arXiv subjects

Liling Sun

Publications and source records attributed to Liling Sun.

At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

arXiv2016

Quantum phase transition and destruction of Kondo effect in pressurized SmB6

SmB6 is a promising candidate material that promises to elucidate the connection between strong correlations and topological electronic states, which is a major challenge in condensed matter physics. The electron correlations are responsible for the development of multiple gaps in SmB6, whose elucidation is sorely needed. Here we do so by studying the evolutions of the gaps and other corresponding behaviors under pressure. Our measurements of the valence, Hall effect and electrical resistivity clearly identify the gap which is associated with the bulk Kondo hybridization and, moreover, uncover a pressure-induced quantum phase transition from the putative topological Kondo insulating state to a Fermi-liquid state at ~4 GPa. We provide the evidences for the transition by a jump of inverse Hall coefficient, a diverging tendency of the electron-electron scattering coefficient and, thereby, a destruction of the Kondo entanglement in the ground state. These effects take place in a mixed-valence background. Our results raise the new prospect for studying topological electronic states in quantum critical materials settings.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Reversible tuning of superconductivity in pressurized qausi-one-dimensional A2Cr3As3 (A=K and Rb)

In-situ hydrostatic and uniaxial high pressure studies were performed on recently discovered CrAs-based qausi-one-dimensional superconductors A2Cr3As3 (A=K and Rb). The established Pressure-Temperature phase diagram in this study clearly demonstrates that either hydrostatic pressure or uniaxial pressure globally suppresses the superconducting transition temperature (Tc), and the latter is more effective than the former. Interestingly, in the same hydrostatic pressure environment, the suppressing rate of Tc in Rb2Cr3As3 is nearly twice as that of K2Cr3As3. Significantly, the reduced Tc in these superconductors can fully recover to its ambient-pressure value after the applied pressure is entirely released. Our results suggest that the bonding distance and angle between Cr-Cr in the Cr3As3 chains are the key factor in determining Tc and that the optimal lattice for superconductivity is hosted in the pristine K2Cr3As3.

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arXiv2015

Correlation between intercalated magnetic layers and superconductivity in pressurized EuFe2(As0.81P0.19)2

We report comprehensive high pressure studies on correlation between intercalated magnetic layers and superconductivity in EuFe2(As0.81P0.19)2 single crystal through in-situ high pressure resistance, specific heat, X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption measurements. We find that an unconfirmed magnetic order of the intercalated layers coexists with superconductivity in a narrow pressure range 0-0.5GPa, and then it converts to a ferromagnetic (FM) order at pressure above 0.5 GPa, where its superconductivity is absent. The obtained temperature-pressure phase diagram clearly demonstrates that the unconfirmed magnetic order can emerge from the superconducting state. In stark contrast, the superconductivity cannot develop from the FM state that is evolved from the unconfirmed magnetic state. High pressure X-ray absorption (XAS) measurements reveal that the pressure-induced enhancement of Eu's mean valence plays an important role in suppressing the superconductivity and tuning the transition from the unconfirmed magnetic state to a FM state. The unusual interplay among valence state of Eu ions, magnetism and superconductivity under pressure may shed new light on understanding the role of the intercalated magnetic layers in Fe-based superconductors.

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arXiv2015

Breakdown of Three-dimensional Dirac Semimetal State in pressurized Cd3As2

We report the first observation of a pressure-induced breakdown of the 3D-DSM state in Cd3As2, evidenced by a series of in-situ high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) and single crystal transport measurements. We find that Cd3As2 undergoes a structural phase transition from a metallic tetragonal (T) phase in space group I41/acd to a semiconducting monoclinic (M) phase in space group P21/c at critical pressure 2.57 GPa, above this pressure, an activation energy gap appears, accompanied by distinct switches in Hall resistivity slope and electron mobility. These changes of crystal symmetry and corresponding transport properties manifest the breakdown of the 3D-DSM state in pressurized Cd3As2.

