arXiv subjects

Priya Singh

Publications and source records attributed to Priya Singh.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Effects of high-pressure synthesis on phase formation and superconducting properties of PrFeAsO1-xFx

Motivated by recent reports of enhanced superconducting performance in several families of iron-based superconductors (IBS) processed by high-pressure (HP) synthesis, we investigate the influence of high gas pressure and high-temperature synthesis (HP-HTS) process on the structural, microstructural, electrical transport, and magnetic properties of Pr-based oxypnictide PrFeAsO1-xFx (Pr1111) using the processing conditions of 0.5 GPa for 1 h previously optimized for other IBS families. Representative underdoped (x = 0.2), optimal doped (x = 0.3), and overdoped (x = 0.5) compositions from the ambient-pressure electronic phase diagram of Pr1111 are selected to evaluate its composition-dependent effects of HP-HTS. The results demonstrate that HP-HTS enhances fluorine incorporation, improves phase formation, and produces a denser microstructure with improved grain connectivity in the underdoped and optimal doped compositions. Magnetic measurements reveal increased in the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) of ~1 K for x = 0.2 and ~6 K for x = 0.3, whereas only a marginal improvement in the critical current density is observed. Electrical resistivity measurements of the underdoped composition show a slight increase in Tc accompanied by a broader resistive transition, indicating residual structural inhomogeneity. In contrast, the overdoped composition exhibits increased impurity phase segregation, accompanied by suppression of superconductivity. These results demonstrate that the effectiveness of HP-HTS in Pr1111 is strongly composition dependent and governed by the interplay among fluorine incorporation, phase stability, and microstructural evolution, highlighting the need for further optimization of the HP-HTS processing conditions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Tuning Superconductivity by Isovalent Antimony Substitution in PrFeAs(O,F)

We investigate the effects of isovalent Sb substitution at the As site in fluorine-doped PrFeAs1-xSbxO0.7F0.3 (x = 0 to 1.0) through structural, Raman spectroscopy, density functional theory (DFT), transport, magnetotransport, and magnetic measurements. The superconducting transition temperature decreases gradually from ~48 K for the parent compound to ~44 K up to x = 0.3, followed by a rapid suppression at higher Sb concentrations due to increasing disorder and secondary phase formation. Raman spectroscopy and DFT reveal lattice expansion and pronounced softening of pnictogen related vibrational modes upon Sb substitution. Magnetotransport measurements up to 9 T show enhanced upper critical fields and increased vortex activation energy for moderate Sb doping, indicating stronger vortex pinning. However, the critical current density remains low because of poor intergranular connectivity. The results demonstrate a crossover from an electronically tuned superconducting state to a disorder-dominated regime in isovalently substituted iron pnictides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Effect of Mn Substitution on Superconductivity in PrFeAs(O,F): Role of Magnetic Impurities

We investigate Mn substitution at the Fe site in PrFe1-xMnxAsO0.7F0.3 (0 to 0.1) using structural, Raman, density functional theory (DFT), transport, and magnetic measurements. X-ray diffraction and Raman analyses confirm preferential Mn incorporation into the FeAs planes, accompanied by lattice expansion and suppression of Fe-related vibrational modes. Electrical transport reveals a systematic decrease of the superconducting transition temperature from 48 K (x = 0) to complete suppression at x = 0.1, together with low-temperature resistivity upturns evolving toward insulating-like behavior. Magnetization and magnetotransport measurements show degradation of superconducting coherence, critical current density, upper critical field, and vortex activation energy with increasing Mn content. The results demonstrate that Mn acts as an efficient magnetic impurity, strongly perturbing the electronic and magnetic environment of the FeAs layers. Comparative analysis indicates relatively enhanced robustness of superconductivity in the Pr-based system, highlighting the role of rare-earth-dependent electronic correlations in impurity effects.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2026

Complete electronic phase diagram and enhanced superconductivity in fluorine-doped PrFeAsO1-xFx

