arXiv subjects

Shantanu Mukherjee

Publications and source records attributed to Shantanu Mukherjee.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Ultrasonic attenuation in inhomogeneous superconductors

Subgap bound states can produce pronounced features in the density of states without necessarily giving rise to a corresponding signal in ultrasonic attenuation. We show that the coherence factors act as a filter for the contribution of bound states to ultrasonic attenuation. In a phase-biased superconductor--normal--superconductor junction, the Andreev bound states produce a resonance in the attenuation when the phonon frequency matches the phase-dependent separation between the subgap levels. The situation is different at a $(110)$ grain boundary in a $d_{x^2-y^2}$ superconductor. There, nonmagnetic impurity-induced bound states remain weak in the attenuation despite their large spectral weight, because the relevant coherence factors nearly cancel. When local magnetism develops near the boundary, this cancellation is removed, the bound states become spin split, and a clear attenuation peak appears, which we argue is governed by a process involving emission of phonons by pair of quasiparticles at low temperatures. We obtain these results using a real-space Bogoliubov--de Gennes formulation of ultrasonic attenuation and benchmark the method against the known low-temperature behavior of homogeneous $s$- and $d$-wave superconductors. The results show that ultrasound can distinguish bound states with similar spectral signatures but different symmetry and spin structure.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Unconventional superconductivity in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

A variety of experimental observations in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide superconductors with Ising spin-orbit coupling suggest the presence of an unconventional superconducting pairing mechanism. Some of these experiments include observation of Leggett modes and a nodal superconducting gap in STM experiments, a large in-plane upper critical field compared to the Pauli limit, and the observation of a two-fold gap anisotropy in magnetoresistance measurements. Here, we propose a superconducting pairing mechanism mediated by spin and charge fluctuations and identify the dominant superconducting instability relevant to monolayer TaS$_2$. We then explore the effect of an additional electron-phonon pairing contribution, and compare our results with recent experimental findings. In particular, our theory stabilizes a superconducting ground state with nodal-like density of states that agrees with STM experiments. The theory obtains a large in-plane upper critical field due to a combination of Ising spin-orbit coupling and even-odd parity mixing in the superconducting state. Further, we find that an in-plane magnetic field splits the degeneracy of the superconducting ground state, and the resulting two-fold symmetric superconducting order parameter could explain the gap anisotropy observed in magnetoresistance experiments. Overall, the proposed theoretical pairing model can reconcile diverse experimental observations and remains consistent with observations on other dichalcogenide superconductors such as monolayer NbSe$_2$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Observation of charge density wave excitonic order parameter in topological insulator monolayer WTe2

Strong electron-hole interactions in a semimetal or narrow-gap semiconductor may drive a ground state of condensed excitons. Monolayer WTe2 has been proposed as a host material for such an exciton condensate, but the order parameter - the key signature of a macroscopic quantum-coherent condensate - has not been observed. Here we use Fourier-transform scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (FT-STS) to study quasi-particle interference (QPI) and periodic modulations of the local density of states (LDOS) in monolayer WTe2. In WTe2 on graphene, in which the carrier density can be varied via back-gating, FT-STS shows QPI features in the 2D bulk bands, confirming the interacting nature of the bandgap in neutral WTe2 and the semi-metallic nature of highly n- and p-doped WTe2. We observe additional non-dispersive spatial modulations in the LDOS imprinted on the topological edge mode of neutral WTe2 on metallic substrates (graphene and graphite), which we interpret as the interaction of the topological edge mode with the expected charge density wave order parameter of the excitonic condensate in WTe2 at low interaction strength due to screening by the metallic substrates.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Unconventional pairing in Ising superconductors: Application to monolayer NbSe$_2$

