arXiv subjects

R. Nourafkan

Publications and source records attributed to R. Nourafkan.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Potential energy contribution to the thermopower of correlated electrons

Certain classes of strongly correlated systems promise high thermopower efficiency, but a full understanding of correlation effects on the Seebeck coefficient is lacking. This is partly due to limitations of Boltzmann-type approaches. One needs a formula for the thermopower that allows separate investigations of the kinetic and potential energy contributions to the evolution with temperature and doping of the thermopower. Here we address this issue by deriving for Hubbard-like interactions a formula for the thermopower that separates the potential from the kinetic energy contribution and facilitates a better understanding of correlation effects on the Seebeck coefficient. As an example, the thermopower of the one-band Hubbard model is calculated from dynamical mean-field. For interactions in both the intermediate and strong correlation limit, the contributions from kinetic and potential energy nearly cancel.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Interaction and temperature effects on the magneto-optical conductivity of Weyl liquids

Negative magnetoresistance is one of the manifestations of the chiral anomaly in Weyl semimetals. The magneto-optical conductivity also shows transitions between Landau levels that are not spaced as in an ordinary electron gas. How are such topological properties modified by interactions and temperature? We answer this question by studying a lattice model of Weyl semimetals with an on-site Hubbard interaction. Such an interacting Weyl semimetal, dubbed as Weyl liquid, may be realized in Mn$_3$Sn. We solve that model with single-site dynamical mean-field theory. We find that in a Weyl liquid, quasiparticles can be characterized by a quasiparticle spectral weight $Z$, although their lifetime increases much more rapidly as frequency approaches zero than in an ordinary Fermi liquid. The negative magnetoresistance still exists, even though the slope of the linear dependence of the DC conductivity with respect to the magnetic filed is decreased by the interaction. At elevated temperatures, a Weyl liquid crossesover to bad metallic behavior where the Drude peak becomes flat and featureless.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Analysis of the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of ALaFeMnO6 (A= Sr, Ba and Ca) double perovskites

In previous studies, we have reported that double perovskite La2NiMnO6 presents a non-negligible potential for room temperature magnetocaloric tasks. With the aim of improving even further the cooling performances and the working temperature range of double perovskites, we report the magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of La2MnFeO6 and ALaMnFeO6 (A = Sr, Ba, Ca) compounds. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Rietveld refinement show that La2MnFeO6 (LMFO) and CaLaMnFeO6 (CLMFO) samples crystallize in an orthorhombic structure with the Pnma space group. However, a rhombohedral structure with the R3C space group is obtained for BaLaMnFeO6 (BLMFO) and SrLaMnFeO6 (SLMFO) samples. Substituting La by Ba or Sr in LMFO leads to a clear increase of the Curie temperature (Tc) compared to LMFO from 150 K for BLMFO up to 350 K for SLMFO. Moreover, CLMFO shows the smallest Tc down to 70 K. Ferromagnetic-like behavior is observed for SLMFO and BLMFO while CLMFO's magnetism resembles that of LMFO. A clear connection between the structural parameters and the magnetic properties of these doped LMFO samples is unveiled as the highest Tc and the largest magnetization are observed for SLMFO which shows also bond angles closest to 180° and the smallest bond lengths, thus optimizing the superexchange interaction. The partial substitution of Sr for La leads in fact to a significant magnetocaloric effect over a wide operating temperature range extending beyond 300 K. For some optimal growth conditions, its entropy change varies slowly over an unusually large temperature range, which is of clear interest from a practical point of view.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Orbital magnetization and anomalous Hall effect in interacting Weyl semimetals

Ferromagnetic Weyl semi-metals exhibit an anomalous Hall effect, a consequence of their topological properties. In the non-interacting case, the derivative of the orbital magnetization with respect to chemical potential is proportional to this anomalous Hall effect, the Str$\check{\text{e}}$da formula. Motivated by compounds such as $\text{Mn}_3\text{Sn}$, here we investigate how interactions modeled by a Hubbard $U$ impact on both quantities when the Fermi energy is either aligned with the Weyl nodes or away from them. Within Dynamical Mean-Field Theory, we find, in the Weyl semimetal regime, away from interaction-induced Mott or band-insulating phases, that interactions lead not only to spectral weight redistribution between coherent bands and Hubbard bands, but also to an increase in the imbalance between the densities of spin species. This increased imbalance leads to a larger anomalous Hall effect in ferromagnetic Weyl semimetals. But this interaction-induced spin imbalance also compensates the reduction in orbital magnetization of each spin species that comes from smaller quasiparticle weight. The combined effects lead to an orbital magnetization that depends weakly on interaction strength and changes linearly upon doping at small doping. The Str$\check{\text{e}}$da formula is no-longer satisfied. Away from the insulating phases, the quasiparticle picture and low-order perturbation theory go a long way to explain these results.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Electronic and Magnetic Properties of double-perovskites La$_2$MnRuO$_6$ and Hole-Doped La$_2$MnFeO$_6$ and their Potential for Magnetic Refrigeration

