arXiv subjects

Michel van Veenendaal

Publications and source records attributed to Michel van Veenendaal.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2018

Photoinduced Nonequilibrium Dynamics in Charge Ordered Materials

We study the nonequilibrium dynamics of photoinduced phase transitions in charge ordered (CO) systems with a strong electron-lattice interaction and analyze the interplay between electrons, periodic lattice distortions, and a phonon thermal reservoir. Simulations based on a tight-binding Hamiltonian and Boltzmann equations reveal partially decoupled oscillations of the electronic order parameter and the periodic lattice distortion during CO melting, which becomes more energy efficient with lower photon energy. The cooling rate of the electron system correlates with the CO gap dynamics, responsible for an order of magnitude decrease in the cooling rate upon the gap reopening. We also find that the time-dependent frequency of coherent oscillation reflects the dynamics of the energy landscape, such as transition between single-well and double-well, which sensitively depends on the photon energy and the pump fluence. The results demonstrate the intricate nonequilibrium dynamics in CO materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

A brief geometric derivation of some fundamental physics

Several fundamental results in physics are derived from the simple starting point of two commuting orthogonal unit vectors. The combination of these unit vectors leads to spherical harmonics and Schwinger's expression of the second-quantized angular momentum states in terms of bosonic operators. Commuting unit vectors can be turned into anticommuting ones by the restriction to a single unit vector. This leads to Pauli spin matrices. By including hyperbolic rotations, vectors can be given a finite norm and results from special relativity and Dirac's equation are found. The assumption that the change in four-momentum is due to the change in four-potential leads to the electromagnetic field tensor and the Lorentz force. Mawell's equations are obtained by viewing the four-potential as an harmonic oscillator driven by the four-current. The Schrödinger equation is obtained from the nonrelativistic limit of the four-momentum.

physics.class-ph↗

arXiv2016

Pressure-Induced Confined Metal from the Mott Insulator Sr3Ir2O7

The spin-orbit Mott insulator Sr3Ir2O7 provides a fascinating playground to explore insulator-metal transition driven by intertwined charge, spin, and lattice degrees of freedom. Here, we report high pressure electric resistance and resonant inelastic x ray scattering measurements on single crystal Sr3Ir2O7 up to 63 65 GPa at 300 K. The material becomes a confined metal at 59.5 GPa, showing metallicity in the ab plane but an insulating behavior along the c axis. Such an unusual phenomenon resembles the strange metal phase in cuprate superconductors. Since there is no sign of the collapse of spin orbit or Coulomb interactions in x-ray measurements, this novel insulator metal transition is potentially driven by a first-order structural change at nearby pressures. Our discovery points to a new approach for synthesizing functional materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Using Nonequilibrium Dynamics to Probe Competing Orders in a Mott-Peierls System

Competition between ordered phases, and their associated phase transitions, are significant in the study of strongly correlated systems. Here we examine one aspect, the nonequilibrium dynamics of a photoexcited Mott-Peierls system, using an effective Peierls-Hubbard model and exact diagonalization. Near a transition where spin and charge become strongly intertwined, we observe anti-phase dynamics and a coupling-strength-dependent suppression or enhancement in the static structure factors. The renormalized bosonic excitations coupled to a particular photoexcited electron can be extracted, which provides an approach for characterizing the underlying bosonic modes. The results from this analysis for different electronic momenta show an uneven softening due to a stronger coupling near $k_F$. This behavior reflects the strong link between the fermionic momenta, the coupling vertices, and ultimately the bosonic susceptibilities when multiple phases compete for the ground state of the system.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Ultrafast intersystem crossing in nickel porphyrins

We study the relaxation dynamics and intersystem-crossing to the metastable state in laser-pumped tetra and hexa-coordinated nickel porphyrins. We use a ligand-field model which takes into account the crystal field created by the porphyrin ring and axial ligands. By accounting for the energy redistribution of the lattice vibrations of the metal-ligand stretch mode we get an irreversible decay within the order of the hundreds of femtoseconds timescale. We show how non-equilibrium time-dependent x-ray absorption atthe Ni K-edge measurements can elucidate the nature of the intermediate states involved in the decay. Understanding radiationless transitions in this system is of interest for their relevance in photocatalytic systems and photothermal sensitizers for cancer treatment.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Origin of Strong Dispersion in Hubbard Insulators

Using cluster perturbation theory, we explain the origin of the strongly dispersive feature found at high binding energy in the spectral function of the Hubbard model. By comparing the Hubbard and $t\small{-}J\small{-} 3s$ model spectra, we show that this dispersion does not originate from either coupling to spin fluctuations ($\propto\! J$) or the free hopping ($\propto\! t$). Instead, it should be attributed to a long-range, correlated hopping $\propto\! t^2/U$, which allows an effectively free motion of the hole within the same antiferromagnetic sublattice. This origin explains both the formation of the high energy anomaly in the single-particle spectrum and the sensitivity of the high binding energy dispersion to the next-nearest-neighbor hopping $t^\prime$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

