arXiv subjects

Choong H. Kim

Publications and source records attributed to Choong H. Kim.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Abnormal $phase$ flip in coherent phonon oscillations of Ca$_2$RuO$_4$

We employ an optical pump-probe technique to study coherent phonon oscillations in Ca$_2$RuO$_4$. We find that oscillation-amplitude of an $A_g$ symmetric phonon mode is strongly suppressed at 260 K, a putative transition point of orbital ordering. The oscillation also shows a gradual but huge change in its $phase$, such that the oscillation even flips over with a 180$^{\circ}$ change across the temperature. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the $A_g$ phonon has an eigenmode of octahedral distortion with conventional tilting along the $a$-axis and antipolar distortion of apical oxygen. Careful inspection of the lattice captures an unusually large antipolar distortion in low-temperature structures, which may play a crucial role for the phase transition at 260 K.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Strong spin-phonon coupling unveiled by coherent phonon oscillations in Ca2RuO4

We utilize near-infrared femtosecond pulses to investigate coherent phonon oscillations of Ca2RuO4. The coherent Ag phonon mode of the lowest frequency changes abruptly not only its amplitude but also the oscillation-phase as the spin order develops. In addition, the phonon mode shows a redshift entering the magnetically ordered state, which indicates a spin-phonon coupling in the system. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the Ag oscillations result in octahedral tilting distortions, which are exactly in sync with the lattice deformation driven by the magnetic ordering. We suggest that the structural distortions by the spin-phonon coupling can induce the unusual oscillation-phase shift between impulsive and displacive type oscillations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Electronic Reconstruction Enhanced Tunneling Conductance at Terrace Edges of Ultrathin Oxide Films

Quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons across ultrathin insulating oxide barriers has been studied extensively for decades due to its great potential in electronic device applications. In the few-nanometer-thick epitaxial oxide films, atomic-scale structural imperfections, such as the ubiquitously existed one-unit-cell-high terrace edges, can dramatically affect the tunneling probability and device performance. However, the underlying physics has not been investigated adequately. Here, taking ultrathin BaTiO3 films as a model system, we report an intrinsic tunneling conductance enhancement near the terrace edges. Scanning probe microscopy results demonstrate the existence of highly-conductive regions (tens of nanometers-wide) near the terrace edges. First-principles calculations suggest that the terrace edge geometry can trigger an electronic reconstruction, which reduces the effective tunneling barrier width locally. Furthermore, such tunneling conductance enhancement can be discovered in other transition-metal-oxides and controlled by surface termination engineering. The controllable electronic reconstruction could facilitate the implementation of oxide electronic devices and discovery of exotic low-dimensional quantum phases.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Topological Superconductivity in Metal/Quantum-Spin-Ice Heterostructures

The original proposal to achieve superconductivity by starting from a quantum spin-liquid (QSL) and doping it with charge carriers, as proposed by Anderson in 1987, has yet to be realized. Here we propose an alternative strategy: use a QSL as a substrate for heterostructure growth of metallic films to design exotic superconductors. By spatially separating the two key ingredients of superconductivity, i.e., charge carriers (metal) and pairing interaction (QSL), the proposed setup naturally lands on the parameter regime conducive to a controlled theoretical prediction. Moreover, the proposed setup allows us to "customize" electron-electron interaction imprinted on the metallic layer. The QSL material of our choice is quantum spin ice well-known for its emergent gauge-field description of spin frustration. Assuming the metallic layer forms an isotropic single Fermi pocket, we predict that the coupling between the emergent gauge-field and the electrons of the metallic layer will drive topological odd-parity pairing. We further present guiding principles for materializing the suitable heterostructure using ab initio calculations and describe the band structure we predict for the case of Y$_2$Sn$_{2-x}$Sb$_x$O$_7$ grown on the (111) surface of Pr$_2$Zr$_2$O$_7$. Using this microscopic information, we predict topological odd-parity superconductivity at a few Kelvin in this heterostructure, which is comparable to the $T_c$ of the only other confirmed odd-parity superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Temperature Evolution of Itinerant Ferromagnetism in SrRuO3 Probed by Optical Spectroscopy

