arXiv subjects

J. F. DiTusa

Publications and source records attributed to J. F. DiTusa.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2010

Anisotropic superconductivity in layered LaSb$_2$: the role of phase fluctuations

We present magnetic susceptibility and electrical transport measurements of the highly anisotropic compound LaSb$_2$ observing a very broad transition into a clean, consistent with type-I, superconducting state with distinct features of 2 dimensionality. Application of hydrostatic pressure induces a 2- to 3-dimensional crossover evidenced by a reduced anisotropy and transition width. The superconducting transition appears phase fluctuation limited at ambient pressure with fluctuations observed for temperatures greater than 8 times the superconducting critical temperature.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Fermi Surface of Cr$_{1-x}$V$_x$ across the Quantum Critical Point

We have measured de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of Cr$_{1-x}$V$_x$, $0 \le x \le 0.05$, at high fields for samples on both sides of the quantum critical point at $x_c=0.035$. For all samples we observe only those oscillations associated with a single small hole band with magnetic breakdown orbits of the reconstructed Fermi surface evident for $x x_c$ is further evidence for strong fluctuation scattering of these charge carriers well into the paramagnetic regime. We find no significant mass enhancement of the carriers in the single observed band at any $x$. An anomalous field dependence of the dHvA signal for our $x=0.035$ crystal at particular orientations of the magnetic field is identified as due to magnetic breakdown that we speculate results from a field induced SDW transition at high fields.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Optical conductivity and superconductivity in LaSb$_2$

We have measured the resistivity, optical conductivity, and magnetic susceptibility of LaSb$_2$ to search for clues as to the cause of the extraordinarily large linear magnetoresistance and to explore the properties of the superconducting state. We find no evidence in the optical conductivity for the formation of a charge density wave state above 20 K despite the highly layered crystal structure. In addition, only small changes to the optical reflectivity with magnetic field are observed indicating that the MR is due to scattering rate, not charge density, variations with field. Although a superconducting ground state was previously reported below a critical temperature of 0.4 K, we observe, at ambient pressure, a fragile superconducting transition with an onset at 2.5 K. In crystalline samples, we find a high degree of variability with a minority of samples displaying a full Meissner fraction below 0.2 K and fluctuations apparent up to 2.5 K. The application of pressure stabilizes the superconducting transition and reduces the anisotropy of the superconducting phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Unusual metamagnetism in CeIrIn$_5$

We report a high field investigation (up to 45 T) of the metamagnetic transition in CeIrIn$_5$ with resistivity and de-Haas-van-Alphen (dHvA) effect measurements in the temperature range 0.03-1 K. As the magnetic field is increased the resistivity increases, reaches a maximum at the metamagnetic critical field, and falls precipitously for fields just above the transition, while the amplitude of all measurable dHvA frequencies are significantly attenuated near the metamagnetic critical field. However, the dHvA frequencies and cyclotron masses are not substantially altered by the transition. In the low field state, the resistivity is observed to increase toward low temperatures in a singular fashion, a behavior that is rapidly suppressed above the transition. Instead, in the high field state, the resistivity monotonically increases with temperature with a dependence that is more singular than the iconic Fermi-liquid, temperature-squared, behavior. Both the damping of the dHvA amplitudes and the increased resistivity near the metamagnetic critical field indicate an increased scattering rate for charge carriers consistent with critical fluctuation scattering in proximity to a phase transition. The dHvA amplitudes do not uniformly recover above the critical field, with some hole-like orbits being entirely suppressed at high fields. These changes, taken as a whole, suggest that the metamagnetic transition in CeIrIn$_5$ is associated with the polarization and localization of the heaviest of quasiparticles on the hole-like Fermi surface.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Fermi surface evolution through a heavy fermion superconductor-to-antiferromagnet transition: de Haas-van Alphen effect in Cd-substituted CeCoIn$_5$

We report the results of de-Haas-van-Alphen (dHvA) measurements in Cd doped CeCoIn$_5$ and LaCoIn$_5$. Cd doping is known to induce an antiferromagnetic order in the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_5$, whose effect can be reversed with applied pressure. We find a slight but systematic change of the dHvA frequencies with Cd doping in both compounds, reflecting the chemical potential shift due to the addition of holes. The frequencies and effective masses are close to those found in the nominally pure compounds with similar changes apparent in the Ce and La compounds with Cd substitution. We observe no abrupt changes to the Fermi surface in the high field paramagnetic state for $x \sim x_c$ corresponding to the onset of antiferromagnetic ordering at H=0 in CeCo(In$_{1-x}$Cd$_x$)$_5$. Our results rule out $f-$electron localization as the mechanism for the tuning of the ground state in CeCoIn$_5$ with Cd doping.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Kondo effect and absence of quantum interference effects in the charge transport of cobalt doped iron pyrite

