arXiv subjects

William A. Coniglio

Publications and source records attributed to William A. Coniglio.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2023

Absence of Fermi surface reconstruction in pressure-driven overdoped YBCO

The evolution of the critical superconducting temperature and field, quantum oscillation frequencies and effective mass $m^{*}$ in underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-δ}$ (YBCO) crystals ($p$ = 0.11, with $p$ the hole concentration per Cu atom) points to a partial suppression of the charge orders with increasing pressure up to 7 GPa, mimicking doping. Application of pressures up to 25 GPa pushes the sample to the overdoped side of the superconducting dome. Contrary to other cuprates, or to doping studies on YBCO, the frequency of the quantum oscillations measured in that pressure range do not support the picture of a Fermi-surface reconstruction in the overdoped regime, but possibly point to the existence of a new charge order.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Hall anomaly, Quantum Oscillations and Possible Lifshitz Transitions in Kondo Insulator YbB$_{12}$: Evidence for Unconventional Charge Transport

In correlated electronic systems, strong interactions and the interplay between different degrees of freedom may give rise to anomalous charge transport properties, which can be tuned by external parameters like temperature and magnetic field. Recently, magnetic quantum oscillations and metallic low-temperature thermal conductivity have been observed in the Kondo insulator YbB$_{12}$, whose resistivity is a few orders of magnitude higher than those of conventional metals. As yet, these unusual observations are not fully understood. Here we present a detailed investigation of the behavior of YbB$_{12}$ under intense magnetic fields using both transport and torque magnetometry measurements. A low-field Hall anomaly, reminiscent of the Hall response associated with "strange-metal" physics, develops at $T < 1.5$ K. At two characteristic magnetic fields ($μ_0H_1= 19.6$ T and $μ_0H_2 \sim 31$ T), signatures appear in the Hall coefficient, magnetic torque, and magnetoresistance. We suggest that they are likely to be field-induced Lifshitz transitions. Moreover, above 35 T, the background resistivity displays an unusual, nonmetallic $T^α$-behavior, with $α$ being field-dependent and varying between -1.5 and -2. By normalizing the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillation amplitude to this $T^α$-dependence, the calculated cyclotron mass becomes more consistent with that deduced from de Haas-van Alphen oscillations. Our results support a novel two-fluid scenario in YbB$_{12}$: a Fermi-liquid-like fluid of charge-neutral quasiparticles coexists with charge carriers that remain in a nonmetallic state. The former experience successive Lifshitz transitions and develop Landau quantization in applied magnetic fields, whilst scattering between both fluids allows the Shubnikov-de Haas effect to be observed in the electrical transport.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Truncated mass divergence in a Mott metal

Metal-insulator transitions in clean, crystalline solids can be driven by two distinct mechanisms. In a conventional insulator, the charge carrier concentration vanishes, when an energy gap separates filled and unfilled electronic states. In the established picture of a Mott insulator, by contrast, electronic interactions cause coherent charge carriers to slow down and eventually stop in electronic grid-lock without materially affecting the carrier concentration itself. This description has so far escaped experimental verification by quantum oscillation measurements, which directly probe the velocity distribution of the coherent charge carriers. By extending this technique to high pressure we were able to examine the evolution of carrier concentration and velocity in the strongly correlated metallic state of the clean, crystalline material NiS$_2$, while tuning the system towards the Mott insulating phase. Our results confirm that pronounced electronic slowing down indeed governs the approach to the insulating state. However, the critical point itself, at which the carrier velocity would reach zero and the effective carrier mass diverge, is concealed by the insulating sector of the phase diagram. In the resulting, more nuanced view of Mott localisation, the inaccessibility of the low temperature Mott critical point resembles that of the threshold of magnetic order in clean metallic systems, where criticality is almost universally interrupted by first order transitions, tricritical behaviour or novel emergent phases such as unconventional superconductivity.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2019

Nonintrinsic origin of the magnetic-field-induced metal-insulator and electronic phase transitions in graphite

