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S. M. Hayden

Publications and source records attributed to S. M. Hayden.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2024

Impact of electron correlations on two-particle charge response in electron- and hole-doped cuprates

Estimating many-body effects that deviate from an independent particle approach, has long been a key research interest in condensed matter physics. Layered cuprates are prototypical systems, where electron-electron interactions are found to strongly affect the dynamics of single-particle excitations. It is however, still unclear how the electron correlations influence charge excitations, such as plasmons, which have been variously treated with either weak or strong correlation models. In this work, we demonstrate the hybridised nature of collective valence charge fluctuations leading to dispersing acoustic-like plasmons in hole-doped La$_{1.84}$Sr$_{0.16}$CuO$_{4}$ and electron-doped La$_{1.84}$Ce$_{0.16}$CuO$_{4}$ using the two-particle probe, resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. We then describe the plasmon dispersions in both systems, within both the weak mean-field Random Phase Approximation (RPA) and strong coupling $t$-$J$-$V$ models. The $t$-$J$-$V$ model, which includes the correlation effects implicitly, accurately describes the plasmon dispersions as resonant excitations outside the single-particle intra-band continuum. In comparison, a quantitative description of the plasmon dispersion in the RPA approach is obtained only upon explicit consideration of re-normalized electronic band parameters. Our comparative analysis shows that electron correlations significantly impact the low-energy plasmon excitations across the cuprate doping phase diagram, even at long wavelengths. Thus, complementary information on the evolution of electron correlations, influenced by the rich electronic phases in condensed matter systems, can be extracted through the study of two-particle charge response.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2023

Spin fluctuations associated with the collapse of the pseudogap in a cuprate superconductor

Theories of the origin of superconductivity in cuprates are dependent on an understanding of their normal state which exhibits various competing orders. Transport and thermodynamic measurements on La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ show signatures of a quantum critical point, including a peak in the electronic specific heat $C$ versus doping $p$, near the doping $p^{\star}$ where the pseudogap collapses. The fundamental nature of the fluctuations associated with this peak is unclear. Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to show that close to $T_c$ and near $p^{\star}$, there are very-low-energy collective spin excitations with characteristic energies $\hbar Γ\approx$~5 meV. Cooling and applying a 8.8~T magnetic field creates a mixed state with a stronger magnetic response below 10~meV. We conclude that the low-energy spin-fluctuations are due to the collapse of the pseudogap combined with an underlying tendency to magnetic order. We show that the large specific heat near $p^{\star}$ can be understood in terms of collective spin fluctuations. The spin fluctuations we measure exist across the superconducting phase diagram and may be related to the strange metal behaviour observed in overdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2023

High-energy spin waves in the spin-1 square-lattice antiferromagnet La$_2$NiO$_4$

Inelastic neutron scattering is used to study the magnetic excitations of the $S=1$ square-lattice antiferromagnet La$_2$NiO$_4$. We find that the spin waves cannot be described by a simple classical (harmonic) Heisenberg model with only nearest-neighbor interactions. The spin-wave dispersion measured along the antiferromagnetic Brillouin-zone boundary shows a minimum energy at the $(1/2,0)$ position as is observed in some $S=1/2$ square-lattice antiferromagnets. Thus, our results suggest that the quantum dispersion renormalization effects or longer-range exchange interactions observed in cuprates and other $S=1/2$ square-lattice antiferromagnets are also present in La$_2$NiO$_4$. We also find that the overall intensity of the spin-wave excitations is suppressed relative to linear spin-wave theory indicating that covalency is important. Two-magnon scattering is also observed.

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arXiv2023

Spin-density-wave order controlled by uniaxial stress in CeAuSb$_2$

The tetragonal heavy-fermion compound CeAuSb$_2$ (space group $P4/nmm$) exhibits incommensurate spin density wave (SDW) order below $T_{N}\approx6.5~K$ with the propagation vector $\mathbf{q}_A = (δ_A,δ_A,1/2)$. The application of uniaxial stress along the [010] direction induces a sudden change in the resistivity ratio $ρ_a/ρ_b$ at a compressive strain of $ε\approx -0.5$\%. Here we use neutron scattering to show that the uniaxial stress induces a first-order transition to a SDW state with a different propagation vector $(0,δ_B,1/2)$ with $δ_B=0.25$. The magnetic structure of the new (B) phase consists of Ce layers with ordered moments alternating with layers with zero moment stacked along the $c$-axis. The ordered layers have an up-up-down-down configuration along the $b$-axis. This is an unusual situation in which the loss of spatial inversion is driven by the magnetic order. We argue that the change in SDW wavevector leads to Fermi surface reconstruction and a concomitant change in the transport properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2023

