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At least 739 records · Page 41

Experimental observation of spin glass state in the highly disordered quaternary Heusler alloy FeRuMnGa

The realization of the spin-glass (SG) state in Heusler alloys is very rare despite the presence of inherent structural and elemental disorder in those compounds. Although a few half- and full-Heusler alloys are known to exhibit the SG state, there is hardly any manifestation of the same in cases of quaternary Heusler compounds. Here we report the observation of a SG state in a highly disordered equiatomic quaternary Heusler compound: FeRuMnGa where the SG state is in between the canonical SG and the cluster glass. Different intricate features of the SG state including nonequilibrium magnetic dynamics at low temperatures in the compound are unveiled through our comprehensive magnetic, heat capacity, and neutron-diffraction studies. Further the structural disorder in the sample is neither conventional A2 - nor B2 -type whereas those two types are commonly observed for Heusler compounds. The presence of disorder also plays a significant role in electron transport properties of the alloy, which is reflected in its exhibition of semimetallic behavior and anomalous Hall effect at low temperatures.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Beyond single tetrahedron physics of the breathing pyrochlore compound Ba 3 ⁢Yb 2 ⁢Zn 5 ⁢O 11

Recently, a new class of quantum magnets, the so-called breathing pyrochlore spin systems, have attracted much attention due to their potential to host exotic emergent phenomena. Here, we present magnetometry, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, muon-spin relaxation, and polarized inelastic neutron scattering measurements performed on high-quality single crystal samples of the breathing pyrochlore compound Ba 3 ⁢Yb 2 ⁢Zn 5 ⁢O 11 . We interpret these results using a simplified toy model and provide insight into the low-energy physics of this system beyond the single tetrahedron physics proposed previously.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Electronic transport and thermoelectricity in the selenospinel Cu 6—x Fe 4+x Sn 12 Se 32

Here, we report a study of selenospinel Cu 6—x Fe 4+x Sn 12 Se 32 (x = 0, 1, 2) single crystals, which crystallize in a cubic structure with the F$d$$\overline{3}$$m$ space group, and show typical semiconducting behavior. The large discrepancy between the activation energy for electrical conductivity E ρ (32.3–69.8 meV), and for thermopower E S (3.2–11.5 meV), indicates a polaronic transport mechanism between 350 and 50 K. With decreasing temperature, it evolves into variable-range hopping conduction. Furthermore, the heat capacity shows a hump around 25(5) K and diverges from the Debye T 3 law at low temperatures, indicating the observation of structural glassy features in these crystalline solids.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Origin of magnetic ordering in half-Heusler RuMnGa

The half-Heusler alloy RuMnGa having valence electron count (VEC) 18 has recently been theoretically proposed to exhibit compensated ferrimagnetic (CFiM) character instead of the expected nonmagnetic ground state. On the other hand, a preliminary experimental study proposed ferromagnetic (FM) ordering. As no half-Heusler system with VEC 18 is known to exhibit magnetic ordering, we have investigated the details of crystal structure and magnetic properties of RuMnGa using a combination of experimental tools, viz., x-ray and neutron diffraction techniques, dc and ac susceptibility, isothermal magnetization, heat capacity, resistivity and neutron depolarisation measurements. Rietveld refinements of x-ray and neutron diffraction data suggest single phase nature of the compound with elemental composition RuMn 0.86 Ga 1.14 . We have shown that the system exhibits FM-type ordering owing to the inherent presence of this minor off-stoichiometry, showing very low magnetic moment. Further, the system also exhibits reentrant canonical spin-glass behavior, which is rarely observed in half-Heusler alloys. The temperature coefficient of resistivity changes its sign from negative to positive and further to negative as the temperature decreases.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Spatially anisotropic 𝑆=1 square-lattice antiferromagnet with single-ion anisotropy realized in a Ni(II) pyrazine-𝑛,𝑛′-dioxide coordination polymer

The Ni(NCS) 2 (pyzdo) 2 coordination polymer is found to be an S = 1 spatially anisotropic square lattice with easy-axis single-ion anisotropy. This conclusion is based upon considering in concert the experimental probes x-ray diffraction, magnetic susceptibility, magnetic-field-dependent heat capacity, muon-spin relaxation, neutron diffraction, neutron spectroscopy, and pulsed-field magnetization. Long-range antiferromagnetic (AFM) order develops at T N = 18.5 K. Although the samples are polycrystalline, there is an observable spin-flop transition and saturation of the magnetization at ≈80 T. Linear spin-wave theory yields spatially anisotropic exchanges within an AFM square lattice, J x =0.235 meV, J y =2.014 meV, and an easy-axis single-ion anisotropy D=−1.622 meV (after renormalization). The anisotropy of the exchanges is supported by density functional theory.