The presence of a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure and in-plane mirror symmetry allows an Ising spin-orbit coupling to form in some two-dimensional materials. Examples include transition metal dichalcogenide superconductors like monolayer NbSe$_2$, MoS$_2$, TaS$_2$, and PbTe$_2$, where a nontrivial nature of the superconducting state is currently being explored. In this study, we develop a microscopic formalism for Ising superconductors that captures the superconducting instability arising from a momentum-dependent spin- and charge-fluctuation-mediated pairing interaction. We apply our pairing model to the electronic structure of monolayer NbSe$_2$, where first-principles calculations reveal the presence of strong paramagnetic fluctuations. Our calculations provide a quantitative measure of the mixing between the even- and odd-parity superconducting states and its variation with Coulomb interaction. Further, numerical analysis in the presence of an external Zeeman field reveals the role of Ising spin-orbit coupling and mixing of odd-parity superconducting state in influencing the low-temperature enhancement of the critical magnetic field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Doping induced singlet to triplet superconducting transition in Ba$_{2}$CuO$_{3+\delta}$

In this study, we perform a numerical simulation on the recently discovered high-temperature superconductor ($T_c$= 73K) Ba$_2$CuO$_{3.2}$ \cite{lietal} while focusing on doping dependence of alternating CuO$_6$ octahedra and CuO chain-like states. Employing the multiband random-phase approximation, we compute the spin-fluctuation mediated pairing interaction, subsequently determining its pairing eigenvalues and eigenfunctions relative to oxygen-doping levels. We find that, for the certain range of hole doping in Ba$_2$CuO$_{3+\delta}$, a singlet $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave pairing symmetry emerges as long as we keep the doping below the critical value $x_{c}$. Interestingly upon hole doping, the dominant pairing symmetry undergoes a transition to a triplet (odd paring) type from the singlet state. This change in pairing is driven by the competition between the nesting vectors coming from the Fermi surface of $d_{z^2}$ and $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbitals within the CuO$_6$ octahedra. This triplet state is attainable through hole doping, while supressing inter-layer self-doping effects. Furthermore, we present the density of states within the superconducting phase, offering a potential comparison with tunnelling spectra in Ba$_2$CuO$_{3+\delta}$. Our research provides novel insights into the intricate pairing symmetries in Ba$_2$CuO$_{3+\delta}$ and their underlying pairing mechanisms.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Unique $d_{xy}$ Superconducting State in the Cuprate Member Ba$_{2}$CuO$_{3.25}$

Recent discovery of superconductivity at a transition temperature of $73$K in the doped layered compound Ba$_{2}$CuO$_{3+x}$ for $x\sim 0.2$ has generated a lot of interest. Experiments in this alternately stacked oxygen octahedral and chain layered structure reveal that a compression of the octahedra causes the Cu- {$d_{z^{2}}$} orbital to lie above the Cu- {$d_{x^2-y^2}$} orbital unlike in the well-known cuprate superconducting materials. Our first-principle calculations and low-energy Hamiltonian studies on the $x$ = 0.25 system reveal that this energy ordering results in the formation of $d_{z^2}$ dominated electron pockets. The strong nesting in the Fermi pockets leads to an AFM spin fluctuation mediated $d_{xy}$ wave superconducting state dominated by pairing among the $d_{z^{2}}$ orbitals. This is in contrast to the cuprate superconductors (e.g., YBCO) where both electron and hole pockets exist and the superconducting state with B$_{1g}$ symmetry is formed by the $d_{x^2-y^2}$ orbital electrons. Unlike the earlier reports, we find that inter-layer hybridization has an important contribution to the low-energy band structure and formation of the unconventional superconducting state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

A gate-tunable quantum phase transition in a topological excitonic insulator

Coulomb interactions among electrons and holes in two-dimensional (2D) semimetals with overlapping valence and conduction bands can give rise to a correlated insulating ground state via exciton formation and condensation. One candidate material in which such excitonic state uniquely combines with non-trivial band topology are atomic monolayers of tungsten ditelluride (WTe2), in which a 2D topological excitonic insulator (2D TEI) forms. However, the detailed mechanism of the 2D bulk gap formation in WTe2, in particular with regard to the role of Coulomb interactions, has remained a subject of ongoing debate. Here, we show that WTe2 is susceptible to a gate-tunable quantum phase transition, evident from an abrupt collapse of its 2D bulk energy gap upon ambipolar field-effect doping. Such gate tunability of a 2D TEI, into either n- and p-type semimetals, promises novel handles of control over non-trivial 2D superconductivity with excitonic pairing.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Role of interface hybridization on induced superconductivity in 1T$^\prime$-WTe$_2$ and 2H-NbSe$_2$ heterostructures