The temperature ($T$) dependence of the optical conductivity spectra $σ(ω)$ of a single crystal SrRuO$_3$ thin film is studied over a $T$ range from 5 to 450 K. We observed significant $T$ dependence of the spectral weights of the charge transfer and interband $d$-$d$ transitions across the ferromagnetic Curie temperature ($T_c$ ~ 150 K). Such $T$ dependence was attributed to the increase in the Ru spin moment, which is consistent with the results of density functional theory calculations. $T$ scans of $σ(Ω, T)$ at fixed frequencies $Ω$ reveal a clear $T^2$ dependence below $T_c$, demonstrating that the Stoner mechanism is involved in the evolution of the electronic structure. In addition, $σ(Ω, T)$ continues to evolve at temperatures above $T_c$, indicating that the local spin moment persists in the paramagnetic state. This suggests that SrRuO$_3$ is an intriguing oxide system with itinerant ferromagnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Microscopic Theory of Rashba Interaction in Magnetic Metal

Theory of Rashba spin-orbit coupling in magnetic metals is worked out from microscopic Hamiltonian describing d-orbitals. When structural inversion symmetry is broken, electron hopping between $d$-orbitals generates chiral ordering of orbital angular momentum, which combines with atomic spin-orbit coupling to result in the Rashba interaction. Rashba parameter characterizing the interaction is band-specific, even reversing its sign from band to band. Large enhancement of the Rashba parameter found in recent experiments is attributed to the orbital mixing of 3d magnetic atoms with non-magnetic heavy elements as we demonstrate by first-principles and tight-binding calculations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Topological Quantum Phase Transition in 5$d$ Transition Metal Oxide Na$_2$IrO$_3$

We predict a quantum phase transition from normal to topological insulators in the 5$d$ transition metal oxide Na$_2$IrO$_3$, where the transition can be driven by the change of the long-range hopping and trigonal crystal field terms. From the first-principles-derived tight-binding Hamiltonian we determine the phase boundary through the parity analysis. In addition, our first-principles calculations for Na$_2$IrO$_3$ model structures show that the interlayer distance can be an important parameter for the existence of a three-dimensional strong topological insulator phase. Na$_2$IrO$_3$ is suggested to be a candidate material which can have both a nontrivial topology of bands and strong electron correlations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Spin and Orbital Angular Momentum Structures of Cu(111) and Au(111) Surface States

We performed angle resolved photoemission (ARPES) studies on Cu(111) and Au(111) surface states with circularly polarized light. Existence of local orbital angular momentum (OAM) is confirmed as has been predicted to be broadly present in a system with an inversion symmetry breaking (ISB). The single band of Cu(111) surface states is found to have chiral OAM in spite of very small spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in Cu, which is consistent with theoretical prediction. As for Au(111), we observe split bands for which OAM for the inner and outer bands are parallel, unlike the Bi2Se3 case. We also performed first principles calculation and the results are found to be consistent with the experimental results. Moreover, majority of OAM is found to be from d-orbitals and a small contribution has p-orbital origin which is anti-aligned to the spins. We derive an effective Hamiltonian that incorporates the role of OAM and used it to extract the OAM and spin structures of surface states with various SOC strength. We discuss the evolution of angular momentum structures from pure OAM case to a strongly spin-orbit entangled state. We predict that the transition occurs through reversal of OAM direction at a k-point in the inner band if the system has a proper SOC strength.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Emergence of Orbital Angular Momentum by Inversion Symmetry Breaking and Its Detection by ARPES

Rashba-split surface band is characterized by a one-to-one correspondence between the electron's momentum k and its spin orientation. Here we show that a similar correspondence between momentum and orbital angular momentum (OAM) must exist on surface bands once the inversion symmetry is broken. The correspondence is valid even when there is no spin-orbit interaction. Tight-binding and first-principles calculations are presented to support our claim. As a method to detect such OAM-momentum correspondence, we propose the circular dichroism (CD) experiment using the angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) setup. CD-ARPES experiment performed on Cu surface confirms the existence of chiral OAM. A new concept of "orbital Galvanic effect" is proposed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Detecting Chiral Orbital Angular Momentum by Circular Dichroism ARPES

