Collective Dynamics and Strong Pinning near the Onset of Charge Order in La1.48_{1.48}Nd0.4_{0.4}Sr0.12_{0.12}CuO4_{4}

The dynamics of charge-ordered states is one of the key issues in underdoped cuprate high-temperature superconductors, but static short-range charge-order (CO) domains have been detected in almost all cuprates. We probe the dynamics across the CO (and structural) transition in La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_{4}$ by measuring nonequilibrium charge transport, or resistance $R$ as the system responds to a change in temperature and to an applied magnetic field. We find evidence for metastable states, collective behavior, and criticality. The collective dynamics in the critical regime indicates strong pinning by disorder. Surprisingly, nonequilibrium effects, such as avalanches in $R$, are revealed only when the critical region is approached from the charge-ordered phase. Our results on La$_{1.48}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_{4}$ provide the long-sought evidence for the fluctuating order across the CO transition, and also set important constraints on theories of dynamic stripes.Comment: final version: 5 pages, 3 figures; includes Supplemental Material (3 pages, 7 figures

Observation of Zeeman effect in topological surface state with distinct material dependence

The helical Dirac fermions on the surface of topological insulators host novel relativistic quantum phenomena in solids. Manipulating spins of topological surface state (TSS) represents an essential step towards exploring the theoretically predicted exotic states related to time reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking via magnetism or magnetic field. Understanding Zeeman effect of TSS and determining its g-factor are pivotal for such manipulations in the latter form of TRS breaking. Here, we report those direct experimental observations in Bi2Se3 and Sb2Te2Se by spectroscopic imaging scanning tunneling microscopy. The Zeeman shifting of zero mode Landau level is identified unambiguously by judiciously excluding the extrinsic influences associated with the non-linearity in the TSS band dispersion and the spatially varying potential. The g-factors of TSS in Bi2Se3 and Sb2Te2Se are determined to be 18 and -6, respectively. This remarkable material dependence opens a new route to control the spins in the TSS.Comment: main text: 17 pages, 4 figures; supplementary: 15 pages, 7 figure