2-dimensional systems↗

Structural and double magnetic transitions in the frustrated spin- 1 2 capped-kagome antiferromagnet ( RbCl ) Cu 5 P 2 O 10

The structural and magnetic properties of the geometrically frustrated spin- 1 2 capped-kagome antiferromagnet (RbCl) Cu 5 P 2 O 10 are investigated via temperature-dependent x-ray diffraction, magnetization, heat capacity, and 31 P NMR experiments on a polycrystalline sample. It undergoes a structural transition at around T t ≃ 310 K from a high-temperature trigonal (P ¯3m1) to a low-temperature monoclinic (C2/c) unit cell, where the low-temperature structure features the capped-kagome geometry of Cu 2+ ions. Interestingly, it shows the onset of two successive magnetic transitions at T N1 ≃ 20 K and T N2 ≃ 7 K. The shape of the 31 P NMR spectra unfolds the possible nature of the transitions below T N1 and T N2 to be of incommensurate and commensurate antiferromagnetic type, respectively. A large value of the Curie-Weiss temperature as compared to T N1 sets the frustration parameter f ≃ 8, ensuring strong magnetic frustration in the compound. From the 31 P NMR spin-lattice relaxation rate, the leading antiferromagnetic exchange coupling is estimated to be J/k B ≃ 117 K. Furthermore, these unusual double magnetic transitions make this compound beguiling for further investigations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Localized 𝑓-electron magnetism in the semimetal Ce 3 ⁢ Bi 4 ⁢ Au 3

Ce 3 ⁢Bi 4 ⁢ Au 3 crystallizes in the same noncentrosymmetric cubic structure as the prototypical Kondo insulator Ce 3 ⁢ Bi 4 ⁢Pt 3 . Here we report the physical properties of Ce 3 ⁢Bi 4 ⁢ Au 3 single crystals using magnetization, thermodynamic, and electrical-transport measurements. Magnetic-susceptibility and heat-capacity data reveal antiferromagnetic order below 𝑇 𝑁 =3.2K. The magnetic entropy 𝑆 mag reaches 𝑅⁢ ln⁡ 2 slightly above 𝑇 𝑁 , which suggests localized 4⁢𝑓 moments in a doublet ground state. Multiple field-induced magnetic transitions are observed at temperatures below 𝑇 𝑁 , which indicate a complex spin structure with competing interactions. Ce 3 ⁢Bi 4 ⁢ Au 3 shows semimetallic behavior in electrical resistivity in contrast to the majority of reported cerium-based 343 compounds which are semiconducting. Electrical-resistivity measurements under hydrostatic pressure reveal a slight enhancement of 𝑇 𝑁 under pressures up to 2.3 GPa, which supports a scenario wherein Ce 3 ⁢Bi 4 ⁢Au 3 belongs to the far left of the Doniach phase diagram dominated by Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions. Using realistic many-body simulations, we confirm the semimetallic electronic structure of Ce 3 ⁢Bi 4 ⁢ Au 3 and quantitatively reproduce its local moment behavior in the paramagnetic state.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Probing quantum criticality in ferromagnetic CeRh 6 Ge 4

CeRh 6 Ge 4 is unusual in that its ferromagnetic transition can be suppressed continuously to zero temperature, i.e., to a ferromagnetic quantum-critical point (QCP), through the application of modest hydrostatic pressure. This discovery has raised the possibility that the ferromagnetic QCP may be of the Kondo-breakdown type characterized by a jump in Fermi volume, to which thermopower S measurements should be sensitive. Further, though S/T changes both sign and magnitude around the critical pressure P c ≈ 0.8 GPa, these changes are not abrupt but extend over a pressure interval from within the ferromagnetic state up to P c . Together with temperature and pressure variations in electrical resistivity and previously reported heat capacity, thermopower results point to the near coincidence of two sequential effects near P c , delocalization of 4f degrees of freedom through orbital-selective hybridization followed by quantum criticality of itinerant ferromagnetism.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Effect of Ni substitution on the fragile magnetic system La 5 Co 2 Ge 3