Heterostructures between two-dimensional quantum spin Hall insulators (QSHI) and superconducting materials can allow for the presence of Majorana Fermions at their conducting edge states. Although a strong interface hybridization helps induce a reasonable superconducting gap on the topological material, the hybridization can modify the material's electronic structure. In this work, we utilize a realistic low-energy model with tunable interlayer hybridization to study the edge state physics in a heterostructure between monolayer quantum spin Hall insulator 1T$^\prime$-WTe$_2$ and s-wave superconductor 2H-NbSe$_2$. We find that even in the presence of strong inter-layer hybridization that renders the surface to become conducting, the edge state shows a significantly enhanced local density of states and induced superconductivity compared to the surface. We provide an alternate heterostructure geometry that can utilize the strong inter-layer hybridization and realize a spatial interface between a regime with a clean QSHI gap and a topological conducting edge state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Tuning the Many-body Interactions in a Helical Luttinger Liquid

In one-dimensional (1D) systems, electronic interactions lead to a breakdown of Fermi liquid theory and the formation of a Tomonaga-Luttinger Liquid (TLL). The strength of its many-body correlations can be quantified by a single dimensionless parameter, the Luttinger parameter $K$, characterising the competition between the electrons' kinetic and electrostatic energies. Recently, signatures of a TLL have been reported for the topological edge states of quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators, strictly 1D electronic structures with linear (Dirac) dispersion and spin-momentum locking. Here we show that the many-body interactions in such helical Luttinger Liquid can be effectively controlled by the edge state's dielectric environment. This is reflected in a tunability of the Luttinger parameter $K$, distinct on different edges of the crystal, and extracted to high accuracy from the statistics of tunnelling spectra at tens of tunneling points. The interplay of topology and many-body correlations in 1D helical systems has been suggested as a potential avenue towards realising non-Abelian parafermions.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Multi-Band Superconductivity in Strongly Hybridized 1T'-WTe$_2$/NbSe$_2$ Heterostructures

The interplay of topology and superconductivity has become a subject of intense research in condensed matter physics for the pursuit of topologically non-trivial forms of superconducting pairing. An intrinsically normal-conducting material can inherit superconductivity via electrical contact to a parent superconductor via the proximity effect, usually understood as Andreev reflection at the interface between the distinct electronic structures of two separate conductors. However, at high interface transparency, strong coupling inevitably leads to changes in the band structure, locally, owing to hybridization of electronic states. Here, we investigate such strongly proximity-coupled heterostructures of monolayer 1T'-WTe$_2$, grown on NbSe$_2$ by van-der-Waals epitaxy. The superconducting local density of states (LDOS), resolved in scanning tunneling spectroscopy down to 500~mK, reflects a hybrid electronic structure, well-described by a multi-band framework based on the McMillan equations which captures the multi-band superconductivity inherent to the NbSe$_2$ substrate and that induced by proximity in WTe$_2$, self-consistently. Our material-specific tight-binding model captures the hybridized heterostructure quantitatively, and confirms that strong inter-layer hopping gives rise to a semi-metallic density of states in the 2D WTe$_2$ bulk, even for nominally band-insulating crystals. The model further accurately predicts the measured order parameter $Δ\simeq 0.6$~meV induced in the WTe$_2$ monolayer bulk, stable beyond a 2~T magnetic field. We believe that our detailed multi-band analysis of the hybrid electronic structure provides a useful tool for sensitive spatial mapping of induced order parameters in proximitized atomically thin topological materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Atomically Thin Quantum Spin Hall Insulators

Atomically thin topological materials are attracting growing attention for their potential to radically transform classical and quantum electronic device concepts. Amongst them is the quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator - a two-dimensional state of matter that arises from an interplay of topological band inversion and strong spin-orbit coupling, with large tunable bulk band gaps up to 800meV and gapless, one-dimensional edge states. Reviewing recent advances in materials science and engineering alongside theoretical description, this article surveys the QSH materials library with focus on their prospects for QSH-based device applications. In particular, this review discusses theoretical predictions of non-trivial superconducting pairing in the QSH state towards Majorana based topological quantum computing - the next frontier in QSH materials research.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Cooperative Effects of Strain and Electron Correlation in Epitaxial VO2 and NbO2

