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Tuhin Debnath

Publications and source records attributed to Tuhin Debnath.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Ultrafast Critical Slowing of Spin Dynamics and Emergent Nonequilibrium Fano Interference in Fe3GeTe2

Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ is a prototypical metallic van der Waals ferromagnet with itinerant magnetism and a highly tunable Curie temperature, yet how electronic excitations couple to spin and lattice degrees of freedom across its magnetic transition remains largely unexplored. Here, we use two-color pump-probe reflectivity to investigate the coupled electronic, spin, and lattice dynamics. The time-resolved reflectivity exhibits a tri-exponential relaxation, in which the intermediate component shows an anomaly near the Curie temperature due to enhanced interlayer spin-lattice interactions, while the slowest component displays pronounced critical slowing down with an exponent of ~ 0.3, revealing non-universal relaxation dynamics associated with intralayer spin correlations. Furthermore, we observe an emergent nonequilibrium A1g phonon Fano asymmetry that is suppressed in the ferromagnetic phase but anomalously enhanced in the paramagnetic regime, driven by thermally activated anharmonic decay pathways that bridge the kinematic gap to a hot electronic continuum. The pronounced enhancement of the acoustic strain pulse amplitude near T$_c$ further evidences robust magnetoelastic coupling. Overall, our results reveal how magnetic order governs the interplay among critical spin dynamics, electronic continuum excitations, and lattice response in metallic van der Waals ferromagnets

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Emergence of a hidden-order phase well below the charge density wave transition in a topological Weyl semimetal (TaSe$_4$)$_2$I

The emergence of a charge density wave (CDW) in a Weyl semimetal -- a correlated topological phase, is exceptionally rare in condensed matter systems. In this context, the quasi-one-dimensional type-III Weyl semimetal (TaSe$_4$)$_2$I undergoes a CDW transition at $T_{\mathrm{CDW}} \approx 263$~K, providing an exceptional platform to investigate correlated topological CDW states. Here, we uncover an additional hidden-order phase transition at $T^* \sim 100$ K, well below the CDW onset, using low-frequency resistance noise spectroscopy, electrical transport, and thermoelectric measurements. This transition is characterized by a sharp enhancement in the noise exponent ($α$) and variance of resistance fluctuations. Analysis of higher-order statistics of resistance fluctuations reveals the correlated dynamics underlying the transition. A pronounced anomaly in the Seebeck coefficient near $T^*$ further suggests a Fermi surface reconstruction. First-principles calculations reveal a structural distortion from the high-symmetry $I422$ phase to a low-symmetry $C2$ phase, via an intermediate $I4$ symmetry. This leads to renormalization of the electronic structure near the Fermi level and opening of a bandgap in the hidden-order phase. These findings demonstrate a previously unidentified correlated phase transition in the topological CDW-Weyl semimetal (TaSe$_4$)$_2$I, enriching the phase diagram of this material and establishing it as an ideal platform for studying intertwined electronic and structural orders.

cond-mat.str-el

Signatures of emergent surface states across a displacive topological phase transition in Bi$_4$I$_4$

Topological phase transitions involving crystalline symmetry breaking provide a fertile ground to explore the interplay between symmetry, topology, and emergent quantum phenomena. Recently discovered quasi-one-dimensional topological material, Bi$_4$I$_4$, has been predicted to host topologically non-trivial gapless surfaces at high temperature, which undergo a finite temperature phase transition to a low temperature gapped phase. Here we present experimental signatures of this room temperature phase transition from a high-temperature $β$-phase with a surface state to a gapped $α$-phase hosting hinge states. Using real-space current mapping and resistance fluctuation spectroscopy, we identify signatures of a displacive topological phase transition mediated by a first-order thermodynamic structural change. Near the emergence of $β$-phase, we observe pronounced telegraphic noise, indicating fluctuating phase domains with topological surface states. The spatially resolved current map reveals electron transport via the gapless surface states in the $β$-phase, which vanishes upon transitioning to the $α$-phase with localized conduction channels (or hinge modes). Our experimental results, supported by first principles estimates and effective theory of a topological displacive phase transition, establish Bi$_4$I$_4$ as a candidate material showing intricate interplay of classical thermodynamic phase transitions with topological quantum phenomena.

