arXiv subjects

A. Bosak

Publications and source records attributed to A. Bosak.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Study of phonons in irradiated epitaxial thin films of UO$_2$

We report experiments to determine the effect of radiation damage on the phonon spectra of the most common nuclear fuel, UO$_2$. We have irradiated thin ($\sim$ 300 nm) epitaxial films of UO$_2$ with 2.1 MeV He$^{2+}$ ions to 0.15 dpa and a lattice swelling of $Δ$a/a $\sim$ 0.6 %, and then used grazing-incidence inelastic X-ray scattering to measure the phonon spectrum. We succeeded to observe the acoustic modes, both transverse and longitudinal, across the Brillouin zone. The phonon energies, in both the pristine and irradiated samples, are unchanged from those observed in bulk material. On the other hand, the phonon linewidths (inversely proportional to the phonon lifetimes), show a significant broadening when comparing the pristine and irradiated samples. This effect is shown to increase with phonon energy across the Brillouin zone. The decreases in the phonon lifetimes of the acoustic modes are roughly consistent with a 50 % reduction in the thermal conductivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Rapid Suppression of the Charge Density Wave in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ under Hydrostatic Pressure

We report on the effects of hydrostatic pressure (HP) on the charge density wave observed in underdoped cuprates. We studied YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ ($T_c$=61 K) using high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering (IXS), and reveal an extreme sensitivity of the phonon anomalies related to the charge density wave (CDW) order to HP. The amplitudes of the normal state broadening and superconductivity induced phonon softening at Q$_{CDW}$ rapidly decrease as HP is applied, resulting in the complete suppression of signatures of the CDW below $\sim$1 GPa. Additional IXS measurements on YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.75}$ demonstrate that this very rapid effect cannot be explained by pressure-induced modification of the doping level and highlight the different role of external pressure and doping in tuning the phase diagram of the cuprates. Our results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the CDW formation and its interplay with superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Soft phonon driven orbital order in CaMn7O12

We use variable-temperature x-ray thermal diffuse scattering and inelastic scattering to investigate the lattice dynamics in single crystals of multiferroic CaMn7O12 which undergo a series of orbital and magnetic transitions at low temperatures. Upon approaching the charge and orbital ordering temperature To=250 K from above, we observe intense diffuse scattering features and a pronounced optical phonon softening centered around the superstructure reflections of the incommensurately modulated structure. The phonon anomaly appears well above To and continuously increases upon cooling, following a canonical power-law temperature dependence that confirms the transition at To to be of second order and related to a soft-phonon lattice instability. Microscopic mechanisms for the incommensurate charge and orbital ordering based on competing interactions and on momentum dependent electron-phonon coupling could both account for the observed extended momentum width of the phonon softening. Our results highlight the importance of the lattice interactions in the physics of this magnetically induced ferroelectric system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Crystal dynamics and thermal properties of neptunium dioxide

We report an experimental and theoretical investigation of the lattice dynamics and thermal properties of the actinide dioxide NpO$_2$. The energy-wavevector dispersion relation for normal modes of vibration propagating along the $[001]$, $[110]$, and $[111]$ high-symmetry lines in NpO$_2$ at room temperature has been determined by measuring the coherent one-phonon scattering of X-rays from a $\sim$1.2 mg single-crystal specimen, the largest available single crystal for this compound. The results are compared against ab initio phonon dispersions computed within the first-principles density functional theory in the generalized gradient approximation plus Hubbard $U$ correlation (GGA+$U$) approach, taking into account third-order anharmonicity effects in the quasiharmonic approximation. Good agreement with the experiment is obtained for calculations with an on-site Coulomb parameter $U = 4$ eV and Hund's exchange $J= 0.6$ eV in line with previous electronic structure calculations. We further compute the thermal expansion, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, phonon linewidth, and thermal phonon softening, and compare with available experiments. The theoretical and measured heat capacities are in close agreement with another. About 27% of the calculated thermal conductivity is due to phonons with energy higher than 25 meV ($\sim$ 6 THz ), suggesting an important role of high-energy optical phonons in the heat transport. The simulated thermal expansion reproduces well the experimental data up to about 1000 K, indicating a failure of the quasiharmonic approximation above this limit.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Polaronic metal phases in La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ uncovered by inelastic neutron and x-ray scattering