Establishing a complete electronic phase diagram for REFeAsO (RE = rare earth, RE1111) ironbased superconductors has remained experimentally challenging. Here, we report a systematic investigation of PrFeAsO1-xFx over the full nominal fluorine-doping range 0 to 1 and construct the first comprehensive electronic phase diagram for this system. The evolution from the nonsuperconducting parent compound to the fluorine-rich limit reveals a broad dome shaped superconducting region. Structural refinement demonstrates a systematic lattice contraction with increasing fluorine content (x), corroborated by Raman spectroscopy through softening of the Pr(A1g) phonon mode and hardening of the Fe(B1g) mode, confirming effective fluorine incorporation at the oxygen sites. The maximum superconducting transition temperature (Tc) reaches up to 52.3 K, approximately 5 K higher than previous reports for Pr1111. Magnetotransport measurements yield large upper critical fields Hc2(0) exceeding 100 T, while analysis of resistive transition broadening reveals thermally activated flux flow with a crossover from single-vortex to collective pinning regimes. Specific-heat measurements exhibit a reduced jump deltaC/{\gamma}Tc < 1.43, reflecting strong superconducting fluctuations and multiband pairing. These results establish clear structure property correlations and provide a unified description of superconductivity across the entire doping range of the Pr1111 system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Think, Act, Learn: A Framework for Autonomous Robotic Agents using Closed-Loop Large Language Models

The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) into robotics has unlocked unprecedented capabilities in high-level task planning. However, most current systems operate in an open-loop fashion, where LLMs act as one-shot planners, rendering them brittle and unable to adapt to unforeseen circumstances in dynamic physical environments. To overcome this limitation, this paper introduces the "Think, Act, Learn" (T-A-L) framework, a novel architecture that enables an embodied agent to autonomously learn and refine its policies through continuous interaction. Our framework establishes a closed-loop cycle where an LLM first "thinks" by decomposing high-level commands into actionable plans. The robot then "acts" by executing these plans while gathering rich, multimodal sensory feedback. Critically, the "learn" module processes this feedback to facilitate LLM-driven self-reflection, allowing the agent to perform causal analysis on its failures and generate corrective strategies. These insights are stored in an experiential memory to guide future planning cycles. We demonstrate through extensive experiments in both simulation and the real world that our T-A-L agent significantly outperforms baseline methods, including open-loop LLMs, Behavioral Cloning, and traditional Reinforcement Learning. Our framework achieves over a 97% success rate on complex, long-horizon tasks, converges to a stable policy in an average of just 9 trials, and exhibits remarkable generalization to unseen tasks. This work presents a significant step towards developing more robust, adaptive, and truly autonomous robotic agents.

cs.RO↗

arXiv2025

ReverBERT: A State Space Model for Efficient Text-Driven Speech Style Transfer

Text-driven speech style transfer aims to mold the intonation, pace, and timbre of a spoken utterance to match stylistic cues from text descriptions. While existing methods leverage large-scale neural architectures or pre-trained language models, the computational costs often remain high. In this paper, we present \emph{ReverBERT}, an efficient framework for text-driven speech style transfer that draws inspiration from a state space model (SSM) paradigm, loosely motivated by the image-based method of Wang and Liu~\cite{wang2024stylemamba}. Unlike image domain techniques, our method operates in the speech space and integrates a discrete Fourier transform of latent speech features to enable smooth and continuous style modulation. We also propose a novel \emph{Transformer-based SSM} layer for bridging textual style descriptors with acoustic attributes, dramatically reducing inference time while preserving high-quality speech characteristics. Extensive experiments on benchmark speech corpora demonstrate that \emph{ReverBERT} significantly outperforms baselines in terms of naturalness, expressiveness, and computational efficiency. We release our model and code publicly to foster further research in text-driven speech style transfer.

