arXiv subjects

Alex Aperis

Publications and source records attributed to Alex Aperis.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Influence of electron-phonon coupling strength on signatures of even and odd-frequency superconductivity

The recently discovered APt$_3$P (A=Sr,Ca,La) family of superconductors offers a platform to study frequency dependent superconducting phenomena as the electron-phonon coupling varies from weak to strong. Here we perform ab initio Eliashberg theory calculations to investigate two such phenomena, the occurrence of dip-hump structures in the tunneling spectra and the magnetic field induced coexistence of even and odd frequency superconductivity in these compounds. By calculating the superfluid density, we make predictions for the occurrence of the paramagnetic Meissner effect as a hallmark of odd frequency pairing. Our results provide a link between two seemingly uncorrelated aspects of even and odd frequency superconductivity and provide theoretical guidance for the experimental identification of bulk odd frequency superconductivity in this material's family.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Increased Performance of Matsubara space calculations: A case study within Eliashberg theory

We present a method to considerably improve the numerical performance for solving Eliashberg-type coupled equations on the imaginary axis. Instead of the standard practice of introducing a hard numerical cutoff for treating the infinite summations involved, our scheme allows for the efficient calculation of such sums extended formally up to infinity. The method is first benchmarked with isotropic Migdal-Eliashberg theory calculations and subsequently applied to the solution of the full-bandwidth, multiband and anisotropic equations focusing on the FeSe/SrTiO$_3$ interface as a case study. Compared to the standard procedure, we reach similarly well converged results with less than one fifth of the number of frequencies for the anisotropic case, while for the isotropic set of equations we spare approximately ninety percent of the complexity. Since our proposed approximations are very general, our numerical scheme opens the possibility of studying the superconducting properties of a wide range of materials at ultra-low temperatures.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Hydrogen-induced high-temperature superconductivity in two-dimensional materials: Example of hydrogenated monolayer MgB$_2$

Hydrogen-based compounds under ultra-high pressure, such as the polyhydrides H$_3$S and LaH$_{10}$, superconduct through the conventional electron-phonon coupling mechanism to attain the record critical temperatures known to date. We demonstrate here that the intrinsic advantages of hydrogen for phonon-mediated superconductivity can be exploited in a completely different system, namely two-dimensional (2D) materials. We find that hydrogen adatoms can strongly enhance superconductivity in 2D materials due to flatband states originating from atomic-like hydrogen orbitals, with a resulting high density of states, and due to the emergence of high-frequency hydrogen-related phonon modes that boost the electron-phonon coupling. As a concrete example, we investigate the effect of hydrogen adatoms on the superconducting properties of monolayer MgB$_2$, by solving the fully anisotropic Eliashberg equations, in conjunction with a first-principles description of the electronic and vibrational states, and the coupling between them. We show that hydrogenation leads to a high critical temperature of 67 K, which can be boosted to over 100 K by biaxial tensile strain.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Self-consistent temperature dependence of quasiparticle bands in monolayer FeSe on SrTiO$_3$

We study the temperature evolution of the quasiparticle bands of the FeSe monolayer on the SrTiO$_3$ (STO) substrate from 10 to 300 K by applying the anisotropic, multiband and full-bandwidth Eliashberg theory. To achieve this, we extend this theory by self-consistently coupling the chemical potential to the full set of Eliashberg equations. In this way, the electron filling can accurately be kept at a constant level at any temperature. Solving the coupled equations self-consistently, and with focus on the interfacial electron-phonon coupling, we compute a nearly constant Fermi surface with respect to temperature and predict a non-trivial temperature evolution of the global chemical potential. This evolution includes a total shift of 5 meV when increasing temperature from 10 to 300 K and a hump-like dependence followed by a kink at the critical temperature T$_c$. We argue that the latter behavior indicates that superconductivity in FeSe/SrTiO$_3$ is near to the BCS-BEC crossover regime. Calculating the temperature dependent Angle Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy (ARPES) spectra, we suggest a new route to determine the energy scale of the interfacial phonon mode by measuring the energy position of second-order replica bands. Further, we re-examine the often used symmetrization procedure applied to such ARPES curves and demonstrate substantial asymmetric deviations. Lastly, our results reveal important aspects for the experimental determination of the momentum anisotropy of the superconducting gap.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Multiband full-bandwidth anisotropic Eliashberg theory of interfacial electron-phonon coupling and high-T$_c$ superconductivity in FeSe/SrTiO$_3$

We examine the impact of interfacial phonons on the superconducting state of FeSe/SrTiO$_3$ developing a material's specific multiband, full bandwidth, and anisotropic Eliashberg theory for this system. Our self-consistent calculations highlight the importance of the interfacial electron-phonon interaction, which is hidden behind the seemingly weak-coupling constant λ$_m$ = 0.4, in mediating the high T$_c$, and explain other puzzling experimental observations, such as the s-wave symmetry and replica bands. We discover that the formation of replica bands has a T$_c$ decreasing effect that is nevertheless compensated by deep Fermi-sea Cooper pairing which has a T$_c$ enhancing effect. We predict a strong-coupling dip-hump signature in the tunneling spectra due to the interfacial coupling.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Advanced first-principles theory of superconductivity including both lattice vibrations and spin fluctuations: The case of FeB$_4$

