arXiv subjects

T. Förster

Publications and source records attributed to T. Förster.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Signatures of a magnetic-field-induced Lifshitz transition in the ultra-quantum limit of the topological semimetal ZrTe$_5$

The quantum limit (QL) of an electron liquid, realised at strong magnetic fields, has long been proposed to host a wealth of strongly correlated states of matter. Electronic states in the QL are, for example, quasi-one dimensional (1D), which implies perfectly nested Fermi surfaces prone to instabilities. Whereas the QL typically requires unreachably strong magnetic fields, the topological semimetal ZrTe$_5$ has been shown to reach the QL at fields of only a few Tesla. Here, we characterize the QL of ZrTe$_5$ at fields up to 64 T by a combination of electrical-transport and ultrasound measurements. We find that the Zeeman effect in ZrTe$_5$ enables an efficient tuning of the 1D Landau band structure with magnetic field. This results in a Lifshitz transition to a 1D Weyl regime in which perfect charge neutrality can be achieved. Since no instability-driven phase transitions destabilise the 1D electron liquid for the investigated field strengths and temperatures, our analysis establishes ZrTe$_5$ as a thoroughly understood platform for potentially inducing more exotic interaction-driven phases at lower temperatures.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Coexistence of antiferromagnetism and ferrimagnetism in adjacent honeycomb layers

Antiferromagnetic and ferro/ferrimagnetic orders are typically exclusive in nature, thus, their co-existence in atomic-scale proximity is expected only in heterostructures. Breaking this paradigm and broadening the range of unconventional magnetic states, we report here on an atomic-scale hybrid spin state, which is stabilized in three-dimensional crystals of the polar antiferromagnet Co$_2$Mo$_3$O$_8$ by magnetic fields applied perpendicular to the \emph{Co} honeycomb layers and possesses a spontaneous in-plane ferromagnetic moment. Our microscopic spin model, capturing the observed field dependence of the longitudinal and transverse magnetization as well as the magnetoelectric/elastic properties, reveals that this novel spin state is composed of an alternating stacking of antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic honeycomb layers. The strong intra-layer and the weak inter-layer exchange couplings together with competing anisotropies at octahedral and tetrahedral \emph{Co} sites are identified as the key ingredients to stabilize antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic layers in such a close proximity. We show that the proper balance of magnetic interactions can extend the stability range of this hybrid phase down to zero magnetic field. The possibility to realize a layer-by-layer stacking of such distinct spin orders via suitable combinations of microscopic interactions opens a new dimension towards the nanoscale engineering of magnetic states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

$f$-electron hybridised metallic Fermi surface in magnetic field-induced metallic YbB$_{12}$

The nature of the Fermi surface observed in the recently discovered family of unconventional insulators starting with SmB$_6$ and subsequently YbB$_{12}$ is a subject of intense inquiry. Here we shed light on this question by comparing quantum oscillations between the high magnetic field-induced metallic regime in YbB$_{12}$ and the unconventional insulating regime. In the field-induced metallic regime beyond 47 T, we find prominent quantum oscillations in the contactless resistivity characterised by multiple frequencies up to at least 3000 T and heavy effective masses up to at least 17 $m_\text{e}$, characteristic of an $f$-electron hybridised metallic Fermi surface. The growth of quantum oscillation amplitude at low temperatures in electrical transport and magnetic torque in insulating YbB$_{12}$ is closely similar to the Lifshitz-Kosevich low temperature growth of quantum oscillation amplitude in field-induced metallic YbB$_{12}$, pointing to an origin of quantum oscillations in insulating YbB$_{12}$ from in-gap neutral low energy excitations. The field-induced metallic regime of YbB$_{12}$ is characterised by more Fermi surface sheets of heavy quasiparticle effective mass that emerge in addition to the heavy Fermi surface sheets yielding multiple quantum oscillation frequencies below 1000 T observed in both insulating and metallic regimes. We thus observe a heavy multi-component Fermi surface in which $f$-electron hybridisation persists from the unconventional insulating to the field-induced metallic regime of YbB$_{12}$, which is in distinct contrast to the unhybridised conduction electron Fermi surface observed in the case of the unconventional insulator SmB$_6$. Our findings require a different theoretical model of neutral in-gap low energy excitations in which the $f$-electron hybridisation is retained in the case of the unconventional insulator YbB$_{12}$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Robust Fermi-Surface Morphology of CeRhIn$_5$ across the Putative Field-Induced Quantum Critical Point

We report a comprehensive de Haas--van Alphen (dHvA) study of the heavy-fermion material CeRhIn$_5$ in magnetic fields up to 70~T. Several dHvA frequencies gradually emerge at high fields as a result of magnetic breakdown. Among them is the thermodynamically important $β_1$ branch, which has not been observed so far. Comparison of our angule-dependent dHvA spectra with those of the non-$4f$ compound LaRhIn$_5$ and with band-structure calculations evidences that the Ce $4f$ electrons in CeRhIn$_5$ remain localized over the whole field range. This rules out any significant Fermi-surface reconstruction, either at the suggested nematic phase transition at $B^{*}\approx$ 30~T or at the putative quantum critical point at $B_c \simeq$ 50~T. Our results rather demonstrate the robustness of the Fermi surface and the localized nature of the 4$f$ electrons inside and outside of the antiferromagnetic phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Unconventional Hall response in the quantum limit of HfTe5

Interacting electrons confined to their lowest Landau level in a high magnetic field can form a variety of correlated states, some of which manifest themselves in a Hall effect. Although such states have been predicted to occur in three dimensional semimetals, a corresponding Hall response has not yet been experimentally observed. Here, we report the observation of an unconventional Hall response in the quantum limit of the bulk semimetal HfTe5, adjacent to the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect of a single electron band at low magnetic fields. The additional plateau-like feature in the Hall conductivity of the lowest Landau level is accompanied by a Shubnikov-de Haas minimum in the longitudinal electrical resistivity and its magnitude relates as 3/5 to the height of the last plateau of the three-dimensional quantum Hall effect. Our findings are consistent with strong electron-electron interactions, stabilizing an unconventional variant of the Hall effect in a three-dimensional material in the quantum limit.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Topological magnetic order and superconductivity in EuRbFe$_4$As$_4$

We study single crystals of the magnetic superconductor EuRbFe$_4$As$_4$ by magnetization, electron spin resonance (ESR), angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and electrical resistance in pulsed magnetic fields up to 630 kOe. The superconducting state below 36.5 K is almost isotropic and only weakly affected by the development of Eu$^{2+}$ magnetic order at 15 K. On the other hand, for the external magnetic field applied along the c-axis the temperature dependence of the ESR linewidth reveals a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless topological transition below 15 K. This indicates that Eu$^{2+}$-planes are a good realization of a two-dimensional XY-magnet, which reflects the decoupling of the Eu$^{2+}$ magnetic moments from superconducting FeAs-layers.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Origin of the butterfly magnetoresistance in a Dirac nodal-line system

We report a study on the magnetotransport properties and on the Fermi surfaces (FS) of the ZrSi(Se,Te) semimetals. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, in absence of spin orbit coupling (SOC), reveal that both the Se and the Te compounds display Dirac nodal lines (DNL) close to the Fermi level $\varepsilon_F$ at symmorphic and non-symmorphic positions, respectively. We find that the geometry of their FSs agrees well with DFT predictions. ZrSiSe displays low residual resistivities, pronounced magnetoresistivity, high carrier mobilities, and a butterfly-like angle-dependent magnetoresistivity (AMR), although its DNL is not protected against gap opening. As in Cd$_3$As$_2$, its transport lifetime is found to be 10$^2$ to 10$^3$ times larger than its quantum one. ZrSiTe, which possesses a protected DNL, displays conventional transport properties. Our evaluation indicates that both compounds most likely are topologically trivial. Nearly angle-independent effective masses with strong angle dependent quantum lifetimes lead to the butterfly AMR in ZrSiSe.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Field-induced phases in a heavy-fermion U(Ru$_{0.92}$Rh$_{0.08}$)$_{2}$Si$_{2}$ single crystal

