Local atomic and magnetic structure of dilute magnetic semiconductor (Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)2_2As2_2

We have studied the atomic and magnetic structure of the dilute ferromagnetic semiconductor system (Ba,K)(Zn,Mn)$_2$As$_2$ through atomic and magnetic pair distribution function analysis of temperature-dependent x-ray and neutron total scattering data. We detected a change in curvature of the temperature-dependent unit cell volume of the average tetragonal crystallographic structure at a temperature coinciding with the onset of ferromagnetic order. We also observed the existence of a well-defined local orthorhombic structure on a short length scale of $\lesssim 5$ \AA, resulting in a rather asymmetrical local environment of the Mn and As ions. Finally, the magnetic PDF revealed ferromagnetic alignment of Mn spins along the crystallographic $c$-axis, with robust nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic correlations that exist even above the ferromagnetic ordering temperature. We discuss these results in the context of other experiments and theoretical studies on this system

Verification of Anderson superexchange in MnO via magnetic pair distribution function analysis and ab initio theory

We present a temperature-dependent atomic and magnetic pair distribution function (PDF) analysis of neutron total scattering measurements of antiferromagnetic MnO, an archetypal strongly correlated transition-metal oxide. The known antiferromagnetic ground-state structure fits the low-temperature data closely with refined parameters that agree with conventional techniques, confirming the reliability of the newly developed magnetic PDF method. The measurements performed in the paramagnetic phase reveal significant short-range magnetic correlations on a ∼1  nm length scale that differ substantially from the low-temperature long-range spin arrangement. Ab initio calculations using a self-interaction-corrected local spin density approximation of density functional theory predict magnetic interactions dominated by Anderson superexchange and reproduce the measured short-range magnetic correlations to a high degree of accuracy. Further calculations simulating an additional contribution from a direct exchange interaction show much worse agreement with the data. The Anderson superexchange model for MnO is thus verified by experimentation and confirmed by ab initio theory

The synthesis and characterization of 1111-type diluted magnetic semiconductors (La1-xSrx)(Zn1-xTMx)AsO (TM = Mn, Fe, Co)

The doping effect of Sr and transition metals Mn, Fe, Co into the direct-gap semiconductor LaZnAsO has been investigated. Our results indicate that the single phase ZrCuSiAs-type tetragonal crystal structure is preserved in (La1-xSrx)(Zn1-xTMx)AsO (TM = Mn, Fe, Co) with the doping level up to x = 0.1. While the system remains semiconducting, doping with Sr and Mn results in ferromagnetic order with TC ~ 30K, and doping with Sr and Fe results in a spin glass like state below ~6K with a saturation moment of ~0.02 muB/Fe, an order of magnitude smaller than the ~0.4 muB/Mn of Sr and Mn doped samples. The same type of magnetic state is observed neither for (Zn,Fe) substitution without carrier doping, nor for Sr and Co doped specimens.Comment: Accepted for publication in EP

Superconductivity: Exotic Commonalities in Phase and Mode

Recent muon and neutron experiments on the new FeAs-based superconductors revealed phase diagrams characterized by first-order evolution from antiferromagnetic to superconducting states, and an inelastic magnetic resonance mode whose energy scales as $\sim 4 k_{B}T_{c}$. These features exhibit striking commonalities with cuprate, backyball, organic, and heavy-fermion superconductors as well as superfluid $^{4}$He.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, original version of News and Views for Nature Materials submitted on Feb. 8, 2009; revised version will appear as Nature Materials 8 (April, 2009) 253-25

Restoration of quantum critical behavior by disorder in pressure-tuned (Mn,Fe)Si

In second-order quantum phase transitions from magnetically ordered to paramagnetic states at T = 0, tuned by pressure or chemical substitution, a quantum critical point is expected to appear with critical behavior manifesting in the slowing down of spin fluctuations in the paramagnetic state and a continuous development of the order parameter in the ordered state. Quantum criticality is discussed widely as a possible driving force for unconventional superconductivity and other exotic phenomena in correlated electron systems. In the real world, however, quantum critical points and quantum criticality are often masked by a preceding first-order transition and/or the development of competing states. Pressure tuning of the itinerant-electron helical magnet MnSi is a well-known example of the suppression of a quantum critical point due to a first-order phase transition and resulting destruction of the ordered state. Utilizing muon spin relaxation experiments, here we report that 15% Fe-substituted (Mn,Fe)Si exhibits completely different behavior with pressure tuning, including the restoration of second-order quantum critical behavior and a quantum critical point at p QPC  ~ 21–23 kbar, which coincides with the T = 0 crossing point of the extrapolated phase boundary line of pure MnSi. This result is quantitatively consistent with the recent theory of itinerant-electron ferromagnets by Sang, Belitz, and Kirkpatrick, who argued that disorder would restore a quantum critical point which is otherwise hidden by a first-order transition

Disentangling superconducting and magnetic orders in NaFe_1-xNi_xAs using muon spin rotation

Muon spin rotation and relaxation studies have been performed on a "111" family of iron-based superconductors NaFe_1-xNi_xAs. Static magnetic order was characterized by obtaining the temperature and doping dependences of the local ordered magnetic moment size and the volume fraction of the magnetically ordered regions. For x = 0 and 0.4 %, a transition to a nearly-homogeneous long range magnetically ordered state is observed, while for higher x than 0.4 % magnetic order becomes more disordered and is completely suppressed for x = 1.5 %. The magnetic volume fraction continuously decreases with increasing x. The combination of magnetic and superconducting volumes implies that a spatially-overlapping coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity spans a large region of the T-x phase diagram for NaFe_1-xNi_xAs . A strong reduction of both the ordered moment size and the volume fraction is observed below the superconducting T_C for x = 0.6, 1.0, and 1.3 %, in contrast to other iron pnictides in which one of these two parameters exhibits a reduction below TC, but not both. The suppression of magnetic order is further enhanced with increased Ni doping, leading to a reentrant non-magnetic state below T_C for x = 1.3 %. The reentrant behavior indicates an interplay between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity involving competition for the same electrons. These observations are consistent with the sign-changing s-wave superconducting state, which is expected to appear on the verge of microscopic coexistence and phase separation with magnetism. We also present a universal linear relationship between the local ordered moment size and the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature TN across a variety of iron-based superconductors. We argue that this linear relationship is consistent with an itinerant-electron approach, in which Fermi surface nesting drives antiferromagnetic ordering.Comment: 20 pages, 14 figures, Correspondence should be addressed to Prof. Yasutomo Uemura: [email protected]