arXiv subjects

J. D. Thompson

Publications and source records attributed to J. D. Thompson.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2014

Nanoplasmonic Lattices for Ultracold atoms

We propose to use sub-wavelength confinement of light associated with the near field of plasmonic systems to create nanoscale optical lattices for ultracold atoms. Our approach combines the unique coherence properties of isolated atoms with the sub-wavelength manipulation and strong light-matter interaction associated with nano-plasmonic systems. It allows one to considerably increase the energy scales in the realization of Hubbard models and to engineer effective long-range interactions in coherent and dissipative many-body dynamics. Realistic imperfections and potential applications are discussed.

physics.atom-ph↗

arXiv2014

Excitations in the quantum paramagnetic phase of the quasi-one-dimensional Ising magnet CoNb$_2$O$_6$ in a transverse field: Geometric frustration and quantum renormalization effects

The quasi-one-dimensional (1D) Ising ferromagnet CoNb$_2$O$_6$ has recently been driven via applied transverse magnetic fields through a continuous quantum phase transition from spontaneous magnetic order to a quantum paramagnet, and dramatic changes were observed in the spin dynamics, characteristic of weakly perturbed 1D Ising quantum criticality. We report here extensive single-crystal inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the magnetic excitations throughout the three-dimensional (3D) Brillouin zone in the quantum paramagnetic phase just above the critical field to characterize the effects of the finite interchain couplings. In this phase, we observe that excitations have a sharp, resolution-limited line shape at low energies and over most of the dispersion bandwidth, as expected for spin-flip quasiparticles. We map the full bandwidth along the strongly dispersive chain direction and resolve clear modulations of the dispersions in the plane normal to the chains, characteristic of frustrated interchain couplings in an antiferromagnetic isosceles triangular lattice. The dispersions can be well parametrized using a linear spin-wave model that includes interchain couplings and further neighbor exchanges. The observed dispersion bandwidth along the chain direction is smaller than that predicted by a linear spin-wave model using exchange values determined at zero field, and this effect is attributed to quantum renormalization of the dispersion beyond the spin-wave approximation in fields slightly above the critical field, where quantum fluctuations are still significant.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Revealing Optically Induced Magnetization in SrTiO$_3$ using Optically Coupled SQUID Magnetometry and Magnetic Circular Dichroism

In this work, we study the time- and temperature-dependence of optically induced magnetization in bulk crystals of slightly oxygen-deficient SrTiO$_{3-δ}$ using an optically coupled SQUID magnetometer. We find that a weak ($\sim$5$\times$10$^{-7}$~emu) but extremely long-lived (hours) magnetic moment can be induced in SrTiO$_{3-δ}$ at zero magnetic field by circular-polarized sub-bandgap light. We utilize this effect to demonstrate that SrTiO$_{3-δ}$ crystals can be used as an optically addressable magnetic memory by writing and subsequently reading magnetic patterns with light. The induced magnetization is consistent with that of a polarized ensemble of independent oxygen-vacancy-related complexes, rather than from collective or long-range magnetic order.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Disorder in a Quantum Critical Superconductor

In four classes of materials, the layered copper-oxides, organics, iron-pnictides and heavy-fermion compounds, an unconventional superconducting state emerges as a magnetic transition is tuned toward absolute zero temperature, that is, toward a magnetic quantum-critical point (QCP). In most materials, the QCP is accessed by chemical substitutions or applied pressure. CeCoIn5 is one of the few materials that are born as a quantum-critical superconductor and, therefore, offers the opportunity to explore the consequences of chemical disorder. Cadmium-doped crystals of CeCoIn5 are a particularly interesting case where Cd substitution induces long-range magnetic order, as in Zn-doped copper-oxides. Applied pressure globally supresses the Cd-induced magnetic order and restores bulk superconductivity. Here we show, however, that local magnetic correlations, whose spatial extent decreases with applied pressure, persist at the extrapolated QCP. The residual droplets of impurity-induced magnetic moments prevent the reappearance of conventional signatures of quantum criticality, but induce a heterogeneous electronic state. These discoveries show that spin droplets can be a source of electronic heterogeneity in classes of strongly correlated electron systems and emphasize the need for caution when interpreting the effects of tuning a correlated system by chemical substitution.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

LDA+DMFT Approach to Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy of Strong Magnets