We investigate the electronic structure of the epitaxial VO$_2$ films in the rutile phase using the density functional theory combined with the slave spin method (DFT+SS). In DFT-SS, the multiorbital Hubbard interactions are added to a DFT-fit tight-binding model, and we employ the slave-spin method to treat the electron correlation. We find that while stretching the system along the rutile $c$-axis results in a band structure favoring an anisotropic orbital fillings, the electron correlation favors an equal electron filling among $t_{2g}$ orbitals. These two distinct effects cooperatively induce interesting orbital-dependent redistributions of the electron occupations and the spectral weights, which pushes the strained VO$_2$ toward an orbital selective Mott transition (OSMT). The simulated single-particle spectral functions are directly compared to V L-edge resonant X-ray photoemission spectroscopy of epitaxial 10 nm VO$_2$/TiO$_2$ (001) and (100) strain orientations. Excellent agreement is observed between the simulations and experimental data regarding the strain-induced evolution of the lower Hubbard band. Simulations of rutile NbO$_2$ under similar strain conditions as VO$_2$ are performed, and we predict that OSMT will not occur in rutile NbO$_2$. Our results indicates that the electron correlation in VO$_2$ is important and can be modulated even in the rutile phase before the Peierls instability sets in.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Emergent charge order near the doping-induced Mott-insulating quantum phase transition in Sr$_{3}$Ru$_{2}$O$_{7}$

We investigate the double layered Sr$_{3}$(Ru$_{1-x}$Mn$_{x}$)$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and its doping-induced quantum phase transition (QPT) from a metal to an antiferromagnetic (AFM) Mott insulator. Using spectroscopic imaging with the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), we visualize the evolution of the electronic states in real- and momentum-space. We find a partial-gap in the tunneling density of states at the Fermi energy (E$_{F}$) that develops with doping to form a weak Mott insulating (Δ ~ 100meV) state. Near the QPT, we discover a spatial electronic reorganization into a commensurate checkerboard charge order. These findings share some resemblance to the well-established universal charge order in the pseudogap phase of cuprates. Our experiments therefore demonstrate the ubiquity of the incipient charge order that emanates from doped Mott insulators.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Discovery of Orbital-Selective Cooper Pairing in FeSe

The superconductor FeSe is of intense interest thanks to its unusual non-magnetic nematic state and potential for high temperature superconductivity. But its Cooper pairing mechanism has not been determined. Here we use Bogoliubov quasiparticle interference imaging to determine the Fermi surface geometry of the bands surrounding the $Γ= (0,0)$ and $X=(π/ a_{Fe}, 0)$ points of FeSe, and to measure the corresponding superconducting energy gaps. We show that both gaps are extremely anisotropic but nodeless, and exhibit gap maxima oriented orthogonally in momentum space. Moreover, by implementing a novel technique we demonstrate that these gaps have opposite sign with respect to each other. This complex gap configuration reveals the existence of orbital-selective Cooper pairing which, in FeSe, is based preferentially on electrons from the $d_{yz}$ orbitals of the iron atoms.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Resonant Plasmon-Axion Excitations Induced by Charge Density Wave Order in Weyl Semimetal

We investigate the charge excitations of a Weyl semimetal in the axionic charge density wave (axionic CDW) state. While it has been shown that the topological response (anomalous Hall conductivity) is protected against the CDW state, we find that the long wavelength plasmon excitation is radically influenced by the dynamics of the CDW order parameter. In the normal state, we show that an undamped collective mode should exist at q~Q_(CDW) if there is an attractive interaction favoring the formation of the CDW state. The undamped nature of this collective mode is attributed to a gap-like feature in the particle-hole continuum at q~Q_(CDW) due to the chirality of the Weyl nodes, which is not seen in other materials with CDW instability. In the CDW state, the long wavelength plasmon excitations become more dispersive due to the additional interband scattering not allowed in the normal state. Moreover, because the translational symmetry is spontaneously broken, Umklapp scattering, the process conserving the total momentum only up to nQ_(CDW) with n an integer and Q_(CDW) the ordering wave vector, emerges in the CDW state. We find that the plasmon excitation couples to the phonon mode of the CDW order via the Umklapp scattering, leading to two branches of resonant collective modes observable in the density-density correlation function at q~0 and q~Q_(CDW). Based on our analysis, we propose that measuring these resonant plasmon-axion excitations around q~0 and q~Q_(CDW) by the momentum-resolved electron energy loss spectroscopy (M-EELS) could serve as a reliable way to detect the axionic CDW state in Weyl semimetals.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Structural and magnetic field effects on spin fluctuations in Sr$_{3}$Ru$_2$O$_7$

