arXiv subjects

S. Ghimire

Publications and source records attributed to S. Ghimire.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Electron irradiation reveals robust fully gapped superconductivity in LaNiGa$_{2}$

The effects of 2.5 MeV electron irradiation were studied in the superconducting phase of single crystals of LaNiGa$_2$, using measurements of electrical transport and radio-frequency magnetic susceptibility. The London penetration depth is found to vary exponentially with temperature, suggesting a fully gapped Fermi surface. The inferred superfluid density is close to that of a single-gap weak-coupling isotropic $s-$wave superconductor. Superconductivity is extremely robust against nonmagnetic point-like disorder induced by electron irradiation. Our results place strong constraints on the previously proposed triplet pairing state by requiring fine-tuned impurity scattering amplitudes and are most naturally explained by a sign-preserving, weak-coupling, and approximately momentum independent singlet superconducting state in LaNiGa$_2$, which does not break time-reversal symmetry. We discuss how our findings could be reconciled with previous measurements indicating magnetic moments in the superconducting phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Possible unconventional order parameter in single crystals of SrPt$_3$P superconductor

Anisotropic properties of single crystals of SrPt$_{3}$P were studied using London penetration depth and electrical resistivity measurements. The upper critical field, $H_{c2}(T)$, was determined from four-probe electrical resistivity measurements for three orthogonal directions of a magnetic field with respect to the crystal. The London penetration depth, $λ(T)$, was determined from the magnetic susceptibility of the Meissner-London state measured using a tunnel-diode resonator technique. Whereas $H_{c2}(T)$ and the normal-state $ρ(T)$ are practically identical for all three magnetic field orientations, the London penetration depth shows significant unidirectional anisotropy. The low-temperature $λ(T)$ is exponentially attenuated when a small excitation radiofrequency magnetic field, $H_{rf}$, is applied along the $c"-$direction, in which case screening currents flow in the $a"b"-$ plane, while for the other two orientations, $H_{rf}\parallel a"$ and $H_{rf}\parallel b"$, the London penetration depth shows a much weaker, $λ(T)\sim T^{2}$, variation. Such unusual and contrasting behavior of the two anisotropies, $γ_{H}\left(T\right)=H_{c2,ab}/H_{c2,c}=ξ_{ab}/ξ_{c}$ and $γ_λ\left(T\right)=λ_{c}/λ_{ab}$, imposes significant constraints on the possible order parameter. Although our measurements are insufficient to derive conclusively the superconducting gap anisotropy, qualitatively, order parameter with two point nodes and a modulation in the perpendicular direction is consistent with the experimental observations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Possible unconventional pairing in $(\text{Ca,Sr})_{3}(\text{Ir,Rh})_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$ superconductors revealed by controlling disorder

We study the evolution of temperature-dependent resistivity with controlled point-like disorder induced by 2.5 MeV electron irradiation in stoichiometric compositions of the "3-4-13" stannides, $(\text{Ca,Sr})_{3}(\text{Ir,Rh})_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$.Three of these cubic compounds exhibit a microscopic coexistence of charge-density wave (CDW) order and superconductivity (SC), while $\text{Ca}_{3}\text{Rh}_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$ does not develop CDW order. As expected, the CDW transition temperature, $T_{\text{CDW}}$, is universally suppressed by irradiation in all three compositions. The superconducting transition temperature, $T_{c}$, behaves in a more complex manner. In $\text{Sr}_{3}\text{Rh}_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$, it increases initially in a way consistent with a direct competition of CDW and SC, but quickly saturates at higher irradiation doses. In the other three compounds, $T_{c}$ is monotonically suppressed by irradiation. The strongest suppression is found in $\text{Ca}_{3}\text{Rh}_{4}\text{Sn}_{13}$, which does not have CDW order. We further examine this composition by measuring the London penetration depth, $λ(T)$, from which we derive the superfluid density. The result unambiguously points to a weak-coupling, full single gap, isotropic superconducting state. Therefore, we must explain two seemingly incompatible experimental observations: a single isotropic superconducting gap and a significant suppression of $T_{c}$ by non-magnetic disorder. We conduct a quantitative theoretical analysis based on a generalized Anderson theorem which points to an unconventional multiband $s^{+-}$-pairing state where the sign of the order parameter is different on one (or a small subset) of the smaller Fermi surface sheets, but remains overall fully-gapped.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Ultrafast modification of the electronic structure of a correlated insulator