The new challenges posed by the need of finding strong rare-earth free magnets demand methods that can predict magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE). We argue that correlated electron effects, which are normally underestimated in band structure calculations, play a crucial role in the development of the orbital component of the magnetic moments. Because magnetic anisotropy arises from this orbital component, the ability to include correlation effects has profound consequences on our predictive power of the MAE of strong magnets. Here we show that incorporating the local effects of electronic correlations with dynamical mean-field theory provides reliable estimates of the orbital moment, the mass enhancement and the MAE of YCo5.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Microscopic Properties of the Heavy-Fermion Superconductor PuCoIn$_5$ Explored by Nuclear Quadrupole Resonance

We report $^{115}$In nuclear quadrupolar resonance (NQR) measurements on the heavy-fermion superconductor PuCoIn$_5$, in the temperature range $0.29{\rm K}\leq T\leq 75{\rm K}$. The NQR parameters for the two crystallographically inequivalent In sites are determined, and their temperature dependence is investigated. A linear shift of the quadrupolar frequency with lowering temperature below the critical value $T_c$ is revealed, in agreement with the prediction for composite pairing. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate $T_1^{-1}(T)$ clearly signals a superconducting (SC) phase transition at $T_c\simeq 2.3$K, with strong spin fluctuations, mostly in-plane, dominating the relaxation process in the normal state near to $T_c$. Analysis of the $T_1^{-1}$ data in the SC state suggests that PuCoIn$_5$ is a strong-coupling $d$-wave superconductor.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Nanophotonic quantum phase switch with a single atom

In analogy to transistors in classical electronic circuits, a quantum optical switch is an important element of quantum circuits and quantum networks. Operated at the fundamental limit where a single quantum of light or matter controls another field or material system, it may enable fascinating applications such as long-distance quantum communication, distributed quantum information processing and metrology, and the exploration of novel quantum states of matter. Here, by strongly coupling a photon to a single atom trapped in the near field of a nanoscale photonic crystal cavity, we realize a system where a single atom switches the phase of a photon, and a single photon modifies the atom's phase. We experimentally demonstrate an atom-induced optical phase shift that is nonlinear at the two-photon level, a photon number router that separates individual photons and photon pairs into different output modes, and a single-photon switch where a single "gate" photon controls the propagation of a subsequent probe field. These techniques pave the way towards integrated quantum nanophotonic networks involving multiple atomic nodes connected by guided light.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2014

Multiferroicity with coexisting isotropic and anisotropic spins in Ca$_{3}$Co$_{2-x}$Mn$_{x}$O$_{6}$

We study magnetic and multiferroic behavior in Ca$_3$Co$_{2-x}$Mn$_{x}$O$_6$ ($x \sim$0.97) by high-field measurements of magnetization ($M$), magnetostriction ($L$($H$)/$L$), electric polarization ($P$), and magnetocaloric effect. This study also gives insight into the zero and low magnetic field magnetic structure and magnetoelectric coupling mechanisms. We measured $M$ and $Δ$$L$/$L$ up to pulsed magnetic fields of 92 T, and determined the saturation moment and field. On the controversial topic of the spin states of Co$^{2+}$ and Mn$^{4+}$ ions, we find evidence for $S$ = 3/2 spins for both ions with no magnetic field-induced spin-state crossovers. Our data also indicate that Mn$^{4+}$ spins are quasi-isotropic and develop components in the $ab$-plane in applied magnetic fields of 10 T. These spins cant until saturation at 85 T whereas the Ising Co$^{2+}$ spins saturate by 25 T. Furthermore, our results imply that mechanism for suppression of electric polarization with magnetic fields near 10 T is flopping of the Mn$^{4+}$ spins into the $ab$-plane, indicating that appropriate models must include the coexistence of Ising and quasi-isotropic spins.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Q-dependence of the spin fluctuations in the intermediate valence compound CePd3

We report inelastic neutron scattering experiments on a single crystal of the intermediate valence compound CePd3. At 300 K the magnetic scattering is quasielastic, with halfwidth of 23 meV, and is independent of momentum transfer Q. At low temperature, the Q-averaged magnetic spectrum is inelastic, exhibiting a broad peak centered near Emax = 55 meV. These results, together with the temperature dependence of the susceptibility, 4f occupation number, and specific heat, can be fit by the Kondo/Anderson impurity model. The low temperature scattering near Emax, however, shows significant variations with Q, reflecting the coherence of the 4f lattice. The intensity is maximal at (1/2, 1/2,0), intermediate at (1/2,0,0) and (0,0,0), and weak at (1/2,1/2,1/2). We discuss this Q-dependence in terms of current ideas about coherence in heavy fermion systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Persistent Optically Induced Magnetism in Oxygen-Deficient Strontium Titanate

