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J. W. Brill

Publications and source records attributed to J. W. Brill.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Frequency Domain Simulations of Charge-Density-Wave Strains: Comparison with Electro-Optic Measurements

We have studied changes in charge-density-wave strain under application of square-wave currents of variable amplitude and frequency by numerically solving the phase-slip augmented diffusion model introduced by Adelman et al (Phys. Rev. B 53, 1833 (1996)). The frequency dependence of the strain, at each position and amplitude, was fit to a modified harmonic oscillator expression, and the position and current dependence of the fitting parameters determined. In particular, the delay time (1/resonant frequency) vanishes adjacent to the contact and grows with distance from the contact, and both the delay time and relaxation time decrease rapidly with increasing current (and phase-slip rate), as experimentally observed in the electro-optic response of blue bronze. We have also found that pinning the phase at the contacts causes more rapid changes in strain between the contacts than allowing the phase to flow outside the contacts.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Electro-Optic Search for Critical Divergence of the Charge-Density-Wave Diffusion Constant at the Onset of Depinning

We have used electro-reflectance measurements to study charge-density-wave (CDW) polarization dynamics at voltages near the CDW depinning onset (Von) in the quasi-one-dimensional conductor K0.3MoO3 ("blue bronze"). For low voltages, where the phase-slip rate is low, it is expected that the polarization relaxation time should be inversely proportional to the CDW diffusion constant, which is expected to diverge at Von. At T=78 K, we observe saturation of the relaxation time at low voltages, suggesting that we are in the low phase-slip limit and allowing us to estimate the non-critical value of the CDW diffusion constant D=0.02cm2/s, consistent with the measured phason velocity. At other temperatures, the relaxation time increases with decreasing volage even at the lowest voltages we could measure. In no case do we observe the expected "critical speeding up", setting an upper limit on the critical region of (V/Von -1)crit < 0.06.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Charge Order Superstructure with Integer Iron Valence in Fe2OBO3

Solution-grown single crystals of Fe2OBO3 were characterized by specific heat, Mossbauer spectroscopy, and x-ray diffraction. A peak in the specific heat at 340 K indicates the onset of charge order. Evidence for a doubling of the unit cell at low temperature is presented. Combining structural refinement of diffraction data and Mossbauer spectra, domains with diagonal charge order are established. Bond-valence-sum analysis indicates integer valence states of the Fe ions in the charge ordered phase, suggesting Fe2OBO3 is the clearest example of ionic charge order so far.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Anomalous itinerant magnetism in single crystal Sr4Ru3O10: A thermodynamic and transport investigation

A thermodynamic and transport study of Sr4Ru3O10 as a function of temperature and magnetic field is presented. The central results include a growing specific heat C with increasing field B, a magnetic contribution to C/T at low temperatures proportional to -log(T), an abrupt jump and a peak in C/T at 2.90 T and 7 T for B||ab-plane and B||c-axis, respectively, and corresponding changes in the low T power laws of the resistivity. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that this system is strongly anisotropic displaying spontaneous ferromagnetism along the c-axis and an intralayer metamagnetic transition with a possibility of a nearby quantum critical point. The exotic behavior reflects new physics that is yet to be understood.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Specific Heat of (Ca1-xSrx)3Ru2O7 Single Crystals

We have measured the specific heat of crystals of (Ca1-xSrx)3Ru2O7 using ac- and relaxation-time calorimetry. Special emphasis was placed on the characterization of the Neel (TN=56 K) and structural (Tc = 48 K) phase transitions in the pure, x=0 material. While the latter is believed to be first order, detailed measurements under different experimental conditions suggest that all the latent heat (with L ~ 0.3 R) is being captured in a broadened peak in the effective heat capacity. The specific heat has a mean-field-like step at TN, but its magntitude (Delta cP ~ R) is too large to be associated with a conventional itinerant electron (e.g. spin-density-wave) antiferromagnetic transition, while its entropy is too small to be associated with full ordering of localized spins. The TN transition broadens with Sr substitution while its magnitude decreases slowly. On the other hand, the entropy change associated with the Tc transition decreases rapidly with Sr substitution and is not observable for our x=0.58 sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Dynamics of the Electro-Optic response of Blue Bronze

