arXiv subjects

Emilia Morosan

Publications and source records attributed to Emilia Morosan.

43 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Influence of domain walls in the incommensurate charge density wave state of Cu intercalated 1$T$-TiSe$_2$

We report a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy study of the charge density wave (CDW) order in 1$T$-TiSe$_2$ and Cu$_{0.08}$TiSe$_2$. In pristine 1$T$-TiSe$_2$ we observe a long-range coherent commensurate CDW (C-CDW) order. In contrast, Cu$_{0.08}$TiSe$_{2}$ displays an incommensurate CDW (I-CDW) phase with localized C-CDW domains separated by domain walls. Density of states measurements indicate that the domain walls host an extra population of fermions near the Fermi level which may play a role in the emergence of superconductivity in this system. Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies suggest that the dominant mechanism for CDW formation in the I-CDW phase may be electron-phonon coupling.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

A Mott insulator continuously connected to iron pnictide superconductors

Iron-based superconductivity develops near an antiferromagnetic order and out of a bad metal normal state, which has been interpreted as originating from a proximate Mott transition. Whether an actual Mott insulator can be realized in the phase diagram of the iron pnictides remains an open question. Here we use transport, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and neutron scattering to demonstrate that NaFe$_{1-x}$Cu$_x$As near $x\approx 0.5$ exhibits real space Fe and Cu ordering, and are antiferromagnetic insulators with the insulating behavior persisting above the Néel temperature, indicative of a Mott insulator. Upon decreasing $x$ from $0.5$, the antiferromagnetic ordered moment continuously decreases, yielding to superconductivity around $x=0.05$. Our discovery of a Mott insulating state in NaFe$_{1-x}$Cu$_x$As thus makes it the only known Fe-based material in which superconductivity can be smoothly connected to the Mott insulating state, highlighting the important role of electron correlations in the high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Electronic nematic correlations in the stress free tetragonal state of BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_{2}$

We use transport and neutron scattering to study electronic, structural, and magnetic properties of the electron-doped BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_x$As$_2$ iron pnictides in the external stress free detwinned state. Using a specially designed in-situ mechanical detwinning device, we demonstrate that the in-plane resistivity anisotropy observed in the uniaxial strained tetragonal state of BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_x$As$_2$ below a temperature $T^\ast$, previously identified as a signature of the electronic nematic phase, is also present in the stress free tetragonal phase below $T^{\ast\ast}$ ($<T^\ast$). By carrying out neutron scattering measurements on BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and BaFe$_{1.97}$Ni$_{0.03}$As$_2$, we argue that the resistivity anisotropy in the stress free tetragonal state of iron pnictides arises from the magnetoelastic coupling associated with antiferromagnetic order. These results thus indicate that the local lattice distortion and nematic spin correlations are responsible for the resistivity anisotropy in the tetragonal state of iron pnictides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Point-contact tunneling spectroscopy measurement of Cu$_x$TiSe$_2$: disorder-enhanced Coulomb effects

We performed point-contact spectroscopy tunneling measurements on Cu$_x$TiSe$_2$ bulk with $x=0.02$ and $0.06$ at temperatures ranging from $T=4-40$ K and observe a suppression in the density of states around zero-bias that we attribute to enhanced Coulomb interactions due to disorder. We find that the correlation gap associated with this suppression is related to the zero-temperature resistivity. We use our results to estimate the disorder-free transition temperature and find that the clean limit $T_{c0}$ is close to the experimentally observed $T_c$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Thermally Driven Analog of the Barkhausen Effect at the Metal-Insulator Transition in Vanadium Dioxide

The physics of the metal-insulator transition (MIT) in vanadium dioxide remains a subject of intense interest. Because of the complicating effects of elastic strain on the phase transition, there is interest in comparatively strain-free means of examining VO2 material properties. We report contact-free, low-strain studies of the MIT through an inductive bridge approach sensitive to the magnetic response of VO2 powder. Rather than observing the expected step-like change in susceptibility at the transition, we argue that the measured response is dominated by an analog of the Barkhausen effect, due to the extremely sharp jump in the magnetic response of each grain as a function of time as the material is cycled across the phase boundary. This effect suggests that future measurements could access the dynamics of this and similar phase transitions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Strongly Correlated Materials

Strongly correlated materials are profoundly affected by the repulsive electron-electron interaction. This stands in contrast to many commonly used materials such as silicon and aluminum, whose properties are comparatively unaffected by the Coulomb repulsion. Correlated materials often have remarkable properties and transitions between distinct, competing phases with dramatically different electronic and magnetic orders. These rich phenomena are fascinating from the basic science perspective and offer possibilities for technological applications. This article looks at these materials through the lens of research performed at Rice University. Topics examined include: Quantum phase transitions and quantum criticality in "heavy fermion" materials and the iron pnictide high temperature superconductors; computational ab initio methods to examine strongly correlated materials and their interface with analytical theory techniques; layered dichalcogenides as example correlated materials with rich phases (charge density waves, superconductivity, hard ferromagnetism) that may be tuned by composition, pressure, and magnetic field; and nanostructure methods applied to the correlated oxides VO2 and Fe3O4, where metal-insulator transitions can be manipulated by doping at the nanoscale or driving the system out of equilibrium. We conclude with a discussion of the exciting prospects for this class of materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Incommensurate Magnetism in FeAs Strips: Neutron Scattering from CaFe$_4$As$_3$

Magnetism in the orthorhombic metal CaFe$_4$As$_3$ was examined through neutron diffraction for powder and single crystalline samples. Incommensurate (${\bm q}_{\rm m}\approx (0.37-0.39)\times{\bm b}^{\ast}$) and predominantly longitudinally ($\parallel b$) modulated order develops through a 2nd order phase transition at $T_{\rm N}=89.63(6)$ K with a 3D Heisenberg-like critical exponent $β=0.365(6)$. A 1st order transition at $T_2=25.6(9)$ K is associated with the development of a transverse component, locking ${\bm q}_{\rm m}$ to $0.375(2){\bm b}^{\ast}$, and increasing the moments from 2.1(1) to 2.2(3) $μ_{\rm B}$ for Fe$^{2+}$ and from 1.3(3) to 2.4(4) $μ_{\rm B}$ for Fe$^+$. The {\it ab-initio} Fermi surface is consistent with a nesting instability in cross-linked FeAs strips.

cond-mat.str-el↗