Among colossal magnetoresistive manganites the prototypical ferromagnetic manganite La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ has a relatively small magnetoresistance, and has been long assumed to have only weak electron-lattice coupling. Here we report that La$_{0.7}$Sr$_{0.3}$MnO$_{3}$ has strong electron-phonon coupling: Our neutron and x-ray scattering experiments show strong softening and broadening of transverse acoustic phonons on heating through the Curie temperature T$_C$ = 350 K. Simultaneously, we observe two phases where metallic resistivity and polarons coexist. The ferromagnetic polaronic metal phase between 200 K and T$_C$ is characterized by quasielastic scattering from dynamic CE-type polarons with the relatively short lifetime of $\mathbfτ\approx 1\,\rm{ps}$. This scattering is greatly enhanced above T$_C$ in the paramagnetic polaronic metal phase. Our results suggest that the strength of magnetoresistance in manganites scales with the inverse of polaron lifetime, not the strength of electron-phonon coupling.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Structural disorder versus chiral magnetism in Cr$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$

The crystal structure of a disordered form of Cr$_{1/3}$NbS$_2$ has been characterized using diffraction and inelastic scattering of synchrotron radiation. In contrast to the previously reported symmetry (P6$_3$22), the crystal can be described by a regular twinning of an average P6$_3$ structure with three disordered positions of the Cr ions. Short-range correlations of the occupational disorder result in a quite intense and structured diffuse scattering; a static nature of the disorder was unambiguously attributed by the inelastic x-ray scattering. The diffuse scattering has been modeled using a reverse Monte-Carlo algorithm assuming a disorder of the Cr sub-lattice only. The observed correlated disorder of the Cr sub-lattice reduces the temperature of the magnetic ordering from 130 K to 88 K and drastically modifies the field dependence of the magnetization as it is evidenced by the SQUID magnetometery. We conclude, that in contrast to the helicoidal spin structure assumed for P6$_3$22 form, the compound under study is ferromagnetically ordered with a pronounced in-plane anisotropy.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Compressibility and pressure-induced disorder in superconducting phase-separated Cs0.72Fe1.57Se2

Pressure-dependent diffraction response of the superconducting phase separated Cs0.72Fe1.57Se2 has been studied using synchrotron radiation up to the pressure of 19 GPa. The main and secondary phases of Cs0.72Fe1.57Se2 have been observed in the whole pressure range. The main ordered phase has been found to undergo an order-disorder transition in the Fe-sublattice at least at P = 11 GPa with the corresponding kinetics on the order of hours. Contrary to the analogous temperature induced transition, the secondary phase has not been suppressed suggesting that its stability pressure range is higher than 19 GPa or the corresponding transformation kinetics is slower at room temperature. Together with the previously reported pressure-dependent resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements, this work indicates that superconductivity in the AxFe2-ySe2 (A - alkali metals) phases could be related to the Fe-vacancy ordering in the main phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Giant phonon anomalies and central peak due to charge density wave formation in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$

The electron-phonon interaction is a major factor influencing the competition between collective instabilities in correlated-electron materials, but its role in driving high-temperature superconductivity in the cuprates remains poorly understood. We have used high-resolution inelastic x-ray scattering to monitor low-energy phonons in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.6}$ (superconducting $\bf T_c = 61$ K), which is close to a charge density wave (CDW) instability. Phonons in a narrow range of momentum space around the CDW ordering vector exhibit extremely large superconductivity-induced lineshape renormalizations. These results imply that the electron-phonon interaction has sufficient strength to generate various anomalies in electronic spectra, but does not contribute significantly to Cooper pairing. In addition, a quasi-elastic "central peak" due to CDW nanodomains is observed in a wide temperature range above and below $\bf T_c$, suggesting that the gradual onset of a spatially inhomogeneous CDW domain state with decreasing temperature is a generic feature of the underdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Intrinsic crystal phase separation in antiferromagnetic superconductor RbyFe2-xSe2: a diffraction study

