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James G. Analytis

Publications and source records attributed to James G. Analytis.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Strange Metal Hall Effect in Underdoped BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$

The unusual transport properties of strange metals point to the breakdown of the quasiparticle picture, the understanding of which remains one of the most vexing problems in physics. Here, we report investigations of the electrical Hall effect of the strange metal superconductor BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$. We show that a doping-independent contribution to the Hall effect exists within a fan shaped region above a putative quantum critical point. This `strange metal Hall' contribution echoes many of the properties of the antiferromangetic Hall response, but attains universal properties that distinguish it from the effects of Fermi surface reconstruction. This is consistent with an underlying origin connected to the presence of critical fluctuations, tying it to observations of $T$-linear resistivity and the appearance of unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con

Electric field controlled spin transport in a topological insulator interfaced with a ferroelectric antiferromagnet

Topological insulators have been explored extensively for spin-charge interconversion via magnetic interfaces, yet the true response of their spin-charge conversion, particularly in the absence of an external magnetic field, remains to be studied. Here, we report electric-field control of spin-charge conversion in the topological insulator Bi$_2$Te$_3$ with the antiferromagnetic multiferroic BiFeO$_3$, employing a nonlocal spin transport device. A systematic thickness dependence of the spin transport across the interface between Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and BiFeO$_3$ reveals a signature of topological surface-state-dominated spin transport in the bilayer system. The spin-charge conversion remains robust for thicknesses above 10 nm but falls rapidly with reducing thickness and vanishes at 5 nm. This is consistent with the hybridization-induced emergence of a trivial insulating phase, which is supported by the coherency factor estimated from the magnetoconductance of Bi$_2$Te$_3$. These results establish that spin-momentum-locked surface states dominate interfacial spin transport in the decoupled regime. Beyond presenting efficient spin-charge interconversion at an entirely insulating magnetic interface, this work also highlights sputter-deposited Bi$_2$Te$_3$ as a high-quality and scalable platform for integrating quantum materials into devices. The nonlocal spin transport approach presented here provides a simple and direct evidence of spin-charge conversion and opens an efficient and practical pathway toward designing energy-efficient spin-based devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Contactless cavity sensing of superfluid stiffness in atomically thin 4Hb-TaS$_2$

The exceptional tunability of two-dimensional van der Waals materials offers unique opportunities for exploring novel superconducting phases. However, in such systems, the measurement of superfluid phase stiffness, a fundamental property of a superconductor, is challenging because of the mesoscopic sample size. Here, we introduce a contact-free technique for probing the electrodynamic response, and thereby the phase stiffness, of atomically thin superconductors using on-chip superconducting microwave resonators. We demonstrate this technique on 4Hb-TaS$_2$, a van der Waals superconductor whose gap structure under broken mirror symmetry is under debate. In our cleanest few-layer device, we observe a superconducting critical temperature comparable to that of the bulk. The temperature evolution of the phase stiffness features nodeless behavior in the presence of broken mirror symmetry, inconsistent with the scenario of nodal surface superconductivity. With minimal fabrication requirements, our technique enables microwave measurements across wide ranges of two-dimensional superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con

Bulk Superconductivity driven by Disorder-Induced Delocalization in 4Hb-Ta(S$_{1-x}$Se$_x$)$_2$

The unconventional superconductor 4Hb-TaS$_2$ is a natural heterostructure that can be broadly understood as interleaving Mott-like and metallic layers. We study the properties of this material as a function of quenched disorder in the form of Se/S substitution and find that while disordered samples show bulk superconductivity, clean samples do not. We show that a disorder-driven delocalization of carriers in the Mott-like ($1T$-) layer forms a new Fermi surface that is absent in the cleanest samples. This suggests that one of the primary drivers for superconductivity is the fragility of the Mott state, whose delocalization brings to life a sea of strongly correlated electrons.