The Hall effect and resistivity of the carrier doped magnetic semiconductor Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$S$_2$ were measured for $0\le x \le 0.16$, temperatures between 0.05 and 300 K, and fields of up to 9 T. Our Hall data indicate electron charge carriers with a density of only 10 to 30% of the Co density of our crystals. Despite the previous identification of magnetic Griffiths phase formation in the magnetic and thermodynamic properties of this system for the same range of $x$, we measure a temperature independent resistivity below 0.5 K indicating Fermi liquid-like transport. We also observe no indication of quantum corrections to the conductivity despite the small values of the product of the Fermi wave vector and the mean-free-path, $1.5 \le k_F\ell \le 15$, over the range of $x$ investigated. This implies a large inelastic scattering rate such that the necessary condition for the observation of quantum contributions to the carrier transport, quantum coherence over times much longer than the elastic scattering time, is not met in our samples. Above 0.5 K we observe a temperature and magnetic field dependent resistivity that closely resembles a Kondo anomaly for $x$ less than that required to form a long range magnetic state, $x_c$. For $x>x_c$, the resistivity and magnetoresistance resemble that of a spin glass with a reduction of the resistivity by as much as 35% in 5 T fields. We also observe an enhancement of the residual resistivity ratio by almost a factor of 2 for samples with $x\sim x_c$ indicating temperature dependent scattering mechanisms beyond simple carrier-phonon scattering. We speculate that this enhancement is due to charge carrier scattering from magnetic fluctuations which contribute to the resistivity over a wide temperature range.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Magnetic and thermodynamic properties of cobalt doped iron pyrite: Griffiths Phase in a magnetic semiconductor

Doping of the band insulator FeS$_2$ with Co on the Fe site introduces a small density of itinerant carriers and magnetic moments. The lattice constant, AC and DC magnetic susceptibility, magnetization, and specific heat have been measured over the $0\le x\le 0.085$ range of Co concentration. The variation of the AC susceptibility with hydrostatic pressure has also been measured in a small number of our samples. All of these quantities show systematic variation with $x$ including a paramagnetic to disordered ferromagnetic transition at $x=0.007\pm 0.002$. A detailed analysis of the changes with temperature and magnetic field reveal small power law dependencies at low temperatures for samples near the critical concentration for magnetism, and just above the Curie temperature at higher $x$. In addition, the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat are non-analytic around H=0 displaying an extraordinarily sharp field dependence in this same temperature range. We interpret this behavior as due to the formation of Griffiths phases that result from the quenched disorder inherent in a doped semiconductor.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Structural and magnetic properties of E-Fe_{1-x}Co_xSi thin films deposited via pulsed laser deposition

We report pulsed laser deposition synthesis and characterization of polycrystalline Fe1-xCox Si thin films on Si (111). X-ray diffraction, transmission electron, and atomic force microscopies reveal films to be dense, very smooth, and single phase with a cubic B20 crystal structure. Ferromagnetism with significant magnetic hysteresis is found for all films including nominally pure FeSi films in contrast to the very weak paramagnetism of bulk FeSi. For Fe1-xCoxSi this signifies a change from helimagnetism in bulk, to ferromagnetism in thin films. These ferromagnetic thin films are promising as a magnetic-silicide/silicon system for polarized current production, manipulation, and detection.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Doping a semiconductor to create an unconventional metal

Landau Fermi liquid theory, with its pivotal assertion that electrons in metals can be simply understood as independent particles with effective masses replacing the free electron mass, has been astonishingly successful. This is true despite the Coulomb interactions an electron experiences from the host crystal lattice, its defects, and the other ~1022/cm3 electrons. An important extension to the theory accounts for the behaviour of doped semiconductors1,2. Because little in the vast literature on materials contradicts Fermi liquid theory and its extensions, exceptions have attracted great attention, and they include the high temperature superconductors3, silicon-based field effect transistors which host two-dimensional metals4, and certain rare earth compounds at the threshold of magnetism5-8. The origin of the non-Fermi liquid behaviour in all of these systems remains controversial. Here we report that an entirely different and exceedingly simple class of materials - doped small gap semiconductors near a metal-insulator transition - can also display a non-Fermi liquid state. Remarkably, a modest magnetic field functions as a switch which restores the ordinary disordered Fermi liquid. Our data suggest that we have finally found a physical realization of the only mathematically rigourous route to a non-Fermi liquid, namely the 'undercompensated Kondo effect', where there are too few mobile electrons to compensate for the spins of unpaired electrons localized on impurity atoms9-12.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2008

Mesoscopic Phase Coherence in a Quantum Spin Fluid

Mesoscopic quantum phase coherence is important because it improves the prospects for handling quantum degrees of freedom in technology. Here we show that the development of such coherence can be monitored using magnetic neutron scattering from a one-dimensional spin chain Y2BaNiO5, a quantum spin fluid where no classical, static magnetic order is present. In the cleanest samples, the quantum coherence length is 20 nm, almost an order of magnitude larger than the classical antiferromagnetic correlation length of 3 nm. We also demonstrate that the coherence length can be modified by static and thermally activated defects in a quantitatively predictable manner.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Discovery of Griffiths phase in itinerant magnetic semiconductor Fe_{1-x}Co_xS_2