The crystal and magnetic structures of the superconducting iron based chalcogenides RbyFe2-xSe2 have been studied by means of single crystal synchrotron x-ray and high resolution neutron powder diffraction in the temperature range 2-570 K. The ground state of the crystal is an intrinsically phase separated state with two distinct by symmetry phases. The main phase has the iron vacancy ordered \surd5x\surd5 superstructure (I4/m space group) with AFM ordered Fe spins. The minority phase does not have \surd5x\surd5-type of ordering and has smaller in plane lattice constant a and larger tetragonal c-axis and can be well described assuming the parent average vacancy disordered structure (I4/mmm space group) with the refined stoichiometry Rb0.60(5)(Fe1.10(5))Se)2. The minority phase amounts to 8-10% mass fraction. The unit cell volume of the minority phase is 3.2% smaller than the one of the main phase at T = 2 K and has quite different temperature dependence. The minority phase transforms to the main vacancy ordered phase on heating above the phase separation temperature T_P = 475 K. The spatial dimensions of the phase domains strongly increase above TP from 1000 Å to > 2500 Å due to the merging of the regions of the main phase that were separated by the second phase at low temperatures. Additional annealing of the crystals at the temperature T=488 K close to T_P for the long time drastically reduces the amount of the minority phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2012

Structural heterogeneity and diffuse scattering in morphotropic lead zirconate-titanate single crystals

Complementary diffuse and inelastic synchrotron X-ray scattering measurements of lead zirconate-titanate single crystals with composition near the morphotropic phase boundary (x=0.475) are reported. In the temperature range 293 K < T < 400 K a highly anisotropic quasielastic diffuse scattering is observed. Above 400 K this scattering disappears. Its main features can be reproduced by model of inhomogeneous lattice deformations caused by inclusions of a tetragonal phase into a rhombohedral or monoclinic phase. This observation supports the idea that PZT at its morphotropic phase boundary is essentially structurally inhomogeneous.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Phase co-existence and structured diffuse scattering seen by X-ray 3D mapping of reciprocal space for Cs0.8Fe1.6Se2

AxFe2-ySe2 (A=K, Rb, Cs) superconductors may show a complex mixture of structural phases even in a single crystal form. A full sphere of the diffraction intensity has been collected, with the help of synchrotron radiation, for Cs0.8Fe1.6Se2 . In addition to the expected pattern for the tetragonal phase with ordered Fe vacancies, a diffuse scattering from Cs occupational disorder has been observed, together with an extra Bragg contribution from a minor phase. The minor phase, in agreement with previous findings, is compressed in the tetragonal a-b plane and expanded along the c-direction; a set of modulated Bragg rods evidences a planar disorder. Fourfold splitting of the rods as well as the main Bragg peaks for L\neq0 imply that symmetry of the minor phase is not higher than monoclinic. The monoclinic distortion was estimated to be 90.7 degrees. Structured diffuse scattering, observed on top of the Bragg component, relates to the major phase and is attributed to a correlated distribution of Cs ions. Elastic nature of the observed scattering was confirmed by additional inelastic X-ray scattering experiment. Diffuse scattering forms 3D objects that have topological similarity with what one would expect, under assumptions discussed in the text, for a Fermi surface nesting.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Competing charge density waves and temperature-dependent nesting in 2H-TaSe2

Multiple charge density wave (CDW) phases in 2H-TaSe2 are investigated by high-resolution synchrotron x-ray diffraction. In a narrow temperature range immediately above the commensurate CDW transition, we observe a multi-q superstructure with coexisting commensurate and incommensurate order parameters, clearly distinct from the fully incommensurate state at higher temperatures. This multi-q ordered phase, characterized by a temperature hysteresis, is found both during warming and cooling, in contrast to previous reports. In the normal state, the incommensurate superstructure reflection gives way to a broad diffuse peak that persists nearly up to room temperature. Its position provides a direct and accurate estimate of the Fermi surface nesting vector, which evolves non-monotonically and approaches the commensurate position as the temperature is increased. This behavior agrees with our recent observations of the temperature-dependent Fermi surface in the same compound [Phys. Rev. B 79, 125112 (2009)].

