arXiv subjects

Xiaoli Dong

Publications and source records attributed to Xiaoli Dong.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Titanium-based kagome superconductor CsTi_3Bi_5 and topological states

Since the discovery of a new family of vanadium-based kagome superconductor AV3Sb5 (A=K, Rb, and Cs) with topological band structures, extensive effort has been devoted to exploring the origin of superconducting states and the intertwined orders. Meanwhile, searching for new types of superconductors with novel physical properties and higher superconducting transition temperatures has always been a major thread in the history of superconductor research. Here we report a successful fabrication and the topological states of a Titanium-based kagome metal CsTi3Bi5 (CT3B5) crystal. The as-grown CT3B5 crystal is of high quality and possesses a perfect two-dimensional kagome net of Titanium. The superconductivity of the CT3B5 crystal shows that the critical temperature Tc is of ~4.8 K. First-principle calculations predict that the CT3B5 has robust topological surface states, implying that CT3B5 is a Z2 topological kagome superconductor. This finding provides a new type of superconductors and the base for exploring the origin of superconductivity and topological states in kagome superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Phase diagrams on composition-spread Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ films

Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, an archetypical iron-based high-temperature superconductor with a simple structure but rich physical properties, has attracted lots of attention because the two end compositions, Se content $x = 0$ and 1, exhibit antiferromagnetism and nematicity, respectively, making it an ideal candidate for studying their interactions with superconductivity. However, what is clearly lacking to date is a complete phase diagram of Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ as functions of its chemical compositions since phase separation usually occurs from $x\sim 0.6$ to 0.9 in bulk crystals. Moreover, fine control of its composition is experimentally challenging because both Te and Se are volatile elements. Here we establish a complete phase diagram of Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$, achieved by high-throughput film synthesis and characterization techniques. An advanced combinatorial synthesis process enables us to fabricate an epitaxial composition-spread Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ film encompassing the entire Se content $x$ from 0 to 1 on a single piece of CaF$_2$ substrate. The micro-region composition analysis and X-ray diffraction show a successful continuous tuning of chemical compositions and lattice parameters, respectively. The micro-scale pattern technique allows the mapping of electrical transport properties as a function of relative Se content with an unprecedented resolution of 0.0074. Combining with the spin patterns in literature, we build a detailed phase diagram that can unify the electronic and magnetic properties of Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$. Our composition-spread Fe$_y$Te$_{1-x}$Se$_x$ films, overcoming the challenges of phase separation and precise control of chemical compositions, provide an ideal platform for studying the relationship between superconductivity and magnetism.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

A disorder-sensitive emergent vortex phase identified in high-Tc superconductor (Li,Fe)OHFeSe

The magneto-transport properties are systematically measured under c-direction fields up to 33 T for a series of single-crystal films of intercalated iron-selenide superconductor (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. The film samples with varying degree of disorder are grown hydrothermally. We observe a magnetic-field-enhanced shoulder-like feature in the mixed state of the high-Tc (Li,Fe)OHFeSe films with weak disorder, while the feature fades away in the films with enhanced disorder. The irreversibility field is significantly suppressed to lower temperatures with the appearance of the shoulder feature. Based on the experiment and model analysis, we establish a new vortex phase diagram for the weakly disordered high-Tc (Li,Fe)OHFeSe, which features an emergent dissipative vortex phase intermediate between the common vortex glass and liquid phases. The reason for the emergence of this intermediate vortex state is further discussed based on related experiments and models.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Epitaxial stabilization of an orthorhombic Mg-Ti-O superconductor

The family of titanium oxide superconductors exhibits many intriguing phenomena comparable to cuprates and iron pnictides/chalcogenides, and thus provides an ideal platform to contrastively study the unconventional pairing mechanism of high-temperature superconductors. Here, we successfully deposit superconducting Mg-Ti-O films on MgAl$_2$O$_4$ substrates with three principal orientations by ablating a MgTi$_2$O$_4$ target. Particularly, it is striking to observed that a single-crystalline film of an unintended structure has been grown on the (011)-oriented substrate, with the highest zero resistance transition temperature ($T_{\mathrm{c}0}$) of 5.0 K among them. The film has a highly reduced Mg/Ti ratio and an orthorhombic Ti$_9$O$_{10}$-like structure (denoted as Mg: Ti$_9$O$_{10}$), demonstrated by further characterizations of chemical composition and structure. Such a structure is unstable in bulk but favorable to be epitaxially stabilized on the (011)-surface of MgAl$_2$O$_4$ due to a relatively small strain at the formed interface. An isotropic upper critical field ($B_{\mathrm{c}2}$) up to 13.7 T that breaks the Pauli limit is observed in the Mg: Ti$_9$O$_{10}$ film, analogous to other superconducting titanium oxides. The similarity points to a common origin for the superconductivity in the family, which will provide valuable opinions for the mechanism of unconventional superconductivity in transition metal compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Dispersionless orbital excitations in (Li,Fe)OHFeSe superconductors