cond-mat.supr-con

Anisotropic Kitaev Spin Glass in Li$_{2}$Ru$_{x}$Ir$_{1-x}$O$_{3}$

Kitaev iridates have emerged as an important class of spin-orbit-entangled quantum materials in which bond-directional exchange interactions generate strong magnetic frustration and unconventional correlated states. Rather than realizing simple ordered magnets, members of the alpha,beta,gamma-Li2IrO3 family exhibit fragile and highly anisotropic magnetic behavior, including incommensurate counter-rotating order, strong field sensitivity, and pressure-driven electronic reconstruction. These phenomena place the iridates in close proximity to the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL) regime, while simultaneously revealing the importance of competing interactions, lattice distortions, and spin-orbit-assisted hopping processes beyond the ideal Kitaev limit. Understanding how chemical substitution perturbs these competing interactions provides a route toward probing the underlying frustrated magnetic state. Here, we study single crystals of beta-Li2RuxIr1-xO3 with dilute Ru substitution, x<~10%. Through a combination of magnetometry, resonant elastic X-ray scattering, ac-heat capacity, and muon spin relaxation/rotation, we show that weak magnetic disorder continuously suppresses the incommensurate antiferromagnetic ground state without stabilizing an alternative long-range ordered phase. Instead, the system evolves into a bulk static spin glass characterized by slow relaxation, aging behavior, and frozen local magnetic fields. Despite the loss of long-range magnetic order, the glassy state retains substantial directional anisotropy without significant distortion to the honeycomb lattice, suggesting that disorder freezes spins within a still-active bond-directional exchange environment. In this picture, dilute Ru substitution provides a controlled pathway into an anisotropic Kitaev spin glass regime that preserves essential fingerprints of the underlying Kitaev exchange network.

cond-mat.str-el

Non-local low energy neutral excitations in a strongly disordered triangular Mott magnet Cr$_3$Se$_2$Br$_5$

Understanding if low-energy excitations can remain itinerant in the presence of strong disorder remains a central challenge in frustrated quantum magnets, where disorder is generally expected to localize excitations through Anderson-like mechanisms. Here we report the emergence of charge-neutral itinerant excitations in a van der Waals compound Cr$_3$Se$_2$Br$_5$, a strongly disordered $S = 3/2$ Mott insulator with a frustrated triangular lattice. Structural analysis reveals substantial intrinsic disorder arising from Cr-site deficiency and Se/Br-site mixing, which appear to be fixed and cannot be readily tuned. No long-range magnetic order or conventional glassy behavior is observed. In addition to its highly insulating nature, the magnetic specific heat C_mag/T and thermal conductivity \k{appa}_xx/T both exhibit linear temperature dependencies with substantial finite intercepts. In particular, a sizeable field-independent residual term $κ/T \approx 0.03~\mathrm{W\,m^{-1}\,K^{-2}}$ is observed, providing compelling evidence of itinerant low-energy excitations that carry entropy without charge. These findings conceptually advance our understanding of quantum matter by demonstrating a rare regime where the interplay of disorder, frustration, and electronic correlations actively reshapes the nature of low-energy excitations, allowing itinerant neutral excitations to coexist with strong intrinsic disorder.

cond-mat.str-el

On-demand steering of hyperbolic chiral polaritons

Control of light polarization and propagation in sub-wavelength architectures is foundational to nanophotonic technologies. A frontier direction is to leverage strong optical spin-orbit interactions to realize polarization-selective light steering, known as the photonic spin Hall effect. In this context, hyperbolic plasmon polaritons (HPPs) are of particular interest as they offer large optical spin-orbit coupling from strong confinement and dielectric anisotropy, as well as ray-like propagation. Despite theoretical predictions, however, the hyperbolic spin Hall effect in natural materials has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate the hyperbolic spin Hall effect in the visible and near-infrared range in the natural hyperbolic van der Waals metal MoOCl2. Enabling this discovery is a novel far-field pump-probe microscope that facilitates the launching and imaging of HPPs with exceptional sensitivity through interference with a high-momentum reference field. This approach preserves excellent control over light polarization, overcoming a key barrier to polarization-selective interrogation of hyperbolic materials. We show that both hyperbolic and surface plasmons in MoOCl2 display chiral fields, and that their propagation direction can be completely switched upon light helicity reversal. Our results demonstrate on-demand steering of chiral plasmons, firmly establishing natural hyperbolic materials as ideal components for reconfigurable nanophotonics and chiral light-matter coupling.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Electrically controlled Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording in Intercalated 2D Magnets

