arXiv subjects

Minoru Yamashita

Publications and source records attributed to Minoru Yamashita.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Spintronic superconductor in a bulk layered material with natural spin-valve structure

Multi-layered materials provide fascinating platforms to realize various functional properties, possibly leading to future electronic devices controlled by external fields. In particular, layered magnets coupled with conducting layers have been extensively studied recently for possible control of their transport properties via the spin structure. Successful control of quantum-transport properties in the materials with antiferromagnetic (AFM) layers, so-called natural spin-valve structure, has been reported for the Dirac Fermion and topological/axion materials. However, a bulk crystal in which magnetic and superconducting layers are alternately stacked has not been realized until now, and the search for functional properties in it is an interesting yet unexplored field in material science. Here, we discover superconductivity providing such an ideal platform in EuSn2As2 with the van der Waals stacking of magnetic Eu layers and superconducting Sn-As layers, and present the first demonstration of a natural spin-valve effect on the superconducting current. Below the superconducting transition temperature (Tc), the electrical resistivity becomes zero in the in-plane direction. In contrast, it, surprisingly, remains finite down to the lowest temperature in the out-of-plane direction, mostly due to the structure of intrinsic magnetic Josephson junctions in EuSn2As2. The magnetic order of the Eu layers (or natural spin-valve) is observed to be extremely soft, allowing one to easy control of the out-of-plane to in-plane resistivities ratio from 1 to infinity by weak external magnetic fields. The concept of multi-functional materials with stacked magnetic-superconducting layers will open a new pathway to develop novel spintronic devices with magnetically controllable superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Boundary-limited and glassy-like phonon thermal conduction in EtMe$_3$Sb[Pd(dmit)$_2$]$_2$

In molecular-based quantum-spin-liquid candidate EtMe$_3$Sb[Pd(dmit)$_2$]$_2$ with two-dimensional $S$=1/2 triangular lattice, a finite residual linear term in the thermal conductivity, $κ_0/T\equivκ/T (T \rightarrow 0)$, has been observed and attributed to the presence of itinerant gapless excitations. Here we show that the data of $κ$ measured in several single crystals are divided into two groups with and without the residual linear term. In the first group with finite $κ_0/T$, the phonon thermal conductivity $κ_{ph}$ is comparable to that of other organic compounds. In these crystals, the phonon mean free path $\ell_{ph}$ saturates at low temperatures, being limited by sample size. On the other hand, in the second group with zero $κ_0/T$, $κ_{ph}$ is one order of magnitude smaller than that in the first group, comparable to that of amorphous solids. In contrast to the first group, $\ell_{ph}$ shows a glassy-like non-saturating behavior at low temperatures. These results suggest that the crystals with long $\ell_{ph}$ are required to discuss the magnetic excitations by thermal conductivity measurements.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Anomalous thermal Hall effect in the topological antiferromagnetic state

The anomalous Hall effect (AHE), a Hall signal occurring without an external magnetic field, is one of the most significant phenomena. However, understanding the AHE mechanism has been challenging and largely restricted to ferromagnetic metals. Here, we investigate the recently discovered AHE in the chiral antiferromagnet Mn3Sn by measuring a thermal analog of the AHE, known as an anomalous thermal Hall effect (ATHE). The amplitude of the ATHE scales with the anomalous Hall conductivity of Mn3Sn over a wide temperature range, demonstrating that the AHE of Mn3Sn arises from a dissipationless intrinsic mechanism associated with the Berry curvature. Moreover, we find that the dissipationless AHE is significantly stabilized by shifting the Fermi level toward the magnetic Weyl points. Thus, in Mn3Sn, the Berry curvature emerging from the proposed magnetic Weyl fermion state is a key factor for the observed AHE and ATHE.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Spin Thermal Hall Conductivity of a Kagomé Antiferromagnet

A clear thermal Hall signal ($κ_{xy}$) was observed in the spin liquid phase of the $S=1/2$ kagomé antiferromagnet Ca kapellasite (CaCu$_3$(OH)$_6$Cl$_2\cdot 0.6$H$_2$O). We found that $κ_{xy}$ is well reproduced, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using the Schwinger-boson mean-field theory with the Dzyaloshinskii--Moriya interaction of $D/J \sim 0.1$. In particular, $κ_{xy}$ values of Ca kapellasite and those of another kagomé antiferromagnet, volborthite, converge to one single curve in simulations modeled using Schwinger bosons, indicating a common temperature dependence of $κ_{xy}$ for the spins of a kagomé antiferromagnet.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Anomalous change in the de Haas-van Alphen oscillations of CeCoIn$_5$ at ultra-low temperatures