We show, by way of tight-binding and first-principles calculations, that a one-to-one correspondence between electron's crystal momentum k and non-zero orbital angular momentum (OAM) is a generic feature of surface bands. The OAM forms a chiral structure in momentum space much as its spin counterpart in Rashba model does, as a consequence of the inherent inversion symmetry breaking at the surface but not of spin-orbit interaction. Circular dichroism (CD) angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) experiment is an efficient way to detect this new order, and we derive formulas explicitly relating the CD-ARPES signal to the existence of OAM in the band structure. The cases of degenerate p- and d-orbital bands are considered.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Orbital-Angular-Momentum Based Origin of Rashba-Type Surface Band Splitting

We propose that existence of local orbital angular momentum (OAM) on the surfaces of high-Z materials play a crucial role in the formation of Rashba-type surface band splitting. Local OAM state in a Bloch state produces asymmetric charge distribution (electric dipole). Presence of surface electric field aligns the electric dipole and results in chiral OAM states and the relevant Rashba- type splitting. Therefore, the band splitting originates from electric dipole interaction, not from the Zeeman splitting as proposed in the original Rashba picture. The characteristic spin chiral structure of Rashba states is formed through the spin-orbit coupling and thus is a secondary effect to the chiral OAM. Results from first principles calculations on a single Bi layer under an external electric field verify the key predictions of the new model, including the direction of the spin textures which is predicted to be in opposite direction in the Rashba picture.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Fundamental thickness limit of itinerant ferromagnetic SrRuO$_3$ thin films

We report on a fundamental thickness limit of the itinerant ferromagnetic oxide SrRuO$_3$ that might arise from the orbital-selective quantum confinement effects. Experimentally, SrRuO$_3$ films remain metallic even for a thickness of 2 unit cells (uc), but the Curie temperature, T$_C$, starts to decrease at 4 uc and becomes zero at 2 uc. Using the Stoner model, we attributed the T$_C$ decrease to a decrease in the density of states (N$_o$). Namely, in the thin film geometry, the hybridized Ru-d$_yz,zx$ orbitals are terminated by top and bottom interfaces, resulting in quantum confinement and reduction of N$_o$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Mott Insulating Ground State and its Proximity to Spin-Orbit Insulators in Na$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$

We present an anti-ferromagnetically ordered ground state of Na$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$ based on density-functional-theory calculations including both spin-orbit coupling and on-site Coulomb interaction $U$. We show that the splitting of $e_{g}'$ doublet states by the strong spin-orbit coupling is mainly responsible for the intriguing nature of its insulating gap and magnetic ground state. Due to its proximity to the spin-orbit insulator phase, the magnetic ordering as obtained with finite $U$ is found to exhibit a strong in-plane anisotropy. The phase diagram of Na$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$ suggests a possible interplay between spin-orbit insulator and Mott anti-ferromagnetic insulator phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

A spin-dependent local moment approach to the Anderson impurity model

We present an extension of the local moment approach to the Anderson impurity model with spin-dependent hybridization. By employing the two-self-energy description, as originally proposed by Logan and co-workers, we applied the symmetry restoration condition for the case with spin-dependent hybridization. Self-consistent ground states were determined through variational minimization of the ground state energy. The results obtained with our spin-dependent local moment approach applied to a quantum dot system coupled to ferromagnetic leads are in good agreement with those obtained from previous work using numerical renormalization group calculations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Interplay between local electron correlation and Janh-Teller electron-phonon interaction

The infinite-$U$ Anderson model coupled to a Jahn-Teller phonon is studied using the slave boson method on the basis of the large degeneracy expansion (1/N) scheme. The model Hamiltonian acts on the orbital degrees of freedom. The main focus is on the interplay between strong local electron correlation and weak Jahn-Teller electron-phonon interaction. The Kondo temperature is found to decrease by Jahn-Teller interaction. The influence of the Jahn-Teller interaction on dynamical correlation functions is very significant in sharp contrast with the case of the Holstein-type phonon which couples to charge degrees of freedom.

cond-mat.str-el↗