Magnetic refrigeration at room-temperature is a technology that could potentially be more environmentally-friendly, efficient and affordable than traditional refrigeration. The search for suitable materials for magnetocaloric refrigeration led to the study of double-perovskites La$_2$MnNiO$_6$, La$_2$MnCoO$_6$ and La$_2$MnFeO$_6$. While La$_2$MnNiO$_6$ and La$_2$MnCoO$_6$ are ferromagnets with near room-temperature $T_C$s, previous theoretical study of double-perovskite La$_2$MnFeO$_6$ revealed that this material is a ferrimagnet due to strong electronic interactions in Fe-$d$ orbitals. Here, we investigate the double-perovskites La$_2$MnRuO$_6$ and LaA''MnFeO$_6$ (A'' = Ba, Ca and Sr) with density functional theory (DFT) as materials that can counteract the effects the strong repulsion present in the in Fe-$d$ shells of La$_2$MnFeO$_6$ and lead to a ferromagnetic state. Our study reaveals that while La$_2$MnRuO$_6$ is also a ferrimagnet, but with a higher net magnetic moment per formula than La$_2$MnFeO$_6$, doubly-ordered LaA''MnFeO$_6$ are ferromagnets. By mapping the total energy of the LaA''MnFeO$_6$ compounds obtained from DFT calculations to the Ising model, we also calculate their magnetic exchange couplings. This allows us to estimate the trend in $T_C$ of the three doped La$_2$MnFeO$_6$ materials with classical Monte-Carlo calculations and predict that doubly-ordered LaBaMnFeO$_6$ and LaSrMnFeO$_6$ could be suitable materials for room-temperature magnetic refrigeration.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Charge-fluctuations in lightly hole-doped cuprates: effect of vertex corrections

Identification of the electronic state that appears upon doping a Mott insulator is important to understand the physics of cuprate high-temperature superconductors. Recent scanning tunneling microscopy of cuprates provides evidence that a charge-ordered state emerges before the superconducting state upon doping the parent compound. We study this phenomenon by computing the charge response function of the Hubbard model including frequency-dependent local vertex corrections that satisfy the compressibility sum-rule. We find that upon approaching the Mott phase from the overdoped side, the charge fluctuations at wave vectors connecting hot spots are suppressed much faster than at the other wave-vectors. It leads to a momentum dependence of the dressed charge susceptibility that is very different from either the bare susceptibility or from the susceptibility obtained from the random phase approximation. We also find that the paramagnetic lightly hole-doped Mott phase at finite-temperature is unstable to charge ordering only at zero wave-vector, confirming the results previously obtained from the compressibility. Charge order is driven by the frequency-dependent scattering processes that induce an attractive particle-hole interaction at large interaction strength and small doping.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Hall and Faraday effects in interacting multi-band systems with arbitrary band topology and spin-orbit coupling

A formula for the Hall response of interacting multi-band systems with arbitrary band topology and spin-orbit coupling is derived. The formula is valid at finite frequency, which is relevant for Faraday rotation, and it takes into account all particle-hole vertex corrections. The formula includes both three-leg (triangular) and four-leg (rectangular) diagrams. The latter diagrams are absent in the single band case. We show that the rectangular diagrams are necessary to recover the semiclassical formula for the Hall effect from the Kubo formula in the DC limit. They also give the linear response of the anomalous Hall effect to an external magnetic field, an effect which goes beyond the semiclassical theory. Three- and four-particle scatterings are neglected.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Electronic and Magnetic Properties of the Candidate Magnetocaloric-Material Double Perovskites La$_2$MnCoO$_6$, La$_2$MnNiO$_6$ and La$_2$MnFeO$_6$

