arXiv subjects

C. Bourbonnais

Publications and source records attributed to C. Bourbonnais.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2005

Superconductivity and Antiferromagnetism in Quasi-one-dimensional Organic Conductors

We review the current understanding of superconductivity in the quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors of the Bechgaard and Fabre salt families. We discuss the interplay between superconductivity, antiferromagnetism, and charge-density-wave fluctuations. The connection to recent experimental observations supporting unconventional pairing and the possibility of a triplet-spin order parameter for the superconducting phase is also presented.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Superconducting pairing and density-wave instabilities in quasi-one-dimensional conductors

Using a renormalization group approach, we determine the phase diagram of an extended quasi-one-dimensional electron gas model that includes interchain hopping, nesting deviations and both intrachain and interchain repulsive interactions. d-wave superconductivity, which dominates over the spin-density-wave (SDW) phase at large nesting deviations, becomes unstable to the benefit of a triplet $f$-wave phase for a weak repulsive interchain backscattering term $g_1^\perp>0$, despite the persistence of dominant SDW correlations in the normal state. Antiferromagnetism becomes unstable against the formation of a charge-density-wave state when $g_1^\perp$ exceeds some critical value. While these features persist when both Umklapp processes and interchain forward scattering ($g_2^\perp$) are taken into account, the effect of $g_2^\perp$ alone is found to frustrate nearest-neighbor interchain $d$- and $f$-wave pairing and instead favor next-nearest-neighbor interchain singlet or triplet pairing. We argue that the close proximity of SDW and charge-density-wave phases, singlet d-wave and triplet $f$-wave superconducting phases in the theoretical phase diagram provides a possible explanation for recent puzzling experimental findings in the Bechgaard salts, including the coexistence of SDW and charge-density-wave phases and the possibility of a triplet pairing in the superconducting phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Effect of superconducting fluctuations on ultrasound in unconventional superconductor

We study the renormalization of sound attenuation and sound velocity by fluctuation Cooper pairs in layered superconductors. We consider the influence of s- and d-wave symmetry of the fluctuating order parameter, on both longitudinal and transverse phonon modes. We show that both unconventional order parameter symmetry and transverse sound polarization suppress the AL and MT terms, while the DOS contribution is the least affected. The combination of these effects can change the sign of the overall fluctuation corrections above Tc. We also compare the results obtained using the Ginzburg-Landau formalism with a microscopic derivation of the fluctuation corrections to the sound velocity in both s- and d-wave superconductors. These calculations are motivated by ongoing ultrasound measurements in organic superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2004

Superconducting fluctuation corrections to ultrasound attenuation in layered superconductors

We consider the temperature dependence of the sound attenuation and sound velocity in layered impure metals due to superconducting fluctuations of the order parameter above the critical temperature. We obtain the dependence on material properties of these fluctuation corrections in the hydrodynamic limit, where the electron mean free path is much smaller than the wavelength of sound and where the electron collision rate is much larger than the sound frequency. For longitudinal sound propagating perpendicular to the layers, the open Fermi surface condition leads to a suppression of the divergent contributions to leading order, in contrast with the case of paraconductivity. The leading temperature dependent corrections, given by the Aslamazov-Larkin, Maki-Thompson and density of states terms, remain finite as T->Tc. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of new ultrasonic experiments on layered organic conductors should make these fluctuations effects measurable.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2002

Wilson-Kadanoff Renormalization Group in Higher Orders: One-Dimensional g-ology Model as an Example

We apply the standard Wilson-Kadanoff (WK) momentum-space Renormalization Group (RG) scheme for the g-ology model of one-dimensional fermions. By explicitly carrying out calculations at the two-loop level, we show how the RG flow equations can be derived from the summation of the cascades of contractions generated by the effective action's mode elimination at each infinitesimal step of the WK procedure. The rules for selecting these series of cascades appear naturally as a consequence of the WK scheme ``on-shell'' kinematic constraints and conservation laws. The relation between the present RG approach and the field-theoretic schemes used in earlier related studies is analysed. Generalizations for other models and/or higher dimensions are formulated.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Electronic phases of low-dimensional conductors