Critical points that can be suppressed to zero temperature are interesting because quantum fluctuations have been shown to dramatically alter electron gas properties. Here, the metal formed by Co doping the paramagnetic insulator FeS$_2$, Fe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$S$_2$, is demonstrated to order ferromagnetically at $x>x_c=0.01\pm0.005$ where we observe unusual transport, magnetic, and thermodynamic properties. We show that this magnetic semiconductor undergoes a percolative magnetic transition with distinct similarities to the Griffiths phase, including singular behavior at $x_c$ and zero temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2005

Suppressed reflectivity due to spin-controlled localization in a magnetic semiconductor

The narrow gap semiconductor FeSi owes its strong paramagnetism to electron-correlation effects. Partial Co substitution for Fe produces a spin-polarized doped semiconductor. The spin-polarization causes suppression of the metallic reflectivity and increased scattering of charge carriers, in contrast to what happens in other magnetic semiconductors, where magnetic order reduces the scattering. The loss of metallicity continues progressively even into the fully polarized state, and entails as much as a 25% reduction in average mean-free path. We attribute the observed effect to a deepening of the potential wells presented by the randomly distributed Co atoms to the majority spin carriers. This mechanism inverts the sequence of steps for dealing with disorder and interactions from that in the classic Al'tshuler Aronov approach - where disorder amplifies the Coulomb interaction between carriers - in that here, the Coulomb interaction leads to spin polarization which in turn amplifies the disorder-induced scattering.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Ferromagnetism makes a doped semiconductor less shiny

Magnetic semiconductors have attracted interest because of the question of how a magnetic metal can be derived from a paramagnetic insulator. Here our approach is to carrier dope insulating FeSi and we show that the magnetic half-metal which emerges has unprecedented optical properties, unlike those of other low carrier density magnetic metals. All traces of the semiconducting gap of FeSi are obliterated and the material is unique in being less reflective in the ferromagnetic than in the paramagnetic state, corresponding to larger rather than smaller electron scattering in the ordered phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2004

Large Anomalous Hall effect in a silicon-based magnetic semiconductor

Magnetic semiconductors are attracting high interest because of their potential use for spintronics, a new technology which merges electronics and manipulation of conduction electron spins. (GaMn)As and (GaMn)N have recently emerged as the most popular materials for this new technology. While Curie temperatures are rising towards room temperature, these materials can only be fabricated in thin film form, are heavily defective, and are not obviously compatible with Si. We show here that it is productive to consider transition metal monosilicides as potential alternatives. In particular, we report the discovery that the bulk metallic magnets derived from doping the narrow gap insulator FeSi with Co share the very high anomalous Hall conductance of (GaMn)As, while displaying Curie temperatures as high as 53 K. Our work opens up a new arena for spintronics, involving a bulk material based only on transition metals and Si, and which we have proven to display a variety of large magnetic field effects on easily measured electrical properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

The Effect of Disorder on a Quantum Phase Transition

The conductivity and magnetization of Fe1-xCoxS2 were measured to investigate quantum critical behavior in disordered itinerant magnets. Small x (<0.001) is required to convert insulating iron pyrite into a metal, followed by a paramagnetic-to-ferromagnetic metal transition at x = 0.032+/-0.004. Singular contributions are discovered that are distinct from those at either metal-insulator or magnetic transitions. Our data reveal that disorder and low carrier density associated with proximity to a metal-insulator transition fundamentally modifies the critical behavior of the magnetic transition.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2003

High Magnetic Field Sensor Using LaSb2

The magnetotransport properties of single crystals of the highly anisotropic layered metal LaSb2 are reported in magnetic fields up to 45 T with fields oriented both parallel and perpendicular to the layers. Below 10 K the perpendicular magnetoresistance of LaSb2} becomes temperature independent and is characterized by a 100-fold linear increase in resistance between 0 and 45 T with no evidence of quantum oscillations down to 50 mK. The Hall resistivity is hole-like and gives a high field carrier density of n ~ 3x10^20 cm^-3. The feasibility of using LaSb2 for magnetic field sensors is discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2002

Structure of end states for a Haldane Spin Chain

Inelastic neutron scattering was used to probe edge states in a quantum spin liquid. The experiment was performed on finite length antiferromagnetic spin-1 chains in Y_2BaNi_{1-x}Mg_xO_5. At finite fields, there is a Zeeman resonance below the Haldane gap. The wave vector dependence of its intensity provides direct evidence for staggered magnetization at chain ends, which decays exponentially towards the bulk (xi = 8(1) at T=0.1K). Continuum contributions to the chain end spectrum indicate inter-chain-segment interactions. We also observe a finite size blue shift of the Haldane gap.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2002

Field Suppression of the Density-of-States: A Mechanism for Large Linear Magnetoresistance

Hall, resistivity, magnetization, and thermoelectric power measurements were performed on single crystals of the highly anisotropic layered metal LaSb2. A 100-fold linear magnetoresistance (MR) was observed in fields up to 45 T, with no indication of saturation. We show that the MR is associated with a magnetic-field-dependent holelike carrier density, n(H) \propto 1/H. The effect is orbital, depending upon the component of the magnetic field normal to the layers. At low temperature, a field of 9 T reduces the carrier density by more than an order of magnitude.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