La 5⁢ Co 2 ⁢Ge 3 is an itinerant ferromagnet with a Curie temperature T C of ~3.8K and a remarkably small saturated moment of 0.1µ B /Co. Here we present the growth and characterization of single crystals of the La 5 ⁢(Co 1–x⁢ Ni x ) 2 Ge 3 series for 0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.186. Here we measured powder x-ray diffraction, composition as well as anisotropic temperature-dependent resistivity, temperature and field-dependent magnetization along with heat capacity on these single crystals. We also measured muon-spin rotation/relaxation (μ⁢SR) for some Ni substitutions (x = 0.027,0.036,0.074) to study the evolution of internal field with Ni substitution. Using the measured data we infer a low temperature, transition temperature-composition phase diagram for La 5 ⁢(Co 1–x ⁢Ni x ) 2 Ge 3 . We find that T C is suppressed for low dopings, x ≤ 0.014; whereas for 0.036 ≤ x ≤ 0.186, the samples are antiferromagnetic with a Néel temperature T N that goes through a weak and shallow maximum (T N ~ 3.4K for x~0.07) and then gradually decreases to 2.4 K by x = 0.186. For intermediate Ni substitutions, 0.016 ≤ x ≤ 0.027, two transition temperatures are inferred with T N >T C . Whereas the T–x phase diagram for La 5 ⁢(Co 1–x ⁢Ni x ) 2 Ge 3 and the T–p phase diagram determined for the parent La 5 ⁢Co 2 ⁢Ge 3 under hydrostatic pressure are grossly similar, changing from a low-doping or low-pressure ferromagnetic (FM) ground state to a high-doped or high-pressure antiferromagnetic (AFM) state, perturbation by Ni substitution enabled us to identify an intermediate doping regime where both FM and AFM transitions occur.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Characterizing the nonequilibrium response of FeRh thin films using time-domain thermoreflectance

Time-domain thermoreflectance (TDTR) characterization of FeRh throughout its first-order antiferromagnetic (AF) to ferromagnetic (FM) transition shows that the transient reflectance ΔR⁡(t)/R strongly depends on the magnetic order of the sample. Using TDTR, which uses optical pulses to induce small temperature excursions, we have found that Δ⁢R⁡(t)/R of the AF phase exhibits a large negative response, while the response of the FM phase is positive. This magnetic phase sensitivity has allowed us to study the transient response of both the AF and FM phases to the pump-pulse excitation and the mixed phase of the material. These results are significant since the ultrafast properties of antiferromagnetic materials and mixed antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic materials are difficult to detect using other conventional techniques. We have found that the AF phase exhibits a strong subpicosecond decaying signal not observed in the FM phase. The magnetic phase dependence of the sign of Δ⁢R⁡(t)/R is qualitatively explained using the results of ab initio density functional theory calculations. Using the two-temperature model, we found that the change in the thermalization time across the transition is caused by differences in both the electronic heat capacity and the electron-phonon coupling factor of the AF and FM phases. The electron-phonon coupling constant in the AF phase is also determined using the two-temperature model conducted using the ntmpy code package. For the FM phase, we provide boundaries for the magnitude of the electron-phonon coupling factor for the FM phase. Finally, these results indicate that TDTR can be used to study the transient properties of magnetic materials that are otherwise challenging to probe.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Hydrogen and deuterium tunneling in niobium

We use density functional methods to identify the atomic configurations of H and D atoms trapped by O impurities embedded in bulk Nb. The O atoms are located at the octahedral position in the Nb body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, and H (D) atoms tunnel between two degenerate tetrahedral sites separated by a mirror plane. Using nudged elastic band (NEB) methods, we calculate the double-well potential for O-H and O-D impurities and the wave functions and tunnel splittings for H and D atoms. Our results agree with those obtained from analysis of heat capacity and neutron scattering measurements on Nb with low concentrations of O-H and O-D.

density functional theory↗

High-temperature ion-thermal behavior from average-atom calculations

Atom-in-jellium calculations of the Einstein frequency were used to calculate the mean displacement of an ion over a wide range of compression and temperature. Expressed as a fraction of the Wigner-Seitz radius, the displacement is a measure of the asymptotic freedom of the ion at high temperature, and thus of the change in heat capacity from six to three quadratic degrees of freedom per atom. A functional form for free energy was proposed based on the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution as a correction to the Debye free energy, with a single free parameter representing the effective density of potential modes to be saturated. Finally, this parameter was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations, and found to be ~0.2 per atom. In this way, the ion-thermal contribution can be calculated for a wide-range equation of state (EOS) without requiring a large number of molecular dynamics simulations. Example calculations were performed for carbon, including the sensitivity of key EOS loci to ionic freedom.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Perturbative study of the one-dimensional quantum clock model