The search for room-temperature magnetocaloric materials for refrigeration has led to investigations of double perovskites. In particular, a puzzle has appeared in the La$_2$MnNiO$_6$, La$_2$MnCoO$_6$ and La$_2$MnFeO$_6$ family of compounds. They share the same crystal structure, but while La$_2$MnNiO$_6$ and La$_2$MnCoO$_6$ are ferromagnets below room temperature, La$_2$MnFeO$_6$, contrary to simple expectations, is a ferrimagnet. To solve this puzzle, we use density-functional theory calculations to investigate the electronic structure and magnetic exchange interactions of the ordered double perovskites. Our study reveals the critical role played by local electron-electron interaction in the Fe-$d$ orbital to promote the Fe$^{3+}$ valence state with half-filled $d$-shell over Fe$^{2+}$ and to establish a ferrimagnetic ground state for La$_2$MnFeO$_6$. The importance of Hund's coupling and Jahn-Teller distortion on the Mn$^{4+}$ ion is also pointed out. Exchange constants are extracted by comparing different magnetically ordered states. Mean-field and classical Monte-Carlo calculations on the resulting model give trends in $T_C$ that are in agreement with experiments on this family of materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Temperature dependence of NMR Knight shift in pnictides: proximity to a van Hove singularity

The unconventional temperature variation of the Knight shift (static spin susceptibility) that has been observed in Fe-based superconductors AFe$_2$As$_2$ (A = K, Rb, Cs) is explained in terms of proximity to a van Hove singularity. Using the Hubbard model we show that when the Fermi energy is in the vicinity of a van Hove singularity, a downturn in spin susceptibility occurs as the temperature is lowered. This behavior is characterized by a temperature, $T^*$, which is determined by the difference in energy between the Fermi level and the van Hove singularity. When vertex corrections are taken into account in a dynamical mean-field approximation, the effect of correlations amplifies the relative drop in the Knight shift and moves $T^*$ to lower temperatures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Effect of nonsymmorphic space group on correlation functions in iron-based superconductors

The orbital basis is natural when one needs to calculate the effect of local interactions or to unravel the role of orbital physics in the response to external probes. In systems with nonsymmorphic point groups, such as the iron-based superconductors, we show that symmetries that emerge in observable response functions at certain wave vectors are absent from generalized susceptibilities calculated with tight-binding Hamiltonians in the orbital basis. Such symmetries are recovered only when the generalized susceptibilities are embeded back to the continuum using appropriate matrix elements between basis states. This is illustrated with the case of LiFeAs and is further clarified using a minimal tight-binding Hamiltonian with non-symmorphic space group.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Correlation-enhanced odd-parity inter-orbital singlet pairing in the iron-pnictide superconductor LiFeAs

The rich variety of iron-based superconductors and their complex electronic structure lead to a wide range of possibilities for gap symmetry and pairing components. Here we solve in the 2-Fe Brillouin zone the full frequency-dependent linearized Eliashberg equations for LiFeAs with spin-fluctuation mediated pairing interactions. The magnetic excitations are calculated with the random phase approximation on a correlated electronic structure obtained with density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory. Correlations induce long-lived local moments with orbital-dependent dynamics. The interaction between electrons through Hund's coupling promotes inter-orbital magnetic susceptibility. As a consequence, the leading pairing channel, conventional $s^{+-}$, acquires sizeable inter-orbital $d_{xy}-d_{xz(yz)}$ singlet pairing with odd parity under glide-plane symmetry. These components reduce the superconducting gap magnitude induced by the intra-orbital components of the gap function at the electron pockets intersection where the Fe-d $t_{2g}$ orbitals strongly mix. This in turn makes the results consistent with available experiments on the angular dependence of the gaps observed on the different Fermi surfaces.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Nodal versus nodeless superconductivity in iso-electronic LiFeP and LiFeAs

Nodal superconductivity is observed in LiFeP while its counterpart LiFeAs with similar topology and orbital content of the Fermi surfaces is a nodeless superconductor. We explain this difference by solving, in the two-Fe Brillouin zone, the frequency-dependent Eliashberg equations with spin-fluctuation mediated pairing interaction. Because of Fermi surface topology details, in LiFeAs all the Fe-$t_{2g}$ orbitals favor a common pairing symmetry. By contrast, in LiFeP the $d_{xy}$ orbital favors a pairing symmetry different from $d_{xz/yz}$ and their competition determines the pairing symmetry and the strength of the superconducting instability: $d_{xy}$ orbital strongly overcomes the others and imposes the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter. The leading pairing channel is a $d_{xy}$-type state with nodes on both hole and electron Fermi surfaces. As a consequence, the $d_{xz/yz}$ electrons weakly pair leading to a reduced transition temperature in LiFeP.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Electric polarization of Sr$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$: a multiferroic Mott insulator

