arXiv subjects

A. Carrington

Publications and source records attributed to A. Carrington.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2009

Topological change of the Fermi surface in ternary iron-pnictides with reduced c/a ratio: A dHvA study of CaFe2P2

We report a de Haas-van Alphen effect study of the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 using low temperature torque magnetometry up to 45 T. This system is a close structural analogue of the collapsed tetragonal non-magnetic phase of CaFe2As2. We find the Fermi surface of CaFe2P2 to differ from other related ternary phosphides in that its topology is highly dispersive in the c-axis, being three-dimensional in character and with identical mass enhancement on both electron and hole pockets (~1.5). The dramatic change in topology of the Fermi surface suggests that in a state with reduced (c/a) ratio, when bonding between pnictogen layers becomes important, the Fermi surface sheets are unlikely to be nested.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Tracking anisotropic scattering in overdoped Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$ above 100 K

This article describes new polar angle-dependent magnetoresistance (ADMR) measurements in the overdoped cuprate Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$ over an expanded range of temperatures and azimuthal angles. These detailed measurements re-affirm the analysis of earlier data taken over a more restricted temperature range and at a single azimuthal orientation, in particular the delineation of the intraplane scattering rate into isotropic and anisotropic components. These new measurements also reveal additional features in the temperature and momentum dependence of the scattering rate, including anisotropy in the $T^2$ component and the preservation of both the $T$-linear and $T^2$ components up to 100 K. The resultant form of the scattering rate places firm constraints on the development of any forthcoming theoretical framework for the normal state charge response of high temperature superconducting cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Quantum Oscillation Studies of the Fermi Surface of LaFePO

We review recent experimental measurements of the Fermi surface of the iron-pnictide superconductor LaFePO using quantum oscillation techniques. These studies show that the Fermi surface topology is close to that predicted by first principles density functional theory calculations, consisting of quasi-two-dimensional electron-like and hole-like sheets. The total volume of the two hole sheets is almost equal to that of the two electron sheets, and the hole and electron Fermi surface sheets are close to a nesting condition. No evidence for the predicted three dimensional pocket arising from the Fe $d_{z^2}$ band is found. Measurements of the effective mass suggest a renormalisation of around two, close to the value for the overall band renormalisation found in recent angle resolved photoemission measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Evidence for nodal superconductivity in LaFePO

In several iron-arsenide superconductors there is strong evidence for a fully gapped superconducting state consistent with either a conventional s-wave symmetry or an unusual $s_\pm$ state where there the gap changes sign between the electron and hole Fermi surface sheets. Here we report measurements of the penetration depth $λ(T)$ in very clean samples of the related iron-phosphide superconductor, LaFePO, at temperatures down to $\sim$ 100 mK. We find that $λ(T)$ varies almost perfectly linearly with $T$ strongly suggesting the presence of gap nodes in this compound. Taken together with other data, this suggests the gap function may not be generic to all pnictide superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Fermi surface of superconducting LaFePO determined by quantum oscillations

We report extensive measurements of quantum oscillations in the normal state of the Fe-based superconductor LaFePO, (Tc ~ 6 K) using low temperature torque magnetometry and transport in high static magnetic fields (45 T). We find that the Fermi surface is in broad agreement with the band-structure calculations with the quasiparticle mass enhanced by a factor ~2. The quasi-two dimensional Fermi surface consist of nearly-nested electron and hole pockets, suggesting proximity to a spin/charge density wave instability.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Magnetic penetration depth of single crystal SmFeAsO_{1-x}F_y: a fully gapped superconducting state

We report measurements of the in-plane magnetic penetration depth $λ$ in single crystals of SmFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_y$ ($x\simeq y \simeq 0.2$) with $T_c \simeq 45$ K. We find that at low temperature $λ$ has an exponential temperature dependence which suggests that the Fermi surface is fully gapped. The magnitude of the minimum energy gap, $Δ_1=1.1\pm 0.1 k_BT_c$ at T=0 K, is significantly smaller than the BCS weak-coupling value suggesting that the gap is either strongly anisotropic or varies significantly between the different Fermi surface sheets. Our data fits well a two gap model with an additional larger gap of magnitude $Δ_2 = 1.8\pm0.2 k_BT_c$ which is associated with $\sim 80$% of the total superfluid density.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2008