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arXiv2015

Pressure-induced quantum phase transitions in topological insulator YbB6

Topological insulators (TIs) containing 4f electrons have recently attracted intensive interests due to the possible interplay of their non-trivial topological properties and strong electronic correlations. YbB6 and SmB6 are the prototypical systems with such unusual properties, which may be tuned by external pressure to give rise to new emergent phenomena. Here, we report the first observation, through in-situ high pressure resistance, Hall, X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption measurements, of two pressure-induced quantum phase transitions (QPTs) in YbB6. Our data revealthat the two insulating phases are separated by a metallic phase due to the pressure-driven valence change of Yb f-orbitals. In combination with previous studies, our results suggest that the two insulating states may be topologically different in nature and originate from the d-p and d-f hybridization, respectively. The tunable topological properties of YbB6 revealed in this study may shed light on the intriguing correlation between the topology and the 4f electrons from the perspective of pressure dependent studies.

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arXiv2015

Superconductivity emerging from suppressed large magnetoresistant state in WTe2

The recent discovery of large and non-saturating magnetoresistance (LMR) in WTe2 provides a unique playground to find new phenomena and significant perspective for potential applications. Here we report the first observation of superconductivity near the proximity of suppressed LMR state in pressurized WTe2 through high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction, electrical resistance, magnetoresistance, and ac magnetic susceptibility measurements. It is found that the positive magnetoresistance effect can be turned off at a critical pressure of 10.5 GPa without crystal structure change and superconductivity emerges simultaneously. The maximum superconducting transition temperature can be reached to 6.5 K at ~15 GPa and it decreases down to 2.6 K at ~25 GPa. In-situ high pressure Hall coefficient measurements at 10 K demonstrate that elevating pressure decreases hole carrier's population but increases electron carrier's population. Significantly, at the critical pressure, we observed a sign change in the Hall coefficient, indicating a possible Lifshitz-type quantum phase transition in WTe2.

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arXiv2014

Connection between ambient-pressure and pressure-induced superconducting phases in alkaline iron selenide superconductors

A unique platform for investigating the correlation between the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and superconducting (SC) states in high temperature superconductors is created by the discovery of alkaline iron selenide superconductors which are composed of an AFM insulating phase and a SC phase separated spatially. Our previous studies showed that pressure can fully suppress the superconductivity of ambient-pressure superconducting phase (SC-I) and AFM order simultaneously, then induce another superconducting phase (SC-II) at higher pressure. Consequently, the connection between the two superconducting phases becomes an intriguing issue. In this study, on the basis of observing pressure-induced reemergence of superconductivity in Rb0.8Fe2-ySe2-xTex (x=0, 0.19 and 0.28) superconductors, we find that the superconductivity of the SC-I and SC-II phases as well as the AFM ordered state can be synchronously tuned by Te doping and disappear together at the doping level of x=0.4. We propose that the two superconducting phases are connected by the AFM phase, in other words, the state of long-ranged AFM order plays a role in giving rise to superconductivity of the SC-I phase, while the fluctuation state of the suppressed AFM phase drives the emergence of SC-II phase. These results comprehensively demonstrate the versatile roles of AFM states in stabilizing and developing superconductivity in the alkaline iron selenide superconductors.

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arXiv2014

Robust antiferromagnetism preventing superconductivity in pressurized Ba0.61K0.39Mn2Bi2

Here, we report that K-doped BaMn2Bi2 shows no experimental evidence of superconductivity down to 1.5 K under pressures up to 35.6 GPa, however, a tetragonal to an orthorhombic phase transition is observed at pressure of 20 GPa. Theoretical calculations for the tetragonal and orthorhombic phases, on basis of our high-pressure XRD data, find that the AFM order is robust in both of the phases in pressurized Ba0.61K0.39Mn2Bi2. Our experimental and theoretical results suggest that the K-doped BaMn2Bi2 belongs to a strong Hunds AFM metal with a hybridization of localized spin electrons and itinerant electrons, and that its robust AFM order essentially prevents the emergence of superconductivity.

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arXiv2014

The role of 245 phase in alkaline iron selenide superconductors revealed by high pressure studies

Here we show that a pressure of about 8 GPa suppresses both the vacancy order and the insulating phase, and a further increase of the pressure to about 18 GPa induces a second transition or crossover. No superconductivity has been found in compressed insulating 245 phase. The metallic phase in the intermediate pressure range has a distinct behavior in the transport property, which is also observed in the superconducting sample. We interpret this intermediate metal as an orbital selective Mott phase (OSMP). Our results suggest that the OSMP provides the physical pathway connecting the insulating and superconducting phases of these iron selenide materials.