cond-mat.str-el

Critical scaling behavior in skyrmion host ferromagnet CrTe1.38

Materials hosting diverse topological spin textures hold significant potential for spintronic applications. In this context, CrTe1.38, a quasi-two-dimensional material, stands out due to its stable N'eel-type skyrmion phase over a wide temperature range, both with and without an applied magnetic field [APL 125, 152402 (2024)]. Thus, it is a promising candidate for investigating complex magnetic phenomena, offering valuable insights into the underlying magnetic interactions. This study investigates the critical behavior of CrTe1.38 near TC by measuring DC magnetic isotherms. A systematic analysis of these isotherms with the magnetic field applied along the easy axis allows us to determine the asymptotic critical exponents: beta = 0.314, gamma = 1.069, and delta = 4.556, where the Widom scaling law and scaling equations are verified the self-consistency and reliability. In this system, the magnetic exchange coupling J(r) is the long-range type and decays spatially at a rate slower than approximately 4.651. Most notably, a series of vertical lines in the low-field region of the initial magnetization curves below TC supports the existence of a skyrmion phase in this compound

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Exceptionally Slow, Long Range, and Non-Gaussian Critical Fluctuations Dominate the Charge Density Wave Transition

$(TaSe_4)_2I$ is a well-studied quasi-one-dimensional compound long-known to have a charge-density wave (CDW) transition around 263 K. We argue that the critical fluctuations of the pinned CDW order parameter near the transition can be inferred from the resistance noise on account of their coupling to the dissipative normal carriers. Remarkably, the critical fluctuations of the CDW order parameter are slow enough to survive the thermodynamic limit and dominate the low-frequency resistance noise. The noise variance and relaxation time show rapid growth (critical opalescence and critical slowing down) within a temperature window of $ \varepsilon \approx \pm 0.1$, where $\varepsilon$ is the reduced temperature. This is very wide but consistent with the Ginzburg criterion. We further show that this resistance noise can be quantitatively used to extract the associated critical exponents. Below $|\varepsilon | \lesssim 0.02$, we observe a crossover from mean-field to a fluctuation-dominated regime with the critical exponents taking anomalously low values. The distribution of fluctuations in the critical transition region is skewed and strongly non-Gaussian. This non-Gaussianity is interpreted as the breakdown of the validity of the central limit theorem as the diverging coherence volume becomes comparable to the macroscopic sample size. The large magnitude critical fluctuations observed over an extended temperature range, as well as the crossover from the mean-field to the fluctuation-dominated regime highlight the role of the quasi-one dimensional character in controlling the phase transition.

cond-mat.str-el

Raman signatures of lattice dynamics across inversion symmetry breaking phase transition in quasi-1D compound, (TaSe$_4$)$_3$I

Structural phase transition can occur due to complex mechanisms other than simple dynamical instability, especially when the parent and daughter structure is of low dimension. This article reports such an inversion symmetry-breaking structural phase transition in a quasi-1D compound (TaSe$_4$)$_3$I at T$_S\sim$ 141~K studied by Raman spectroscopy. Our investigation of collective lattice dynamics reveals three additional Raman active modes in the low-temperature non-centrosymmetric structure. Two vibrational modes become Raman active due to the absence of an inversion center, while the third mode is a soft phonon mode resulting from the vibration of Ta atoms along the \{-Ta-Ta-\} chains. Furthermore, the most intense Raman mode display Fano-shaped asymmetry, inferred as the signature of strong electron-phonon coupling. The group theory and symmetry analysis of Raman spectra confirm the displacive-first-order nature of the structural transition. Therefore, our results establish (TaSe$_4)_3$I as a model system with broken inversion symmetry and strong electron-phonon coupling in the quasi-1D regime.

cond-mat.str-el