Superconductor-Insulator Phase Separation Induced by Rapid Cooling in kappa-(ET)_2Cu[N(CN)_2]Br

We present measurements of the low temperature specific heat of single crystals of kappa-(ET)_2Cu[N(CN)_2]Br as a function of the cooling rate through the glasslike structure transition at $\sim$ 80K. We find that rapid cooling produces a small (< 4%) decrease in the superconducting transition temperature accompanied by a substantial (up to 50%) decrease in the normal-state electronic specific heat. A natural explanation of our data is that there is a macroscopic phase separation between superconducting and insulating regions in rapidly cooled samples.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in YBa_2Cu_4O_8

We report the observation of Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in the underdoped cuprate superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_8$ (Y124). For field aligned along the c-axis, the frequency of the oscillations is $660\pm 30$ T, which corresponds to $\sim 2.4$ % of the total area of the first Brillouin zone. The effective mass of the quasiparticles on this orbit is measured to be $2.7\pm0.3$ times the free electron mass. Both the frequency and mass are comparable to those recently observed for ortho-II YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$ (Y123-II). We show that although small Fermi surface pockets may be expected from band structure calculations in Y123-II, no such pockets are predicted for Y124. Our results therefore imply that these small pockets are a generic feature of the copper oxide plane in underdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Fermi surface pockets in ortho-II YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$: the origin of quantum oscillations?

In this paper we explore whether the quantum oscillation signals recently observed in ortho-II YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$ may be explained by conventional density functional band-structure theory. Our calculations show that the Fermi surface of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$ is extremely sensitive to small shifts in the relative positions of the bands. With rigid band shifts of around 30 meV small tubular pockets of Fermi surface develop around the Y point in the Brillouin zone. The cross-sectional areas and band masses of the quantum oscillatory orbits on these pockets are close to those observed. The difference between the bandstructure of YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.5}$ and YBa$_2$Cu$_4$O$_{8}$ are discussed.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Correlation between $T_c$ and anisotropic scattering in Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$

Angle-dependent magnetoresistance measurements are used to determine the isotropic and anisotropic components of the transport scattering rate in overdoped Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$ for a range of $T_c$ values between 15K and 35K. The size of the anisotropic scattering term is found to scale linearly with $T_c$, establishing a link between the superconducting and normal state physics. Comparison with results from angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy indicates that the transport and quasiparticle lifetimes are distinct.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Specific heat measurements of the gap structure of the organic superconductors kappa-(ET)_2Cu[N(CN)_2]Br and kappa-(ET)_2Cu(NCS)_2

We present high resolution heat capacity measurements for the organic superconductors kappa-(ET)_2Cu[N(CN)_2]Br and kappa-(ET)_2Cu(NCS)_2 in fields up to 14 T. We use the high field data to determine the normal state specific heat and hence extract the behavior of the electronic specific heat C_{el} in the superconducting state in zero and finite fields. We find that in both materials for T/T_c<0.3, C_{el}(H=0)\sim T^2 indicating d-wave superconductivity. Our data are inconsistent with s-wave behavior, but may be fitted to a strong coupling d-wave model over the full temperature range.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2007

Penetration depth study of superconducting gap structure of 2\textit{H}-NbSe$_2$

We report measurements of the temperature dependence of both in-plane and out-of-plane penetration depths ($λ_a$ and $λ_c$ respectively) in 2\textit{H}-NbSe$_2$. Measurements were made with a radio-frequency tunnel diode oscillator circuit at temperatures down to 100 mK. Analysis of the anisotropic superfluid density shows that a reduced energy gap is located on one or more of the quasi-two-dimensional Nb Fermi surface sheets rather than on the Se sheet, in contrast to some previous reports. This result suggests that the gap structure is not simply related to the weak electron-phonon coupling on the Se sheet and is therefore important for microscopic models of anisotropic superconductivity in this compound.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

de Haas-van Alphen effect investigations of the electronic structure of pure and aluminum-doped MgB_2

