arXiv subjects

Ross D. McDonald

Publications and source records attributed to Ross D. McDonald.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Long-range electron coherence in Kagome metals

The wave-like nature of electrons lies at the core of quantum mechanics, distinguishing them from classical particles. Landmark experiments have revealed phase coherence of mobile electrons within solids, such as Aharonov-Bohm interference in mesoscopic rings. However, this coherence is typically limited by numerous environmental interactions. Controlling and ideally mitigating such decoherence remains a central challenge in condensed matter physics. Here, we report magnetoresistance oscillations in mesoscopic pillars of the Kagome metal CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ for fields applied parallel to the Kagome planes. Their periodicity is independent of materials parameters, simply given by the number of flux quanta $h/e$ threading between adjacent Kagome layers akin to an atomic-scale Aharonov-Bohm interferometer. Intriguingly they occur under conditions not favorable for typical interference in solids, at temperatures above 20 K and in micrometer-scale devices well exceeding the single-particle mean free path. Further, the oscillations exhibit non-analytic field-angle dependence and scale consistently with a broad range of key electronic responses in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, pointing to a cooperative mechanism that establishes intrinsic coherence. Our findings provide new insights into the debated origin of correlated order in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ and establish Kagome metals as a promising platform for interaction-stabilized long-range electron coherence - crucial for both fundamental studies and technological advancements in quantum interference in metallic systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Design and Predict Tetragonal van der Waals Layered Quantum Materials of MPd$_5$I$_2$ (M=Ga, In and 3$d$ Transition Metals)

Quantum materials with stacked van der Waals (vdW) layers hosting non-trivial band structure topology and magnetism have shown many interesting properties. Using high throughput density functional theory calculations, we design and predict tetragonal vdW-layered quantum materials in the MPd$_5$I$_2$ structure (M=Ga, In and 3d transition metals). We show that besides the known AlPd$_5$I$_2$, the -MPd$_5$- structural motif of three-atomic-layer slabs separated by two I layers can accommodate a variety of metal atoms giving arise to topologically non-trivial features and highly tunable magnetic properties in both bulk and single layer 2D structures. Among them, TiPd$_5$I$_2$ and InPd$_5$I$_2$ host a pair of Dirac points and likely an additional strong topological insulator state for the band manifolds just above and below the top valence band, respectively, with their single layers hosting or near quantum spin Hall states. CrPd$_5$I$_2$ is a ferromagnet with a large out-of-plane magneto-anisotropy energy, desirable for rare-earth-free permanent magnets.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Quantum oscillations of holes in GaN

GaN has emerged to be a major semiconductor akin to silicon due to its revolutionary impacts in solid state lighting, critically enabled by p-type doping, and high-performance radio-frequency and power electronics. Suffering from inefficient hole doping and low hole mobility, quantum oscillations in p-type GaN have not been observed, hindering fundamental studies of valence bands and hole transport in GaN. Here, we present the first observation of quantum oscillations of holes in GaN. Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) oscillations in hole resistivity are observed in a quantum-confined two-dimensional hole gas at a GaN/AlN interface, where polarization-induced doping overcomes thermal freeze-out, and a sharp and clean interface boosts the hole mobility enough to unmask the quantum oscillations. These holes degenerately occupy the light and heavy hole bands of GaN and have record-high mobilities of ~1900 cm2/Vs and ~400 cm2/Vs at 3K, respectively. We use magnetic fields up to 72 T to resolve SdH oscillations of holes from both valence bands to extract their respective sheet densities, quantum scattering times, and the effective masses of light holes (0.5-0.7 m0) and heavy holes (1.9 m0). SdH oscillations of heavy and light holes in GaN constitute a direct metrology of valence bands and open new venues for quantum engineering in this technologically important semiconductor. Like strained silicon transistors, strain-engineering of the valence bands of GaN is predicted to dramatically improve hole mobilities by reducing the hole effective mass, a proposal that can now be explored experimentally, particularly in a fully fabricated transistor, using quantum oscillations. Furthermore, the findings of this work suggest a blueprint to create 2D hole gases and observe quantum oscillations of holes in related wide bandgap semiconductors such as SiC and ZnO in which such techniques are not yet possible.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Competing electronic ground states in the heavy-fermion superconductor CeRh2As2

CeRh2As2 is rare among superconductors, in that magnetic field tunes it between two distinct superconducting phases. Combined with a lack of local inversion symmetry and an upper critical field exceeding the Pauli paramagnetic limit, this excitingly suggests triplet multicomponent superconductivity. Preceding the superconducting onset, f-electron correlations cause long-range order, attributed both to local antiferromagnetism and itinerant (quadrupole) density-waves. Magnetic field provides a significant perturbation of the f-electron and may reveal the nature of the many-body correlations. Thus, we report comprehensive magnetization and magnetotransport studies on microstructured devices in fields of up to 73 T. Applied along the c-axis, field causes a low-temperature valence transition at μ0H ~ 24 T. By contrast, in-plane fields produce a cascade of phase transitions; the field-induced in-plane conductivity anisotropy and lack of accompanying magnetic features, plus the closed-dome nature of the overall phase boundary is consistent with a hierarchy of field-induced density-wave states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