We have studied the charge density wave (CDW) repolarization dynamics in blue bronze by applying square-wave voltages of different frequencies to the sample and measuring the changes in infrared transmittance, proportional to CDW strain. The frequency dependence of the electro-transmittance was fit to a modified harmonic oscillator response and the evolution of the parameters as functions of voltage, position, and temperature are discussed. Resonant frequencies decrease with distance from the current contacts, indicating that the resulting delays are intrinsic to the CDW with the strain effectively flowing from the contact. For a fixed position, the average relaxation time has a voltage dependence given by tau_0~V^-p, with 1<p<2. The temperature dependence of the fitting parameters shows that the dynamics are governed by both the force on the CDW and the CDW current: for a given force and position, both the relaxation and delay times are inversely proportional to the CDW current as temperature is varied. The long relaxation and delay times (~ 1 ms) suggest that the strain response involves the motion of macroscopic objects, presumably CDW phase dislocation lines.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Possible quantum criticality and coexistence of spontaneous ferromagnetism and field-induced metamagnetism in triple-layered Sr4Ru3O10

A thermodynamic and transport study of Sr4Ru3O10 as a function of temperature and magnetic field are presented. The central results include a growing specific heat C with increasing field B, a divergent magnetic contribution to C/T at low temperatures, an abrupt jump and a peak in C/T at 2.90 T and 7 T for B||ab-plane and B||c-axis, respectively, and corresponding changes in the low T power laws of the resistivity. The novelty of this work lies in the fact that the quantum fluctuations occur in a system that shows both intralayer metamagnetism and interlayer spontaneous ferromagnetism, a feature characteristically different from all other systems involving quantum criticality.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Thermal and Magnetic Properties of the Spin-Chain Material, Pr3RuO7

We present measurements of the magnetic moment and specific heat of single crystals of the spin-chain insulator, Pr3RuO7. The susceptibility indicates that three-dimensional antiferromagnetic order sets in at TN = 54 K, with spin polarization approximately along the chain direction, but the susceptibility anisotropy above TN indicates that the intrachain interactions are predominantly ferromagnetic while the interchain interactions are antiferromagnetic. This competition presumably gives rise to the observed metamagnetic behavior for applied fields along the polarization direction. The specific heat anomaly at TN is unusually mean-field in shape, with magnitude indicating that the transition involves mostly ordering of the ruthenium moments. A Schottky-like anomaly at low temperature may be due to praesodynium ions ordering in the effective field established at TN.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Dynamics of the Electro-Reflective Response of TaS3

We have observed a large (~1%) change in infrared reflectance of the charge-density-wave (CDW) conductor, orthorhombic TaS3, when its CDW is depinned. The change is concentrated near one current contact. Assuming that the change in reflectance is proportional to the degree of CDW polarization, we have studied the dynamics of CDW repolarization through position dependent measurements of the variation of the electro-reflectance with the frequency of square wave voltages applied to the sample, and have found that the response could be characterized as a damped harmonic oscillator with a distribution of relaxation (i.e. damping) times. The average relaxation time, which increases away from the contacts, varies with applied voltage as t0 ~ 1/V^p with p ~ 3/2, but the distribution of times broadens as the voltage approaches the depinning threshold. Very low resonant frequencies (~ 1 kHz) indicate a surprisingly large amount of inertia, which is observable in the time dependence of the change in reflectance as a polarity dependent delay of ~ 100 microsec.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Specific Heat of Sr4Ru3O10

We have measured the specific heat of single crystals of the triple-layer Ruddlesden-Popper material, Sr4Ru3O10, grown both in an image furnace and by flux-growth. The flux grown sample has a sharp mean-field-like anomaly at the onset of magnetic order, Tc = 102 K, but a much broader anomaly, indicative of residual heterogeneity, is observed for the image furnace sample. Even for the flux grown sample, however, the anomaly is at least an order of magnitude smaller than one would expect for complete ordering of the spins. Neither sample exhibits an anomaly at Tm ~ 50 K, where magnetic measurements suggest that basal plane antiferromagnetism sets in. Anomalous behavior (e.g. consistent with a term in the specific heat ~ T^3/2 as would be observed for a three-dimensional ferromagnet with weak exchange) is observed at low temperatures for both samples, indicative of the unusual magnetic order in this material.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Soliton Analysis of the Electro-Optical Response of Blue Bronze

In recent measurements on the charge-density-wave (CDW) conductor blue bronze (K0.3MoO3), the electro-transmittance and electro-reflectance spectra were searched for intragap states that could be associated with solitons created by injection of electrons into the CDW at the current contacts [Eur. Phys. J. B 16, 295 (2000); ibid 35, 233 (2003)]. In this work, we adapt the model of soliton absorption in dimerized polyacetylene to the blue bronze results, to obtain the (order of magnitude) estimate that current induced solitons occur on less than ~ 10% of the conducting chains. We discuss the implications of these results on models of soliton lifetimes and motion of CDW phase dislocations.