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

A new model of correlated disorder in relaxor ferroelectrics

We propose a simple phenomenological picture to explain the unusual dielectric properties of the proto-typical ferroelectric relaxor lead magnesium niobate-titanate (PMN-PT). Our model assumes a specific, slowly changing, displacement pattern of the lead ion, which is indirectly controlled by the low-energy acoustic phonons of the system. The model qualitatively explains in great detail the temperature, pressure, and electric field dependence of diffuse neutron- and x-ray scattering, as well as the existence of hierachy in the relaxation times of these materials. We furthermore show that the widely used concept of polar nanoregions as indiviudal static entities is incompatible with the available body of experimental diffuse scattering results.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Inelastic x-ray scattering investigations of lattice dynamics in SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_y$ superconductors

We report measurements of the phonon density of states as measured with inelastic x-ray scattering in SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_y$ powders. An unexpected strong renormalization of phonon branches around 23 meV is observed as fluorine is substituted for oxygen. Phonon dispersion measurements on SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_y$ single crystals allow us to identify the 21 meV A$_{1g}$ in-phase (Sm,As) and the 26 meV B$_{1g}$ (Fe,O) modes to be responsible for this renormalization, and may reveal unusual electron-phonon coupling through the spin channel in iron-based superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Inelastic X-ray Scattering Study of superconducting SmFeAs(O$_{1-x}$F$_{y}$) Single Crystals: Evidence for Strong Momentum-Dependent Doping-Induced Renormalizations of Optical Phonons

We report inelastic x-ray scattering experiments on the lattice dynamics in SmFeAsO and superconducting SmFeAsO$_{0.6}$F$_{0.35}$ single crystals. Particular attention was paid to the dispersions along the [100] direction of three optical modes close to 23 meV, polarized out of the FeAs planes. Remarkably, two of these modes are strongly renormalized upon fluorine doping. These results provide significant insight into the energy and momentum dependence of the coupling of the lattice to the electron system and underline the importance of spin-phonon coupling in the superconducting iron-pnictides.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Pressure dependence of phonon modes across the tetragonal to collapsed tetragonal phase transition in CaFe2As2

The pressure dependence of a large number of phonon modes in CaFe2As2 with energies covering the full range of the phonon spectrum has been studied using inelastic x-ray and neutron scattering. The observed phonon frequency changes are in general rather small despite the sizable changes of the lattice parameters at the phase transition. This indicates that the bonding properties are not profoundly altered by the phase transition. The transverse acoustic phonons propagating along the c-direction are an exception because they stiffen very significantly in response to the large contraction of the c-axis. The lattice parameters are found to change significantly as a function of pressure before, during and after the first-order phase transition. However, the frequencies change nearly uniformly with the change in the lattice parameters due to pressure, with no regard specifically to the first-order phase transition. Density functional theory describes the frequencies in both the zero pressure and in the collapsed phase in a satisfactory way if based on the respective crystal structures.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Phonon surface mapping of graphite: disentangling quasi--degenerate phonon dispersions

The two-dimensional mapping of the phonon dispersions around the $K$ point of graphite by inelastic x-ray scattering is provided. The present work resolves the longstanding issue related to the correct assignment of transverse and longitudinal phonon branches at $K$. We observe an almost degeneracy of the three TO, LA and LO derived phonon branches and a strong phonon trigonal warping. Correlation effects renormalize the Kohn anomaly of the TO mode, which exhibits a trigonal warping effect opposite to that of the electronic band structure. We determined the electron--phonon coupling constant to be 166$\rm(eV/Å)^2$ in excellent agreement to $GW$ calculations. These results are fundamental for understanding angle-resolved photoemission, double--resonance Raman and transport measurements of graphene based systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Phonon Density of States in Nd(O$_{1-x}$F$_{x}$)FeAs

We report measurements of the phonon density-of-states in iron oxypnictide superconductors by inelastic x-ray scattering. A good agreement with ab-initio calculations that do not take into account strong electronic correlations is found, and an unpredicted softening of phonon branches under F doping of these compounds is observed. Raman scattering experiments lead us to conclude that this softening is not related to zone center phonons, and consequently imply an important softening of the relevant phonon branches at finite momentum transfer Q.

cond-mat.supr-con↗