Ab initio calculations of the electric polarization of correlation-driven insulating materials, namely Mott insulators, have not been possible so far. Using a combination of density functional theory and dynamical-mean-field theory we study the electric polarization of the Mott insulator Sr$_{0.5}$Ba$_{0.5}$MnO$_{3}$. We predict a ferroelectric polarization of $\simeq 16.5 μC/cm^2$ in the high temperature paramagnetic phase and recover the measured value of $\simeq 13.3 μC/cm^2$ in the low temperature antiferromagnetic phase. Our calculations reveal that the driving force for the ferroelectricity, the hybridization between Mn e$_g$ and O p orbitals, is suppressed by correlations, in particular by the Hund coupling and by the onset of magnetic order. They also confirm that the half-filled Mn $t_{2g}$ orbitals give rise to the antiferromagnetic Mott phase. This magnetic ordering leads to changes in the ionic polar displacement and in turn to the electronic polarization. In addition, for a fixed ionic displacement, we find that there is a reduction in the electronic contribution due to partial magnetic polarization of the Mn e$_g$ orbitals. The reduction of the polarization due to ionic displacement dominates over the additional electronic part, hence the net magneto-electric coupling is negative.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Orbital magnetization of correlated electrons with arbitrary band topology

Spin-orbit coupling introduces chirality into electronic structure. This can have profound effects on the magnetization induced by orbital motion of electrons. Here we derive a formula for the orbital magnetization of interacting electrons in terms of the full Green's function and vertex functions. The formula is applied within dynamical mean-field theory to the Kane-Mele-Hubbard model that allows both topological and trivial insulating phases. We study the insulating and metallic phases in the presence of an exchange magnetic field. In the presence of interactions, the orbital magnetization of the quantum spin Hall insulating phase with inversion symmetry is renormalized by the bulk quasi-particle weight. The orbital magnetization vanishes for the in-plane antiferromagnetic phase with trivial topology. In the metallic phase, the enhanced effective spin-orbit coupling due to the interaction sometimes leads to an enhancement of the orbital magnetization. However, at low doping, magnetization is suppressed at large interaction strengths.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2014

Correlation-driven electronic multiferroicity in (TMTTF)$_2$-$X$ organic crystals

Using a combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory we show that electric polarization and magnetism are strongly intertwined in (TMTTF)$_2$-$X$ (X$=$PF$_6$, As$F_6$, and SbF$_6$) organic crystals and they originate from short-range Coulomb interactions. Electronic correlations induce a charge-ordered state which, combined with the molecular dimerization, gives rise to a finite electronic polarization and to a ferroelectric state. We predict that the value of the electronic polarization is enhanced by the onset of antiferromagnetism showing a sizable magnetoelectric leading to a multiferroic behavior of (TMTTF)$_2$-$X$ compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2013

Electric polarization in correlated insulators

We derive a formula for the electric polarization of interacting insulators, expressed in terms of the full Green's and vertex functions. We exemplify this method in the half-filled ionic Hubbard model treated within dynamical mean field theory (DMFT). The electric polarization of a correlated band insulator is determined by the interplay of ionicity and covalency, and both quantities are renormalized by the electron-electron interactions. We introduce quasiparticle approximation to the exact equation for the polarization, and compare the results of this approximation with those of the exact DMFT formulation and of static mean field theories such as the LDA+ U. The latter overestimates the electronic contribution to the electric polarization when the quasiparticle weight of the active bands is very small.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Model of the electron-phonon interaction and optical conductivity of Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$BiO$_3$ superconductors

We investigate the physical properties of the Ba$_{1-x}$K$_x$BiO$_3$ compounds with a focus on the optical properties. Results from the simple Holstein model, describing a single band coupled to an oxygen breathing mode with parameters derived from first principles calculations, are in excellent agreement with a broad range of experimental information. It accounts for an insulating parent compound at $x=0$ %, with a direct- (optical) and an indirect-gap, and a metal insulator transition around $x = 0.38$. Strong electron-phonon coupling leads to spectral weight redistribution over a frequency scale much larger than the characteristic phonon frequency and to strongly anharmonic phonons. We find that the metallic phase in the vicinity of phase boundary is close to the polaronic regime.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Kondo lattice model at half-filling

The single- and two-channel Kondo lattice model consisting of localized spins interacting antiferromagnetically with the itinerent electrons, are studied using dynamical mean field theory. As an impurity solver for the effective single impurity Anderson model we used the exact diagonalization (ED) method. Using ED allowed us to perform calculations for low temperatures and couplings of arbitrary large strength. Our results for the single-channel case confirm and extend the recent investigations. In the two-channel case we find a symmetry breaking phase transition with increasing coupling strength.

cond-mat.str-el↗