The many faces of quantum kagome materials: Interplay of further-neighbour exchange and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

The field of frustrated magnetism has been enriched significantly by the discovery of various kagome lattice compounds. These materials exhibit a great variety of macroscopic behaviours ranging from magnetic orders to quantum spin liquids. Using large-scale exact diagonalization, we construct the phase diagram of the $S=1/2$ $J_1$-$J_2$ kagome Heisenberg model with $z$-axis Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction $D_z$. We show that this model can systematically account for many of the experimentally observed phases. Small $J_2$ and $D_z$ can stabilize respectively a gapped and a gapless spin liquid. When $J_2$ or $D_z$ is substantial, the ground state develops a $\mathbf{Q}=0$, $120^\textrm{o}$ antiferromagnetic order. The critical strengths for inducing magnetic transition are $D^c_z \sim 0.1\, J_1$ at $J_2=0$, and $J^c_2\sim 0.4\, J_1$ at $D_z=0$. The previously reported values of $D_z$ and $J_2$ for herbertsmithite [ZnCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2$] place the compound in close proximity to a quantum critical point.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

RIXS and excited states calculation with the Xclaim code

We discuss the calculation of resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) with Xclaim, a multi-plaform code for the calculation of core-hole spectroscopy based on a ligand-field multiplet model. RIXS can be calcuated with a ligand-field model with ligands for the L$_{2,3}$, M$_{2,3}$, $K_α$ and $K_β$ edges for $d$-valence metals. In addition, the program brings the possibility of fully diagonalizing the hamiltonian to classify the excited states. The command line use of xclaim is described for scripting purposes to help in automatizing the results that can be obtained with the graphical interface.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Mixed configuration ground state in Iron(II) Phthalocyanine

We calculate the angular dependence of the x-ray linear and circular dichroism at the $L_{2,3}$ edges of $α$-Fe(II) Phthalocyanine (FePc) thin films using a ligand field model with full configuration interaction. We find the best agreement with the experimental spectra for a mixed ground state of $^3E_{g}(a_{1g}^2e_g^3b_{2g}^1)$ and $^3B_{2g}(a_{1g}^1e_g^4b_{2g}^1)$ with the two configurations coupled by the spin-orbit interaction. The $^3E_{g}(b)$ and $^3B_{2g}$ states have an easy axis and plane anisotropies, respectively. Our model accounts for an easy-plane magnetic anisotropy and the measured magnitudes of the in-plane orbital and spin moments. The proximity in energy of the two configurations allows a switching of the magnetic anisotropy from easy plane to easy axis with a small change in the crystal field, as recently observed for FePc adsorbed on an oxidized Cu surface. We also discuss the possibility of a quintet ground state ($^5A_{1g}$ is 250~meV above the ground state) with planar anisotropy by manipulation of the Fe-C bond length by depositing the complex on a substrate that is subjected to a mechanical strain.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Evolution of Electronic Structure Across the Rare-Earth RNiO$_3$ Series

The perovksite rare-earth nickelates, RNiO$_3$ (R=La ... Lu), are a class of materials displaying a rich phase-diagram of metallic and insulating phases associated with charge and magnetic order. Being in the charge transfer regime, Ni$^{3+}$ in octahedral coordination displays a strong hybridization with oxygen to form $3d$ - $2p$ mixed states, which results in a strong admixture of $3d^8\underline{L}$ into $3d^7$, where $\underline{L}$ denotes a hole on the oxygen. To understand the nature of this strongly hybridized ground state, we present a detailed study of the Ni and O electronic structure using high-resolution soft X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS). Through a comparison of the evolution of the XAS line-shape at Ni L- and O K-edges across the phase diagram, we explore the changes in the electronic signatures in connection with the insulating and metallic phases that support the idea of hybridization playing a fundamental role.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Spin chain in magnetic field: limitations of the large-N mean-field theory

Motivated by the recent success in describing the spin and orbital spectrum of a spin-orbital chain using a large-N mean-field approximation [Phys. Rev. B 91, 165102 (2015)], we apply the same formalism to the case of a spin chain in the external magnetic field. It occurs that in this case, which corresponds to N=2 in the approximation, the large-N mean-field theory cannot qualitatively reproduce the spin excitation spectra at high magnetic fields, which polarize more than 50% of the spins in the magnetic ground state. This, rather counterintuitively, shows that the physics of a spin chain can under some circumstances be regarded as more complex than the physics of a spin-orbital chain.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Xclaim: a graphical interface for the calculation of core-hole spectroscopies