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arXiv2013

Observation of antiferromagnetic order collapse in the pressurized insulator LaMnPO

The emergence of superconductivity in the iron pnictide and cuprate high temperature superconductors usually accompanies the suppression of an antiferromagnetically (AFM) ordered state in a corresponding parent compound through the use of chemical doping or external pressure1-5. A great deal of effort has been made to find superconductivity in Mn-based compounds6-14, which are thought to bridge the gap between the two families of high temperature superconductors7,15,16, but long-ranged AFM order was not successfully suppressed via chemical doping in these investigations. Here we report the first observation of the pressure-induced elimination of long-ranged AFM order in LaMnPO single crystals that are iso-structural to the LaFeAsO superconductor15,17. By combining in-situ high pressure resistance and ac susceptibility measurements, we found that LaMnPO undergoes a crossover from an AFM insulating to an AFM metallic state at a pressure ~20 GPa and that the long-ranged AFM order collapses at a higher pressure ~32 GPa. Our findings are of importance to explore potential superconductivity in Mn-based compounds and to shed new light on the underlying mechanism of high temperature superconductivity.

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arXiv2012

Pressure-Driven Quantum Criticality in An Iron-Selenide Superconductor

The discovery of superconductivity of about 30 K in iron selenides with very large magnetic moments simulates the examination of completing orders. Here we report a finding of pressure- induced suppression of the superconducting transition temperature Tc and enhancement of the temperature of the resistance hump TH through charge transfer between two iron sites with different occupancies. The activation energy for the electric transport of the high-temperature resistance is observed to go to zero at a critical pressure of 8.7 GPa, at which superconductivity tends to disappear and the semiconductor-to-metal transition takes place. Beyond the critical point, the resistance exhibits a metallic behavior over the whole temperature range studied. All these features indicate the existence of quantum criticality in iron-selenide superconductors.

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arXiv2012

Reemerging superconductivity at 48 K across quantum criticality in iron chalcogenides

Pressure plays an essential role in the induction1 and control2,3 of superconductivity in iron-based superconductors. Substitution of a smaller rare-earth ion for the bigger one to simulate the pressure effects has surprisingly raised the superconducting transition temperature Tc to the record high 55 K in these materials4,5. However, Tc always goes down after passing through a maximum at some pressure and the superconductivity eventually tends to disappear at sufficiently high pressures1-3. Here we show that the superconductivity can reemerge with a much higher Tc after its destruction upon compression from the ambient-condition value of around 31 K in newly discovered iron chalcogenide superconductors. We find that in the second superconducting phase the maximum Tc is as high as 48.7 K for K0.8Fe1.70Se2 and 48 K for (Tl0.6Rb0.4)Fe1.67Se2, setting the new Tc record in chalcogenide superconductors. The presence of the second superconducting phase is proposed to be related to pressure-induced quantum criticality. Our findings point to the potential route to the further achievement of high-Tc superconductivity in iron-based and other superconductors.

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arXiv2011

Correlation between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in Rb0.8Fe2Se2-xTex single crystals

We report the first experimental evidence for the intimate connection between superconductivity and antiferromagnetism in Rb0.8Fe2Se2-xTex single crystal under negative chemical pressure by substituting Se with isovalent Te atoms. Electrical resistance measurements in the temperature range from 4 K to 550 K demonstrate that both superconducting transition temperature (Tc) and Neel temperature (TN) were suppressed continuously with the lattice expansion. When the Te concentration x in Rb0.8Fe2Se2-xTex approaches 0.3, the superconducting transition temperature Tc is completely suppressed and the sample behaves like a semiconductor, meanwhile the characteristic peak of antiferromagnetic transition on resistance curve disappears. Our observation suggests that the pressure-induced lattice expansion can be used to tune the correlativity of superconductivity and antiferromagnetism.

