Matière quantique sous champ magnétique / Quantum matter under magnetic field

Recherche Page web : https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/young-team-incubator/Presentation__4.htm. Le groupe Matière quantique sous champ magnétique de l’IPCF s’intéresse aux propriétés électroniques des métaux dilués en présence d’un champ magnétique. Sous l’effet du champ magnétique, les électrons se déplacent le long d’une hélice dont le rayon est donné par le rayon cyclotronique (Rc). À mesure que le champ magnétique augmente, Rc diminue, croisant les différentes échelles caractéristiqu..

T-square electronic thermal resistivity in metallic strontium titanate

The temperature dependence of the phase space for electron-electron (e-e) collisions leads to a T-square contribution to electrical resistivity of metals. Umklapp scattering are identified as the origin of momentum loss due to e-e scattering in dense metals. However, in dilute metals like lightly doped strontium titanate, the origin of T-square electrical resistivity in absence of Umklapp events is yet to be pinned down. Here, by separating electron and phonon contributions to heat transport, we extract the electronic thermal resistivity in niobium-doped strontium titanate and show that it also displays a T-square temperature dependence. Its amplitude correlates with the T-square electrical resistivity. The Wiedemann-Franz law strictly holds in the zero-temperature limit, but not at finite-temperature, because the two T-square prefactors are different by a factor of $\approx 3$, like in other Fermi liquids. Recalling the case of $^3$He, we argue that T-square thermal resistivity does not require Umklapp events. The approximate recovery of the Wiedemann-Franz law in presence of disorder would account for a T-square electrical resistivity without Umklapp.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures and 2 tables, plus a supplemen

Phonon thermal Hall effect in strontium titanate

It has been known for more than a decade that phonons can produce an off-diagonal thermal conductivity in presence of magnetic field. Recent studies of thermal Hall conductivity, $\kappa_{xy}$, in a variety of contexts, however, have assumed a negligibly small phonon contribution. We present a study of $\kappa_{xy}$ in quantum paraelectric SrTiO$_3$, which is a non-magnetic insulator and find that its peak value exceeds what has been reported in any other insulator, including those in which the signal has been qualified as 'giant'. Remarkably, $\kappa_{xy}(T)$ and $\kappa(T)$ peak at the same temperature and the former decreases faster than the latter at both sides of the peak. Interestingly, in the case of La$_2$CuO$_4$ and $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$, $\kappa_{xy}(T)$ and $\kappa(T)$ peak also at the same temperature. We also studied KTaO$_3$ and found a small signal, indicating that a sizable $\kappa_{xy}(T)$ is not a generic feature of quantum paraelectrics. Combined to other observations, this points to a crucial role played by antiferrodistortive domains in generating $\kappa_{xy}$ of this solid.Comment: Main text: 6 pages, 4 figures, Supplemental Material is included. Accepted by Phys. Rev. Let

Nernst quantum oscillations in bulk semi-metals

With a widely available magnetic field of 10 T, one can attain the quantum limit in bismuth and graphite. At zero magnetic field, these two elemental semi-metals host a dilute liquid of carriers of both signs. When the quantum limit is attained, all quasi-particles are confined to a few Landau tubes. Each time a Landau tube is squeezed before definitely leaving the Fermi surface, the Nernst response sharply peaks. In bismuth, additional Nernst peaks, unexpected in the non-interacting picture, are resolved beyond the quantum limit. The amplitude of these unexpected Nernst peaks is larger in the samples with the longest electron mean-free-path.Comment: Accepted for publication in Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter's special issue on Strongly Correlated Electron Systems(SCES

Emptying Dirac valleys in bismuth using high magnetic fields

The Fermi surface of elemental bismuth consists of three small rotationally equivalent electron pockets, offering a valley degree of freedom to charge carriers. A relatively small magnetic field can confine electrons to their lowest Landau level. This is the quantum limit attained in other dilute metals upon application of sufficiently strong magnetic field. Here, we report on the observation of another threshold magnetic field never encountered before in any other solid. Above this field, $B_{\rm{empty}}$, one or two valleys become totally empty. Drying up a Fermi sea by magnetic field in the Brillouin zone leads to a manyfold enhancement in electric conductance. We trace the origin of the large drop in magnetoresistance across $B_{\rm{empty}}$ to transfer of carriers between valleys with highly anisotropic mobilities. The non-interacting picture of electrons with field-dependent mobility explains most results. Coulomb interaction may play a role in shaping the fine details.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, Supplemental Material available upon reques

Magnetoresistance of semi-metals: the case of antimony

Large unsaturated magnetoresistance has been recently reported in numerous semi-metals. Many of them have a topologically non-trivial band dispersion, such as Weyl nodes or lines. Here, we show that elemental antimony displays the largest high-field magnetoresistance among all known semi-metals. We present a detailed study of the angle-dependent magnetoresistance and use a semi-classical framework invoking an anisotropic mobility tensor to fit the data. A slight deviation from perfect compensation and a modest variation with magnetic field of the components of the mobility tensor are required to attain perfect fits at arbitrary strength and orientation of magnetic field in the entire temperature window of study. Our results demonstrate that large orbital magnetoresistance is an unavoidable consequence of low carrier concentration and the sub-quadratic magnetoresistance seen in many semi-metals can be attributed to field-dependent mobility, expected whenever the disorder length-scale exceeds the Fermi wavelength.Comment: Supplementary material on reques

Nernst response of the Landau tubes in graphite across the quantum limit

We report on a study of the Nernst effect in graphite extended up to 45 T. The Nernst response sharply peaks each time a Landau tube is squeezed inside the thermally fuzzy Fermi surface and presents a temperature-independent fixed point whenever the tube flattens to a single ring. Beyond the quantum limit, the onset of the field-induced phase transition leads to a drastic drop in the Nernst response signaling the sudden vanishing of Landau tubes. The magnitude of this drop suggests the destruction of multiple Landau tubes possibly as a result of simultaneous nesting of the electron and hole pockets.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure