arXiv subjects

Stephen Julian

Publications and source records attributed to Stephen Julian.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Quasi-linear `non-metallic' resistivity in the distorted-kagome metal CrPdAs

We report the growth and characterization of single crystals of the disorted-kagome lattice compound CrPdAs. Spin-glass behaviour with $T_{SG} \sim 60\ {\rm K}$ is observed in all crystals tested. Some growths show in addition a magnetic impurity phase with $T_c$ around 200 K, but annealing produces single-phase crystals without the ferromagnetic impurity phase. Single-phase crystals nevertheless have $29\pm 5\%$ anti-site disorder of the Cr and Pd sites, similar to a previous generation of flux-grown polycrystalline samples. We observe a large linear-coefficient of the heat capacity at low temperature, $\gamma = 23 \pm 3$ mJ/mole\,K$^2$, which is typical of kagome metals. The calculated band structure shows several Dirac band-crossings very near $E_F$ whose degeneracy is lifted when spin-orbit interaction is included. Our most curious finding is a `non-metallic' in-plane resistivity, extending over the entire measured temperature range from 300 K down to 2 K. This resistivity is quasi-linear below about 130 K, and shows no sign of saturation down to the lowest temperature measured.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Diverse influences of hyperfine interactions on strongly correlated electron states

The motivation to develop materials for quantum technologies has put exploration of novel quantum states of matter at the focus of several research fields, with particular efforts towards understanding and controlling the behaviour of quantum entangled and other strongly interacting electronic states. Experimental investigation is of primary importance, but requires measurements at ultra-low temperatures where the quantum states of interest have long lifetimes. Under these conditions, low energy interactions, such as hyperfine or nuclear exchange interactions, become relevant, and can modify electronic ground states and their associated excitations in multiple ways that are not well understood or characterised. In this work, we use a recently developed magnetic susceptibility technique, compatible with ultra-low temperatures and high magnetic fields, to probe the influence of nuclear interactions on superconducting and multipole ordered ground states in the strongly correlated electron system PrOs4Sb12. We find that the multipole order develops a novel, entangled nuclear-electronic character at the lowest temperatures, which significantly modifies the phase boundary and leads to a nuclear quantum critical point. In the superconducting phase, we find that hyperfine interactions suppress superconductivity in a manner that provides evidence for superconducting pairing mediated by crystal field excitations. Our results on PrOs4Sb12 experimentally establish a new type of non-magnetic, nuclear quantum critical point, and give revealing insight into a highly unusual superconducting state. They also demonstrate more generally the feasibility of exploiting hyperfine interactions as a tuning parameter for experimental creation and investigation of a variety of quantum states and phenomena in correlated electron materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2009

Evidence of superconductivity on the border of quasi-2D ferromagnetism in Ca2RuO4 at high pressure

The layered perovskite Ca2RuO4 is a spin-one Mott insulator at ambient pressure and exhibits metallic ferromagnetism at least up to ~ 80 kbar with a maximum Curie temperature of 28 K. Above ~ 90 kbar and up to 140 kbar, the highest pressure reached, the resistivity and ac susceptibility show pronounced downturns below ~ 0.4 K in applied magnetic fields of up to ~10 mT. This indicates that our specimens of Ca2RuO4 are weakly superconducting on the border of a quasi-2D ferromagnetic state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