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arXiv2011

Growth, Characterization and Fermi Surface of Heavy Fermion CeCoIn5 Superconductor

High quality single crystals of heavy Fermion CeCoIn5 superconductor have been grown by flux method with a typical size of (1~2)mm x (1~2)mm x ~0.1 mm. The single crystals are characterized by structural analysis from X-ray diffraction and Laue diffraction, as well as compositional analysis. Magnetic and electrical measurements on the single crystals show a sharp superconducting transition with a transition temperature at Tc(onset) ~ 2.3 K and a transition width of ~0.15 K. The resistivity of the CeCoIn5 crystal exhibits a hump at ~45 K which is typical of a heavy Fermion system. High resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of CeCoIn5 reveal clear Fermi surface sheets that are consistent with the band structure calculations when assuming itinerant Ce 4f electrons at low temperature. This work provides important information on the electronic structure of heavy Fermion CeCoIn5 superconductor. It also lays a foundation for further studies on the physical properties and superconducting mechanism of the heavy Fermion superconductors.

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arXiv2010

Phase Diagram of Pressure-induced Superconductivity and its Relation to Hall Coefficient in Bi2Te3 Single Crystal

Pressure-induced superconductivity and its relation to corresponding Hall coefficient (RH) have been reported for Bi2Te3, one of known topological insulators. A full phase diagram is presented which shows a complex dependence of the superconducting transition temperature as a function of pressure over an extensive range. High-pressure RH measurements reveal a close relation of these complex behaviors, particularly, a dramatic change of dRH/dP before structural phase transition and a pressure-induced crossover on RH in the high pressure phase were observed.

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arXiv2010

Evidence for Competition between Superconductivity and Kondo Effect in CeFeAsO0.7F0.3 under High Pressure

We discover a pressure induced quantum phase transition from the superconducting state to the non-superconducting Kondo screened phase associated with a 2% volume collapse in CeFeAsO0.7F0.3 through measurements of high-pressure resistance, synchrotron x-ray diffraction, and x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) in a diamond anvil cell. Our XAS data of Ce-L3 in CeFeAsO0.7F0.3 clearly show a spectral weight transfer from the main line to the satellite line after the transition, demonstrating the formation of the Kondo singlets under pressure in CeFeAsO1-xFx. Our results have revealed a physical picture of a pressure-induce competition between Kondo singlets and BCS singlets in the Ce-pnictide superconductors.

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arXiv2010

Physical origin of superconductivity in EuFe2As1.4P0.6 and EuFe2As2: pressure-induce valence change of europium

Superconductivity can be realized in Eu-containing pnictides by application of chemical (internal) and physical (external) pressure, the intrinsic physical mechanism of which attracts much attention in physics community. Here we present the experimental evidence for the valence change of europium in compounds of EuFe2As1.4P0.6 exposed to ambient pressure and EuFe2As2 to high pressure by x-ray absorption measurements on L3-Eu edge. We find that the absorption spectrum of EuFe2As1.4P0.6 at ambient pressure shows clear spectra weight transfer from a divalent to a trivalent state. Furthermore, application of pressure on EuFe2As2 using a diamond anvil cell shows a similar behavior of valence transition as EuFe2As1.4P0.6. These findings are the first observation of superconductivity mechanized by valence change in pnictides superconductors and elucidate the intrinsic physical origin of superconductivity in EuFe2As1.4P0.6 and compressed EuFe2As2.

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arXiv2009

In-situ fabrication of cobalt-doped SrFe2As2 thin films by using pulsed laser deposition with excimer laser

The remarkably high superconducting transition temperature and upper critical field of iron(Fe)-based layered superconductors, despite ferromagnetic material base, open the prospect for superconducting electronics. However, success in superconducting electronics has been limited because of difficulties in fabricating high-quality thin films. We report the growth of high-quality c-axis-oriented cobalt(Co)-doped SrFe2As2 thin films with bulk superconductivity by using an in-situ pulsed laser deposition technique with a 248-nm-wavelength KrF excimer laser and an arsenic(As)-rich phase target. The temperature and field dependences of the magnetization showing strong diamagnetism and transport critical current density with superior Jc-H performance are reported. These results provide necessary information for practical applications of Fe-based superconductors.

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