We have performed de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements of the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn$_5$ down to 2 mK above the upper critical field. We find that the dHvA amplitudes show an anomalous suppression, concomitantly with a shift of the dHvA frequency, below the transition temperature $T_{\rm n}=20$ mK. We suggest that the change is owing to magnetic breakdown caused by a field-induced antiferromagnetic (AFM) state emerging below $T_{\rm n}$, revealing the origin of the field-induced quantum critical point (QCP) in CeCoIn$_5$. The field dependence of $T_{\rm n}$ is found to be very weak for 7--10 T, implying that an enhancement of AFM order by suppressing the critical spin fluctuations near the AFM QCP competes with the field suppression effect on the AFM phase. We suggest that the appearance of a field-induced AFM phase is a generic feature of unconventional superconductors, which emerge near an AFM QCP, including CeCoIn$_5$, CeRhIn$_5$, and high-$T_{\rm c}$ cuprates.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Thermal Hall effect in a phonon-glass Ba$_3$CuSb$_2$O$_9$

A distinct thermal Hall signal is observed in a quantum spin liquid candidate Ba$_3$CuSb$_2$O$_9$. The transverse thermal conduction shows a power-law temperature dependence below 40 K where a spin gap opens. We suggest that, through the very low longitudinal thermal conductivity and the thermal Hall signals, a phonon Hall effect is induced by strong phonon scatterings by orphan Cu$^{2+}$ spins formed in random domains of Cu$^{2+}$-Sb$^{5+}$ dumbbells.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Emergence of nontrivial magnetic excitations in a spin liquid state of kagome volborthite

When quantum fluctuations destroy underlying long-range ordered states, novel quantum states emerge. Spin-liquid (SL) states of frustrated quantum antiferromagnets, in which highly-correlated spins keep to fluctuate down to very low temperatures, are prominent examples of such quantum states. SL states often exhibit exotic physical properties, but the precise nature of the elementary excitations behind such phenomena remains entirely elusive. Here we utilize thermal Hall measurements that can capture the unexplored property of the elementary excitations in SL states, and report on the observation of anomalous excitations that may unveil the unique features of the SL state. Our principal finding is a negative thermal Hall conductivity (k_xy) which the charge-neutral spin excitations in a gapless SL state of the two-dimensional kagome insulator volborthite Cu_3V_2O_7(OH)_2 \cdot 2H_2O exhibit, in much the same way in which charged electrons give rise to the conventional electric Hall effect. We find that k_xy is absent in the high-temperature paramagnetic state and develops upon entering the SL state in accordance with the growth of the short-range spin correlations, demonstrating that k_xy is a key signature of the elementary excitation formed in the SL state. These results suggest the emergence of nontrivial elementary excitations in the gapless SL state which feel the presence of fictitious magnetic flux, whose effective Lorentz force is found to be less than 1/100 of that experienced by free electrons.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Thermal-transport studies of Two-dimensional Quantum Spin Liquids

Quantum spin liquids (QSLs) are fluid-like states of quantum spins where its long-range ordered state is destroyed by quantum fluctuations. The ground state of QSL and its exotic phenomena, which have been extensively discussed for decades, have yet to be identified. We employ thermal transport measurements on newly discovered QSL candidates, $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3 and EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2, and report that the two organic insulators possess different QSLs characterized by different elementary excitations. In $κ$-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu2(CN)3, heat transport is thermally activated at low temperatures, suggesting presence of a spin gap in this QSL. In stark contrast, in EtMe3Sb[Pd(dmit)2]2, a sizable linear temperature dependence of thermal conductivity is clearly resolved in the zero-temperature limit, showing gapless excitation with a long mean free path (~1,000 lattice distances). Such a long mean free path demonstrates a novel feature of QSL as a quantum-condensed state with long-distance coherence.

cond-mat.str-el↗