arXiv subjects

Luis Craco

Publications and source records attributed to Luis Craco.

16 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Nematic Fluctuations in Iron-Oxychalcogenide Mott Insulators

Nematic fluctuations occur in a wide range of physical systems from liquid crystals to biological molecules to solids such as exotic magnets, cuprates and iron-based high-$T_c$ superconductors. Nematic fluctuations are thought to be closely linked to the formation of Cooper-pairs in iron-based superconductors. It is unclear whether the anisotropy inherent in this nematicity arises from electronic spin or orbital degrees of freedom. We have studied the iron-based Mott insulators La$_{2}$O$_{2}$Fe$_{2}$O$M$$_{2}$ $M$ = (S, Se) which are structurally similar to the iron pnictide superconductors. They are also in close electronic phase diagram proximity to the iron pnictides. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed a critical slowing down of nematic fluctuations as observed by the spin-lattice relaxation rate ($1/T_1$). This is complemented by the observation of a change of electrical field gradient over a similar temperature range using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The neutron pair distribution function technique applied to the nuclear structure reveals the presence of local nematic $C_2$ fluctuations over a wide temperature range while neutron diffraction indicates that global $C_{4}$ symmetry is preserved. Theoretical modeling of a geometrically frustrated spin-$1$ Heisenberg model with biquadratic and single-ion anisotropic terms provides the interpretation of magnetic fluctuations in terms of hidden quadrupolar spin fluctuations. Nematicity is closely linked to geometrically frustrated magnetism, which emerges from orbital selectivity. The results highlight orbital order and spin fluctuations in the emergence of nematicity in Fe-based oxychalcogenides. The detection of nematic fluctuation within these Mott insulator expands the group of iron-based materials that show short-range symmetry-breaking.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Microscopic Description of Unconventional Nodal Superconductivity in FeSe

Finding of unconventional superconductivity (USC) in FeSe in an electronic "normal" state with broken $C_{4v}$ rotational symmetry testifies to the diversity of pairing states in Fe-based superconductors. Moreover, such USC emerges as a direct instability of a normal state without Landau Fermi liquid quasiparticles, increasingly dubbed a `strange' metal. Here, we combine inputs from a first-principles correlated electronic structure method (LDA+DMFT) and symmetry analyses to propose a novel mechanism for unconventional nodal superconductivity as a direct instability of an incoherent bad-metal without Landau Fermi-liquid quasiparticles. We find that a ferro-quadrupolar order, with novel spin quadrupoar correlations enhances orbital-selective Mottness in FeSe, and competes with unconventional nodal superconductivity with $s_{\pm}$-pair symmetry. We support our proposal by demonstrating good accord with spectral and magnetic fluctuation data, and rationalize the strain and pressure dependence of $T_{c}$ by appealing to competition between superconductivity and electronic ferro-quadrupolar order.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Orbital-Selective Mottness in Layered Iron Oxychalcogenides: The Case of Na_{2}Fe_{2}OSe_{2}

Using a combination of th local-density approximtion (LDA) and dynamicla mean-field theory (DMFT) calculations, we explore the correlated electronic structure of a member of the layered Iron oxychalcogenide Na_{2}Fe_{2}OSe_{2}. We find that the parent compund is a multi-orbital Mott insulator. Surprisingly, and somewhat reminiscent of the doped high-T_{c} cuprates, carrier localization is found to persist upon weak hole doping because the chemical potential lies in a gap structure wit almost vanishing density-of-states (DOS). On the other hand, in remarkable contrast, electron doping drives an orbital-selective metallic phase (OSMP) with co-existing pseudogapped (Mott localized) and itinerant carriers. These remarkably contrasting behaviors in a single system thus stem from drastic electronic reconstruction caused by large-scale transfe of dynamical spectral weightinvolving states with distinct orbital character at low energies, putting the Fe oxychalcogenidesneatly into the increasingly visible tendency of Fe-baed systems as ones in orbital-selective Mott phases. We detail the implications of our analysis, and discuss the nature and symmetry of the superconductive states that may arise upon proper doping or pressurizing Na_{2}Fe_{2}OSe_{2}.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Theory of Orbital Nematicity in Underdoped Iron Arsenides