A detailed magnetoresistance study of bulk and microflake samples of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite with a thickness of 25 $μ$m to 23~nm reveals that the usually observed field-induced metal-insulator and electronic phase transitions vanish in thinner samples. The observed suppression is accompanied by orders of magnitude decrease of the magnetoresistance and of the amplitude of the Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations. The overall behavior is related to the decrease in the quantity of two-dimensional interfaces between crystalline regions of the same and different stacking orders present in graphite samples. Our results indicate that these field-induced transitions are not intrinsic to the ideal graphite structure and, therefore, a relevant portion of the published interpretations should be reconsidered.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Giant pressure dependence and dimensionality switching in a metal-organic quantum antiferromagnet

We report an extraordinary pressure dependence of the magnetic interactions in the metal-organic system [(CuF$_2$(H$_2$O)$_2$)$_2$pyrazine]. At zero pressure, this material realizes a quasi-two-dimensional (Q2D) spin-1/2 square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet. By high-pressure, high-field susceptibility measurements we show that the dominant exchange parameter is reduced continuously by a factor of 2 upon compression. Above 18 kbar, a phase transition occurs, inducing an orbital re-ordering that switches the dimensionality, transforming the Q2D lattice into weakly coupled chains (Q1D). We explain the microscopic mechanisms for both phenomena by combining detailed x-ray and neutron diffraction results with quantitative modeling using spin-polarized density functional theory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2013

Radial modulation enhances critical fields in 2d superconductors

The 1964 reports of Fulde, Ferrell, Larkin, and Ovchinnikov (FFLO or LOFF) on paramagnetic enhancement of superconductivity suggested that superconductivity can persist at applied magnetic fields above both its orbital and paramagnetic limits. By forming spatially alternating superconducting and paramagnetic regions, the increase in local magnetic field in the paramagnetic region allows a reduction in field inside the superconductor. We present an FFLO phase diagram model for layered organic superconductors and confirm it with high magnetic field data from four materials. Our work suggests that paramagnetic and superconducting regions form as radially alternating rings about each vortex rather than plane waves, as FFLO is usually described.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Superconducting phase diagram and FFLO signature in $λ$-(BETS)$_2$GaCl$_4$ from rf penetration depth measurements

We report the phase diagram of $λ$-(BETS)$_2$GaCl$_4$ from rf penetration depth measurements with a tunnel diode oscillator in a pulsed magnetic field. We examined four samples with 1100 field sweeps in a range of angles with the magnetic field parallel and perpendicular to the conducting planes. In the parallel direction, $H_{c2}$ appears to include a tricritical point at 1.6 K and 10 T with a phase line that increases to 11 T as the temperature is decreased to} 500 mK. The second phase line forms a clearly defined high field low temperature region satisfying several of the conditions of the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. We show remarkably good fits of $H_{c2}$ to WHH in the reentrant $α>1$, $λ_{so}=0$ regime. We also note a sharp angle dependence of the phase diagram about the field parallel orientation that characterizes Pauli paramagnetic limiting and further supports the possibility of FFLO behavior. Unrelated to the FFLO study, at fields and temperatures below $H_{c2}$ and $T_c$, we find rich structure in the penetration depth data that we attribute to impurities at the surface altering the superconducting properties while maintaining the same crystallographic axes as $H_{c2}$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2010

Improvements to the Tunnel Diode Oscillator technique for high frequencies and pulsed magnetic fields with digital acquisition

We discuss improvements to the short-term performance of tunnel diode oscillator transducers with an emphasis on frequencies from 30 MHz to 1.2 GHz using LC type tank circuits. We specifically consider the TDO in pulsed high magnetic fields with fast digital acquisition. Since overdriven oscillators are necessary in pulsed fields to maintain oscillations, we examine the circuit using SPICE simulation during the design process and to gain insight into its behavior. We also discuss a numerical technique for demodulating the oscillations into frequency and amplitude.

physics.ins-det↗