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44 records · Page 3

Bose-Luttinger liquids

In this report we study systems of bosons whose low-energy excitations are located along a spherical submanifold of momentum space. We argue for the existence of gapless phases which we dub “Bose-Luttinger liquids,” which in some respects can be regarded as bosonic versions of Fermi liquids, while in other respects they exhibit striking differences. These phases have bosonic analogues of Fermi surfaces, and like Fermi liquids they possess a large number of emergent conservation laws. Unlike Fermi liquids, however, these phases lack quasiparticles, possess different RG flows, and have correlation functions controlled by a continuously varying exponent η, which characterizes the anomalous dimension of the bosonic field. We show that when η > 1, these phases are stable with respect to all symmetric perturbations. These theories may be of relevance to several physical situations, including frustrated quantum magnets, rotons in superfluid He, and superconductors with finite-momentum pairing. As a concrete application, we show that coupling a Bose-Luttinger liquid to a conventional Fermi liquid produces a resistivity scaling with temperature as T η . We argue that this may provide an explanation for the non-Fermi liquid resistivity observed in the paramagnetic phase of MnSi.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Anomalous Nernst and Seebeck coefficients in epitaxial thin film Co 2 MnAl x Si 1 - x and Co 2 FeAl

Here we have measured the Seebeck and anomalous Nernst coefficients and corresponding transverse and longitudinal thermoelectric conductivities from 2 to 400 K in thin film (thickness t ~10 nm) Co 2 MnAl x Si 1-x (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) and Co 2 FeAl grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). A large (-14 A m -1 K -1 at 300 K) anomalous component of the transverse thermoelectric conductivity is observed in Co 2 MnAl, especially as contrasted to Co 2 MnSi (0.28 A m -1 K -1 at 300 K). This enhancement is likely due to Weyl points close to the Fermi level of Co 2 MnAl which disappear as x decreases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Chern numbers of topological phonon band crossing determined with inelastic neutron scattering

Topological invariants in the band structure, such as Chern numbers, are important for the understanding and classification of the topological properties of matter and dictate the occurrence of exotic behaviors, yet their direct spectroscopic determination has been largely limited to electronic bands. Here, we use inelastic neutron scattering in conjunction with ab initio calculations to identify a variety of topological phonon band crossings in MnSi and CoSi single crystals. We find a distinct relation between the Chern numbers of a band-crossing node and the scattering intensity modulation in momentum space around the node. Given sufficiently high resolution, our method can be used to determine arbitrarily large Chern numbers of topological phonon band-crossing nodes.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Anomalous Hall effect in conical helimagnetic crystals

Spin-spiral texture can substantially change charge transport properties in helimagnets. Here we find the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) exhibiting the dramatic behavior with respect to chemical potential μ in conical magnetic structures. The direct conductivity demonstrates kinks, and the anomalous Hall current exhibits minima and maxima changing the sign. We analytically derive the expression for energy bands and eigenstates in the most general case. Because of the conical potential, the energy bands are split into two nonparabolic bands where the lower band can have one- or two-minima shapes in the k z direction ($\hat{z}$ is a direction of the spiral axis). We prove that the origin of the anomalous Hall effect is not topological and is due to the interplay between the asymmetry of energy bands in the x and z directions and spin restrictions in the phase space due to the conical potential. We also investigate the dependence of transport properties on cone half- angle θ, and find that the effects are most pronounced at θ=π/2 (a helical state). Electric current is calculated using the Boltzmann equation where the relaxation is caused by electron-acoustic phonon interaction. The transition probability is found to be a 2×2 matrix with nonvanishing off-diagonal elements indicating the strong interband transitions. The origin of interband transitions is because of the nature of the conical potential where conduction electron spins interact with localized magnetic moments. To verify the proposed theory, we calculate the temperature dependence of resistivity for MnSi crystals and find the discontinuity at the phase transition between conical and paramagnetic phases. The calculations are in the excellent agreement with the experimental data. In addition, we predict the discontinuity behavior for the anomalous Hall resistivity at the phase transition where the resistivity exhibits the abrupt change at T=T C , (a) to zero if the relativistic effects for the conduction electrons are small or (b) to a nonzero value if Rashba/Dresselhaus effects are taken into account.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Single crystal growth and thermoelectric properties of Nowotny chimney-ladder compound Fe 2 Ge 3

Fe 2 Ge 3 with an incommensurate Nowotny chimney-ladder (NCL) structure is a promising material for thermoelectric applications due to its low thermal conductivity. Previous experimental studies on Fe 2 Ge 3 have mainly focused on polycrystalline samples, resulting in a limited understanding of the material's intrinsic thermoelectric properties and the underlying causes of its low thermal conductivity. Here we report the synthesis and thermoelectric properties of single crystalline Fe 2 Ge 3 . Millimeter-sized Fe 2 Ge 3 single crystals grown by the chemical vapor transport method enable the study of the intrinsic thermoelectric properties. The Seebeck coefficient of Fe 2 Ge 3 is negative and its magnitude increases linearly with temperature, showing a degenerate n-type semiconductor behavior. Analysis of the electrical resistivity and specific heat data indicates the existence of an Einstein mode with a characteristic temperature of about 60 K, suggesting the presence of low-energy optical phonons. Further, the thermal conductivity of Fe 2 Ge 3 along the c axis is as low as 1.9Wm -1 K -1 at 300 K and exhibits a nearly temperature-independent characteristic, which is distinct from the previous theoretical calculations with a stronger temperature dependence. The low thermal conductivity may be attributed to the scattering of acoustic phonons by low-energy optical modes and the presence of non-extended diffuson modes, as reported in another NCL compound, MnSi 1.74 . This study provides valuable insights into the electrical and thermal properties of Fe 2 Ge 3 , which can open up possibilities for future advances in thermoelectric applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Synthesis and Observation of Emergent Phenomena in Epitaxial Heusler Compound Heterostructures

The proposal was on the synthesis and observation of emergent phenomena in epitaxial Heusler compound heterostructures. The large range of properties and number of Heusler compounds opens up a wide number of potential compounds that will exhibit emergent phenomena. The similarity, large range of relatively inexpensive, large area, high crystal quality, III-V bulk substrates, lattice parameters and the ability to tune the lattice parameters through ternary or quaternary III-V compound semiconductor epitaxial growth, makes III-V semiconductors an ideal choice for substrates for epitaxial growth of Heusler compounds. A number of half Heusler compounds have been predicted to exhibit band inversion, making them topological and are therefore expected to exhibit spin-momentum locked topological surface states with linear dispersion. Others are predicted to be semimetals with Weyl points and others semiconducting and magnetic. During the course of this grant, emphasis has been on investigating Heusler compounds with emergent phenomena and demonstrating the ability to tune their properties through alloying and strain. We have grown toplogical semimetal (PtLuSb, PtMnBi), Weyl (Co 2 MnAl, Co 2 TiGe), half metal (PtMnSb, Co 2 MnSi, Co 2 MnAl x Si 1-x , Co2FeAl), and semiconducting (CoTiSb, NiTiSn) and tuned their properties through alloying and epitaxial strain. We also investigated the closely related materials of rare-earth monopnictide, some of which have also been predicted to be topological. During the attempts to grow the PtMnBi, it was discovered that Bi, another predicted topological material when ultrathin, could be grown epitaxially on InSb, results for which are also reported here. The main focus for this effort has been on using variable photon energy and spin-dependent angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) to determine bulk band structure and surface states of pristine epitaxial films grown on III-V semiconductor and MgO substrates and correlate results with theory and transport measurements. Theory has been critical to interpretation of experimental results and has been essential in guiding experiments. The research benefited from several strong collaborations between the PIs and the beamline scientists at the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) at Stanford and at the Max Lab at Lund University in Sweden. The strong experiment - theory collaboration between the PI’s groups, the Palmstrøm group at UCSB and the Janotti group at the University of Delaware, has been critical for interpreting the experimental ARPES and magnetotransport measurements results and making predictions to guide experiments. Weekly interactive Zoom meetings made this work well. A collaboration between the Palmstrøm group and Dr. Alexei Fedorov at the Advanced Light Source (ALS) resulted in significant modifications to his end chamber to accommodate the vacuum suitcase that was designed and constructed in the Palmstrøm group at UCSB. In collaboration with beamline scientists, Drs. Makoto Hashimoto and Donghui Lu at SLAC, Palmstrøm made modifications to the vacuum suitcase and developed special sample holders that allowed samples to be grown in the Palmstrøm MBE systems at UCSB and transported in the UHV vacuum suitcase to SLAC for ARPES measurements. The development of the vacuum suitcase was essential for this grant as it has allowed variable photon energies to be used to identify surface versus bulk states on samples that could not be capped and decapped using As- or Sb-capping layers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Si Isotopes of Brownleeite