Interplay between atomic fluctuations and charge density waves in La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$

In the cuprate superconductors, the spatial coherence of the charge density wave (CDW) state grows rapidly below a characteristic temperature $T_\mathrm{CDW}$, the nature of which is debated. We have combined a set of x-ray scattering techniques to study La$_{1.88}$Sr$_{0.12}$CuO$_{4}$ ($T_\mathrm{CDW}$~$\approx$~80\,K) to shed light on this discussion. We observe the emergence of a crystal structure, which is consistent with the CDW modulation in symmetry, well above $T_\mathrm{CDW}$. This global structural change also induces strong fluctuations of local atomic disorder in the intermediate temperature region. At $T_\mathrm{CDW}$, the temperature dependence of this structure develops a kink, while the atomic disorder is minimized. We find that the atomic relaxation dynamics cross over from a cooperative to an incoherent response at $T_\mathrm{CDW}$. These results reveal a rich interplay between the CDWs and atomic fluctuations of distinct spatio-temporal scales. For example, the CDW coherence is enhanced on quasi-elastic timescales by incoherent atomic relaxation.

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arXiv2021

Magnetic-field-controlled spin fluctuations and quantum criticality in Sr3Ru2O7

When the transition temperature of a continuous phase transition is tuned to absolute zero, new ordered phases and physical behaviour emerge in the vicinity of the resulting quantum critical point. Sr3Ru2O7 can be tuned through quantum criticality with magnetic field at low temperature. Near its critical field Bc it displays the hallmark T-linear resistivity and a T log(1/T) electronic heat capacity behaviour of strange metals. However, these behaviours have not been related to any critical fluctuations. Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to reveal the presence of collective spin fluctuations whose relaxation time and strength show a nearly singular variation with magnetic field as Bc is approached. The large increase in the electronic heat capacity and entropy near Bc can be understood quantitatively in terms of the scattering of conduction electrons by these spin-fluctuations. On entering the spin density wave (SDW) phase present near Bc, the fluctuations become stronger suggesting that the SDW order is stabilised through an "order-by-disorder" mechanism.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2021

Charge density waves and Fermi-surface reconstruction in the clean overdoped cuprate superconductor Tl2Ba2CuO6+x

Hall effect and quantum oscillation measurements on high temperature cuprate superconductors show that underdoped compositions have a small Fermi surface pocket whereas when heavily overdoped, the pocket increases dramatically in size. The origin of this change in electronic structure has been unclear, but may be related to the high temperature superconductivity. Here we show that the clean overdoped single-layer cuprate Tl2Ba2CuO6+x (Tl2201) displays CDW order with a remarkably long correlation length $ξ\approx 200$ Å which disappears above a hole concentration p_CDW ~ 0.265. We show that the evolution of the electronic properties of Tl2201 as the doping is lowered may be explained by a Fermi surface reconstruction which accompanies the emergence of the CDW below p_CDW. Our results demonstrate importance of CDW correlations in understanding the electronic properties of overdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2020

Detection of Acoustic Plasmons in Hole-Doped Lanthanum and Bismuth Cuprate Superconductors Using Resonant Inelastic X-Ray Scattering

High Tc superconductors show a rich variety of phases associated with their charge degrees of freedom. Valence charges can give rise to charge ordering or acoustic plasmons in these layered cuprate superconductors. While charge ordering has been observed for both hole- and electron-doped cuprates, acoustic plasmons have only been found in electron-doped materials. Here, we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) to observe the presence of acoustic plasmons in two families of hole-doped cuprate superconductors [La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) and Bi2Sr1.6La0.4CuO6+d (Bi2201)], crucially completing the picture. Interestingly, in contrast to the quasi-static charge ordering which manifests at both Cu and O sites, the observed acoustic plasmons are predominantly associated with the O sites, revealing a unique dichotomy in the behaviour of valence charges in hole-doped cuprates.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Dynamical spin susceptibility in La2CuO4 studied by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

Resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) is a powerful probe of elementary excitations in solids. It is now widely applied to study magnetic excitations. However, its complex cross-section means that RIXS has been more difficult to interpret than inelastic neutron scattering (INS). Here we report high-resolution RIXS measurements of magnetic excitations of La2CuO4, the antiferromagnetic parent of one system of high-temperature superconductors. At high energies (~2 eV), the RIXS spectra show angular-dependent dd orbital excitations which are found to be in good agreement with single-site multiplet calculations. At lower energies (<0.3 eV), we show that the wavevector-dependent RIXS intensities are proportional to the product of the single-ion spin-flip cross section and the dynamical susceptibility of the spin-wave excitations. When the spin-flip crosssection is dividing out, the RIXS magnon intensities show a remarkable resemblance to INS data. Our results show that RIXS is a quantitative probe the dynamical spin susceptibility in cuprate and therefore should be used for quantitative investigation of other correlated electron materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2020

Reduction of the spin susceptibility in the superconducting state of Sr2RuO4 observed by polarized neutron scattering

Recent observations [A.~Pustogow et al. Nature 574, 72 (2019)] of a drop of the $^{17}$O nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) Knight shift in the superconducting state of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ challenged the popular picture of a chiral odd-parity paired state in this compound. Here we use polarized neutron scattering to show that there is a $34 \pm 6$ % drop in the magnetic susceptibility at the ruthenium site below the superconducting transition temperature. Measurements are made at lower fields $H \sim \tfrac{1}{3} H_{c2}$ than a previous study allowing the suppression to be observed. Our results are consistent with the recent NMR observations and rule out the chiral odd-parity $\mathbf{d}=\hat{\mathbf{z}}(k_x\pm ik_y)$ state. The observed susceptibility is consistent with several recent proposals including even-parity $B_{1g}$ and odd-parity helical states.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2020

Spatially Inhomogeneous Competition between Superconductivity and the Charge Density Wave in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.67}$

The charge density wave in the high-temperature superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-x}$ (YBCO) is now known to have two different ordering tendencies differentiated by their $c$-axis correlations. These correspond to ferro- (F-CDW) and antiferro- (AF-CDW) couplings between CDW in neighbouring CuO$_2$ bilayers. This discovery has prompted a number of fundamental questions. For example, how does superconductivity adjust to two competing orders and are either of these orders responsible for the electronic reconstruction? Here we use high-energy x-ray diffraction to study YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.67}$ as a function of magnetic field and temperature. We show that regions of the sample with F-CDW correlations suppress superconductivity more strongly than those with AF-CDW correlations. This implies that an inhomogeneous superconducting state exists, in which some regions show a weak or fragile form of superconductivity. By comparison of F-CDW and AF-CDW correlation lengths, it is furthermore concluded that F-CDW ordering is sufficiently long-range to modify the electronic structure. Our study thus suggests that F-CDW correlations have an important impact on superconducting and normal state properties of underdoped YBCO.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2019

Anisotropic damping of the spin fluctuations in doped La2-xSrxCuO4 studied by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering

We report high-resolution resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements of the collective spin fluctuations in three compositions of the superconducting cuprate system La2-xSrxCuO4. We have mapped out the excitations throughout much of the 2-D (h,k) Brillouin zone. The spin fluctuations in La2-xSrxCuO4 are found to be fairly well-described by a damped harmonic oscillator model, thus our data allows us to determine the full wavevector dependence of the damping parameter. This parameter increases with doping and is largest along the (h, h) line, where it is peaked near (0.2,0.2). We have used a new procedure to determine the absolute wavevector-dependent susceptibility for the doped compositions La2-xSrxCuO4 (x=0.12,0.16) by normalising our data to La2CuO4 measurements made with inelastic neutron scattering (INS). We find that the evolution with doping of the intensity of high-energy excitations measured by RIXS and INS is consistent. For the doped compositions, the wavevector-dependent susceptibility is much larger at (1/4,1/4) than at (1/2,0). It increases rapidly along the (h,h) line towards the antiferromagnetic wavevector of the parent compound (1/2,1/2). Thus, the strongest magnetic excitations, and those predicted to favour superconductive pairing, occur towards the (1/2,1/2) position as observed by INS.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2019

Link between magnetism and resistivity upturn in cuprates: a thermal conductivity study of La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$

A key unexplained feature of cuprate superconductors is the upturn in their normal state electrical resistivity $ρ(T)$ seen at low temperature inside the pseudogap phase. We examined this issue via measurements of the thermal conductivity $κ(T)$ down to 50 mK and in fields up to 17 T on the cuprate La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ at dopings $p = 0.13$, 0.136, 0.143 and 0.18. At $p$ = 0.136, 0.143, and 0.18, we observe an initial increase of the electronic thermal conductivity $κ_0/T$ as a function of field, as expected in a $d$-wave superconductor. For $p$ = 0.136 and 0.143, further increasing the field then leads to a decrease of $κ_0/T$, which correlates with the onset of spin density-wave order as observed in neutron scattering experiments on the same samples. This decrease of $κ_0/T$ with field is imposed by the Wiedemann-Franz law and the high value of the resistivity in the high-field normal state of these samples. Our study therefore provides a direct link between magnetism and the resistivity upturn in the pseudogap phase of cuprates. We discuss this scenario in the broader context of other cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2019