We report the high-field induced magnetic phases and phase diagram of a high quality \urxrs~single crystal prepared using a modified Czochralski method. Our study, that combines high-field magnetization and electrical resistivity measurements, shows for fields applied along the $c$-axis direction three field-induced magnetic phase transitions at $μ_{0} H_{c1}$ = 21.60 T, $μ_{0} H_{c2}$ = 37.90 T and $μ_{0} H_{c3}$ = 38.25 T, respectively. In agreement with a microscopic up-up-down arrangement of the U magnetic moments the phase above $H_{c1}$ has a magnetization of about one third of the saturated value. In contrast the phase between $H_{c2}$ and $H_{c3}$ has a magnetization that is a factor of two lower than above the $H_{c3}$, where a polarized Fermi-liquid state with a saturated moment $M_{s}$ $\approx$ 2.1 $μ_{B}$/U is realized. Most of the respective transitions are reflected in the electrical resistivity as sudden drastic changes. Most notably, the phase between $H_{c1}$ and $H_{c2}$ exhibits substantially larger values. As the temperature increases, transitions smear out and disappear above $\approx$ 15 K. However, a substantial magnetoresistance is observed even at temperatures as high as 80 K. Due to a strong uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy a very small field effect is observed for fields apllied perpendicular to the $c$-axis direction.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Fermi surface reconstruction and dimensional topology change in Nd-doped CeCoIn$_5$

We performed low-temperature de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) effect measurements on a Ce$_{1-x}$Nd$_x$CoIn$_5$ series, for x = 0.02, 0.05, 0.1, and 1, down to T = 40 mK using torque magnetometry in magnetic felds up to 35 T. Our results indicate that a Fermi-surface (FS) reconstruction occurs from a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) topology for Nd-2% to a rather three-dimensional (3D) for Nd-5%, thus reducing the possibility of perfect FS nesting. The FS evolves further with increasing Nd content with no observed divergence of the effective mass between Nd-2% and 10%, consistent with the crossing of a spin density wave (SDW) type of quantum critical point (QCP). Our results elucidate the origin of the Q-phase observed at the 5% Nd-doping level [Raymond et al., J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 83, 013707 (2014)].

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Detailed study on the Fermi surfaces of the type-II Dirac semimetallic candidates PdTe2 and PtTe2

We present a detailed quantum oscillatory study on the Dirac type-II semimetallic candidates PdTe$_{2}$ and PtTe$_{2}$ \emph{via} the temperature and the angular dependence of the de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effects. In high quality single crystals of both compounds, i.e. displaying carrier mobilities between $10^3$ and $10^4$ cm$^2$/Vs, we observed a large non-saturating magnetoresistivity (MR) which in PtTe$_2$ at a temperature $T = 1.3$ K, leads to an increase in the resistivity up to $5 \times 10^{4}$ % under a magnetic field $μ_0 H = 62$ T. These high mobilities correlate with their light effective masses in the range of 0.04 to 1 bare electron mass according to our measurements. For PdTe$_{2}$ the experimentally determined Fermi surface cross-sectional areas show an excellent agreement with those resulting from band-structure calculations. Surprisingly, this is not the case for PtTe$_{2}$ whose agreement between calculations and experiments is relatively poor even when electronic correlations are included in the calculations. Therefore, our study provides a strong support for the existence of a Dirac type-II node in PdTe$_2$ and probably also for PtTe$_2$. Band structure calculations indicate that the topologically non-trivial bands of PtTe$_2$ do not cross the Fermi-level ($\varepsilon_F$). In contrast, for PdTe$_2$ the Dirac type-II cone does intersect $\varepsilon_F$, although our calculations also indicate that the associated cyclotron orbit on the Fermi surface is located in a distinct $k_z$ plane with respect to the one of the Dirac type-II node. Therefore it should yield a trivial Berry-phase.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Probing the $J_{eff}=0$ ground state and the Van Vleck paramagnetism of the Ir$^{5+}$ ions in the layered Sr$_2$Co$_{0.5}$Ir$_{0.5}$O$_4$