cs.GR↗

arXiv2025

Synthesis and characterizations of arsenic doped FeSe bulks

FeSe(11) family has a simple crystal structure belonging to iron-based superconductors (FBS) and has many stable phases including hexagonal and tetragonal structures, but only the tetragonal phase exhibits the superconductivity. In this study, we have investigated the effects of chemical pressure induced by As-doping at Se-sites in the FeSe system by preparing a series of FeSe1-xAsx (x = 0.005, 0.01, 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2) bulks. A broad characterization has been performed on these samples using structural, microstructural, transport, and magnetic measurements. The obtained lattice parameters are increased by As-doping, which suggests the successful insertion of As at Se-sites into the tetragonal lattice for low doping contents up to 5%, whereas the higher As-substitution appears in the form of the FeAs impurity phase. The temperature dependence of the resistivity of all samples has similar behaviour and depicts the highest onset transition temperature of around 11.5 K, but the zero resistivity is not reached until the measured temperature of 7 K, which could be due to the presence of the impurity phases. Our study suggests that a dopant with a large ionic radius, i.e., Arsenic, promotes the formation of the hexagonal phase of the 11 family and is effective for a small amount of doping level for the superconducting properties, whereas higher As-doping levels reduce the superconducting properties.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

High-pressure growth effect on the properties of high-Tc iron-based superconductors: A short review

The high-pressure growth technique is a vital approach that facilitates the stabilization of new phases and allows for meticulous control of structural parameters, which significantly impact electronic and magnetic properties. We present a short review of our ongoing investigations into various families of iron-based superconductors (IBS), employing the high-gas pressure and high-temperature synthesis (HP-HTS) method. This technique is capable of producing the gas pressures up to 1.8 GPa and a heating temperature of up to 1700 {\deg}C through a three-zone furnace within a cylindrical chamber. Different kinds of IBS samples are prepared using HPHTS and characterized through various measurements to reach the final conclusions. The results demonstrate that the high-pressure growth technique significantly enhances the properties of IBS, including the transition temperature, critical current density, and pinning force. In addition, the quality of the samples and their density are improved through the intergrain connections. Furthermore, the comprehensive evaluations and investigations prove that a growth pressure of 0.5 GPa is sufficient for producing high-quality IBS bulks under the optimized synthesis conditions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Praseodymium doping effect on the superconducting properties of FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ bulks under ambient and high-pressure growth conditions

A series of Pr-doped FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ (Fe$_{1-x}$Pr$_x$Se$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$; $x = 0$ to 0.3) bulks are prepared by conventional synthesis process at ambient pressure (CSP), and high gas pressure and high temperature synthesis (HP-HTS) methods. These bulks are well characterized by structural and microstructural analysis, Raman spectroscopy, transport, and magnetic measurements. The HP-HTS process of the parent bulks has enhanced the onset transition temperature ($T_c^{\rm onset}$) by 1.5 K and the critical current density ($J_c$) by two orders of magnitude compared to the CSP method. Pr-doped FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ up to 10% doping content prepared, either CSP or HP-HTS, slightly increases the unit cell volume, and high-pressure growth produces an almost pure superconducting phase, which confirms the successful Pr-doping at Fe sites. Raman spectroscopy measurements and DFT calculations suggest the substitution of Pr-atoms in the interlayer spacing of Fe(Se,Te) lattice. High-pressure growth of Fe$_{1-x}$Pr$_x$Se$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ also makes the sample less dense compared to the parent sample grown by HP-HTS. Transport and magnetic measurements depict that Tconset is almost unaffected by Pr-doping, whereas $J_c$ of Pr-doped FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ is enhanced by one order of magnitude relative to the parent sample developed by CSP but lower than that of the parent sample grown by HP-HTS. Hence, Pr-doping at Fe sites preserves $T_c^{\rm onset}$ and improves $J_c$ of FeSe$_{0.5}$Te$_{0.5}$ regardless of the doping contents and growth conditions. These results are promising for the practical application of iron-based superconductors to improve $J_c$ properties without affecting $T_c^{\rm onset}$ through CSP process and congruent with discoveries from other superconductors, like cuprates and MgB$_2$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Violet to near-infrared optical addressing of spin pairs in hexagonal boron nitride