Recent finding of an {\it unusual} in-plane resistivity anisotropy in the underdoped 122-family at high temperature ($T$) suggests an orbital nematic (ON) order, posing a challenge to extant theories. The {\it sign} of the anisotropy contradicts expectations from weakly correlated as well as pure spin-only nematic views. Here, we show how such an ON order with accompanying structural distortion arises from {\it residual}, intersite and inter-orbital two-body interactions in an incoherent "bad metal" close to Mottness. Enhancement of orbital-selective incoherence is shown to be necessary for understanding transport anisotropy. Our results suggest that ON order, with subsequent antiferromagnetic order might be the {\it primary} competitor to superconductivity in Fe arsenides.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Effect of Short-Range Fluctuations on Thermodynamic and Resistive Properties: The case of Ising Order

We consider the effects of the non-local Ising-like "core spin" correlations on the order-parameter fluctuation contribution to the resistivity and thermodynamics of metals showing Ising-like order at finite temperature. We employ the well-known cluster-variation method, and present explicit results in the pair approximation for short-range order. Our calculation generalizes earlier works, where such effects were considered in the mean-field (Ornstein-Zernicke) approximation. The mean-field (MF) transition temperature T_{c}^{MF}, is corrected to O(1/d), and the effect of the Ising spin fluctuations on the $dc$ resistivity and magnetothermal responses is analyzed in detail. The method can be applied straightforwardly to lattices in arbitrary d, and, as an appealing feature, it reproduces the exact correlation length and T_{c}^{1d}=0 for the 1d Ising model. We apply our results for two interesting physical cases: (i) the double-exchange model with J_{H}>>t, where the core-spins can be approximated quite well by Ising spins, and (ii) a model of band electrons coupled to a {\it localized} subsystem which undergoes a nematic ordering transition coupled to an appropriate structural transition.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2009

Theory of Multiband Superconductivity in Iron Pnictides

The precise nature of unconventional superconductivity in Iron Pnictides is presently a hotly debated issue. Here, using insights from normal state electronic structure and symmetry arguments, we show how an unconventional SC emerges from the bad metal "normal" state. Short-ranged, multi-band spin- and charge correlations generates nodeless SC in the active planar $d_{xz,yz}$ bands, and an inter-band proximity effect induces out-of-plane gap nodes in the passive $d_{3z^{2}-r^{2}}$ band. While very good quantitative agreement with various key observations in the SC state and reconciliation with NMR and penetration depth data in the same picture are particularly attractive features of our proposal, clinching evidence would be an experimental confirmation of c-axis nodes in future work.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Mott Transition and Strange Metal in Two Dimensions: A View from Cellular Dynamical Cluster Approximation

We introduce a Cellular Dynamical Cluster Approximation (CDCA) to study the nature of the Mott insulator-metal transition in the extended Hubbard model on a square lattice. At strong coupling, a d-wave Mott insulator is obtained. Hole doping drives a first order Mott transition to a non-Fermi (nFL) liquid metal. Remarkably, this nFL is caused by an Anderson orthogonality catastrophe at low energies due to the non-trivial competition between strong, non-local interactions and hopping. This constitutes the first explicit realisation of Anderson's Luttinger liquid idea in two dimensions. Many experimental responses in the ``strange metal'' phase found around optimal doping in cuprates are understood naturally within our approach.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

Phase-dependent Kondo Resonance in a Quantum Dot Connected to a Mesoscopic Ring

Phase-sensitive transport through a quantum dot coupled to an Aharonov-Bohm ring is analyzed. In this geometry the spectral density of states is directly related to the conductance. It is shown that the Kondo resonance depends on the phase and on the total number of electrons (modulo 4) in the mesoscopic ring. The effect of the discrete level spacing in the ring and of the coupling to the electrical leads is discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2000

Insulator-to-metal crossover induced by local spin fluctuations in strongly correlated systems

We study the simplified Hubbard (SH) model in the presence of a transverse field in the infinite dimension limit. The relevant one-particle Green's functions of the model are obtained by means a perturbative treatment of the hopping and of the transverse field around the atomic limit. We consider an analytical solution for the impurity problem. It is shown that this solution is very accurate in describing the spectral properties of the heavy-particles of the SH for intermediate and strong values of the on-site Coulomb interaction $U$. We find that for large values of $U$ an insulator-metal transition takes place as a function of the transverse field. We analyze the metallic phase through the behavior of the density of states and of the optical conductivity and static resistivity. Our results for the latter quantity agree with what is observed in experiments on $Bi_2Sr_2CuO_y$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2000