A non-trivial balance between Coulomb repulsion and kinematic effects determines the electronic structure of correlated electron materials. The use electromagnetic fields strong enough to rival these native microscopic interactions allows us to study the electronic response as well as the timescales and energies involved in using quantum effects for possible applications. We use element-specific transient x-ray absorption spectroscopy and high-harmonic generation to measure the response to ultrashort off-resonant optical fields in the prototypical correlated electron insulator NiO. Surprisingly, fields of up to 0.22 V/Å leads to no detectable changes on the correlated Ni 3d-orbitals contrary to previous predictions. A transient directional charge transfer is uncovered, a behavior that is captured by first-principles theory. Our results highlight the importance of retardation effects in electronic screening, and pinpoints a key challenge in functionalizing correlated materials for ultrafast device operation.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Multi-band $s_{++}$ superconductivity in $\textrm{V}_{3}\textrm{Si}$ determined from the response to a controlled disorder

The London penetration depth, $λ(T)$, was measured in a single crystal V$_{3}$Si. The superfluid density obtained from this measurement shows a distinct signature of two almost decoupled superconducting gaps. This alone is insufficient to distinguish between $s_{\pm}$ and $s_{++}$ pairing states, but it can be achieved by studying the effect of a controlled non-magnetic disorder on the superconducting transition temperature, $T_{c}$. For this purpose, the same $\text{V}_{3}\text{Si}$ crystal was sequentially irradiated by 2.5 MeV electrons three times, repeating the measurement between the irradiation runs. A total dose of 10 C/cm$^{2}$ ($6.24\times10^{19}$ electrons/$\textrm{cm}^{2}$) was accumulated, for which $T_{c}$ has changed from 16.4 K in a pristine state to 14.7 K (9.3 $\%$). This substantial suppression is impossible for a single isotropic gap, but also it is not large enough for a sign-changing $s_{\pm}$ pairing state. Our electronic band-structure calculations show how five bands crossing the Fermi energy can be naturally grouped to support two effective gaps, not dissimilar from the iron pnictides physics. We analyze the results using two-gap models for both, $λ(T)$ and $T_{c}$, which describe the data very well. Thus, the experimental results and theoretical analysis provide strong support for an $s_{++}$ superconductivity with two unequal gaps, $Δ_{1}\left(0\right)\approx2.53\;\textrm{meV}$ and $Δ_{2}\left(0\right)\approx1.42\;\textrm{meV}$, and a very weak inter-band coupling in $\text{V}_{3}\text{Si}$ superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Intermediate scattering potential strength in electron-irradiated $\text{YBa}_{2}\text{Cu}_{3}\text{O}_{7-δ}$ from London penetration depth measurements

Temperature-dependent London penetration depth, $λ(T)$, of a high quality optimally-doped $\text{YBa}_{2}\text{Cu}_{3}\text{O}_{7-δ}$ single crystal was measured using tunnel-diode resonator. Controlled artificial disorder was induced at low-temperature of 20~K by 2.5 MeV electron irradiation at accumulating large doses of $3.8\times10^{19}$ and $5.3\times10^{19}$ electrons per $\textrm{cm}^{2}$. The irradiation caused significant suppression of the superconductor's critical temperature, $T_{c}$, from 94.6 K to 90.0 K, and then to 78.7 K, respectively. The low-temperature behavior of $λ\left(T\right)$ evolves from a $T-$linear in pristine state to a $T^{2}-$behavior after the irradiation, expected for a line-nodal $d-$wave superconductor. However, the original theory that explained such behavior had assumed a unitary limit of the scattering potential, whereas usually in normal metals and semiconductors, Born scattering is sufficient to describe the experiment. To estimate the scattering potential strength, we calculated the normalized superfluid density, $ρ_{s}\left(t=T/T_{c}\right)=λ^{2}\left(0\right)/λ^{2}\left(t\right)$, varying the amount and the strength of non-magnetic scattering using a self-consistent $t-$matrix theory. Fitting the obtained curves to a power-law, $ρ_{s}=1-Rt^{n}$, and to a polynomial, $ρ_{s}=1-At-Bt^{2}$, and comparing the coefficients $n$ in one set, and $A$ and $B$ in another with the experimental values, we estimate the phase shift to be around 70$^{\circ}$ and 65$^{\circ}$, respectively. We correlate this result with the evolution of the density of states with non-magnetic disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Analysis of the London penetration depth in Ni-doped CaKFe4As4