Optically addressable solid-state spins are an important platform for practical quantum technologies. Van der Waals material hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) is a promising host as it contains a wide variety of optical emitters, but thus far observations of addressable spins have been sparse, and most of them lacked a demonstration of coherent spin control. Here we demonstrate robust optical readout of spin pairs in hBN with emission wavelengths spanning from violet to the near-infrared. We find these broadband spin pairs exist naturally in a variety of hBN samples from bulk crystals to powders to epitaxial films, and can be coherently controlled across the entire wavelength range. Furthermore, we identify the optimal wavelengths for independent readout of spin pairs and boron vacancy spin defects co-existing in the same sample. Our results establish the ubiquity of the optically addressable spin pair system in hBN across a broad parameter space, making it a versatile playground for spin-based quantum technologies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Towards high spatial resolution magnetic imaging with a compact practical quantum diamond microscope

Widefield quantum diamond microscopy is a powerful technique for imaging magnetic fields with high sensitivity and spatial resolution. However, current methods to approach the ultimate spatial resolution ($<500\,$nm) are impractical for routine use as they require time-consuming fabrication or transfer techniques to precisely interface the diamond sensor with the sample to be imaged. To address this challenge, we have designed a co-axial sensor holder that enables simple, repeatable sensor-sample interfacing while being compatible with high numerical aperture (NA) optics. With our new design we demonstrate low standoffs $<500\,$nm with a millimetre sized sensor. We also explore the relationship between spatial resolution and NA spanning from 0.13 to 1.3. The spatial resolution shows good agreement with the optical diffraction limit at low NA but deviates at high NA, which is shown to be due to optical aberrations. Future improvements to our design are discussed, which should enable magnetic imaging with $<500\,$nm resolution in an accessible, easy-to-use instrument.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

A charge transfer mechanism for optically addressable solid-state spin pairs

Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) with no resolvable zero-field splitting has been observed from emitters in hexagonal boron nitride across a broad range of wavelengths, but so far an understanding of their microscopic structure and the physical origin of ODMR has been lacking. Here we perform comprehensive measurements and modelling of the spin-resolved photodynamics of ensembles and single emitters, and uncover a universal model that accounts, and provides an intuitive physical explanation, for all key experimental features. The model, inspired by the radical-pair mechanism from spin chemistry, assumes a pair of nearby point defects -- a primary optically active defect and a secondary defect. Charge transfer between the two defects creates a metastable weakly coupled spin pair with ODMR naturally arising from selection rules. Using first-principle calculations, we show that simple defect pairs made of common carbon defects provide a plausible microscopic explanation. Our optical-spin defect pair (OSDP) model resolves several previously open questions including the asymmetric envelope of the Rabi oscillations, the large variability in ODMR contrast amplitude and sign, and the wide spread in emission wavelength. It may also explain similar phenomena observed in other wide bandgap semiconductors such as GaN. The presented framework will be instrumental in guiding future theoretical and experimental efforts to study and engineer solid-state spin pairs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Optimisation of electron irradiation for creating spin ensembles in hexagonal boron nitride

Boron vacancy centre ($V_{\rm B}^-$) ensembles in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) have attracted recent interest for their potential as two-dimensional solid-state quantum sensors. Irradiation is necessary for $V_{\rm B}^-$ creation, however, to date only limited attention has been given to optimising the defect production process, especially in the case of bulk irradiation with high-energy particles, which offers scalability through the potential for creating ensembles in large volumes of material. Here we systematically investigate the effect of electron irradiation by varying the dose delivered to a range of hBN samples, which differ in their purity, and search for an optimum in measurement sensitivity. We find that moderate electron irradiation doses ($\approx 5\times 10^{18}$~cm$^{-2}$) appear to offer the best sensitivity, and also observe a dependence on the initial crystal purity. These results pave the way for the scalable and cost-effective production of hBN quantum sensors, and provide insight into the mechanisms limiting $V_{\rm B}^-$ spin properties.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Multi-species optically addressable spin defects in a van der Waals material