The superconducting critical temperature $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ of intercalated iron-selenide superconductor (Li,Fe)OHFeSe (FeSe11111) can be increased to 42 K from 8 K of bulk FeSe. It shows remarkably similar electronic properties as the high-$T_{\mathrm{c}}$ monolayer FeSe and provides a bulk counterpart to investigate the origin of enhanced superconductivity. Unraveling the nature of excitations is crucial for understanding the pairing mechanism in high-$T_{\mathrm{c}}$ iron selenides. Here we use resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) to investigate the excitations in FeSe11111. Our high-quality data exhibit several Raman-like excitations, which are dispersionless and isotropic in momentum transfer and robust against varying $T_{\mathrm{c}}$. Using atomic multiplet calculations, we assign the low-energy $\sim 0.3$ and 0.7 eV Raman peaks as local $e_g-e_g$ and $e_g-t_{2g}$ orbital excitations. The intensity of these two features decreases with increasing temperature, suggesting a primary contribution of the orbital fluctuations. Our results highlight the importance of orbital degree of freedom for high-$T_{\mathrm{c}}$ iron selenides.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Cu doping effects on the electronic structure of Fe1-xCuxSe

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we studied the evolution of the electronic structure of Fe1-xCuxSe from x = 0 to 0.10. We found that the Cu dopant introduces extra electron carriers. The hole bands near the gamma point are observed to steadily shift downward with increasing doping and completely sink down below the Fermi level (EF) for x > 0.05. Meanwhile, the electron pocket near the M point becomes larger but loses the spectral weight near EF. We also observed that effective mass of the electron band near the M point increases with doping. Our result explains why superconductivity disappears and metal insulator transition (MIT) like behavior occurs upon Cu doping in terms of electronic structure, and provide insight into emergent magnetic fluctuation in Fe1-xCuxSe.

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arXiv2021

Learning Continuous Face Representation with Explicit Functions

How to represent a face pattern? While it is presented in a continuous way in our visual system, computers often store and process the face image in a discrete manner with 2D arrays of pixels. In this study, we attempt to learn a continuous representation for face images with explicit functions. First, we propose an explicit model (EmFace) for human face representation in the form of a finite sum of mathematical terms, where each term is an analytic function element. Further, to estimate the unknown parameters of EmFace, a novel neural network, EmNet, is designed with an encoder-decoder structure and trained using the backpropagation algorithm, where the encoder is defined by a deep convolutional neural network and the decoder is an explicit mathematical expression of EmFace. Experimental results show that EmFace has a higher representation performance on faces with various expressions, postures, and other factors, compared to that of other methods. Furthermore, EmFace achieves reasonable performance on several face image processing tasks, including face image restoration, denoising, and transformation.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2021

Roton pair density wave and unconventional strong-coupling superconductivity in a topological kagome metal

The transition-metal kagome lattice materials host frustrated, correlated, and topological quantum states of matter. Recently, a new family of vanadium-based kagome metals AV3Sb5 (A=K, Rb, and Cs) with topological band structures has been discovered. These layered compounds are nonmagnetic and undergo charge density wave transitions before developing superconductivity at low temperatures. Here we report the observation of unconventional superconductivity and pair density wave (PDW) in CsV3Sb5 using scanning tunneling microscope/spectroscopy (STM/STS) and Josephson STS. We find that CsV3Sb5 exhibits a V-shaped pairing gap Δ~0.5 meV and is a strong-coupling superconductor (2Δ/kBTc~5) that coexists with 4a0 unidirectional and 2a0X2a0 charge order. Remarkably, we discover a 3Q PDW accompanied by bidirectional 4a0/3 spatial modulations of the superconducting gap, coherence peak and gap-depth in the tunneling conductance. We term this novel quantum state a roton-PDW associated with an underlying vortex-antivortex lattice that can account for the observed conductance modulations. Probing the electronic states in the vortex halo in an applied magnetic field, in strong-field that suppresses superconductivity, and in zero-field above Tc reveals that the PDW is a primary state responsible for an emergent pseudogap and intertwined electronic order. Our findings show striking analogies and distinctions to the phenomenology of high-Tc cuprate superconductors, and provide groundwork for understanding the microscopic origin of correlated electronic states and superconductivity in vanadium-based kagome metals.