Strontium titanate (SrTiO$_3$) is a foundational material in the emerging field of complex oxide electronics. While its electronic and optical properties have been studied for decades, SrTiO$_3$ has recently become a renewed materials research focus catalyzed in part by the discovery of magnetism and superconductivity at interfaces between SrTiO$_3$ and other oxides. The formation and distribution of oxygen vacancies may play an essential but as-yet-incompletely understood role in these effects. Moreover, recent signatures of magnetization in gated SrTiO$_3$ have further galvanized interest in the emergent properties of this nominally nonmagnetic material. Here we observe an optically induced and persistent magnetization in oxygen-deficient SrTiO$_{3-δ}$ using magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy and SQUID magnetometry. This zero-field magnetization appears below ~18K, persists for hours below 10K, and is tunable via the polarization and wavelength of sub-bandgap (400-500nm) light. These effects occur only in oxygen-deficient samples, revealing the detailed interplay between magnetism, lattice defects, and light in an archetypal oxide material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

CeIrIn5: Superconductivity on a Magnetic Instability

We report the doping-induced antiferromagnetic state and Fermi liquid state that are connected by a superconducting region in a series of CeIrIn$_{5-x}$Hg$_x$, CeIrIn$_{5-x}$Sn$_x$ and CeIr$_{1-x}$Pt$_x$In$_5$ single crystals. Measurements of the specific heat $C(T)$ and electrical resistivity $ρ(T)$ demonstrate that hole doping via Hg/In substitution gives rise to an antiferromagnetic ground state, but substitutions of In by Sn or Ir by Pt (electron doping) favor a paramagnetic Fermi liquid state. A cone-like non-Fermi liquid region is observed near CeIrIn$_5$, showing a diverging effective mass on the slightly Hg-doped side. The obtained temperature-doping phase diagram suggests that CeIrIn$_5$ is in proximity to an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point, and heavy fermion superconductivity in this compound is mediated by magnetic quantum fluctuations rather than by valence fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Thermodynamics of the ferromagnetic phase transition in nearly half metallic CoS2 at high pressures

The volume change and heat capacity at the ferromagnetic phase transition in CoS2 were measured at high pressures using X-rays generated by the Argonne synchrotron light source and by ac-calorimetry, respectively. The transition entropy, calculated on the basis of these experimental data, drops along the transition line due to quantum degradation, as required by Nernst law. The volume change increases strongly along the transition line, which is explained by specifics of the compressibility difference of coexisting phases that results from nearly half metallic nature of the ferromagnetic phase of CoS2.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Bulk evidence for a time reversal symmetry broken superconducting state in URu2Si2

URu$_2$Si$_2$ is claimed to be a chiral \emph{d}-wave superconductor with a $k_z (k_x \pm ik_y)$ time-reversal symmetry broken orbital component for the Cooper pair wave-function, which contains both nodal points and lines of nodes \cite{kasahara, kasahara2}. To study the magnetic response of such an unconventional state through a bulk, thermodynamic probe, we measured the magnetic torque $τ$ in very high-quality, well-characterized URu$_2$Si$_2$ single-crystals \cite{altarawneh,altarawneh2} at high magnetic-fields $H$ and at very low temperatures $T$. The magnetization $M(H) \propto τ(H) /H$ of URu$_2$Si$_2$, in its superconducting state and for angles within $15^{\circ}$ from the \emph{ab}-plane, reveals a change in its sign for $H$ approaching $H_{c2}$: from a clear diamagnetic response dominated by the pinning of vortices to a state with a smaller but "paramagnetic-like" hysteretic response which \emph{disappears} at $H_{c2}$, thus implying that it is intrinsically related to the superconducting state. We argue that this anomalous, angular-dependent behavior is evidence for a time-reversal symmetry broken superconducting state in URu$_2$Si$_2$, although not necessarily for the $k_z (k_x \pm ik_y)$ state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Multiple quantum phase transitions in a heavy fermion antiferromagnet

We report measurements of magnetic quantum oscillations and specific heat at low temperatures across a field-induced antiferromagnetic quantum critical point (QCP)(B_{c0}\approx50T) of the heavy-fermion metal CeRhIn_5. A sharp magnetic-field induced Fermi surface reconstruction is observed inside the antiferromagnetic phase. Our results demonstrate multiple classes of QCPs in the field-pressure phase diagram of this heavy-fermion metal, pointing to a universal description of QCPs. They also suggest that robust superconductivity is promoted by unconventional quantum criticality of a fluctuating Fermi surface.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Visualizing Nodal Heavy Fermion Superconductivity in CeCoIn5

