge order, Neel order, ferromagnetic order, dimer order
and phase-separation in the triangular-lattice t-J-V model at 2/3 electron
density. We find that for t<0, the charge ordered state, with electrons
preferentially occupying a honeycomb lattice, is very robust. Quite
surprisingly, hopping to the third sublattice can even enhance Neel order. At
large negative t and small V, the Nagaoka ferromagnetic state is obtained. For
large positive t, charge and Neel order vanish below a critical V, giving rise
to an itinerant antiferromagnetically correlated state.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Hole Doping Effects on Spin-gapped Na2Cu2TeO6 via Topochemical Na Deficiency
We report the magnetic susceptibility and NMR studies of a spin-gapped
layered compound
Na2Cu2TeO6 (the spin gap 250 K), the hole doping effect on the
Cu2TeO6 plane via a topochemical Na deficiency by soft chemical treatment, and
the static spin vacancy effect by nonmagnetic impurity Zn substitution for Cu.
A finite Knight shift at the Te site was observed for pure
Na2Cu2TeO6.
The negative hyperfine coupling constant is an evidence for
the existence of a superexchange pathway of the Cu-O-Te-O-Cu bond. It turned
out that both the Na deficiency and Zn impurities induce a Curie-type magnetism
in the uniform spin susceptibility in an external magnetic field of 1 T, but
only the Zn impurities enhance the low-temperature Na nuclear
spin-lattice relaxation rate whereas the Na deficiency suppresses it. A spin
glass behavior was observed for the Na-deficient samples but not for the
Zn-substituted samples. The dynamics of the unpaired moments of the doped holes
are different from that of the spin vacancy in the spin-gapped Cu2TeO6 planes.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. Vol. 75,
No. 8 (2006
Correlation between Superconducting Transition Temperature and Increase of Nuclear Spin-Lattice Relaxation Rate Devided by Temperature at in the Hydrate Cobaltate NaCoOHO
We have performed Co-nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies on
NaCoOHO compounds with different Na () and hydrate
() contents. Two samples with different Na contents but nearly the same
values ( = 0.348, = 4.7 K ; = 0.339, = 4.6 K) were
investigated. The spin-lattice relaxation rate in the superconducting
(SC) and normal states is almost the same for the two samples except just above
. NQR measurements were also performed on different-hydrate-content
samples with different values, which were prepared from the same
Na-content ( = 0.348) sample. From measurements of using the
different-hydrate-content samples, it was found that a low- sample with
K has a larger residual density of states (DOS) in the SC state and
a smaller increase of just above than a high- sample with
= 4.7 K. The former behavior is consistent with that observed in
unconventional superconductors, and the latter suggests the relationship
between and the increase in DOS just above . This increase, which is
seemingly associated with the two-dimensionality of the CoO plane, is
considered to be one of the most important factors for the occurrence of
superconductivity.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures, To be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Structure and Dynamics of Superconducting NaxCoO(2) Hydrate and Its Unhydrated Analog
Neutron scattering has been used to investigate the crystal structure and
lattice dynamics of superconducting Na0.3CoO2 1.4(H/D)2O, and the parent
Na0.3CoO2 material. The structure of Na0.3CoO2 consists of alternate layers of
CoO2 and Na and is the same as the structure at higher Na concentrations. For
the superconductor, the water forms two additional layers between the Na and
CoO2, increasing the c-axis lattice parameter of the hexagonal P63/mmc space
group from 11.16 A to 19.5 A. The Na ions are found to occupy a different
configuration from the parent compound, while the water forms a structure that
replicates the structure of ice. Both types of sites are only partially
occupied. The CoO2 layer in these structures is robust, on the other hand, and
we find a strong inverse correlation between the CoO2 layer thickness and the
superconducting transition temperature (TC increases with decreasing
thickness). The phonon density-of-states for Na0.3CoO2 exhibits distinct
acoustic and optic bands, with a high-energy cutoff of ~100 meV. The lattice
dynamical scattering for the superconductor is dominated by the hydrogen modes,
with librational and bending modes that are quite similar to ice, supporting
the structural model that the water intercalates and forms ice-like layers in
the superconductor.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, Phys. Rev. B (in press). Minor changes + two
figures removed as requested by refere
Unconventional Superconductivity and Nearly Ferromagnetic Spin Fluctuations in NaCoOHO
Co NQR studies were performed in recently discovered superconductor
NaCoOHO to investigate physical properties in the
superconducting (SC) and normal states. Two samples from the same NaCoO
were examined, SC bilayer-hydrate sample with K and non-SC
monolayer-hydrate sample. From the measurement of nuclear-spin lattice
relaxation rate in the SC sample, it was found that the coherence peak
is absent just below and that is proportional to temperature far
below . These results, which are in qualitatively agreement with the
previous result by Fujimoto {\it et al.}, suggest strongly that unconventional
superconductivity is realized in this compound. In the normal state,
of the SC sample shows gradual increase below 100K down to , whereas
of the non-SC sample shows the Korringa behavior in this temperature
range. From the comparison between and in the SC
sample, the increase of is attributed to nearly ferromagnetic
fluctuations. These remarkable findings suggest that the SC sample possesses
nearly ferromagnetic fluctuations, which are possibly related with the
unconventional superconductivity in this compound. The implication of this
finding is discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
59Co Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance Studies of Superconducting and Non-superconducting Bilayer Water Intercalated Sodium Cobalt Oxides NaxCoO2.yH2O
We report 59Co nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies of bilayer water
intercalated sodium cobalt oxides NaxCoO2.yH2O (BLH) with the superconducting
transition temperatures, 2 K < T_c <= 4.6 K, as well as a magnetic BLH sample
without superconductivity. We obtained a magnetic phase diagram of T_c and the
magnetic ordering temperature T_M against the peak frequency nu_3 59Co NQR
transition I_z = +- 5/2 +-7/2 and found a dome shape superconducting phase.