We present an advanced method to study spin fluctuations in superconductors quantitatively, and entirely from first principles. This method can be generally applied to materials where electron-phonon coupling and spin fluctuations coexist. We employ it here to examine the recently synthesized superconductor iron tetraboride (FeB$_4$) with experimental $T_{\mathrm{c}}\sim 2.4$ K [H. Gou \textit{et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{111}, 157002 (2013)]. We prove that FeB$_4$ is particularly prone to ferromagnetic spin fluctuations due to the presence of iron, resulting in a large Stoner interaction strength, $I=1.5$ eV, as calculated from first principles. The other important factor is its Fermi surface that consists of three separate sheets, among which two nested ellipsoids. The resulting susceptibility has a ferromagnetic peak around $\textbf{q}=0$, from which we calculated the repulsive interaction between Cooper pair electrons using the random phase approximation. Subsequently, we combined the electron-phonon interaction calculated from first principles with the spin fluctuation interaction in fully anisotropic Eliashberg theory calculations. We show that the resulting superconducting gap spectrum is conventional, yet very strongly depleted due to coupling to the spin fluctuations. The critical temperature decreases from $T_{\mathrm{c}}= 41$ K, if they are not taken into account, to $T_{\mathrm{c}}= 1.7$ K, in good agreement with the experimental value.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Observation of Gapless Dirac Surface States in ZrGeTe

The experimental discovery of the topological Dirac semimetal establishes a platform to search for various exotic quantum phases in real materials. ZrSiS-type materials have recently emerged as topological nodal-line semimetals where gapped Dirac-like surface states are observed. Here, we present a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) study of ZrGeTe, a nonsymmorphic symmetry protected Dirac semimetal. We observe two Dirac-like gapless surface states at the same $\bar X$ point of the Brillouin zone. Our theoretical analysis and first-principles calculations reveal that these are protected by crystalline symmetry. Hence, ZrGeTe appears as a rare example of a naturally fine tuned system where the interplay between symmorphic and non-symmorphic symmetry leads to rich phenomenology, and thus opens for opportunities to investigate the physics of Dirac semimetallic and topological insulating phases realized in a single material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Distinct multiple fermionic states in a single topological metal

Among the quantum materials that gained interest recently are the topological Dirac/Weyl semimetals, where conduction and valence bands touch at points in reciprocal (k)-space, and the Dirac nodal-line semimetals, where these bands touch along a line or a loop in k-space. However, the coexistence of multiple fermion phases in one and the same material has not been verified yet. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and first-principles electronic structure calculations, we systematically study the metallic topological quantum material, Hf2Te2P. Our investigations discover various properties that are rare and never observed in a single Dirac material. We observe the coexistence of both weak and strong topological surface states in the same material and interestingly, at the same momentum position. An one-dimensional Dirac crossing{the Dirac-node arc-along a high-symmetry direction is revealed by our first-principles calculations and confirmed by our ARPES measurements. This novel state is associated with the surface bands of a weak topological insulator protected by in-plane time-reversal invariance. Ternary compound Hf2Te2P thus emerges as an intriguing platform to study the coexistence and competition of multi-fermionic states in one material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Observation of topological nodal-line fermionic phase in GdSbTe

Topological Dirac semimetals with accidental band touching between conduction and valence bands protected by time reversal and inversion symmetry are at the frontier of modern condensed matter research. Theoretically one can get Weyl and/or nodal-line semimetals by breaking either one of them. Most of the discovered topological semimetals are nonmagnetic i.e respect time reversal symmetry. Here we report the experimental observation of a topological nodal-line semi metallic state in GdSbTe using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our systematic study reveals the detailed electronic structure of the paramagnetic state of GdSbTe. We observe the presence of multiple Fermi surface pockets including a diamond-shape, an elliptical shape, and small circular pockets around the zone center and high symmetry M and X points of the Brillouin zone (BZ), respectively. Furthermore, we observe the presence of a Dirac-like state at the X point of the BZ. Interestingly, our experimental data shows a robust Dirac like state both below and above the magnetic transition temperature (T_N ~ 13 K). Having relatively higher transition temperature, GdSbTe provides an archetype platform to study the interaction between magnetism and topological states of matter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Magnetic-Field-Induced Odd-Frequency Superconductivity in MgB$_2$

In all known superconductors the pairing of fermions is not sensitive to the sign of their time-argument difference, leading to a Cooper pair wavefunction that is even in time/frequency. Four decades ago it was suggested that odd-frequency superconductivity should in principle be realizable. However, observation of odd-frequency superconductivity in bulk materials has remained elusive. Solving the field-dependent anisotropic Eliashberg equations, we present \textit{ab initio} evidence for the emergence of odd-frequency pairing under an applied magnetic field in the archetypal superconductor MgB$_2$. We provide the full momentum, frequency and spin resolved dependence and magnetic field-temperature phase diagrams of the even and odd-frequency superconducting pair amplitudes and predict fingerprints of the odd-frequency state in tunnelling experiments.

cond-mat.supr-con↗