We briefly review the physics of electronic phases in low dimensional conductors. We begin by introducing the properties of the one-dimensional electron gas model using bosonization and renormalization group methods.We then tackle the influence of interchain coupling and go through the different instabilities of the electron system to the formation of higher dimensional states. The connection with observations made in quasi-one-dimensional organic and inorganic conductors is discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Renormalization Group Technique for Quasi-one-dimensional Interacting Fermion Systems at Finite Temperature

We review some aspects of the renormalization group method for interacting fermions. Special emphasis is placed on the application of scaling theory to quasi-one-dimensional systems at non zero temperature. We begin by introducing the scaling ansatz for purely one-dimensional fermion systems and its extension when interchain coupling and dimensionality crossovers are present at finite temperature. Next, we review the application of the renormalization group technique to the one-dimensional electron gas model and clarify some peculiarities of the method at the two-loop level. The influence of interchain coupling is then included and results for the crossover phenomenology and the multiplicity of characteristic energy scales are summarized. The emergence of the Kohn-Luttinger mechanism in quasi-one-dimensional electronic structures is discussed fo both superconducting and density-wave channels.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Power laws in a 2-leg ladder of interacting spinless fermions

We use the Density-Matrix Renormalization Group to study the single-particle and two-particle correlation functions of spinless fermions in the ground state of a quarter-filled ladder. This ladder consists of two chains having an in-chain extended Coulomb interaction reaching to third neighbor and coupled by inter-chain hopping. Within our short numerical coherence lengths, typically reaching ten to twenty sites, we find a strong renormalization of the interchain hopping and the existence of a dimensional crossover at smaller interactions. We also find power exponents for single-particle hopping and interchain polarization consistent with the single chain. The total charge correlation function has a larger power exponent and shows signs of a crossover from incoherent fermion hopping to coherent particle-hole pair motion between chains. There are no significant excitation energies.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

On superconductivity in armchair carbon nanotubes

We use the momentum space renormalization group to study the influence of phonons and the Coulomb interaction on the superconducting response function of armchair single-walled nanotubes. We do not find superconductivity in undoped single nanotubes. When doped, superconducting fluctuations can develop because of the phonons but remain small and are easily destroyed by the Coulomb interaction. The origin of superconductivity in ropes of nanotobes is most likely an intertube effect. Projections to zig-zag nanotubes indicate a more favorable disposition to superconducting fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

(Sr/Ca)_{14}Cu_{24}O_{41} spin ladders studied by NMR under pressure

(63)Cu-NMR measurements have been performed on two-leg hole-doped spin ladders Sr_{14-x}Ca_{x}Cu_{24}O_{41} single crystals (0-x-12) at several pressures up to the pressure domain where the stabilization of a superconducting ground state can be achieved. The data reveal marked decrease of the spin gap derived from Knight shift measurements upon Ca substitution and also under pressure and confirm the onset of low lying spin excitations around P_{c} as previously reported. The spin gap in Sr_{2}Ca_{12}Cu_{24}O_{41} is strongly reduced above 20 kbar. However, the data of an experiment performed at P=36 kbar where superconductivity has been detected at 6.7K by an inductive technique have shown that a significant amount of spin excitations remains gapped at 80K when superconductivity sets in. The standard relaxation model with two and three-magnon modes explains fairly well the activated relaxation data in the intermediate temperature regime corresponding to gapped spin excitations using the spin gap data derived from Knight shift experiments.The data of Gaussian relaxation rates of heavily doped samples support the limitation of the coherence lenght at low temperature by the average distance between doped holes. We discuss the interplay between superconductivity and the spin gap and suggest that these new results support the exciting prospect of superconductivity induced by the interladder tunnelling of preformed pairs as long as the pressure remains lower than the pressure corresponding to the maximum of the superconducting critical temperature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Interplay between spin-density-wave and superconducting states in quasi-one-dimensional conductors

The interference between spin-density-wave and superconducting instabilities in quasi-one-dimensional correlated metals is analyzed using the renormalization group method. At the one-loop level, we show how the interference leads to a continuous crossover from a spin-density-wave state to unconventional superconductivity when deviations from perfect nesting of the Fermi surface exceed a critical value. Singlet pairing between electrons on neighboring stacks is found to be the most favorable symmetry for superconductivity. The consequences of non uniform spin-density-wave pairing on the structure of phase diagram within the crossover region is also discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Strong correlations in low dimensional conductors. What are they, and where are the challenges?

