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Augustin Davignon

Publications and source records attributed to Augustin Davignon.

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Controlling Intertwined Electronic Orders in FeSe with Exfoliation

Controlling intertwined electronic orders in two-dimensional superconductors offers an effective route to answering fundamental questions and engineering new quantum devices. However, tuning the balance between competing orders typically requires complex chemistry, strain, or interface engineering. Here, we show that a pristine alternative is the dimensional reduction of the unconventional superconductor FeSe. Exfoliation suppresses the bulk electronic nematic response and switches the superconducting symmetry from bulk s-wave to d-wave-dominant. Transport, electron microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy establish the substantial weakening of nematic order in thin flakes. To probe superconductivity, we perform angle-dependent Andreev reflection spectroscopy on pristine crystal edges. As the junction's orientation is rotated, the spectra evolve from zero-energy bound states to coherence peaks. The injection angle, field, and temperature dependence, along with theoretical modeling, confirm that exfoliation switches the superconducting symmetry. Our results suggest a versatile superconducting platform for engineering quantum orders and provide fresh insights into the underlying pairing mechanisms.

cond-mat.supr-con

Altermagnetism from a Cu-Fe Lieb Lattice in FeSe/Cuprate Heterostructures

Realizing altermagnetism in high-$T_c$ cuprate-based systems would provide a direct route for studying spin-split electronic bands in the absence of net magnetization and investigate their interplay with unconventional superconductivity. Here, we propose that FeSe/cuprate heterostructures offer such a platform, where a 45$^\circ$ twist of Cu and Fe layers creates an effective CuFe$_2$ Lieb lattice in which Fe magnetic order and Cu-Fe hybridization through the ligands induces altermagnetic $d$-wave spin splitting. A minimal tight-binding model shows that this mechanism is generic. Furthermore, a substrate-induced inequivalence of the two Se sites in FeSe provides a second route in which altermagnetism originates in the Fe layer and is transferred to the cuprate layer by proximity. Density functional theory calculations for FeSe/Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CuO$_6$ heterostructures confirm the viability of both mechanisms and reveal ways to enhance the spin splitting. These results establish superconducting cuprate/transition metal chalcogenide heterostructures as a promising setting for engineering altermagnetism and studying its coupling to unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.str-el

Symmetry-breaking-induced topology in FeSe

FeSe has been one of the most intensively studied iron-based superconductors over the past two decades, exhibiting a wide range of phenomena such as unconventional superconductivity, nematic order, magnetism, orbital-selective correlations, and structural phase transitions. While topologically non-trivial phases have been identified in certain cases -- such as Te-doped FeSe and monolayer FeSe -- topology in bulk FeSe has largely remained unexplored. In this work, we propose a new route to realize topological phases directly in bulk FeSe. We demonstrate that breaking the tetragonal $C_4$ rotational symmetry, thereby lowering the crystal symmetry, can drive FeSe into a strong topological insulating phase. To support this, we perform density functional theory calculations and analyze the band structure using Topological Quantum Chemistry and symmetry-based indicators. Our results show that both uniaxial strain and temperature-induced structural changes lead to non-trivial band topology. Moreover, incorporating electronic correlations through dynamical mean field theory reveals that the topological characteristics near the Fermi level remain robust, as the relevant bands experience only moderate renormalization. These findings highlight strain as a promising mechanism to induce topological phases in FeSe

cond-mat.mtrl-sci