Xclaim (x-ray core level atomic multiplets) is a graphical interface for the calculation of core-hole spectroscopy and ground state properties within a charge-transfer multiplet model taking into account a many-body hamiltonian with Coulomb, spin-orbit, crystal-field, and hybridization interactions. Using Hartree-Fock estimates for the Coulomb and spin-orbit interactions and ligand field parameters (crystal-field, hybridization and charge-transfer energy) the program can calculate x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (XPS), photoemission spectrospcy (PES) and inverse photoemission (IPES) for d- and f-valence metals and different absorption edges. The program runs in Linux, Windows and MacOS platforms.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Fractionalization, entanglement, and separation: understanding the collective excitations in a spin-orbital chain

Using a combined analytical and numerical approach, we study the collective spin and orbital excitations in a spin-orbital chain under a crystal field. Irrespective of the crystal field strength, these excitations can be universally described by fractionalized fermions. The fractionalization phenomenon persists and contrasts strikingly with the case of a spin chain, where fractionalized spinons cannot be individually observed but confined to form magnons in a strong magnetic field. In the spin-orbital chain, each of the fractional quasiparticles carries both spin and orbital quantum numbers, and the two variables are always entangled in the collective excitations. Our result further shows that the recently reported separation phenomenon occurs when crystal fields fully polarize the orbital degrees of freedom. In this case, however, the spinon and orbiton dynamics are decoupled solely because of a redefinition of the spin and orbital quantum numbers.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Fermi level density of states modulation without charge transfer in nickelate superlattices

By using first-principles density functional theory calculations for (LaNiO3)m/(SrTiO3)n superlattices, we report a systematic way of electronic response to the interface geometry. It is found that Fermi level density of states of metallic nickelate layers is significantly reduced without charge transfer in the vicinity of interface to the insulating SrTiO3. This type of electronic state redistribution is clearly distinctive from other interface phenomena such as charge and orbital reconstruction. Our result sheds new light towards understanding the nickelates and other transitionmetal oxide heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

A Novel High-Pressure Monoclinic Metallic Phase of V2O3

Vanadium sesquioxide, V2O3, is a prototypical metal-to-insulator system where, in temperature-dependent studies, the transition always coincides with a corundum-to-monoclinic structural transition. As a function of pressure, V2O3 follows the expected behavior of increased metallicity due to a larger bandwidth for pressures up to 12.5 GPa. Surprisingly, for higher pressures when the structure becomes unstable, the resistance starts to increase. Around 32.5 GPa at 300 K, we observe a novel pressure-induced corundum-to-monoclinic transition between two metallic phases, showing that the structural phase transition can be decoupled from the metal-insulator transition. Using X-ray Raman scattering, we find that screening effects, which are strong in the corundum phase, become weakened at high pressures. Theoretical calculations indicate that this can be related to a decrease in coherent quasiparticle strength, suggesting that the high-pressure phase is likely a critical correlated metal, on the verge of Mott-insulating behavior.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Strongly momentum-dependent screening dynamics in La$_{0.5}$Sr$_{1.5}$MnO$_4$ observed with resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

We report strongly momentum-dependent local charge screening dynamics in CE-type charge, orbital, and spin ordered La$_{0.5}$Sr$_{1.5}$MnO$_4$, based on Mn K-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering data. Through a comparison with theoretical calculations, we show that the observed momentum dependence reflects highly localized, nearest neighbor screening of the transient local charge perturbation in this compound with an exciton-like screening cloud, rather than delocalized screening. The size of the screening cloud is estmated to be about 0.4-0.5 interatomic distances.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Spin moment formation and reduced orbital polarization in LaNiO$_3$/LaAlO$_3$ superlattice: LDA+U study

Density functional band calculations have been performed to study LaNiO$_3$/LaAlO$_3$ superlattices. Motivated by recent experiments reporting the magnetic and metal-insulator phase transition as a function of LaNiO$_3$ layer thickness, we examined the electronic structure, magnetic properties, and orbital occupation depending on the number of LaNiO$_3$ layers. Calculations show that the magnetic phase is stabler than the nonmagnetic for finite and positive $U$ values. The orbital polarization is significantly reduced by $U$ even in the magnetic regions. The implications of the results are discussed in comparison to recent experimental and theoretical studies within the limitations of the LDA$+U$ method.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Electronic structure and orbital polarization of LaNiO$_3$ with a reduced coordination and under strain: first-principles study

First-principles density functional theory calculations have been performed to understand the electronic structure and orbital polarization of LaNiO$_3$ with a reduced coordination and under strain. From the slab calculation to simulate [001] surface, it is found that $d_{3z^2-r^2}$ orbital occupation is significantly enhanced relative to $d_{x^2-y^2}$ occupation owing to the reduced coordination along the perpendicular direction to the sample plane. Furthermore, the sign of the orbital polarization does not change under external strain. The results are discussed in comparison to the bulk and heterostructure cases, which sheds new light on the understanding of the available experimental data.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