We report a combined experimental and theoretical x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectroscopy study at the Ir-$L_{2,3}$ edges on the Ir$^{5+}$ ions of the layered hybrid solid state oxide Sr$_2$Co$_{0.5}$Ir$_{0.5}$O$_4$ with the K$_2$NiF$_4$ structure. From theoretical simulation of the experimental Ir-$L_{2,3}$ XMCD spectrum, we found a deviation from a pure $J_{eff}=0$ ground state with an anisotropic orbital-to-spin moment ratio ($L_x/2S_x$ = 0.43 and $L_z/2S_z$ = 0.78). This deviation is mainly due to multiplet interactions being not small compared to the cubic crystal field and due to the presence of a large tetragonal crystal field associated with the crystal structure. Nevertheless, our calculations show that the energy gap between the singlet ground state and the triplet excited state is still large and that the magnetic properties of the Ir$^{5+}$ ions can be well described in terms of singlet Van Vleck paramagnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2017

Selective mass enhancement close to the quantum critical point in BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$

A quantum critical point (QCP) is currently being conjectured for the BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$ system at the critical value $x_{\rm c} \approx$ 0.3. In the proximity of a QCP, all thermodynamic and transport properties are expected to scale with a single characteristic energy, given by the quantum fluctuations. Such an universal behavior has not, however, been found in the superconducting upper critical field $H_{\rm c2}$. Here we report $H_{\rm c2}$-data for epitaxial thin films extracted from the electrical resistance measured in very high magnetic fields up to 67 Tesla. Using a multi-band analysis we find that $H_{\rm c2}$ is sensitive to the QCP, implying a significant charge carrier effective mass enhancement at the doping-induced QCP that is essentially band-dependent. Our results point to two qualitatively different groups of electrons in BaFe$_2$(As$_{1-x}$P$_x$)$_2$. The first one (possibly associated to hot spots or whole Fermi sheets) has a strong mass enhancement at the QCP, and the second one is insensitive to the QCP. The observed duality could also be present in many other quantum critical systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Magnetotransport and de Haas-van Alphen measurements in the type-II Weyl semimetal TaIrTe$_4$

The layered ternary compound TaIrTe$_4$ has been predicted to be a type-II Weyl semimetal with only four Weyl points just above the Fermi energy. Performing magnetotransport measurements on this material we find that the resistivity does not saturate for fields up to 70 T and follows a $ ρ\sim B^{1.5}$ dependence. Angular-dependent de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) measurements reveal four distinct frequencies. Analyzing these magnetic quantum oscillations by use of density functional theory (DFT) calculations we establish that in TaIrTe$_4$ the Weyl points are located merely $\sim$ 40-50 meV above the chemical potential, suggesting that the chemical potential can be tuned into the four Weyl nodes by moderate chemistry or external pressure, maximizing their chiral effects on electronic and magnetotransport properties.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2015

Electron-doping dependence of the anisotropic superconductivity in BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_2$

