arXiv subjects

Przemyslaw Piekarz

Publications and source records attributed to Przemyslaw Piekarz.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Ab initio investigation of electronic and lattice properties of Fe$_4$(P$_2$O$_7$)$_3$

In this research, we examine the electronic, magnetic, and lattice properties of the Fe$_4$(P$_2$O$_7$)$_3$ compound using the first principles calculations based on the density functional theory. The crystal lattice has a monoclinic structure, belonging to the P$2_1/n$ space group. The optimized lattice parameters are a=7.406 Å, b=21.425 Å, c=9.529 Å, and agree very well with the experimental data, thanks to the local Coulomb interactions and van der Waals forces included in the calculations. The investigation considers several magnetic orderings. The lowest total energy was found for the antiferromagnetic configuration with the magnetic moment of $\sim4.6~μ_{\text{B}}$ per Fe atom. The electronic structure calculation shows the Mott insulating state with the energy gap $E_g=2.87$~eV. For the relaxed crystal structure, the elastic properties were obtained and analyzed. The phonon dispersion relations and density of states were calculated within the temperature-dependent effective potential methodusing atomic multidisplacements obtained by high efficiency configuration space sampling.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Strength of Correlations in a Silver Based Cuprate Analogue

AgF2 has been proposed as a cuprate analogue which requires strong correlation and marked covalence. On the other hand, fluorides are usually quite ionic and 4d transition metals tend to be less correlated than their 3d counterparts, which calls for further scrutiny. We combine valence band photoemission and Auger-Meitner spectroscopy of AgF and AgF2 together with computations in small clusters to estimate values of the Ag 4d Coulomb interaction U 4d and charge-transfer energy. Based on these values, AgF2 can be classified as a charge-transfer correlated insulator according to the Zaanen-Sawatzky-Allen classification scheme. Thus, we confirm that the material is a cuprate analogue from the point of view of correlations, suggesting that it should become a high-temperature superconductor if metallization is achieved by doping. We present also a computation of the Hubbard U in density functional "+U" methods and discuss its relation to the Hubbard U in spectroscopies.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Coherent generation of symmetry-forbidden phonons by light-induced electron-phonon interactions in magnetite

Symmetry breaking across phase transitions often causes changes in selection rules and emergence of optical modes which can be detected via spectroscopic techniques or generated coherently in pump-probe experiments. In second-order or weakly first-order transitions, fluctuations of the order parameter are present above the ordering temperature, giving rise to intriguing precursor phenomena, such as critical opalescence. Here, we demonstrate that in magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) light excitation couples to the critical fluctuations of the charge order and coherently generates structural modes of the ordered phase above the critical temperature of the Verwey transition. Our findings are obtained by detecting coherent oscillations of the optical constants through ultrafast broadband spectroscopy and analyzing their dependence on temperature. To unveil the coupling between the structural modes and the electronic excitations, at the origin of the Verwey transition, we combine our results from pump-probe experiments with spontaneous Raman scattering data and theoretical calculations of both the phonon dispersion curves and the optical constants. Our methodology represents an effective tool to study the real-time dynamics of critical fluctuations across phase transitions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Influence of isolated and clustered defects on electronic and dielectric properties of wustite

The influence of intrinsic Fe defects in FeO (either single cation vacancies or prototypical 4:1 vacancy clusters) on the electronic and dielectric properties is studied within the density functional theory. The importance of local Coulomb interactions at Fe atoms is highlighted and shown to be responsible for the observed insulating Mott gap in FeO which is reduced by the presence of defects. We investigate nonstoichiometric configurations of Fe1-xO with x ranging from 3 to 9 % and find the aliovalent Fe cations in both the regular and interstitial lattice sites of the considered configurations. Furthermore, we show that the trivalent Fe ions are induced by both isolated and clustered Fe-vacancies and introduce the empty band states inside the insulating gap, which decreases monotonically with increasing cation vacancy concentration. The Fe1-xO systems with high defect content become metallic for small values of the Coulomb interaction U, yielding the increase in the dielectric functions and optical reflectivity at low energies in agreement with the experimental data. Due to the crystal defects, the infrared-active transverse optic phonons split and distribute over a wide range of frequencies clarifying the origin of the exceptionally large spectral linewidths of the dielectric loss functions observed for wustite in recent experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Short-Range Correlations in Magnetite above the Verwey Temperature

Magnetite, Fe$_3$O$_4$, is the first magnetic material discovered and utilized by mankind in Ancient Greece, yet it still attracts attention due to its puzzling properties. This is largely due to the quest for a full and coherent understanding of the Verwey transition that occurs at $T_V=124$ K and is associated with a drop of electric conductivity and a complex structural phase transition. A recent detailed analysis of the structure, based on single crystal diffraction, suggests that the electron localization pattern contains linear three-Fe-site units, the so-called trimerons. Here we show that whatever the electron localization pattern is, it partially survives up to room temperature as short-range correlations in the high-temperature cubic phase, easily discernible by diffuse scattering. Additionally, {\it ab initio} electronic structure calculations reveal that characteristic features in these diffuse scattering patterns can be correlated with the Fermi surface topology.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Anharmonicity due to Electron-Phonon Coupling in Magnetite

We present the results of inelastic x-ray scattering for magnetite and analyze the energies and spectral widths of the phonon modes with different symmetries in a broad range of temperature 125<T<293 K. The phonon modes with X_4 and Delta_5 symmetries broaden in a nonlinear way with decreasing temperature when the Verwey transition is approached. It is found that the maxima of phonon widths occur away from high-symmetry points which indicates the incommensurate character of critical fluctuations. Strong phonon anharmonicity induced by electron-phonon coupling is discovered within ab initio calculations which take into account local Coulomb interactions at Fe ions. It (i) explains observed anomalous phonon broadening, and (ii) demonstrates that the Verwey transition is a cooperative phenomenon which involves a wide spectrum of phonons coupled to charge fluctuations condensing in the low-symmetry phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Origin of the Verwey transition in magnetite: Group theory, electronic structure, and lattice dynamics study

The Verwey phase transition in magnetite has been analyzed using the group theory methods. It is found that two order parameters with the symmetries $X_3$ and $Δ_5$ induce the structural transformation from the high-temperature cubic to the low-temperature monoclinic phase. The coupling between the order parameters is described by the Landau free energy functional. The electronic and crystal structure for the cubic and monoclinic phases were optimized using the {\it ab initio} density functional method. The electronic structure calculations were performed within the generalized gradient approximation including the on-site interactions between 3d electrons at iron ions -- the Coulomb element $U$ and Hund's exchange $J$. Only when these local interactions are taken into account, the phonon dispersion curves, obtained by the direct method for the cubic phase, reproduce the experimental data. It is shown that the interplay of local electron interations and the coupling to the lattice drives the phonon order parameters and is responsible for the opening of the gap at the Fermi energy. Thus, it is found that the metal-insulator transition in magnetite is promoted by local electron interactions, which significantly amplify the electron-phonon interaction and stabilize weak charge order coexisting with orbital order of the occupied $t_{2g}$ states at Fe ions. This provides a scenario to understand the fundamental problem of the origin of the Verwey transition in magnetite.

cond-mat.str-el↗