arXiv subjects

Xiangang Wan

Publications and source records attributed to Xiangang Wan.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

arXiv2012

Ferroelectricity induced by interatomic magnetic exchange interaction

Multiferroics, where two or more ferroic order parameters coexist, is one of the hottest fields in condensed matter physics and materials science[1-9]. However, the coexistence of magnetism and conventional ferroelectricity is physically unfavoured[10]. Recently several remedies have been proposed, e.g., improper ferroelectricity induced by specific magnetic[6] or charge orders[2]. Guiding by these theories, currently most research is focused on frustrated magnets, which usually have complicated magnetic structure and low magnetic ordering temperature, consequently far from the practical application. Simple collinear magnets, which can have high magnetic transition temperature, have never been considered seriously as the candidates for multiferroics. Here, we argue that actually simple interatomic magnetic exchange interaction already contains a driving force for ferroelectricity, thus providing a new microscopic mechanism for the coexistence and strong coupling between ferroelectricity and magnetism. We demonstrate this mechanism by showing that even the simplest antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulator MnO, can display a magnetically induced ferroelectricity under a biaxial strain.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Strong magnetic instability in correlated metal Bi2Ir2O7

The interplay of spin-orbit interactions and electronic correlations dominates the physical properties of pyrochlore iridates, R2Ir2O7 (R = Y, rare earth element), which are typically magnetic insulators. We report an experimental/theoretical study of single-crystal Bi2Ir2O7 where substitutions of Bi for R sensitively tips the balance between competing interactions so as to favor a metallic state with a strongly exchange enhanced paramagnetism. The ground state is characterized by the following features: (1) A divergent low-temperature magnetic susceptibility that indicates no long-range order down to 50 mK; (2) strongly field-dependent coefficients of the low-temperature T- and T3-terms of the specific heat; (3) a conspicuously large Wilson ratio R_W \approx 53.5; and (4) unusual temperature and field dependences of the Hall resistivity that abruptly change below 80 K, without any clear correlation with the magnetic behavior. All these unconventional properties suggest the existence of an exotic ground state in Bi2Ir2O7.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2012

Distinct behaviors of suppression to superconductivity in $LaRu_3Si_2$ induced by Fe and Co dopants

In the superconductor LaRu$_3$Si$_2$ with the Kagome lattice of Ru, we have successfully doped the Ru with Fe and Co atoms. Contrasting behaviors of suppression to superconductivity is discovered between the Fe and the Co dopants: Fe-impurities can suppress the superconductivity completely at a doping level of only 3%, while the superconductivity is suppressed slowly with the Co dopants. A systematic magnetization measurements indicate that the doped Fe impurities lead to spin-polarized electrons yielding magnetic moments with the magnitude of 1.6 $μ_B$\ per Fe, while the electrons given by the Co dopants have the same density of states for spin-up and spin-down leading to much weaker magnetic moments. It is the strong local magnetic moments given by the Fe-dopants that suppress the superconductivity. The band structure calculation further supports this conclusion.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Anomalous Properties in the Normal and Superconducting States of LaRu$_3$Si$_2$

Superconductivity in LaRu$_3$Si$_2$ with the honeycomb structure of Ru atoms has been investigated. It is found that the normal state specific heat C/T exhibits a deviation from the Debye model down to the lowest temperature. A relation $C/T = γ_n+βT^2-ATlnT$ which concerns the electron correlations can fit the data very well. The suppression to the superconductivity by the magnetic field is not the mean-field like, which is associated well with the observation of strong superconducting fluctuations. The field dependence of the induced quasiparticle density of states measured by the low temperature specific heat shows a non-linear feature, indicating the significant contributions given by the delocalized quasiparticles.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2011

Computational Design of Axion Insulators Based on 5d Spinels Compounds

Based on density functional calculation with LDA+U method, we propose that hypothetical Osmium compounds such as CaOs2O4 and SrOs2O4 can be stabilized in the geometrically frustrated spinel crystal structure. They also show some exotic electronic and magnetic properties in a reasonable range of on-site Coulomb correlation U such as ferromagnetism and orbital magnetoelectric effect characteristic to Axion electrodynamics. Other electronic phases including 3D Dirac metal and Mott insulator exist and would make perspective 5d spinels ideal for applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

The electronic structures and magnetic properties of perovskite ruthenates from constrained orbital hybridization calculations

We introduce a method to analyze the effect of hybridization by shifting corresponding atomic levels using external potentials. Based on this approach, we study perovskite ruthenates,\ and unambiguously identify that the covalency between the \textit{A}-site cation and O ion will modify the Ru-O hybridization and change the density of state at Fermi level, consequently affect the magnetic properties significantly. We also study the effect of pressure and reveal that hydrostatic pressure has a small effect on the Ru-O-Ru bond angle of SrRuO$_{3}$, while it will decrease the Ru-O length and increase the band width significantly. Therefore, the magnetic ordering temperature will decrease monotonically with pressure.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Electronic Structure of Pyrochlore Iridates: From Topological Dirac Metal to Mott Insulator