Band Structure of Overdoped Cuprate Superconductors: Density Functional Theory Matching Experiments

A comprehensive angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the band structure in single layer cuprates is presented with the aim of uncovering universal trends across different materials. Five different hole- and electron-doped cuprate superconductors (La$_{1.59}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_{0.21}$CuO$_4$, La$_{1.77}$Sr$_{0.23}$CuO$_4$, Bi$_{1.74}$Pb$_{0.38}$Sr$_{1.88}$CuO$_{6+δ}$, Tl$_{2}$Ba$_{2}$CuO$_{6+δ}$, and Pr$_{1.15}$La$_{0.7}$Ce$_{0.15}$CuO$_{4}$) have been studied with special focus on the bands with predominately $d$-orbital character. Using light polarization analysis, the $e_g$ and $t_{2g}$ bands are identified across these materials. A clear correlation between the $d_{3z^2-r^2}$ band energy and the apical oxygen distance $d_\mathrm{A}$ is demonstrated. Moreover, the compound dependence of the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ band bottom and the $t_{2g}$ band top is revealed. Direct comparison to density functional theory (DFT) calculations employing hybrid exchange-correlation functionals demonstrates excellent agreement. We thus conclude that the DFT methodology can be used to describe the global band structure of overdoped single layer cuprates on both the hole and electron doped side.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2018

Three-Dimensional Fermi Surface of Overdoped La-Based Cuprates

We present a soft x-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the overdoped high-temperature superconductors La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and La$_{1.8-x}$Eu$_{0.2}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$. In-plane and out-of-plane components of the Fermi surface are mapped by varying the photoemission angle and the incident photon energy. No $k_z$ dispersion is observed along the nodal direction, whereas a significant antinodal $k_z$ dispersion is identified. Based on a tight-binding parametrization, we discuss the implications for the density of states near the van-Hove singularity. Our results suggest that the large electronic specific heat found in overdoped La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ can not be assigned to the van-Hove singularity alone. We therefore propose quantum criticality induced by a collapsing pseudogap phase as a plausible explanation for observed enhancement of electronic specific heat.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2018

Two-dimensional type-II Dirac fermions in layered oxides

Relativistic massless Dirac fermions can be probed with high-energy physics experiments, but appear also as low-energy quasi-particle excitations in electronic band structures. In condensed matter systems, their massless nature can be protected by crystal symmetries. Classification of such symmetry-protected relativistic band degeneracies has been fruitful, although many of the predicted quasi-particles still await their experimental discovery. Here we reveal, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, the existence of two-dimensional type-II Dirac fermions in the high-temperature superconductor La$_{1.77}$Sr$_{0.23}$CuO$_4$. The Dirac point, constituting the crossing of $d_{x^2-y^2}$ and $d_{z^2}$ bands, is found approximately one electronvolt below the Fermi level ($E_\mathrm{F}$) and is protected by mirror symmetry. If spin-orbit coupling is considered, the Dirac point degeneracy is lifted and the bands acquire a topologically non-trivial character. In certain nickelate systems, band structure calculations suggest that the same type-II Dirac fermions can be realised near $E_\mathrm{F}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2018

Direct Observation of Orbital Hybridisation in a Cuprate Superconductor

The minimal ingredients to explain the essential physics of layered copper-oxide (cuprates= materials remains heavily debated. Effective low energy single-band models of the copper-oxygen orbitals are widely used because there exists no strong experimental evidence supporting multiband structures. Here we report angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy experiments on La-based cuprates that provide direct observation of a two-band structure. This electronic structure, qualitatively consistent with density functional theory, is parametrised by a two-orbital ($d_{x^2-y^2}$ and $d_{z^2}$) tight-binding model. We quantify the orbital hybridisation which provides an explanation for the Fermi surface topology and the proximity of the van-Hove singularity to the Fermi level. Our analysis leads to a unification of electronic hopping parameters for single-layer cuprates and we conclude that hybridisation, restraining d-wave pairing, is an important optimisation element for superconductivity.

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