Understanding the origin of superconductivity in strongly correlated electron systems continues to be at the forefront of unsolved problems in all of physics. Among the heavy f-electron systems, CeCoIn5 is one of the most fascinating, as it shares many of the characteristics of correlated d-electron high-Tc cuprate and pnictide superconductors, including the competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity. While there has been evidence for unconventional pairing in this compound, high-resolution spectroscopic measurements of the superconducting state have been lacking. Previously, we have used high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy techniques to visualize the emergence of heavy-fermion excitations in CeCoIn5 and demonstrate the composite nature of these excitations well above Tc. Here we extend these techniques to much lower temperatures to investigate how superconductivity develops within a strongly correlated band of composite excitations. We find the spectrum of heavy excitations to be strongly modified just prior to the onset of superconductivity by a suppression of the spectral weight near the Fermi energy, reminiscent of the pseudogap state in the cuprates. By measuring the response of superconductivity to various perturbations, through both quasiparticle interference and local pair-breaking experiments, we demonstrate the nodal d-wave character of superconducting pairing in CeCoIn5.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Pressure phase diagram and quantum criticality of CePt2In7 single crystals

We report the temperature-pressure (T-P) phase diagram of CePt2In7 single crystals, especially the pressure evolution of the antiferromagnetic order and the emergence of superconductivity, which have been studied by electrical resistivity and ac calorimetry under nearly hydrostatic environments. Compared with its polycrystalline counterpart, bulk superconductivity coexists with antiferromagnetism in a much narrower pressure region. The possible existence of textured superconductivity and local quantum criticality also are observed in CePt2In7, exhibiting a remarkable similarity with CeRhIn5.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Anomalous doping effect on the superconducting state in CeCoIn$_5$ at high magnetic fields

We investigated the effect of electron and hole doping on the high-field low-temperature superconducting state in CeCoIn$_5$ by measuring specific heat of CeCo(In$_{\rm 1-x}$M$_{\rm x}$)$_5$ with M=Sn, Cd and Hg and $x$ up to 0.33% at temperatures down to 0.1\,K and fields up to 14\,T. Although both Cd- and Hg-doping (hole-doping) suppresses the zero-field $T_c$ monotonically, $H_{c2}$ increases with small amounts of doping and has a maximum around $x$=0.2% (M=Cd). On the other hand, with Sn-doping (electron-doping) both zero-field $T_c$ and $H_{c2}$ decrease monotonically. The critical temperature for the high-field low-temperature superconducting state (so called {\it Q}-state) correlates with $H_{c2}$ and $T_c$, which we interpret in support of the superconducting origin of this state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Tunable interplay between 3d and 4f electrons in Co-doped iron pnictides

We study the interplay of 3d and 4f electrons in the iron pnictides CeFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$AsO and GdFe$_{1-y}$Co$_y$AsO, which correspond to two very different cases of $4f$-magnetic moment. Both CeFeAsO and GdFeAsO undergo a spin-density-wave (SDW) transition associated with Fe 3d electrons at high temperatures, which is rapidly suppressed by Fe/Co substitution. Superconductivity appears in a narrow doping range: $0.05 < x < 0.2$ for CeFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$AsO and $0.05 < y < 0.25$ for GdFe$_{1-y}$Co$_y$AsO, showing a maximum transition temperature $T_\textup{sc}$ of about 13.5 K for Ce and 19 K for Gd. In both compounds, the $4f$-electrons form an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order at low temperatures over the entire doping range and Co 3d electrons are ferromagnetically ordered on the Co-rich side; the Curie temperature reaches $T_\textup{C}^\textup{Co} \approx$ 75 K at $x = 1$ and $y = 1$. In the Ce-compounds, the Néel temperature $T_\textup{N}^\textup{Ce}$ increases upon suppressing the SDW transition of Fe and then remains nearly unchanged with further increasing Co concentration up to $x \simeq 0.8$ ($T_\textup{N}^\textup{Ce}\approx$ 4 K). Furthermore, evidence of Co-induced polarization on Ce-moments is observed on the Co-rich side. In the Gd-compounds, the two magnetic species of Gd and Co are coupled antiferromagnetically to give rise to ferrimagnetic behavior in the magnetic susceptibility on the Co-rich side. For $0.7 \leq y < 1.0$, the system undergoes a possible magnetic reorientation below the Néel temperature of Gd ($T_\textup{N}^\textup{Gd}$). Our results suggest that the effects of both electron hybridizations and magnetic exchange coupling between the 3d-4f electrons give rise to a rich phase diagram in the rare-earth iron pnictides.

cond-mat.str-el↗