In 5d transition metal oxides such as the iridates, novel properties arise from the interplay of electron correlations and spin-orbit interactions. We investigate the electronic structure of the pyrochlore iridates, (such as Y$_{2}$Ir$_{2}$O$_{7}$) using density functional theory, LDA+U method, and effective low energy models. A remarkably rich phase diagram emerges on tuning the correlation strength U. The Ir magnetic moment are always found to be non-collinearly ordered. However, the ground state changes from a magnetic metal at weak U, to a Mott insulator at large U. Most interestingly, the intermediate U regime is found to be a Dirac semi-metal, with vanishing density of states at the Fermi energy. It also exhibits topological properties - manifested by special surface states in the form of Fermi arcs, that connect the bulk Dirac points. This Dirac phase, a three dimensional analog of graphene, is proposed as the ground state of Y$_{2}$Ir$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and related compounds. A narrow window of magnetic `axion' insulator, with axion parameter $θ=π$, may also be present at intermediate U. An applied magnetic field induces ferromagnetic order and a metallic ground state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Robust Dirac Point in Honeycomb Structure Nanoribbons with Zigzag Edges

The zigzag edge graphene nanoribbon, which is an antiferromagnetic insulator, is found from the density-function theory calculation to display a robust Dirac point after N and B doping at the zigzag edge. More interestingly, we found that the robust Dirac point is a common feature of the honeycomb structure nanoribbon with appropriate edge sites. The zigzag edge honeycomb nanoribbon is therefore expected to provide a very useful platform for material design and development.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Calculated Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Pyrochlore Iridates

Using density functional theory and LDA+U method, we investigate magnetic and electronic structure of Y$_{2}$Ir$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and rare-earth based pyrochlore iridates. Our study reveals that the ground state is a non-collinear magnetic insulating state. Due to strong spin-orbit coupling in Ir 5\textit{d}, there is an unusual correlation between the bands near Fermi level and the magnetization direction, resulting in a possibility of insulator-to-metal transition under applied magnetic field. This makes pyrochlore iridates a good candidate for possible magnetoressitance and magnetooptical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Electronic Structure Calculations of Magnetic Exchange Interactions in Europium Monochalcogenides

Using a combination of local spin density and Hubbard 1 approximations we study the mechansim of exchange interacion in EuX (X=O, S, Se and Te). We reproduce known experimental results about bulk modulus, critical pressure for structural phase transition, magnetic ordering temperature, spin--wave dispersions as well as momentum-- and tempearuture--dependent band shift. Our numerical results show pressure induced competition between the hybirization enhanced exchange interaction and Kondo--like coupling in EuO. Possible ways to enhance T_{c} are discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2009

Calculated Magnetic Exchange Interactions in High-Temeprature Superconductors

Using a first principles linear response approach, we study the magnetic exchange interactions J for a series of superconducting cuprates. We reproduce the observed spin-wave dispersions together with other experimental trends, and show that different cuprates have similar J's regardless their T$_{c}$. The nearest neighbor J is not sensitive to the hole-doping, which agrees with recent experiments. For the undoped cuprates, the second nearest neighbor J is ferromagnetic, but changes its sign with hole-doping. We also find that, in contrast to the hopping integral, the exchange interaction is not sensitive to the position of apical oxygen. To see the effect of the long--range nature of the exchange on the superconducting T$_{c}$, we study the dynamical spin susceptibility $χ(q,ω)$ within the t--J model using a dynamical cluster approximation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2007

Calculated Momentum Dependence of Zhang-Rice States in Transition Metal Oxides

Using a combination of local density functional theory and cluster exact diagonalization based dynamical mean field theory, we calculate many body electronic structures of several Mott insulating oxides including undoped high T_{c} materials. The dispersions of the lowest occupied electronic states are associated with the Zhang-Rice singlets in cuprates and with doublets, triplets, quadruplets and quintets in more general cases. Our results agree with angle resolved photoemission experiments including the decrease of the spectral weight of the Zhang--Rice band as it approaches k=0.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Electronic structures and optical properties of layered perovskites Sr_2MO_4 (M=Ti, V, Cr, and Mn): An ab initio study