Understanding the superconducting properties of MgB_2 is based strongly on knowledge of its electronic structure. In this paper we review experimental measurements of the Fermi surface parameters of pure and Al-doped MgB_2 using the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect. In general, the measurements are in excellent agreement with the theoretical predictions of the electronic structure, including the strength of the electron-phonon coupling on each Fermi surface sheet. For the Al doped samples, we are able to measure how the band structure changes with doping and again these are in excellent agreement with calculations based on the virtual crystal approximation. We also review work on the dHvA effect in the superconducting state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Anisotropic Scattering and Anomalous Transport in a High Temperature Superconductor

The metallic state of high temperature cuprate superconductors is markedly different from that of textbook metals. The origin of this unconventional state, characterized by unusual and distinct temperature dependences in the transport properties, remains unresolved despite intense theoretical efforts. Our understanding is impaired by our inability to determine experimentally the temperature and momentum dependence of the transport scattering rate. Here we use a novel magnetotransport probe to show that the unusual temperature dependences of the resistivity and the Hall coefficient in highly doped Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6+δ}$ originate from two distinct inelastic scattering channels. One channel is due to conventional electron-electron scattering whilst the other is highly anisotropic, has the same symmetry as the superconducting gap and a magnitude that grows approximately linearly with temperature. The observed form and anisotropy put tight constraints on theories of the metallic state. Moreover, in heavily doped non-superconducting cuprates, this anisotropic scattering term appears to be absent, suggesting an intimate connection between the origin of this scattering and superconductivity itself.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Ferromagnetic Properties of ZrZn$_2$

The low Curie temperature (T_C approx 28K) and small ordered moment (M_0 approx 0.17 mu_B f.u.^-1) of ZrZn2 make it one of the few examples of a weak itinerant ferromagnet. We report results of susceptibility, magnetization, resistivity and specific heat measurements made on high-quality single crystals of ZrZn2. From magnetization scaling in the vicinity of T_C (0.001<|T-T_C|/T_C<0.08), we obtain the critical exponents beta=0.52+/-0.05 and delta=3.20+/-0.08, and T_C=27.50+/-0.05K. Low-temperature magnetization measurements show that the easy axis is [111]. Resistivity measurements reveal an anomaly at T_C and a non-Fermi liquid temperature dependence rho(T)=rho_0+AT^n, where n=1.67+/-0.02, for 1<T<14K. The specific heat measurements show a mean-field-like anomaly at T_C. We compare our results to various theoretical models.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

de Haas-van Alphen effect investigation of the electronic structure of Al substituted MgB_2

We report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) study of the electronic structure of Al doped crystals of MgB$_2$. We have measured crystals with $\sim 7.5$% Al which have a $T_c$ of 33.6 K, ($\sim 14$% lower than pure MgB$_2$). dHvA frequencies for the $σ$ tube orbits in the doped samples are lower than in pure MgB$_2$, implying a $16\pm2%$ reduction in the number of holes in this sheet of Fermi surface. The mass of the quasiparticles on the larger $σ$ orbit is lighter than the pure case indicating a reduction in electron-phonon coupling constant $λ$. These observations are compared with band structure calculations, and found to be in excellent agreement.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2005

Temperature dependent anisotropy of the penetration depth and coherence length in MgB$_2

We report measurements of the temperature dependent anisotropies ($γ_λ$ and $γ_ξ$) of both the London penetration depth $λ$ and the upper critical field of MgB$_2$. Data for $γ_λ=λ_c/λ_a$ was obtained from measurements of $λ_{a}$ and $λ_c$ on a single crystal sample using a tunnel diode oscillator technique. $γ_ξ=H_{c2}^{\parallel c}/H_{c2}^{\bot c}$ was deduced from field dependent specific heat measurements on the same sample. $γ_λ$ and $γ_ξ$ have opposite temperature dependencies, but close to $T_c$ tend to a common value ($γ_λ\simeq γ_ξ=1.75\pm0.05$). These results are in good agreement with theories accounting for the two gap nature of MgB$_2$

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Interpretation of the angular dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen effect in MgB_2

We present detailed results for the amplitude and field dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) signal arising from the electron-like $π$ sheet of Fermi surface in MgB_2. Our data and analysis show that the dip in dHvA amplitude when the field is close to the basal plane is caused by a beat between two very similar dHvA frequencies and not a spin-zero effect as previously assumed. Our results imply that the Stoner enhancement factors in MgB_2 are small on both the Sigma and Pi sheets.

cond-mat.supr-con↗