The ever-increasing demand for fast, reliable, and energy-efficient information storage continues to push magnetic memory technologies toward their fundamental limits. Conventional scaling strategies, which rely on reducing bit size, inevitably run into the "magnetic recording trilemma," where signal-to-noise ratio, thermal stability, and writability cannot all be optimized simultaneously. Heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) has emerged as the leading solution, enabling high-density storage by transiently heating the medium during the write cycle. However, the reliance on laser optics and plasmonic transducers restricts HAMR primarily to hard-disk drives, limiting its integration with on-chip or embedded architectures. Here, we demonstrate an electronic variant of HAMR in which Joule heating from low-current density current pulses facilitates data writing, while the anomalous Hall effect provides electronic readout. Employing intercalated 2D magnet Ni$_{1/4}$TaSe$_2$, we show direct evidence that current pulses heat the material above its Curie temperature, during which a small magnetic field of ~2mT (100 times smaller than the coercive field) enables efficient data writing. The all-electronic approach combined with the 2D magnetic medium creates timely opportunities to revisit the energy-assisted magnetization recording, enabling new recording schemes that combine fundamental novelty with technological impact.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Colossal Magnetoresistance and Phonon Driven Exchange Dynamics in Eu$_5$Sn$_2$As$_6$

The emergence of colossal magnetoresistance in a new generation of Eu$^{2+}$-based antiferromagnets is intriguing given stark contrasts to the archetypal perovskite manganites and doped Eu-chalcogenides. In this study the thermal conductivity and magnetostriction of Eu$_5$Sn$_2$As$_6$ -- one such representative -- have been measured to better understand the role of the crystal lattice. Both properties are strongly field-dependent and mirror the magnetization, saturating once the Eu$^{2+}$ moments are polarized. The field-enhancement of the phonon-dominated thermal conductivity is interpreted through the lifting of a degeneracy of spin configurations, and the subsequent saturation due to quenched magnetostrain in high field. Comparison with spin-glass insulators suggests that this phenomenon is not a byproduct but rather the driver of electron delocalization due to the suppression of strong phonon scattering arising from exchange frustration.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Electronic origin of delicate antiferromagnetism in Fe$_{x}$NbS$_2$

Among the family of intercalated transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), Fe$_{x}$NbS$_2$ is found to possess unique current-induced resistive switching behaviors, tunable antiferromagnetic states, and a commensurate charge order, all of which are tied to a critical Fe doping of $x_c$ = 1/3. However, the electronic origin of such extreme stoichiometry sensitivities remains unclear. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we identify and characterize a dramatic eV-scale electronic restructuring that occurs across the $x_c$. Moment-carrying Fe 3$d_{z^2}$ electrons manifest as narrow bands within 200 meV of the Fermi level, distinct from other transition metal intercalated TMD magnets. These states strongly hybridize with itinerant electrons in TMD layer, rapidly lose coherence above $x_c$ due to correlation-driven effects. This sudden quasiparticle decoherence collapses the Fe-Nb hybridization, which explicitly suppresses the out-of-plane effective Fe-Fe exchange interaction, driving the transformation of the magnetic ground state from an antiferromagnetic stripe phase to a zigzag phase. These observations resemble the exceptional electronic and magnetic sensitivity of strongly correlated systems, and demonstrate that quantifying orbital-specific hybridization via ARPES offers an alternative pathway to evaluate effective magnetic exchange in metallic magnets, complementing inelastic neutron and resonant x-ray scattering probes.

cond-mat.str-el

Discovery of Van Hove Singularities: Electronic Fingerprints of 3Q Magnetic Order in a van der Waals Quantum Magnet

Magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides are emerging as a rich platform for exploring exotic quantum states in van der Waals magnets. Among them, CoxTaS2 has attracted intense interest following the recent discovery of a distinctive 3Q magnetic ground state and a pronounced topological Hall effect below a critical doping of x=1/3, both intimately tied to cobalt concentration. To date, direct signatures of this enigmatic 3Q magnetic order in the electronic structure remain elusive. Here we report a comprehensive doping dependent angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy study that unveils these long-sought fingerprints. Our data reveal an unexpected "inverse Mexican hat" dispersion along the K-M-K direction, accompanied by two van Hove singularities. These features are consistent with theoretical predictions for a 3Q magnetic order near three-quarters band filling on a cobalt triangular lattice. These results provide evidence of 3Q magnetic order in the electronic structure, establishing TMD van der Waals magnets as tunable materials to explore the interplay between magnetism and topology.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Spin-Valley Locking in 2H-TaS2 and Its Co-Intercalated Counterpart: Roles of Surface Domains and Co Intercalation

Tuning and probing spin-valley coupling is key to understanding correlated ground states in 2$\it{H}$-TaS$_2$. Its magnetically intercalated analogue, Co$_{1/3}$TaS$_2$, introduces additional degrees of freedom, including modified interlayer coupling and magnetism, to modulate spin-valley physics. Surface-sensitive probes like ARPES are essential for accessing surface spin texture, yet previous studies on 2$\it{H}$-TMDs have reported conflicting results regarding spin-polarized bands, leaving open whether these discrepancies are intrinsic or extrinsic. Here we performed spatially resolved spin-ARPES measurements on 2$\it{H}$-TaS$_2$ and Co$_{1/3}$TaS$_2$. Our results reveal robust spin-valley locking on both compounds. Importantly, Co intercalation enhances interlayer hybridization and introduces magnetism while preserving the TaS$_2$-derived spin texture. We further observe a spatial reversal of the out-of-plane spin polarization, which we attribute to different surface domains. This effect complicates quantifying spin textures and may underlie prior inconsistent observations. Our findings provide microscopic insight into how interlayer interactions and surface domains together govern spin-valley phenomena in layered TMDs.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Anisotropic magnon transport in an antiferromagnetic trilayer heterostructure: is BiFeO$_3$ an altermagnet?

Magnons provide a route to ultra-fast transport and non-destructive readout of spin-based information transfer. Here, we report magnon transport and its emergent anisotropic nature in BiFeO$_3$ layers confined between ultrathin layers of the antiferromagnet LaFeO$_3$. Due to the confined state, BiFeO$_3$ serves as an efficient magnon transmission channel as well as a magnetoelectric knob by which to control the stack by means of an electric field. We discuss the mechanism of the anisotropic spin transport based on the interaction between the antiferromagnetic order and the electric field. This allows us to manipulate and amplify the spin transport in such a confined geometry. Furthermore, lower crystal symmetric and suppression of the spin cycloid in ultrathin BiFeO$_3$ stabilizes a non-trivial antiferromagnetic state exhibiting symmetry-protected spin-split bands that provide the non-trivial sign inversion of the spin current, which is a characteristic of an altermagnet. This work provides an understanding of the anisotropic spin transport in complex antiferromagnetic heterostructures where ferroelectricity and altermagnetism coexist, paving the way for a new route to realize electric-field control of a novel state of magnetism.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Quantum decoherence by magnetic fluctuations in a magnetic topological insulator

In magnetic topological insulators, spontaneous time-reversal symmetry breaking by intrinsic magnetic order can gap the topological surface spectrum, resulting in exotic properties like axion electrodynamics, the quantum anomalous Hall effect, and other topological magnetoelectric responses. Understanding the magnetic order and its coupling to topological states is essential to harness these properties. Here, we leverage near-resonant magnetic dipole optical second harmonic generation to probe magnetic fluctuations in the candidate axion insulator EuSn$_2$(As,P)$_2$ across its antiferromagnetic phase boundary. We observe a pronounced dimensional crossover in the quantum decoherence induced by magnetic fluctuations, whereby two-dimensional in-plane ferromagnetic correlations at high temperatures give way to three-dimensional long-range order at the Néel temperature. We also observe the breaking of rotational symmetry within the long-range-ordered antiferromagnetic state and map out the resulting spatial domain structure. More generally, we demonstrate the unique capabilities of nonlinear optical spectroscopy to study quantum coherence and fluctuations in magnetic quantum materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Dark Metastable Conduction Channels near a Metal-Insulator Transition