A series of layered perovskites Sr$_2$$M$O$_4$ ($M$=Ti, V, Cr, and Mn) is studied by $ab $ $initio$ calculations within generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA+$U$ schemes. The total energies in different magnetic configurations, including the nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic, the layered antiferromagnetic with alternating ferromagnetic plane and the staggered in-plane antiferromagnetic (AFM-II) order, are calculated. It is found that Sr$_2$TiO$_4$ is always a nonmagnetic band insulator. For Sr$_2$MnO$_4$, both GGA and GGA+$U$ calculations show that the insulating AFM-II state has the lowest total energy among all the considered configurations. For $M$=V and Cr, the GGA is not enough to give out the insulating AFM-II states and including the on-site electron-electron correlation effect $U$ is necessary and efficient. The AFM-II state will have the lowest total energy in both cases when $U$ is larger than a critical value. Further, the optical conductivity spectra are calculated and compared with the experimental measurements to show how well the ground state is described within the GGA or GGA+$U$. The results indicate that $U$ is overestimated in Sr$_2$VO$_4$ and Sr$_2$CrO$_4$. To make up such a deficiency of GGA+$U$, the contributions from proper changes in the ligand field, acting cooperatively with $U$, are discussed and shown to be efficient in Sr$_2$CrO$_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Calculations of Magnetic Exchange Interactions in Mott--Hubbard Systems

An efficient method to compute magnetic exchange interactions in systems with strong correlations is introduced. It is based on a magnetic force theorem which evaluates linear response due to rotations of magnetic moments and uses a novel spectral density functional framework combining our exact diagonalization based dynamical mean field and local density functional theories. Applications to spin waves and magnetic transition temperatures of 3d metal mono--oxides as well as high--T_{c} superconductors are in good agreement with experiment.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Electronic Structure and Linear Optical Properties of Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$ Studied from the First Principles Calculation

First-principles calculations with the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method have been performed to investigate detailed electronic and linear optical properties of Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$, which is a classical low-dimensional antiferromagnet (AFM) charge transfer ({\it CT}) insulator. Within the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA) plus the on-site Coulomb interaction $U$ (LADA+$U$) added on Cu 3d orbitals, our calculated band gap and spin moments are well consistent with the experimental and other theoretical values. The energy dispersion relation agrees well with the angle resolved photoemission measurements. Its linear optical properties are calculated within the electric-dipole approximation. The absorption spectrum is found to agree well with the experimental result.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Magnetic and Electronic Properties of the New Ferrimagnet Sr8CaRe3Cu4O24

Magnetic and electronic properties of the recently-discovered material Sr8CaRe3Cu4O24 were investigated by means of a quantum Monte Carlo simulation, the Green function method and the LSDA+U (local spin-density approximation plus the Hubbard-U term) method. The LSDA+U calculation shows that the ground state is an insulator with magnetic moment M=1.01\muB/f.u., which is consistent with experimental results. The magnetic sites were specified and an effective model for the magnetic properties of this compound derived. The resultant effective model is a three-dimensional Heisenberg model with spin-alternation. Finite-temperature properties of this effective model are investigated by the quantum Monte Carlo method (continuous-time loop algorithm) and the Green function method. The numerical results are consistent with experimental results, indicating that the model is suitable for this material. Using the analysis of the effective model, some predictions for the material are made.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2005

Robust Half-Metallic Character and Large Oxygen Magnetism in a Perovskite Cuprate

The new perovskite cuprate material Sr$_{8}$CaRe$_{3}$Cu$_{4}$O$_{24}$, which behaves ferrimagnetically and shows an unusually high Curie temperature ($T_c \sim$ 440 K), is found from density-functional theory calculation to display several surprising properties after hole doping or chemical substitution: (1) Half metal (HM) is realized by replacing Re with W or Mo while $T_c$ remains high; (2) hole-doped Sr$_{8}$CaRe$_{3}$Cu$_{4}$O$_{24}$ is also HM with high $T_c$. Moreover, we find that the O atoms will carry a large magnetic moment after hole doping, which is in sharp contrast with the generally accepted concept that magnetism in solid requires partially filled shells of $d$ or $f$ electrons in cations. The material Sr$_8$CaRe$_3$Cu$_4$O$_{24}$ is therefore expected to provide a very useful platform for material design and development.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2004

Orbital Polarization, Surface Enhancement and Quantum Confinement in Nano-cluster Magnetism

Within a rather general tight-binding framework, we studied the magnetic properties of Ni$_{n}$ clusters with $n=9$ through 60. In addition to usual hopping, exchange, and spin-orbit coupling terms, our Hamiltonian also included orbital correlation and valence orbital shift of surface atoms. We show that orbital moment not only contributes appreciably to the total moment in this range of cluster size, but also dominates the oscillation of total moment with respect to the cluster size. Surface enhancement is found to occur not only for spin but, even stronger, also for orbital moment. The magnitude of this enhancement depends mainly on the coordination deficit of surface atoms, well described by a simple interpolation. For very small clusters ($n \leq 20$), quantum confinement of 4s electrons has drastic effects on 3$d$ electron occupation, and thus greatly influences both spin and orbital magnetic moments. With physically reasonable parameters to account for orbital correlation and surface valence orbital shift, our results are in good quantitative agreement with available experiments, evidencing the construction of a unified theoretical framework for nano-cluster magnetism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