In this report we calculate the ground-state energy density ε(g) for the one-dimensional N-state quantum clock model up to order 18, where g is the coupling and N = 3,4,5,...,10, 20. Using methods based on the Padé approximation, we extract the singular structure of ε"(g) or ε(g). They correspond to the specific heat and free energy of the classical two-dimensional (2D) clock model. We find that, for N = 3, 4, there is a single critical point at g c = 1. The heat capacity exponent of the corresponding 2D classical model is α = 0.34 ± 0.01 for N = 3, and α = - 0.01 ± 0.01 for N = 4. For N > 4, there are two exponential singularities related by g c1 = 1/g c2 , and ε(g) behaves as Ae - $\frac{c}{|g_c -g|^a}$ + analytic terms near g c . The exponent σ gradually grows from 0.2 to 0.5 as N increases from 5 to 9, and it stabilizes at 0.5 when N > 9. The phase transitions exhibited in these models should be generalizations of the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, which has σ = 0.5 .

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Intrinsic bulk viscosity of the one-component plasma

The intrinsic bulk viscosity of the one-component plasma (OCP) is computed and analyzed using equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations and the Green-Kubo formalism. It is found that bulk viscosity exhibits a maximum at Γ ≈ 1, corresponding to the condition that the average kinetic energy of particles equals the potential energy at the average interparticle spacing. The weakly coupled and strongly coupled limits are analyzed and used to construct a model that captures the full range of coupling strengths simulated: Γ ≈ 10 –2 –10 2 . Simulations are also run of the Yukawa one-component plasma (YOCP) in order to understand the impact of electron screening. It is found that electron screening leads to a smaller bulk viscosity due to a reduction in the excess heat capacity of the system. Bulk viscosity is shown to be at least an order of magnitude smaller than shear viscosity in both the OCP and YOCP. The generalized frequency-dependent bulk viscosity coefficient is also analyzed. This is found to exhibit a peak near twice the plasma frequency in strongly coupled conditions, which is associated with the oscillatory decay observed in the bulk viscosity autocorrelation function. As a result, the generalized shear and bulk viscosity coefficients are found to have a similar magnitude for ω ≳ 2⁢ω p at strongly coupled conditions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Pairing Correlations across the Superfluid Phase Transition in the Unitary Fermi Gas

In the two-component Fermi gas with a contact interaction, a pseudogap regime can exist at temperatures between the superfluid critical temperature $T_c$ and a temperature $T^\ast > T_c$. This regime is characterized by pairing correlations without superfluidity. However, in the unitary limit of infinite scattering length, the existence of this regime is still debated. To help address this, we have applied finite-temperature auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFMC) methods to study the thermodynamics of the superfluid phase transition and signatures of the pseudogap in the spin-balanced homogeneous unitary Fermi gas. We present results at finite filling factor $\textit{ν}$ ≃ 0.06 for the condensate fraction, an energy-staggering pairing gap, the spin susceptibility, and the heat capacity, and compare them to experimental data when available. In contrast to previous AFMC simulations, our model space consists of the complete first Brillouin zone of the lattice, and our calculations are performed in the canonical ensemble of fixed particle number. The canonical ensemble AFMC framework enables the calculation of a model-independent gap, providing direct information on pairing correlations without the need for numerical analytic continuation. We use finite-size scaling to estimate $T_c$ at the corresponding filling factor. In this work, we find that the energy-staggering pairing gap vanishes above $T_c$, showing no pseudogap effects, and that the spin susceptibility shows a substantially reduced signature of a spin gap compared to previously reported AFMC simulations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Tunable magnetic order in low-symmetry SeO 3 ligand linked TM 3 (SeO 3 ) 3 H 2 O ( TM =Mn , Co, and Ni) compounds

The ability to design crystal lattices with specific sublattice geometries has long been sought after especially in the context of harnessing magnetic frustration to elicit emergent physics. One approach which has seen some success recently is to design magnetic sublattices chemically through the use of nonmagnetic linker ligands as scaffolding for the magnetic ions. In this work we report the magnetic properties of one such family of materials, the transition metal (TM) selenite hydrates with chemical formula TM 3 (SeO 3 ) 3 H 2 O. These materials link highly distorted TMO 6 octahedra via nonmagnetic [SeO 3 ] 2+ linkers. Studying members with TM = Mn, Co, and Ni we use magnetic susceptibility and neutron powder diffraction to identify antiferromagnetic order in all three compounds with moderate frustration indexes. A comparison of the magnetic structures suggests that while the overall structure of the SeO 3 scaffolding remains unchanged the TM effects changes in the magnetic properties through tuning the internal bonding parameters and the single-ion physics. Changing from Mn to Co is found to be particularly consequential manifesting changes in both the ordered-moment direction and in the direction of the ordering vector. Field-dependent measurements of the susceptibility and heat capacity reveal metamagnetic transitions in both Mn 3 (SeO 3 ) 3 H 2 O and Co 3 (SeO 3 ) 3 H 2 O indicating nearby magnetic ground states accessible under relatively small applied fields. Density functional theory calculations broadly confirm these results, showing both a sensitivity of the magnetic structure to the TM and its local environment. Although no spin liquid behavior is achieved, these results suggest the fruitfulness of such synthesis philosophies and encourage future work to engender higher frustration in these materials via doping, field, pressure, or larger linker ligands.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Magnetic phase transitions in Eu(Co 1-x Nix) 2-y As 2 single crystals