We report combined experimental and theoretical analysis of superconductivity in CaK(Fe$_{1-x}$Ni$_x$)$_4$As$_4$ (CaK1144) for $x=$0, 0.017 and 0.034. To obtain the superfluid density, $ρ=\left(1+Δλ_L(T)/λ_L(0) \right)^{-2}$, the temperature dependence of the London penetration depth, $Δλ_L (T)$, was measured by using tunnel-diode resonator (TDR) and the results agreed with the microwave coplanar resonator (MWR) with the small differences accounted for by considering a three orders of magnitude higher frequency of MWR. The absolute value of $λ_L (T \ll T_c) \approx λ_L(0)$ was measured by using MWR, $λ_L (\mathrm{5~K}) \approx 170 \pm 20$ nm, which agreed well with the NV-centers in diamond optical magnetometry that gave $λ_L (\mathrm{5~K}) \approx 196 \pm 12$ nm. The experimental results are analyzed within the Eliashberg theory, showing that the superconductivity of CaK1144 is well described by the nodeless s$_{\pm}$ order parameter and that upon Ni doping the interband interaction increases.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Multiple Fourier Component Analysis of X-ray Second Harmonic Generation in Diamond

The unprecedented brilliance of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFELs) [1, 2] has enabled first studies of nonlinear interactions in the hard X-ray range. In particular, X-ray-optical mixing [3], X-ray second harmonic generation (XSHG) [4] and nonlinear Compton scattering (NLCS) [5] have been recently observed for the first time using XFELs. The former two experiments as well as X-ray parametric downconversion (XPDC)[6, 7] are well explained by nonlinearities in the impulse approximation[8], where electrons in a solid target are assumed to be quasi free for X-ray interactions far from atomic resonances. However, the energy of the photons generated in NLCS at intensities reaching up to 4 x 1020 W/cm2 exhibit an anomalous red-shift that is in violation with the free-electron model. Here we investigate the underlying physics of X-ray nonlinear interactions at intensities on order of 1016 W/cm2. Specifically, we perform a systematic study of XSHG in diamond. While one phase-matching geometry has been measured in Shwartz et al.[4], we extend these studies to multiple Fourier components and with significantly higher statistics, which allows us to determine the second order nonlinear structure factor. We measure the efficiency, angular dependence, and contributions from different source terms of the process. We find good agreement of our measurements with the quasi-free electron model.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2013

Direct measurement of time-dependent density-density correlations in a solid through the acoustic analog of the dynamical Casimir effect

The macroscopic characteristics of a solid, such as its thermal, optical or transport properties are determined by the available microscopic states above its lowest energy level. These slightly higher quantum states are described by elementary excitations and dictate the response of the system under external stimuli. The spectrum of these excitations, obtained typically from inelastic neutron and x-ray scattering, is the spatial and temporal Fourier transform of the density-density correlation function of the system, which dictates how a perturbation propagates in space and time. As frequency-domain measurements do not generally contain phase information, time-domain measurements of these fluctuations could yield a more direct method for investigating the excitations of solids and their interactions both in equilibrium and far-from equilibrium. Here we show that the diffuse scattering of femtosecond x-ray pulses produced by a free electron laser (FEL) can directly measure these density-density correlations due to lattice vibrations in the time domain. We obtain spectroscopic information of the lattice excitations with unprecedented momentum- and frequency- resolution, without resolving the energy of the outgoing photon. Correlations are created via an acoustic analog of the dynamical Casimir effect, where a femtosecond laser pulse slightly quenches the phonon frequencies, producing pairs of squeezed phonons at momenta +q and -q. These pairs of phonons manifest as macroscopic, time-dependent coherences in the displacement correlations that are then probed directly by x-ray scattering. Since the time-dependent correlations are preferentially created in regions of strong electron-phonon coupling, the time-resolved approach is natural as a spectroscopic tool of low energy collective excitations in solids, and their microscopic interactions, both in linear response and beyond.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