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arXiv2021

Magnetic-Field-Induced Spin Nematicity in FeSe1-xSx and FeSe1-yTey Superconductor Systems

The angular-dependent magnetoresistance (AMR) of the ab plane is measured on the single crystals of FeSe1-xSx (x = 0, 0.07, 0.13 and 1) and FeSe1-yTey (y = 0.06, 0.61 and 1) at various temperatures under fields up to 9 T. A pronounced twofold-anisotropic carrier-scattering effect is identified by AMR, and attributed to a magnetic-field-induced spin nematicity that emerges from the tetragonal normal-state regime below a characteristic temperature Tsn. This magnetically polarized spin nematicity is found to be ubiquitous in the isoelectronic FeSe1-xSx and FeSe1-yTey systems, no matter whether the sample shows an electronic nematic order at Ts < Tsn, or an antiferromagnetic order at TN < Tsn, or neither order. Importantly, we find that the isoelectronic substitution with sulfur does not suppress but even enhances the characteristic Tsn of the induced spin nematicity in FeSe1-xSx samples. This contrasts sharply with their rapidly suppressed Ts, the transition temperature of the spontaneous electronic nematicity. Furthermore, we find that the superconductivity is significantly suppressed with the enhancement of the induced spin nematicity in both FeSe1-xSx and FeSe1-yTey samples.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Evidence of a hidden flux phase in the topological kagome metal CsV$_3$Sb$_5$

Phase transitions governed by spontaneous time reversal symmetry breaking (TRSB) have long been sought in many quantum systems, including materials with anomalous Hall effect (AHE), cuprate high temperature superconductors, Iridates and so on. However, experimentally identifying such a phase transition is extremely challenging because the transition is hidden from many experimental probes. Here, using zero-field muon spin relaxation (ZF-$μ$SR) technique, we observe strong TRSB signals below 70 K in the newly discovered kagome superconductor CsV$_3$Sb$_5$. The TRSB state emerges from the 2 x 2 charge density wave (CDW) phase present below ~ 95 K. By carrying out optical second-harmonic generation (SHG) experiments, we also find that inversion symmetry is maintained in the temperature range of interest. Combining all the experimental results and symmetry constraints, we conclude that the interlayer coupled chiral flux phase (CFP) is the most promising candidate for the TRSB state among all theoretical proposals of orbital current orders. Thus, this prototypical kagome metal CsV3Sb5 can be a platform to establish a TRSB current-ordered state and explore its relationship with CDW, giant AHE, and superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Unusual normal and superconducting state properties observed in hydrothermal Fe1-xSe flakes

The electronic and superconducting properties of Fe1-xSe single-crystal flakes grown hydrothermally are studied by the transport measurements under zero and high magnetic fields up to 38.5 T. The results contrast sharply with those previously reported for nematically ordered FeSe by chemical-vapor-transport (CVT) growth. No signature of the electronic nematicity, but an evident metal-to-nonmetal crossover with increasing temperature, is detected in the normal state of the present hydrothermal samples. Interestingly, a higher superconducting critical temperature Tc of 13.2 K is observed compared to a suppressed Tc of 9 K in the presence of the nematicity in the CVT FeSe. Moreover, the upper critical field in the zero-temperature limit is found to be isotropic with respect to the field direction and to reach a higher value of ~42 T, which breaks the Pauli limit by a factor of 1.8.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Anisotropic superconducting properties of Kagome metal CsV3Sb5