This paper is written as a brief introduction for beginning graduate students. The picture of electron waves moving in a cristalline potential and interacting weakly with each other and with cristalline vibrations suffices to explain the properties of technologically important materials such as semiconductors and also simple metals that become superconductors. In magnetic materials, the relevant picture is that of electrons that are completely localized, spin being left as the only relevant degree of freedom. A number of recently discovered materials with unusual properties do not fit in any of these two limiting cases. These challenging materials are generally very anisotropic, either quasi one-dimensional or quasi two-dimensional, and in addition their electrons interact strongly but not enough to be completely localized. High temperature superconductors and certain organic conductors fall in the latter category. This paper discusses how the effect of low dimension leads to new paradigms in the one-dimensional case (Luttinger liquids, spin-charge separation), and indicates some of the attempts that are being undertaken to develop, concurrently, new methodology and new concepts for the quasi-two-dimensional case, especially relevant to high-temperature superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Basic considerations on broken-symmetry states of organic superconductors

In this brief account, we shall review the different mechanisms giving rise to itinerant and localized antiferromagnetism in quasi-one-dimensional organic conductors: the Bechgaard salts and their sulfur analogs. We will then focus on the problem of spin correlations and their impact on the pairing mechanism for organic superconductivity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Mott transition, antiferromagnetism, and unconventional superconductivity in layered organic superconductors

The phase diagram of the layered organic superconductor $κ$-(ET)$_{2}$Cu[N(CN)$_{2}$]Cl has been accurately measured from a combination of $^{1}$H NMR and AC susceptibility techniques under helium gas pressure. The domains of stability of antiferromagnetic and superconducting long-range orders in the pressure {\it vs} temperature plane have been determined. Both phases overlap through a first-order boundary that separates two regions of inhomogeneous phase coexistence. The boundary curve is found to merge with another first order line related to the metal-insulator transition in the paramagnetic region. This transition is found to evolve into a crossover regime above a critical point at higher temperature. The whole phase diagram features a point-like region where metallic, insulating, antiferromagnetic and non s-wave superconducting phases all meet.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Electron-phonon coupling and Peierls transition in metallic nanotubes

We reexamine the putative Peierls transition in a (5,5) metallic nanotube. We show that the conduction electrons at the Fermi level do not couple to the longitudinal acoustic phonon but rather to a folded-in graphene zone edge phonon having the proper Kekule modulation symmetry. The calculation for the mean-field transition temperature gives 15 K, a value comparable to previous estimates. We discuss the significance of this transition temperature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

The normal phase of quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors

We review the properties of quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors: the Bechgaard salts and their sulfur analogs in their normal phase precursor tolong-range order. We go through the main observations made in the normal state of these systems at low magnetic field and tackle the issue of their description under the angles of the Fermi and Luttinger liquid pictures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Spin susceptibility of interacting electrons in one dimension: Luttinger liquid and lattice effects

The temperature-dependent uniform magnetic susceptibility of interacting electrons in one dimension is calculated using several methods. At low temperature, the renormalization group reaveals that the Luttinger liquid spin susceptibility $χ(T) $ approaches zero temperature with an infinite slope in striking contrast with the Fermi liquid result and with the behavior of the compressibility in the absence of umklapp scattering. This effect comes from the leading marginally irrelevant operator, in analogy with the Heisenberg spin 1/2 antiferromagnetic chain. Comparisons with Monte Carlo simulations at higher temperature reveal that non-logarithmic terms are important in that regime. These contributions are evaluated from an effective interaction that includes the same set of diagrams as those that give the leading logarithmic terms in the renormalization group approach. Comments on the third law of thermodynamics as well as reasons for the failure of approaches that work in higher dimensions are given.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Absence of spin gap in the superconducting ladder compound Sr_2Ca_{12}Cu_{24}O_{41}

Transport and 63^Cu-NMR, Knight shift and T_1, measurements performed on the two-leg spin ladders of Sr_2Ca_{12}Cu_{24}O_{41} single crystals show a collapse of the gap in ladder spin excitations when superconductivity is stabilised under a pressure of 29 kbar. These results support the prediction made with exact diagonalisation techniques in two-leg isotropic t-J ladders of a transition between a low-doping spin gap phase and a gapless 1-D Tomonaga-Luttinger regime.

cond-mat↗