arXiv subjects

E. Bucher

Publications and source records attributed to E. Bucher.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2004

Novel High-Mobility Field-Effect Transistors Based on Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

We report on fabrication of novel field-effect transistors (FETs) based on transition metal dichalcogenides. The unique structure of single crystals of these layered inorganic semiconductors enables fabrication of FETs with intrinsically low field-effect threshold and high charge carrier mobility, comparable to that in the best single-crystal Si FETs (up to 500 cm2/Vs for the p-type conductivity in the WSe2-based FETs at room temperature). These novel FETs demonstrate ambipolar operation. Owing to mechanical flexibility, they hold potential for applications in "flexible" electronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2003

Josephson Effect in Pb/I/NbSe2 Scanning Tunneling Microscope Junctions

We have developed a method for the reproducible fabrication of superconducting scanning tunneling microscope (STM) tips. We use these tips to form superconductor/insulator/superconductor tunnel junctions with the STM tip as one of the electrodes. We show that such junctions exhibit fluctuation dominated Josephson effects, and describe how the Josephson product IcRn can be inferred from the junctions' tunneling characteristics in this regime. This is first demonstrated for tunneling into Pb films, and then applied in studies of single crystals of NbSe2. We find that in NbSe2, IcRn is lower than expected, which could be attributed to the interplay between superconductivity and the coexisting charge density wave in this material.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2001

Interplane Transport and Superfluid Density in Layered Superconductors

We report on generic trends in the behavior of the interlayer penetration depth $λ_c$ of several different classes of quasi two-dimensional superconductors including cuprates, Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, transition metal dichalcogenides and organic materials of the $(BEDT-TTF)_2X$-series. Analysis of these trends reveals two distinct patterns in the scaling between the values of $λ_c$ and the magnitude of the DC conductivity: one realized in the systems with a Fermi liquid (FL) ground state and the other seen in systems with a marked deviation from the FL response. The latter pattern is found primarily in under-doped cuprates and indicates a dramatic enhancement (factor $\simeq 10^2$) of the energy scale $Ω_C$ associated with the formation of the condensate compared to the data for the FL materials. We discuss implications of these results for the understanding of pairing in high-$T_c$ cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2000

Onset of antiferromagnetism in heavy fermion metals

There are two views of antiferromagnets. The first proceeds from atomic physics, which predicts that atoms with unpaired electrons develop magnetic moments. In a solid, the coupling between moments on nearby ions then yields antiferromagnetic order at low temperatures. The second, based on the physics of electron fluids or 'Fermi liquids', states that Coulomb interactions can drive the fluid to adopt a more stable configuration by developing a spin density wave. It is presently unknown which view is appropriate at a `quantum critical point', where the antiferromagnetic transition temperature vanishes. Here we describe an atomically local contribution to the magnetic correlations which develops in the metal CeCu$_{6-x}$Au$_{x}$ at the critical gold concentration ($x_c=0.1$) where the magnetic ordering temperature is tuned to zero. This contribution implies that a Fermi-liquid destroying spin-localizing transition, unanticipated for the spin density wave description, coincides with the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

Scaling of magnetic fluctuations near a quantum phase transition

We use inelastic neutron scattering to measure the magnetic fluctuations in a single crystal of the heavy fermion alloy CeCu_5.9Au_0.1 close to the antiferromagnetic quantum critical point. The energy and temperature-dependent spectra obey (E/T) scaling at Q near (1,0,0). The neutron data and earlier bulk susceptibility are consistent with the form 1/X ~ f(Q)+(-iE+bT)^a, with an anomalous exponent a=0.8. We confirm the earlier observation of quasi-low dimensionality and show how both the magnetic fluctuations and the thermodynamics can be understood in terms of a quantum Lifshitz point.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Less than 50% sublattice polarization in an insulating S=3/2 kagome' antiferromagnet at low T

We have found weak long range antiferromagnetic order in the quasi-two-dimensional insulating oxide $ KCr_3(OD)_6(SO_4)_2$ which contains Cr$^{3+}$ S=3/2 ions on a kagomé lattice. In a sample with $\approx$ 76% occupancy of the chromium sites the ordered moment is 1.1(3)$μ_B$ per chromium ion which is only one third of the Néel value $gμ_BS=3μ_B$. The magnetic unit cell equals the chemical unit cell, a situation which is favored by inter-plane interactions. Gapless quantum spin-fluctuations ($Δ/k_B <0.25$K) with a bandwidth of 60K >> $T_N$ = 1.6K are the dominant contribution to the spin correlation function, $S(Q,ω)$ in the ordered phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1997

Is a doped 'Kondo' insulator different from doped Silicon?

We have observed the metal-insulator transition in the strongly correlated insulator FeSi with the chemical substitution of Al at the Si site. The magnetic susceptibility, heat capacity, and field dependent conductivity are measured for Al concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.08. For concentrations greater than 0.01 we find metallic properties quantitatively similar to those measured in Si:P with the exception of a greatly enhanced quasiparticle mass. Below 2 K the temperature and field dependent conductivity can be completely described by the theory of disordered Fermi Liquids.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1996

Two routes to metallic behavior for a Kondo insulator

Cold neutron spectroscopy was performed on CeNi_{1-x}Cu_xSn to investigate how the magnetic gap in the 'Kondo insulator' CeNiSn is destroyed by temperature (T), chemical substitution (x), and external magnetic field. Upon doping, the spin gap collapses and magnetic Bragg peaks occur initially (x = 0.13) at the commensurate wave vectors Q = (0,m/2,l) (m,l integer) where the higher-energy (4.1 meV) gap is located for x = 0. A magnetic field smooths the sharp spin gap structure in both momentum and energy, while leaving the associated static susceptibility unchanged, as does raising T.

cond-mat.str-el↗