The effects of Ni doping in Eu(Co 1-x Ni x ) 2-y As 2 single crystals with x = 0 to 1 grown out of self flux are investigated via crystallographic, electronic transport, magnetic, and thermal measurements. All compositions adopt the body-centered-tetragonal ThCr 2 Si 2 structure with space group I 4= mmm . Here, we also find 3-4% of randomly-distributed vacancies on the Co/Ni site. Anisotropic magnetic susceptibility $\chi$α (α = ab; c) data versus temperature T show clear signatures of an antiferromagnetic (AFM) c-axis helix structure associated with the Eu +2 spins-7/2 for x = 0 and x = 1 as previously reported. The $\chi$α (T) data for x = 0.03 and 0.10 suggest an anomalous 2 q magnetic structure containing two helix axes along the c axis and in the ab plane, respectively, whereas for x = 0.75, 0.82, and 1 a c-axis helix is inferred as previously found for x = 1. At intermediate compositions x = 0:2, 0.32, 0.42, 0.54, and 0.65 a magnetic structure with a large ferromagnetic (FM) c-axis component is found from magnetization versus fi eld isotherms, suggested to be an incommensurate FM cone structure associated with the Eu spins, which consists of both AFM and FM components. In addition, the $\chi$ (T) and heat capacity C p (T) data for x = 0.2-0.65 indicate the occurrence of itinerant FM order associated with the Co/Ni atoms with Curie temperatures from 60 K to 25 K, respectively. Electrical resistivity ρ(T) measurements indicate metallic character for all compositions with abrupt increases in slope on cooling below the Eu AFM transition temperatures. In addition to this panoply of magnetic transitions, 151 Eu Mössbauer measurements indicate that ordering of the Eu moments proceeds via an incommensurate sine amplitude-modulated structure with additional transition temperatures associated with this effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Crystal structure and physical properties of Yb 2 In and Eu 2–x Yb x In alloys

While binary R E 2 In , where R E = rare earth , have been reported a few decades ago, recent investigations revealed intriguing new physical insights. For instance, the discovery of a nearly ideal first-order ferromagnetic transition in Eu 2 In calls for further exploration of structures and properties of R E 2 In , in particular for the least-documented R E = Eu and Yb cases. In this work, we investigate Eu 2 – x Yb x In pseudobinaries with nominal values of x = 0.25 , 0.5, 0.75, 1, 1.5, 2 by powder x-ray diffraction (including as function of temperature from 100 to 375 K for Yb 2 In ), magnetization (5–300 K), as well as electrical resistivity (5–300 K) and calorimetric (2–150 K) measurements for Yb 2 In . Compared to other RE , Yb or Eu always raise challenging questions linked to their valence states. From average atomic volume, Yb is anticipated to be divalent in Yb 2 In , at least between 100 and 375 K, which is in line with the absence of 4 f magnetism. In agreement with x-ray diffraction and magnetization data, the resistivity of Yb 2 In is rather featureless and typical of a metal. Establishing Yb 2 In as a nonmagnetic isostructural reference for Eu 2 In allows one to use its heat capacity to revisit that of the latter, and get experimental insights into the exceptional magnetocaloric effect of the compound with Eu. In particular, we show that a third of the total magnetic entropy ( S m ≈ 35.6 J mo l – 1 K – 1 at T = 100 K ) is concentrated in a 3 K temperature window around the T C of Eu 2 In . Starting from the ferromagnetic compound Eu 2 In [ T C = 55.2 ( 5 ) K ] , we show that Yb substitutions in Eu 2 – x Yb x In lead to a decrease in both the Curie temperature [ T C = 41 ( 2 ) and 32(2) K for x = 0.25 and 0.5] and magnetic saturation, while weakening the first-order character of the transition as x increases. A significant isothermal entropy change of 5.1 ( 4 ) J mo l – 1 K – 1 for Δ B = 2 T is found at 44 K in Eu 1.75 Yb 0.25 In , demonstrating that the giant magnetocaloric effect of Eu 2 In can be tuned to lower temperatures by Yb substitutions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