We investigate the evolution of magnetic excitations in Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ using a three band tight binding model that takes into account the influence of Mn and Ti dopant ions. The effect of dopant ions on the Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ band structure has been included by taking into account the dopant induced suppression of the oxygen octahedral rotation in the tight binding band structure and changes in electron occupation. We find that the low energy spin fluctuations are dominated by three wave vectors around Q=$((0,0),(π/2,π/2))$, and $(π,0)$ which compete with each other. As the octahedral rotation is suppressed with increasing doping, the three wave vectors evolve differently. In particular, the undoped compound has dominant wavevectors at Q=$((0,0),(π/2,π/2))$, but doping Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ leads to a significant enhancement in the spin susceptibility at the Q=$(π,0)$ wavevector bringing the system closer to a magnetic instability. All the features calculated from our model are in agreement with neutron scattering experiments. We have also studied the effect of a c-axis Zeeman field on the low energy spin fluctuations. We find that an increasing magnetic field suppresses the AFM fluctuations and leads to stronger competition between the AFM and FM spin fluctuations. The magnetic field dependence observed in our calculations therefore supports the scenario that the observed nematic phase in the metamagnetic region in Sr$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ is intimately related to the presence of a competing ferromagnetic instability.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Tuning a Strain-Induced Orbital Selective Mott Transition in Epitaxial VO$_2$

We present evidence of strain-induced modulation of electron correlation effects and increased orbital anisotropy in the rutile phase of epitaxial VO$_2$/TiO$_2$ films from hard x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and soft V L-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy, respectively. By using the U(1) slave spin formalism, we further argue that the observed anisotropic correlation effects can be understood by a model of orbital selective Mott transition at a filling that is non-integer, but close to the half-filling. Because the overlaps of wave functions between $d$ orbitals are modified by the strain, orbitally-dependent renormalizations of the bandwidths and the crystal fields occur with the application of strain. These renormalizations generally result in different occupation numbers in different orbitals. We find that if the system has a non-integer filling number near the half-filling such as for VO$_2$, certain orbitals could reach an occupation number closer to half-filling under the strain, resulting in a strong reduction in the quasiparticle weight $Z_α$ of that orbital. Moreover, an orbital selective Mott transition, defined as the case with $Z_α = 0$ in some, but not all orbitals, could be accessed by epitaxial strain-engineering of correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2016

Spin excitations in a model of FeSe with orbital ordering

We present a theoretical study of the dynamical spin susceptibility for the intriguing Fe-based superconductor FeSe, based on a tight-binding model developed to account for the temperature-dependent band structure in this system. The model allows for orbital ordering in the $d_{xz}/d_{yz}$ channel below the structural transition and presents a strongly $C_4$ symmetry broken Fermi surface at low temperatures which accounts for the nematic properties of this material. The calculated spin excitations are peaked at wave vector $(π,0)$ in the 1-Fe Brillouin zone, with a broad maximum at energies of order a few meV. In this range, the occurrence of superconductivity sharpens this peak in energy, creating a $(π,0)$ "neutron resonance" as seen in recent experiments. With the exception of the quite low energy scale of these fluctuations, these results are roughly similar to standard behavior in Fe pnictide systems. At higher energies, however, intensity increases and shifts to wave vectors along the $(π,0)$ - $(π,π)$ line. We compare with existing inelastic neutron experiments and NMR data, and give predictions for further studies.

cond-mat.supr-con↗