Electron Energy Loss Spectroscopy of strongly correlated systems in infinite dimensions

We study the electron-energy loss spectra of strongly correlated electronic systems doped away from half-filling using dynamical mean-field theory ($d=\infty$). The formalism can be used to study the loss spectra in the optical (${\bf q=0}$) limit, where it is simply related to the optical response, and hence can be computed in an approximation-free way in $d=\infty$. We apply the general formalism to the one-band Hubbard model off $n=1$, with inclusion of site-diagonal randomness to simulate effects of doping. The interplay between the coherence induced plasmon feature and the incoherence-induced high energy continuum is explained in terms of the evolution in the local spectral density upon hole doping. Inclusion of static disorder is shown to result in qualitative changes in the low-energy features, in particular, to the overdamping of the plasmon feature, resulting in a completely incoherent response. The calculated EELS lineshapes are compared to experimentally observed EELS spectra for the normal state of the high-$T_{c}$ materials near optimal doping and good qualitative agreement is found.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Dielectric Response Near the Density-Driven Mott Transition in infinite dimensions

We study the dielectric response of correlated systems which undergo a Mott transition as a function of band filling within the dynamical mean field framework. We compute the dielectric figure of merit (DFOM), which is a measure of dielectric efficiency and an important number for potential device applications. It is suggested how the DFOM can be optimized in real transition metal oxides. The structures seen in the computed Faraday rotation are explained on the basis of the underlying local spectral density of the $d=\infty$ Hubbard model.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Finite-temperature properties of the two-orbital Anderson model

The metallic phase of the two-orbital Anderson lattice is study in the limit of infinite spatial dimensions, where a second order perturbation treatment is used to solve the single-site problem. Using this approximation, in the Kondo regime, we find that the finite temperature properties of the conduction electrons exhibit the same behaviour as observed in the metallic phase of the two-channel Kondo lattice. Possible connections between these two models are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Optical and Magneto-optical Response of a Doped Mott Insulator

We study the optical, Raman, and ac Hall response of the doped Mott insulator within the dynamical mean-field theory ($d=\infty$) for strongly correlated electron systems. The occurence of the {\it isosbectic} point in the optical conductivity is shown to be associated with the frequency dependence of the generalized charge susceptibility. We compute the Raman response, which probes the fluctuations of the "stress tensor", and show that the scattering is characterized by appreciable incoherent contributions. The calculated ac Hall constant and Hall angle also exhibit the isosbectic points. These results are also compared with those obtained for a {\it non-FL} metal in $d=\infty$. The role of low-energy coherence (FL) or incoherence (non-FL) in determining the finite frequency response of strongly correlated metals in $d=\infty$ is discussed in detail.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1999

Spinless Two-Band Model in Infinite Dimensions

A spinless two-band model is studied in infinite dimension limit. Starting from the atomic limit, the formal exact solution of the model is obtained by means a perturbative treatment of the hopping and hybridisation terms. The model is solved in closed form in high dimensions assuming no local spin fluctuations. The non-Fermi liquid properties appearing in the metallic phase are analysed through the behaviour of the density of states and the self-energy near the Fermi level.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

A new perturbation treatment applied to the transport through a quantum dot

Resonant tunnelling through an Anderson impurity is investigated by employing a new perturbation scheme at nonequilibrium. This new approach gives the correct weak and strong coupling limit in $U$ by introducing adjustable parameters in the self-energy and imposing self-consistency of the occupation number of the impurity. We have found that the zero-temperature linear response conductance agrees well with that obtained from the exact sum rule. At finite temperature the conductance shows a nonzero minimum at the Kondo valley, as shown in recent experiments. The effects of an applied bias voltage on the single-particle density of states and on the differential conductances are discussed for Kondo and non-Kondo systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv1998

Theory of the ac Hall response of a model with X-ray edge Singularities in infinite dimensions

We study the ac magnetotransport in a non-Fermi liquid metal, which possesses explicit x-ray edge singularities in $d=\infty$. Specifically, we compute the ac conductivity tensor in a formalism that becomes exact in this limit. The ac Hall constant and Hall angle reveal features that are in striking qualitative agreement with those observed in optical transmission experiments carried out on $YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7}$ thin films. Our results provide a concrete realization of the two-relaxation time picture proposed to explain magnetotransport anomalies in the normal state of cuprate superconductors.

cond-mat↗