Optically addressable spin defects hosted in two-dimensional van der Waals materials represent a new frontier for quantum technologies, promising to lead to a new class of ultrathin quantum sensors and simulators. Recently, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has been shown to host several types of optically addressable spin defects, thus offering a unique opportunity to simultaneously address and utilise various spin species in a single material. Here we demonstrate an interplay between two separate spin species within a single hBN crystal, namely $S=1$ boron vacancy defects and visible emitter spins. We unambiguously prove that the visible emitters are $S=\frac{1}{2}$ spins and further demonstrate room temperature coherent control and optical readout of both spin species. Importantly, by tuning the two spin species into resonance with each other, we observe cross-relaxation indicating strong inter-species dipolar coupling. We then demonstrate magnetic imaging using the $S=\frac{1}{2}$ defects, both under ambient and cryogenic conditions, and leverage their lack of intrinsic quantization axis to determine the anisotropic magnetic susceptibility of a test sample. Our results establish hBN as a versatile platform for quantum technologies in a van der Waals host at room temperature.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Detection of paramagnetic spins with an ultrathin van der Waals quantum sensor

Detecting magnetic noise from small quantities of paramagnetic spins is a powerful capability for chemical, biochemical, and medical analysis. Quantum sensors based on optically addressable spin defects in bulk semiconductors are typically employed for such purposes, but the 3D crystal structure of the sensor inhibits the sensitivity by limiting the proximity of the defects to the target spins. Here we demonstrate the detection of paramagnetic spins using spin defects hosted in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), a van der Waals material which can be exfoliated into the 2D regime. We first create negatively charged boron vacancy (V$_{\rm B}^-$) defects in a powder of ultrathin hBN nanoflakes ($<10$~atomic monolayers thick on average) and measure the longitudinal spin relaxation time ($T_1$) of this system. We then decorate the dry hBN nanopowder with paramagnetic Gd$^{3+}$ ions and observe a clear $T_1$ quenching, under ambient conditions, consistent with the added magnetic noise. Finally, we demonstrate the possibility of performing spin measurements including $T_1$ relaxometry using solution-suspended hBN nanopowder. Our results highlight the potential and versatility of the hBN quantum sensor for a range of sensing applications, and pave the way towards the realisation of a truly 2D, ultrasensitive quantum sensor.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Regret-Optimal Online Caching for Adversarial and Stochastic Arrivals

We consider the online caching problem for a cache of limited size. In a time-slotted system, a user requests one file from a large catalog in each slot. If the requested file is cached, the policy receives a unit reward and zero rewards otherwise. We show that a Follow the Perturbed Leader (FTPL)-based anytime caching policy is simultaneously regret-optimal for both adversarial and i.i.d. stochastic arrivals. Further, in the setting where there is a cost associated with switching the cached contents, we propose a variant of FTPL that is order-optimal with respect to time for both adversarial and stochastic arrivals and has a significantly better performance compared to FTPL with respect to the switching cost for stochastic arrivals. We also show that these results can be generalized to the setting where there are constraints on the frequency with which cache contents can be changed. Finally, we validate the results obtained on various synthetic as well as real-world traces.

cs.NI↗

arXiv2022

Aberration control in quantitative widefield quantum microscopy

Widefield quantum microscopy based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond has emerged as a powerful technique for quantitative mapping of magnetic fields with a sub-micron resolution. However, the accuracy of the technique has not been characterised in detail so far. Here we show that optical aberrations in the imaging system may cause large systematic errors in the measured quantity beyond trivial blurring. We introduce a simple theoretical framework to model these effects, which extends the concept of a point spread function to the domain of spectral imaging. Using this model, the magnetic field imaging of test magnetic samples is simulated under various scenarios, and the resulting errors quantified. We then apply the model to previously published data, show that apparent magnetic anomalies can be explained by the presence of optical aberrations, and demonstrate a post-processing technique to retrieve the source quantity with improved accuracy. This work presents a guide to predict and mitigate aberration induced artefacts in quantitative NV-based widefield imaging and in spectral imaging more generally.

physics.optics↗