Materials that transition between metal and insulator, the two main states that distinguish all solids, are fascinating because they underlie many mysteries at the frontier of solid state physics. In 1T-TaS$_{2}$, the metal-insulator transition is linked to a metastable hidden state arising within a chiral charge density wave (CDW) whose basic nature remains an open question. In this work, we show that pulses of current through these materials create current-carrying filamentary channels that distinguish the 'metallic' hidden state and 'insulating' CDW states. These channels have remained dark to previous measurements, and yet are directly linked to the properties of the hidden state. We leverage the metastability of these conduction channels to demonstrate electrical control of their creation, erasure and location. Our findings show that physical elements, such as boundaries and interfaces, play a key role in the properties of the hidden state characterizing the metal-insulator transition. We suggest new possibilities for in-situ electrical design of synaptic components with possible applications to neuromorphic computing.

cond-mat.str-el

Magnetoelastic coupling in intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides

The large van der Waals gap in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offers an avenue to host external metal atoms that modify the ground state of these 2D materials. Here, we experimentally and theoretically address the charge correlations in a family of intercalated TMDs. While short-range charge fluctuations develop in Co$_{1/3}$TaS$_{2}$ and Fe$_{1/3}$TaS$_{2}$, long-range charge order switches-on in Fe$_{1/3}$NbS$_{2}$ driven by the interplay of magnetic order and lattice degrees of freedom. The magnetoelastic coupling is demonstrated in Fe$_{1/3}$NbS$_{2}$ by the enhancement of the charge modulations upon magnetic field below T$_\mathrm{N}$, although Density Functional Perturbation Theory (DFPT) calculations predict negligible electron(spin)-phonon coupling. Furthermore, we show that Co-intercalated TaS$_2$ displays a kagome-like Fermi surface, hence opening the path to engineer electronic band structures and study the entanglement of spin, charge, and spin-phonon mechanisms in the large family of intercalated TMDs.

cond-mat.str-el

Entanglement Randomness and Gapped Itinerant Carriers in a Frustrated Quantum Magnet

The quantum spin liquid (QSL) is a state manifesting extraordinary many-body entanglement, and the material NaYbSe$_2$ is thought to be one of the most promising candidates for its realization. Through low-temperature heat capacity and thermal conductivity measurements we identify an apparent contradiction familiar to many QSL candidates: while entropy is stored by apparently gapless excitations, the itinerant carriers of entropy are gapped. By studying the compositional series NaYb$_x$Lu$_{1-x}$Se$_2$ across a percolation transition of the magnetic lattice, we suggest that this contradiction can be resolved by the presence of entanglement scales of random sizes. Moreover, as we truncate the scale of entanglement by magnetic dilution, we show that the itinerant magnetic entropy carrier in NaYb$_x$Lu$_{1-x}$Se$_2$ is not the result of long-range entanglement but rather depends on the propagation of the simplest entangled object of all: the spin dimer.

cond-mat.str-el

Low-Field Regime of Magnon Transport in Yttrium Iron Garnet

Diffusive propagation of spin waves and their quanta - magnons - in the archetypal magnetic insulator yttrium iron garnet (YIG) is under a surge of research for low-power and low-loss data communication. However, operation under external magnetic fields reduces magnon diffusion length, attenuates the voltage amplitude at measurement terminals, and complicates the architecture of magnonic devices. Here, we explore the low-field and field-free regime of diffusive magnon transport in YIG films. We demonstrate that the field-induced suppression of magnon diffusion length can be fully inhibited only at the zero-field limit. Even a modest field of 10mT attenuates the non-local spin voltage by $\sim$ 20$\%$ in a transport channel of $\sim$ 1$μ$m long. Using Stoner-Wohlfarth macrospin simulations, we reveal that an often overlooked, in-plane uniaxial anisotropy becomes the critical parameter governing the field-free operation of magnonic devices. We further demonstrate a tenfold enhancement in the effective field associated with the in-plane uniaxial anisotropy of YIG films at low temperatures - a key finding for field-free operation of magnonic devices under cryogenic conditions.

cond-mat.mes-hall