cond-mat.other↗

Electro-Reflectance Spectra of Blue Bronze

We show that the infrared reflectance of the quasi-one dimensional charge-density-wave (CDW) conductor K0.3MoO3 (blue bronze) varies with position when a voltage greater than the CDW depinning threshold is applied. The spatial dependence and spectra associated with these changes are generally as expected from the electro-transmission [B.M. Emerling, et al, Eur. Phys. J. B 16, 295 (2000)], but there are some differences which might be associated with changes in the CDW properties on the surface. We have examined the electro-reflectance spectrum associated with CDW current investigation for light polarized parallel to the conducting chains for signs of expected current-induced intragap states, and conclude that the density of any such states is at least an order of magnitude lower than expected.

cond-mat↗

Field-tuned Collapse of an Orbital Ordered and Spin-polarized State: Colossal Magnetoresistance in Bilayered Ruthenate

Ca3Ru2O7 with a Mott-like transition at 48 K features different in-plane anisotropies of magnetization and magnetoresistance. Applying magnetic field along the magnetic easy-axis precipitates a spin-polarized state via a first-order metamagnetic transition, but does not lead to a full suppression of the Mott state, whereas applying magnetic field along the magnetic hard axis does, causing a resistivity reduction of three orders of magnitude. The colossal magnetoresistivity is attributed to the collapse of the orbital ordered and spin-polarized state. Evidence for a density wave is also presented.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Multiband superconductivity in NbSe_2 from heat transport

The thermal conductivity of the layered s-wave superconductor NbSe_2 was measured down to T_c/100 throughout the vortex state. With increasing field, we identify two regimes: one with localized states at fields very near H_c1 and one with highly delocalized quasiparticle excitations at higher fields. The two associated length scales are most naturally explained as multi-band superconductivity, with distinct small and large superconducting gaps on different sheets of the Fermi surface.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Competing Ground States in Triple-layered Sr4Ru3O10: Verging on Itinerant Ferromagnetism with Critical Fluctuations

Sr4Ru3O10 is characterized by a sharp metamagnetic transition and ferromagnetic behavior occurring within the basal plane and along the c-axis, respectively. Resistivity at magnetic field, B, exhibits low-frequency quantum oscillations when B||c-axis and large magnetoresistivity accompanied by critical fluctuations driven by the metamagnetism when B^c-axis. The complex behavior evidenced in resistivity, magnetization and specific heat presented is not characteristic of any obvious ground states, and points to an exotic state that shows a delicate balance between fluctuations and order.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Heat Conduction in the Vortex State of NbSe_2: Evidence for Multi-Band Superconductivity

The thermal conductivity kappa of the layered s-wave superconductor NbSe_2 was measured down to T_c/100 throughout the vortex state. With increasing field, we identify two regimes: one with localized states at fields very near H_c1 and one with highly delocalized quasiparticle excitations at higher fields. The two associated length scales are naturally explained as multi-band superconductivity, with distinct small and large superconducting gaps on different sheets of the Fermi surface. This behavior is compared to that of the multi-band superconductor MgB_2 and the conventional superconductor V_3Si.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Effects of hydrostatic pressure on the magnetic susceptibility of ruthenium oxide Sr3Ru2O7: Evidence for pressure-enhanced antiferromagnetic instability

Hydrostatic pressure effects on the temperature- and magnetic field dependencies of the in-plane and out-of-plane magnetization of the bi-layered perovskite Sr3Ru2O7 have been studied by SQUID magnetometer measurements under a hydrostatic helium-gas pressure. The anomalously enhanced low-temperature value of the paramagnetic susceptibility has been found to systematically decrease with increasing pressure. The effect is accompanied by an increase of the temperature Tmax of a pronounced peak of susceptibility. Thus, magnetization measurements under hydrostatic pressure reveal that the lattice contraction in the structure of Sr3Ru2O7 promotes antiferromagnetism and not ferromagnetism, contrary to the previous beliefs. The effects can be explained by the enhancement of the inter-bi-layer antiferromagnetic spin coupling, driven by the shortening of the superexchange path, and suppression, due to the band-broadening effect, of competing itinerant ferromagnetic correlations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Low-Field Anomaly in the Specific Heat of s-wave Superconductors due to the Expansion of the Vortex Cores

The magnetic field dependence of the electronic specific heat C(H) in the s-wave superconductor NbSe_2 shows curvature at low fields, resembling the near H^1/2 term in C(H) which has been reported in high-T_c superconductors and attributed to a d-wave pairing state. In NbSe_2 we find that the low field behavior in C(H) is described quantitatively by the expansion of vortex cores and the field dependence of the magnetic induction B above H_c1. The associated change in the density of quasiparticle states localized in the vortex cores provides a simple explanation for the "low-field anomaly" in C(H) observed in s-wave superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