The 59Co NQR spectrum of the non-superconducting BLH shows a broadening below
T_M without the critical divergence of 1/T_1 and 1/T_2, suggesting an
unconventional magnetic ordering. The degree of the enhancement of 1/T_1T at
low temperatures increases with the increase of nu_3 though the optimal
nu_3~12.30 MHz. In the NaxCoO2.yH2O system, the optimal-T_c superconductivity
emerges close to the magnetic instability. T_c is suppressed near the phase
boundary at nu_3~12.50 MHz, which is not a conventional magnetic quantum
critical point.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Novel phase diagram of superconductor NaxCoO2-yH2O in a 75 % relative humidity
We succeeded in synthesizing the powder samples of bilayer-hydrate sodium
cobalt oxide superconductors NaxCoO2-yH2O with Tc = 0 ~ 4.6 K by systematically
changing the keeping duration in a 75 % relative humidity atmosphere after
intercalation of water molecules. From the magnetic measurements, we found that
the one-day duration sample does not show any superconductivity down to 1.8 K,
and that the samples kept for 2 ~ 7 days show superconductivity, in which Tc
increases up to 4.6 K with increasing the duration. Tc and the superconducting
volume fraction are almost invariant between 7 days and 1month duration. The
59Co NQR spectra indicate a systematic change in the local charge distribution
on the CoO2 plane with change in duration.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Journal of the Physical Society of
Japa
Nanostructured Nickel Phosphide as an Electrocatalyst for the Hydrogen Evolution Reaction
Nanoparticles of nickel phosphide (Ni_2P) have been investigated for electrocatalytic activity and stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic solutions, under which proton exchange membrane-based electrolysis is operational. The catalytically active Ni_2P nanoparticles were hollow and faceted to expose a high density of the Ni_2P(001) surface, which has previously been predicted based on theory to be an active HER catalyst. The Ni2P nanoparticles had among the highest HER activity of any non-noble metal electrocatalyst reported to date, producing H_2(g) with nearly quantitative faradaic yield, while also affording stability in aqueous acidic media
Deformation of Electronic Structures Due to CoO6 Distortion and Phase Diagrams of NaxCoO2.yH2O
Motivated by recently reported experimental phase diagrams, we study the
effects of CoO6 distortion on the electronic structure in NaxCoO2.yH2O. We
construct the multiband tight-binding model by employing the LDA result.
Analyzing this model, we show the deformation of band dispersions and
Fermi-surface topology as functions of CoO2-layer thickness. Considering these
results together with previous theoretical ones, we propose a possible
schematic phase diagram with three successive phases: the extended s-wave
superconductivity (SC), the magnetic order, and the spin-triplet SC phases when
the Co valence number s is +3.4. A phase diagram with only one phase of
spin-triplet SC is also proposed for the s=+3.5 case.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Quasiparticle vanishing driven by geometrical frustration
We investigate the single hole dynamics in the triangular t-J model. We study
the structure of the hole spectral function, assuming the existence of a 120
magnetic Neel order. Within the self-consistent Born approximation (SCBA) there
is a strong momentum and t sign dependence of the spectra, related to the
underlying magnetic structure and the particle-hole asymmetry of the model. For
positive t, and in the strong coupling regime, we find that the low energy
quasiparticle excitations vanish outside the neighbourhood of the magnetic
Goldstone modes; while for negative t the quasiparticle excitations are always
well defined. In the latter, we also find resonances of magnetic origin whose
energies scale as (J/t)^2/3 and can be identified with string excitations. We
argue that this complex structure of the spectra is due to the subtle interplay
between magnon-assisted and free hopping mechanisms. Our predictions are
supported by an excellent agreement between the SCBA and the exact results on
finite size clusters. We conclude that the conventional quasiparticle picture
can be broken by the effect of geometrical magnetic frustration.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures. Published versio
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