Brownleeite is a manganese silicide, ideally stoichiometric MnSi, not previously observed in nature until its discovery within an interplanetary dust particle (IDP) that likely originated from a comet [1]. Three discrete brownleeite grains in the IDP L2055 I3 (4 microns in size, hereafter IDP I3) were identified with maximum dimensions of 100, 250 and 600 nm and fully analyzed using scanning-transmission electron microscopy (STEM) [1]. One of the grains (100 nm in size) was poikilitically enclosed by low-Fe, Mn-enriched (LIME) olivine. LIME olivine is epitaxial to the brownleeite with the brownleeite (200) parallel to the olivine c* [1]. LIME olivine is an enigmatic phase first reported from chondritic porous IDPs and some unequilibrated ordinary chondrites [ 2], that is commonly observed in chondritic-porous IDPs. Recently, LIME olivine has been also found in comet Wild-2 (Stardust) samples [3], indicating that LIME olivine is a common mineral component of comets. LIME olivine has been proposed to form as a high temperature condensate in the protosolar nebula [2]. Brownleeite grains also likely formed as high-temperature condensates either in the early Solar System or in the outflow of an evolved star or supernova explosion [1]. The isotopic composition of the brownleeite grains may strongly constrain their ultimate source. To test this hypothesis, we performed isotopic analyses of the brownleeite and the associated LIME olivine, using the NASA/JSC NanoSIMS 50L ion microprobe.

Nakamura-Messenger, K.↗

Discovery of Brownleeite: a New Manganese Silicide Mineral in an Interplanetary Dust Particle

The Earth accretes approximately 40,000 tons of cosmic dust annually, originating mainly from the disintegration of comets and collisions among asteroids. This cosmic dust, also known as interplanetary dust particles (IDPs), is a subject of intense interest since it is made of the original building blocks of our Solar System. Although the specific parent bodies of IDPs are unknown, the anhydrous chondritic-porous IDPs (CP-IDPs) subset has been potentially linked to a cometary source. The CP-IDPs are extremely primitive materials based on their unequilibrated mineralogy, C-rich chemistry, and anomalous isotopic signatures. In particular, some CP-IDPs escaped the thermal, aqueous and impact shock processing that has modified or destroyed the original mineralogy of meteorites. Thus, the CP-IDPs represent some of the most primitive solar system materials available for laboratory study. Most CP-IDPs are comprised of minerals that are common on Earth. However, in the course of an examination of one of the CP-IDPs, we encountered three sub-micrometer sized grains of manganese silicide (MnSi), a phase that has heretofore not been found in nature. In the seminar, we would like to focus on IDP studies and this manganese silicide phase that has been approved as the first new mineral identified from a comet by the International Mineralogical Association (IMA) in 2008. The mineral is named in honour of Donald E. Brownlee, an American astronomer and a founder of the field of cosmic dust research who is the principal investigator of the NASA Stardust Mission that collected dust samples from Comet 81P/Wild-2 and returned them to Earth. Much of our current view and understanding of the early solar system would not exist without the pioneering work of professor Don Brownlee in the study of IDPs.

Keller, Lindsay P.↗