High-field immiscibility of electrons belonging to adjacent twinned bismuth crystals

Bulk bismuth has a complex Landau spectrum. The small effective masses and the large g-factors are anisotropic. The chemical potential drifts at high magnetic fields. Moreover, twin boundaries further complexify the interpretation of the data by producing extra anomalies in the extreme quantum limit. Here, we present a study of angle dependence of magnetoresistance up to 65 T in bismuth complemented with Nernst, ultrasound, and magneto-optic data. All observed anomalies can be explained in a single-particle picture of a sample consisting of two twinned crystals tilted by 108$^{\circ}$ and with two adjacent crystals keeping their own chemical potentials despite a shift between chemical potentials as large as 68 meV at 65 T. This implies an energy barrier between adjacent twinned crystals reminiscent of a metal-semiconductor Schottky barrier or a p-n junction. We argue that this barrier is built by accumulating charge carriers of opposite signs across a twin boundary.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Sudden adiabaticity entering field-induced state in UTe2

There has been a recent surge of interest in UTe$_2$ due to its unconventional magnetic field (H) reinforced spin-triplet superconducting phases persisting at fields far above the simple Pauli limit for H $\parallel$ [010]. Magnetic fields in excess of 35 T then induce a field-polarized magnetic state via a first-order-like phase transition. More controversially, for field orientations close to H $\parallel$ [011] and above 40 T, electrical resistivity measurements suggest that a further superconducting state may exist. However, no Meissner effect or thermodynamic evidence exists to date for this phase making it difficult to exclude a simple low-resistance metallic state. In this paper, we describe a study using thermal, electrical, and magnetic probes in magnetic fields of up to 55 T applied between the [010] ($b$) and [001] ($c$) directions. Our MHz conductivity data reveal the field-induced state of low or vanishing electrical resistance; simultaneous magnetocaloric effect measurements (i.e. changes in sample temperature due to changing magnetic field), show the first definitive evidence for adiabaticity and thermal behavior characteristic of bulk field-induced superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Defect-driven ferrimagnetism and hidden magnetization in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$

MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ (MBT) materials are promising antiferromagnetic topological insulators where field driven ferromagnetism is predicted to cause a transition between axion insulator and Weyl semimetallic states. However, the presence of antiferromagnetic coupling between Mn/Bi antisite defects and the main Mn layer can reduce the low-field magnetization, and it has been shown that such defects are more prevalent in the structurally identical trivial magnetic insulator MnSb$_2$Te$_4$ (MST). We use high-field magnetization measurements to show that the magnetization of MBT and MST occur in stages and full saturation requires fields of~$\sim$~60 Tesla. As a consequence, the low-field magnetization plateau state in MBT, where many determinations of quantum anomalous Hall state are studied, actually consists of ferrimagnetic septuple blocks containing both a uniform and staggered magnetization component.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Magnetoelastic standing waves induced in UO$_{2}$ by microsecond magnetic field pulses

Magnetoelastic measurements in the piezomagnetic antiferromagnet UO$_{2}$ were performed via the fiber Bragg grating method in magnetic fields up to $150\,\mathrm{T}$ generated by a single-turn coil setup. We show that in short timescales, order of a few micro seconds, pulsed-magnetic fields excite mechanical resonances at temperatures ranging from $10\,\mathrm{K}$ to $300\,\mathrm{K}$, in the paramagnetic as well as within the robust antiferromagnetic state of the material. These resonances, which are barely attenuated within the 100 ms observations, are attributed to the strong magnetoelastic coupling in UO$_{2}$ combined with the high crystallographic quality of the single crystal samples. They compare well with mechanical resonances obtained by a resonant ultrasound technique and superimpose on the known non-monotonic magnetostriction background. A clear phase-shift of $π$ in the lattice oscillations is, unexpectedly, observed in the antiferromagnetic state when the magnetic field overcomes the piezomagnetic switch-field $H_c \simeq -18\,\mathrm{T}$. We further present simulations and a theoretical argument to explain the observed phenomena.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Strong antiferromagnetic proximity coupling in a heterostructured superconductor Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs

We report observation of strong magnetic proximity coupling in a heterostructured superconductor Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs, determined by the upper critical fields $H_{c2}(T)$ measurements up to 65 T. Using the resistivity and the radio-frequency measurements for both $H \parallel ab$ and $H \parallel c$, we found a strong upward curvature of $H_{c2}^c(T)$, together with a steep increase of $H_{c2}^{ab}(T)$ near $T_c$, yielding the anisotropic factor $γ_H=H_{c2}^{ab}/H_{c2}^c$ up to $\sim$ 20, the largest value among iron-based superconductors. These are attributed to the Jaccarino-Peter effect, rather than to the multiband effect, due to strong exchange interaction between itinerant Fe spins of the FeAs layers and localized V spins of Mott-insulating SrVO$_3$ layers. These findings provide evidence for strong antiferromagnetic proximity coupling, comparable with the intralayer superexchange interaction of SrVO$_3$ layer and sufficient to induce magnetic frustration in Sr$_2$VO$_3$FeAs.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Hard antinodal gap revealed by quantum oscillations in the pseudogap regime of underdoped high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductors

An understanding of the missing antinodal electronic excitations in the pseudogap state is essential for uncovering the physics of the underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors. The majority of high temperature experiments performed thus far, however, have been unable to discern whether the antinodal states are rendered unobservable due to their damping, or whether they vanish due to their gapping. Here we distinguish between these two scenarios by using quantum oscillations to examine whether the small Fermi surface pocket, found to occupy only 2% of the Brillouin zone in the underdoped cuprates, exists in isolation against a majority of completely gapped density of states spanning the antinodes, or whether it is thermodynamically coupled to a background of ungapped antinodal states. We find that quantum oscillations associated with the small Fermi surface pocket exhibit a signature sawtooth waveform characteristic of an isolated two-dimensional Fermi surface pocket. This finding reveals that the antinodal states are destroyed by a hard gap that extends over the majority of the Brillouin zone, placing strong constraints on a drastic underlying origin of quasiparticle disappearance over almost the entire Brillouin zone in the pseudogap regime.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Scale-Invariance of a Spin Liquid in High Magnetic Fields

In RuCl$_3$, inelastic neutron scattering and Raman spectroscopy reveal a continuum of non-spin-wave excitations that persists to high temperature, suggesting the presence of a spin liquid state on a honeycomb lattice. In the context of the Kitaev model, magnetic fields introduce finite interactions between the elementary excitations, and thus the effects of high magnetic fields - comparable to the spin exchange energy scale - must be explored. Here we report measurements of the magnetotropic coefficient - the second derivative of the free energy with respect to magnetic field orientation - over a wide range of magnetic fields and temperatures. We find that magnetic field and temperature compete to determine the magnetic response in a way that is independent of the large intrinsic exchange interaction energy. This emergent scale-invariant magnetic anisotropy provides evidence for a high degree of exchange frustration that favors the formation of a spin liquid state in RuCl$_3$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Scale-invariant magnetic anisotropy in RuCl$_3$ at high magnetic fields

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Extent of Fermi-surface reconstruction in the high-temperature superconductor HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$

High magnetic fields have revealed a surprisingly small Fermi-surface in underdoped cuprates, possibly resulting from Fermi-surface reconstruction due to an order parameter that breaks translational symmetry of the crystal lattice. A crucial issue concerns the doping extent of this state and its relationship to the principal pseudogap and superconducting phases. We employ pulsed magnetic field measurements on the cuprate HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+δ}$ to identify signatures of Fermi surface reconstruction from a sign change of the Hall effect and a peak in the temperature-dependent planar resistivity. We trace the termination of Fermi-surface reconstruction to two hole concentrations where the superconducting upper critical fields are found to be enhanced. One of these points is associated with the pseudogap end-point near optimal doping. These results connect the Fermi-surface reconstruction to both superconductivity and the pseudogap phenomena.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

The strange metal Hall effect connects quantum criticality and superconductivity in an iron-based superconductor

Many unconventional superconductors exhibit a common set of anomalous charge transport properties that characterize them as `strange metals', which provides hope that there is single theory that describes them. However, model-independent connections between the strange metal and superconductivity have remained elusive. In this letter, we show that the Hall effect of the unconventional superconductor BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ contains an anomalous contribution arising from the correlations within the strange metal. This term has a distinctive dependence on magnetic field, which allows us to track its behavior across the doping-temperature phase diagram, even under the superconducting dome. These measurements demonstrate that the strange metal Hall component emanates from a quantum critical point and, in the zero temperature limit, decays in proportion to the superconducting critical temperature. This creates a clear and novel connection between quantum criticality and superconductivity, and suggests that similar connections exist in other strange metal superconductors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Dirac fermions and flat bands in the ideal kagome metal FeSn

