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D. Takegami

Publications and source records attributed to D. Takegami.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Circular Dichroism in Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering: Probing Altermagnetic Domains in MnTe

X-ray magnetic circular dichroism provides a means to identify ferromagnetic, chiral, and altermagnetic orders via their time-reversal-symmetry ($\mathcal{T}$) breaking. However, differentiating magnetic domains related by crystallographic symmetries remains a technical challenge. Here we reveal a circular dichroism (CD) in the resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) spectra from the altermagnetic MnTe. The azimuthal dependence of the RIXS-CD intensity of the magnon excitations indicates a dominant occupation of a single altermagnetic domain. The RIXS-CD in our scattering geometry is ascribed to the mirror-symmetry breaking associated with the $\mathcal{T}$-broken altermagnetic order. Our results establish RIXS-CD as a domain-sensitive probe of elementary excitations in quantum materials.

cond-mat.str-el

Novel quantum spin liquid ground state in the trimer rhodate Ba$_4$NbRh$_3$O$_{12}$

Frustrated magnets offer a plethora of exotic magnetic ground states, including quantum spin liquids (QSLs), in which enhanced quantum fluctuations prevent a long-range magnetic ordering of the strongly correlated spins down to lowest temperature. Here we have investigated the trimer based mixed valence hexagonal rhodate Ba$_4$NbRh$_3$O$_{12}$ using a combination of dc and ac magnetization, electrical resistivity, specific heat, and muon spin rotation/relaxation ($\mu$SR) measurements. Despite the substantial antiferromagnetic exchange interactions, as evident from the Weiss temperature ($\theta_{\mathrm{W}}\sim -35$ to -45 K), among the Rh-local moments, neither long-range magnetic ordering nor spin-freezing is observed down to at least 50 mK, in ac-susceptibility, specific heat and ZF-$\mu$SR measurements (down to 0.26 K). We ascribe the absence of any magnetic transition to enhanced quantum fluctuations as a result of geometrical frustration arising out of the edge-sharing equilateral Rh-triangular network in the structure. Our longitudinal-field $\mu$SR result evidences persistent spin fluctuations down to 0.26~K, thus stabilizing a dynamic QSL ground state in Ba$_4$NbRh$_3$O$_{12}$. Furthermore, the magnetic specific heat ($C_{\mathrm{m}}$) data at low-$T$ reveal a significant $T$-linear contribution plus a quadratic $T$-dependence. A $T$-linear behavior is evocative of gapless spin excitations, while the $T^2$-term of $C_{\mathrm{m}}$ may indicate the Dirac QSL phenomenology of the spinon excitations with a linear dispersion.

cond-mat.str-el

Linear dichroic x-ray absorption response of Ti-Ti dimers along the $c$ axis in Ti$_2$O$_3$ upon Mg substitution

Corundum oxide Ti$_2$O$_3$ shows the metal-insulator transition around 400-600 K accompanying the nearest Ti$^{3+}$-Ti$^{3+}$ bond ($a_{1g}a_{1g}$ singlet state) formation along the $c$ axis. In order to clarify the hole-doping effect for the $a_{1g}a_{1g}$ singlet bond in Ti$_2$O$_3$, we investigated Ti $3d$ orbital anisotropy between corundum-type Ti$_2$O$_3$ and ilmenite-type MgTiO$_3$ using linear dichroism of soft x-ray absorption spectroscopy of the Ti $L_{2,3}$ edge. From the linear dichroic spectral weight in Mg$_y$Ti$_{2-y}$O$_3$, we confirmed that the $a_{1g}a_{1g}$ state is dominant not only in $y=0.01$ (almost Ti$_2$O$_3$), but also in $y = 0.29$, indicating that the Ti-Ti bond survives against a certain level of hole doping. In $y=0.63$ corresponding to 46% hole doping per Ti, the $3d$ orbital symmetry changes from $a_{1g}$ to $e_g^{\pi}$.

cond-mat.str-el

CaCu$_3$Ru$_4$O$_{12}$: a high Kondo-temperature transition metal oxide

We present a comprehensive study of CaCu$_3$Ru$_4$O$_{12}$ using bulk sensitive hard and soft x-ray spectroscopy combined with local-density approximation (LDA) + dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) calculations. Correlation effects on both the Cu and Ru ions can be observed. From the Cu $2p$ core level spectra we deduce the presence of magnetic Cu$^{2+}$ ions hybridized with a reservoir of itinerant electrons. The strong photon energy dependence of the valence band allows us to disentangle the Ru, Cu, and O contributions and thus to optimize the DMFT calculations. The calculated spin and charge susceptibilities show that the transition metal oxide CaCu$_3$Ru$_4$O$_{12}$ must be classified as a Kondo system and that the Kondo temperature is in the range of 500-1000 K.

cond-mat.str-el

Charge transfer energy in iridates: a hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy study

We have investigated the electronic structure of iridates in the double perovskite crystal structure containing either Ir$^{4+}$ or Ir$^{5+}$ using hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimental valence band spectra can be well reproduced using tight binding calculations including only the Ir $5d$, O $2p$ and O $2s$ orbitals with parameters based on the downfolding of the density-functional band structure results. We found that regardless of the A and B cations, the A$_2$BIrO$_6$ iridates have essentially zero O $2p$ to Ir $5d$ charge transfer energies. Hence, double perovskite iridates turn out to be extremely covalent systems with the consequence being that the magnetic exchange interactions become very long-ranged, thereby hampering the materialization of the long-sought Kitaev physics. Nevertheless, it still would be possible to realize a spin-liquid system using the iridates with a proper tuning of the various competing exchange interactions.

cond-mat.str-el

Growth monitoring with sub-monolayer sensitivity via real time thermal conductance measurements

Growth monitoring during the early stages of film formation is of prime importance to understand the growth process, the microstructure and thus the overall layer properties. In this work, we demonstrate that phonons can be used as sensitive probes to monitor real time evolution of film microstructure during growth, from incipient clustering to continuous film formation. For that purpose, a silicon nitride membrane-based sensor has been fabricated to measure in-plane thermal conductivity of thin film samples. Operating with the 3{\omega}-V\"olklein method at low frequencies, the sensor shows an exceptional resolution down to {\Delta}({\kappa}*t)=0.065 nm*W/(m*K), enabling accurate measurements. Validation of the sensor performance is done with organic and metallic thin films. In both cases, at early stages of growth, we observe an initial reduction of the effective thermal conductance of the supporting amorphous membrane, K, related with the surface phonon scattering enhanced by the incipient nanoclusters formation. As clusters develop, K reaches a minimum at the percolation threshold. Subsequent island percolation produces a sharp increase of the conductance and once the surface coverage is completed K increases linearly with thickness The thermal conductivity of the deposited films is obtained from the variation of K with thickness.

physics.app-ph

Electronic signature of the vacancy ordering in NbO (Nb3O3)

We investigated the electronic structure of the vacancy-ordered 4d-transition metal monoxide NbO (Nb3O3) using angle-integrated soft- and hard-x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as well as ultra-violet angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We found that density-functional-based band structure calculations can describe the spectral features accurately provided that self-interaction effects are taken into account. In the angle-resolved spectra we were able to identify the so-called vacancy band that characterizes the ordering of the vacancies. This together with the band structure results indicates the important role of the very large inter-Nb-4d hybridization for the formation of the ordered vacancies and the high thermal stability of the ordered structure of niobium monoxide.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci