Vesignieite BaCu3V2O8(OH)2 as a Candidate Spin-1/2 Kagome Antiferromagnet

A polycrystalline sample of vesignieite BaCu3V2O8(OH)2 comprising a nearly ideal kagome lattice composed of Cu2+ ions carrying spin 1/2 has been synthesized and studied by magnetization and heat capacity measurements. Magnetic susceptibility shows a neither long range order, a spin glass transition nor a spin gap down to 2 K, in spite of a moderately strong antiferromagnetic interaction of J/kB = 53 K between nearest-neighbor spins. A broad peak observed at a temperature corresponding to 0.4J in intrinsic magnetic susceptibility indicates a marked development of the short-range order. The ground state of vesignieite is probably a gapless spin liquid or is accompanied by a very small gap less than J/30.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

High-Field ESR Measurements of S=1/2 Kagome Lattice Antiferromagnet BaCu3_3V2_2O8_8(OH)2_2

High-field electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements have been performed on vesignieite BaCu$_3$V$_2$O$_8$(OH)$_2$, which is considered as a nearly ideal model substance of $S$=1/2 kagome antiferromagnet, in the temperature region from 1.9 to 265 K. The frequency region is from 60 to 360 GHz and the applied pulsed magnetic field is up to 16 T. Observed g-value and linewidth show the increase below 20 K, which suggest the development of the short range order. Moreover, a gapless spin liquid ground state is suggested from the frequency-field relation at 1.9 K.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, jpsj2 class file, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Orbital contributions in the element-resolved valence electronic structure of Bi 2 Se 3

n this work, we studied the bulk band structure of a topological insulator (TI) Bi2Se3 and determined the contributions of the Bi and Se orbital states to the valence bands using standing-wave excited hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (SW-HAXPES). This SW technique can provide the element-resolved information and extract individual Bi and Se contributions to the Bi2Se3 valence band. Comparisons with density-functional theory calculations (local density approximation and GW) reveal that the Bi 6s, Bi 6p, and Se 4p states are dominant in the Bi2Se3 HAXPES valence band. These findings pave a way for studying the element-resolved band structure and orbital contributions of this class of TIs

Electronic structure and dynamics of CH3NH3PbI3 hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite

International audienceOrganic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are promising absorber materials for low-cost photovoltaic solar cells or optoelectronic devices [1-4]. Among these perovskites, methylammonium triiodideplumbate (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 , MAPbI 3 or MAPI) exhibits currently the highest efficiency. Here we have analyzed the structural transition in MAPI by X-ray diffraction at the β phase and we have correlated it to its electronic properties. Despite all the extensive work on hybrid organic-inorganic halide perovskites, their experimental band structure measured with k-resolution has remained elusive. Such an experimental determination is a necessary requirement for an accurate theoretical description and understanding of the system. The impact of the structural phase transitions on the band structure in the operation temperature range of solar cells needed also to be elucidated. Herein, we present the experimental determination of the band structure of MAPI with k resolution by angle-resolved photoemission at 170 K [5]. Our results show that the spectral weight is strongly affected by the cubic symmetry although traces of the tetragonal band structure are appreciated. Some deviations with respect to theoretical calculations are observed, which may help to reach a more precise description of this paradigmatic system of the hybrid perovskite family. On a second step, we have studied the relaxation dynamics after photoexcitation, particularly important in a photovoltaic material. Time-resolved two-photon photoemission spectroscopy allows to directly visualize the electronic cooling at early delay times. It follows that photoexcited carriers thermalize on a subpicosecond timescale, presumably because of the coupling to the vibrations of organic cations [6]. The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 687008 (GOTSolar). [1] S.D. Stranks and H.J. Snaith, Nature Nanotech 10, 391 (2015).[2] M. Grätzel, Nature Materials 13, 838 (2014).[3] Y. Wei et al., J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 46, 135105 (2013).[4] H. Diab, G. Trippé-Allard, F. Ledee, K. Jemli, C. Vilar, G. Bouchez, V. L. R. Jacques, A. Tejeda, J. Even, J.S. Lauret, E. Deleporte, and D. Garrot, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 7, 5093 (2016). [5] M.-I. Lee, A. Barragán, M. N. Nair, V. L. R. Jacques, D. Le Bolloc’h, P. Fertey, K. Jemli, F. Ledee, G. Trippé-Allard, E. Deleporte, A. Taleb-Ibrahimi, and A. Tejeda, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 50, 26LT02 (2017). [6] Z. Chen, M.-I. Lee, Z. Zhang, H. Diab, D. Garrot, F. Ledee, P. Fertey, E. Papalazarou, M. Marsi, C. Ponseca, E. Deleporte, A. Tejeda, and L. Perfetti, Phys. Rev. Mat. 1, 045402 (2017)