The upper critical field ($H_{c2}$) in superconducting BaFe$_{2-x}$Ni$_{x}$As$_2$ single crystals has been determined by magnetotransport measurements down to 0.6 K over the whole superconducting dome with $0.065 \leqslant x \leqslant 0.22$, both for the inter-plane ($H \parallel c$, $H_{c2}^{c}$) and in-plane ($H \parallel ab$, $H_{c2}^{ab}$) field directions in static magnetic fields up to 16 T and pulsed magnetic fields up to 60 T. The temperature dependence of $H_{c2}^{ab}$ follows the Werthamer-Helfand-Hohenberg (WHH) model incorporating orbital and spin paramagnetic effects, while $H_{c2}^{c}(T)$ can only be described by the effective two-band model with unbalanced diffusivity. The anisotropy of the upper critical fields, $γ(T)=H_{c2}^{ab}/H_{c2}^{c}$ monotonically increases with increasing temperature for all dopings, and its zero-temperature limit, $γ(0)$, has an asymmetric doping dependence with a significant enhancement in the overdoped regime, where the optimally doped compound has the most isotropic superconductivity. Our results suggest that the anisotropy in the superconductivity of iron pnictides is determined by the topology of the Fermi surfaces together with the doping-induced impurity scattering.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2014

Fermi-surface topology of the iron pnictide LaFe$_2$P$_2$

We report on a comprehensive de Haas--van Alphen (dHvA) study of the iron pnictide LaFe$_2$P$_2$. Our extensive density-functional band-structure calculations can well explain the measured angular-dependent dHvA frequencies. As salient feature, we observe only one quasi-two-dimensional Fermi-surface sheet, i.e., a hole-like Fermi-surface cylinder around $Γ$, essential for $s_\pm$ pairing, is missing. In spite of considerable mass enhancements due to many-body effects, LaFe$_2$P$_2$ shows no superconductivity. This is likely caused by the absence of any nesting between electron and hole bands.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2013

Spin fluctuations with two-dimensional XY behavior in a frustrated S = 1/2 square-lattice ferromagnet

The spin dynamics of the layered square-lattice vanadate Pb2VO(PO4)2 is investigated by electron spin resonance at various magnetic fields and at temperatures above magnetic ordering. The linewidth divergence towards low temperatures seems to agree with isotropic Heisenberg-type spin exchange suggesting that the spin relaxation in this quasi-two dimensional compound is governed by low-dimensional quantum fluctuations. However, a weak easy- plane anisotropy of the g factor points to the presence of a planar XY type of exchange. Indeed, we found that the linewidth divergence is described best by XY-like spin fluctuations which requires a single parameter only. Therefore, ESR-probed spin dynamics could establish Pb2VO(PO4)2 as the first frustrated square lattice system with XY-inherent spin topological fluctuations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Ferromagnetism and superconductivity in P-doped CeFeAsO

We report on superconductivity in CeFeAs1-xPxO and the possible coexistence with Ce- ferromagnetism (FM) in a small homogeneity range around x = 30% with ordering temperatures of T_SC = T_C = 4K. The antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering temperature of Fe at this critical concentration is suppressed to T^N_Fe ~ 40K and does not shift to lower temperatures with further increase of the P concentration. Therefore, a quantum-critical-point scenario with T^N_Fe -> 0K which is widely discussed for the iron based superconductors can be excluded for this alloy series. Surprisingly, thermal expansion and X-ray powder diffraction indicate the absence of an orthorhombic distortion despite clear evidence for short range AFM Fe-ordering from muon-spin-rotation measurements. Furthermore, we discovered the formation of a sharp electron spin resonance signal unambiguously connected with the emergence of FM ordering.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Electron Spin Resonance of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice CeRuPO

The spin dynamics of the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice CeRuPO is investigated by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) at microwave frequencies of 1, 9.4, and 34~GHz. The measured resonance can be ascribed to a rarely observed bulk Ce3+ resonance in a metallic Ce compound and can be followed below the ferromagnetic transition temperature Tc=14 K. At T>Tc the interplay between the RKKY-exchange interaction and the crystal electric field anisotropy determines the ESR parameters. Near Tc the spin relaxation rate is influenced by the critical fluctuations of the order parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