The kagome lattice based on 3d transition metals is a versatile platform for novel topological phases hosting symmetry-protected electronic excitations and exotic magnetic ground states. However, the paradigmatic states of the idealized two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice - Dirac fermions and topological flat bands - have not been simultaneously observed, partly owing to the complex stacking structure of the kagome compounds studied to date. Here, we take the approach of examining FeSn, an antiferromagnetic single-layer kagome metal with spatially-decoupled kagome planes. Using polarization- and termination-dependent angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we detect the momentum-space signatures of coexisting flat bands and Dirac fermions in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. Intriguingly, when complemented with bulk-sensitive de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements, our data reveal an even richer electronic structure that exhibits robust surface Dirac fermions on specific crystalline terminations. Through band structure calculations and matrix element simulations, we demonstrate that the bulk Dirac bands arise from in-plane localized Fe-3d orbitals under kagome symmetry, while the surface state realizes a rare example of fully spin-polarized 2D Dirac fermions when combined with spin-layer locking in FeSn. These results highlight FeSn as a prototypical host for the emergent excitations of the kagome lattice. The prospect to harness these excitations for novel topological phases and spintronic devices is a frontier of great promise at the confluence of topology, magnetism, and strongly-correlated electron physics.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Magnetoelastic coupling in URu2Si2: Probing multipolar correlations in the hidden order state

Time reversal symmetry and magnetoelastic correlations are probed by means of high-resolution volume dilatometry in URu2Si2 at cryogenic temperatures and magnetic fields more than enough to suppress the hidden order state at H_HO(T = 0.66 K) approximately 35 T. We report a significant crystal lattice volume expansion at and above H_HO(T), and even above T_HO, possibly a consequence of field-induced f-electron localization, and hysteresis at some high field phase boundaries that confirm volume involvement. We investigate in detail the magnetostriction and magnetization as the temperature is reduced over two decades from 50 K where the system is paramagnetic, to 0.5 K in the realms of the hidden order state. We find a dominant quadratic-in-field dependence delta L/L proportional to H^2, a result consistent with a state that is symmetric under time reversal. The data shows, however, an incipient yet unmistakable asymptotic approach to linear (delta L/L proportional to 1-H/H_0) for 15 T < H < H_HO(0.66 K) approximately 35 T at the lowest temperatures. We discuss these results in the framework of a Ginzburg-Landau formalism that proposes a complex order parameter for the HO to model the (H,T,p) phase diagram.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Magnetic anisotropy of the alkali iridate Na$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$ at high magnetic fields: evidence for strong ferromagnetic Kitaev correlations

The magnetic field response of the Mott-insulating honeycomb iridate Na$_{2}$IrO$_{3}$ is investigated using torque magnetometry measurements in magnetic fields up to 60 tesla. A peak-dip structure is observed in the torque response at magnetic fields corresponding to an energy scale close to the zigzag ordering ($\approx 15~K$) temperature. Using exact diagonalization calculations, we show that such a distinctive signature in the torque response constrains the effective spin models for these classes of Kitaev materials to ones with dominant ferromagnetic Kitaev interactions, while alternative models with dominant antiferromagnetic Kitaev interactions are excluded. We further show that at high magnetic fields, long range spin correlation functions decay rapidly, signaling a transition to a long-sought-after field-induced quantum spin liquid beyond the peak-dip structure. Kitaev systems are thus revealed to be excellent candidates for field-induced quantum spin liquids, similar physics having been suggested in another Kitaev material $α-$RuCl$_{3}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

de Haas-van Alphen effect of correlated Dirac states in kagome metal Fe3Sn2

The field of topological electronic materials has seen rapid growth in recent years, in particular with the increasing number of weakly interacting systems predicted and observed to host topologically non-trivial bands. Given the broad appearance of topology in such systems, it is expected that correlated electronic systems should also be capable of hosting topologically non-trivial states. Interest in correlated platforms is heightened by the prospect that collective behavior therein may give rise to new types of topological states and phenomena not possible in non-interacting systems. However, to date only a limited number of correlated topological materials have been definitively reported due to both the challenge in calculation of their electronic properties and the experimental complexity of correlation effects imposed on the topological aspects of their electronic structure. Here, we report a de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) study of the recently discovered kagome metal Fe$_3$Sn$_2$ mapping the massive Dirac states strongly coupled to the intrinsic ferromagnetic order. We observe a pair of quasi-two-dimensional Fermi surfaces arising from the massive Dirac states previously detected by spectroscopic probes and show that these band areas and effective masses are systematically modulated by the rotation of the ferromagnetic moment. Combined with measurements of Berry curvature induced Hall conductivity, we find that along with the Dirac fermion mass, velocity, and energy are suppressed with rotation of the moment towards the kagome plane. These observations demonstrate that strong coupling of magnetic order to electronic structure similar to that observed in elemental ferromagnets can be extended to topologically non-trivial electronic systems, suggesting pathways for connecting topological states to robust spintronic technologies.

cond-mat.str-el↗