We systematically measure the superconducting (SC) and mixed state properties of high-quality CsV3Sb5 single crystals with Tc ~ 3.5 K. We find that the upper critical field Hc2(T) exhibits a large anisotropic ratio of Hc2^(ab)/Hc2^(c) ~ 9 at zero temperature and fitting its temperature dependence requires a minimum two-band effective model. Moreover, the ratio of the lower critical field, Hc1^(ab)/Hc1^(c), is also found to be larger than 1, which indicates that the in-plane energy dispersion is strongly renormalized near Fermi energy. Both Hc1(T) and SC diamagnetic signal are found to change little initially below Tc ~ 3.5 K and then to increase abruptly upon cooling to a characteristic temperature of ~2.8 K. Furthermore, we identify a two-fold anisotropy of in-plane angular-dependent magnetoresistance in the mixed state. Interestingly, we find that, below the same characteristic T ~ 2.8 K, the orientation of this two-fold anisotropy displays a peculiar twist by an angle of 60o characteristic of the Kagome geometry. Our results suggest an intriguing superconducting state emerging in the complex environment of Kagome lattice, which, at least, is partially driven by electron-electron correlation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Distinctive momentum dependent charge-density-wave gap observed in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ superconductor with topological Kagome lattice

CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ is a newly discovered Kagome superconductor that attracts great interest due to its topological nontrivial band structure and the coexistence of superconductivity and charge-density-wave (CDW) with many exotic properties. Here, we report the detailed characterization of the CDW gap in high-quality CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ single crystals using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. We find that the CDW gap is strongly momentum dependent. While gapped around the $M$ point, the electronic states remain gapless around the $Γ$ point and along the $Γ$-$K$ direction. Such momentum dependence indicates that the CDW is driven by the scattering of electrons between neighboring $M$ points, where the band structure hosts multiple saddle points and the density of state diverges near the Fermi level. Our observations of the partially gapped Fermi surface and strongly momentum-dependent CDW gap not only provide a foundation for uncovering the mechanism of CDW in CsV$_3$Sb$_5$, but also shed light on the understanding of how the CDW coexists with superconductivity in this topological Kagome superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Raman Study of Cooper Pairing Instabilities in (Li$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$)OHFeSe

We studied the electronic Raman spectra of (Li$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$)OHFeSe as a function of light polarization and temperature. In the B$_{1g}$ spectra alone we observe the redistribution of spectral weight expected for a superconductor and two well-resolved peaks below T$_c$. The nearly resolution-limited peak at 110 cm$^{-1}$ (13.6 meV) is identified as a collective mode. The peak at 190 cm$^{-1}$ (23.6 meV) is presumably another collective mode since the line is symmetric and its energy is significantly below the gap energy observed by single-particle spectroscopies. Given the experimental band structure of (Li$_{1-x}$Fe$_x$)OHFeSe, the most plausible explanations include conventional spin-fluctuation pairing between the electron bands and the incipient hole band and pairing between the hybridized electron bands. The absence of gap features in A$_{1g}$ and B$_{2g}$ symmetry favors the second case. Thus, in spite of various differences between the pnictides and chalcogenides, this Letter demonstrates the proximity of pairing states and the importance of band structure effects in the Fe-based compounds.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Electronic phase diagram of iron chalcogenide superconductors FeSe1-xSx and FeSe1-yTey

Here we establish a combined electronic phase diagram of isoelectronic FeSe1-xSx (0.19 > x > 0.0) and FeSe1-yTey (0.04 < y < 1.0) single crystals. The FeSe1-yTey crystals with y = 0.04 - 0.30 are grown by a hydrothermal ion-deintercalation (HID) method. Based on combined experiments of the specific heat, electrical transport, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, no signature of the tetragonal-symmetry-broken transition to orthorhombic (nematic) phase is observed in the HID FeSe1-yTey samples, as compared with the FeSe1-xSx samples showing this transition at Ts. A ubiquitous dip-like temperature dependence of the Hall coefficient is observed around a characteristic temperature T* in the tetragonal regimes, which is well above the superconducting transition. More importantly, we find that the superconducting transition temperature Tc is positively correlated with the Hall-dip temperature T* across the FeSe1-xSx and FeSe1-yTey systems, suggesting that the tetragonal background is a fundamental host for the superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Electronic and Superconducting Properties of Some FeSe-based Single Crystals and Films Grown Hydrothermally

Our recent year's studies of the prototypal FeSe and molecule-intercalated (Li,Fe)OHFeSe superconductor systems are briefly reviewed here, with emphasis on experimental observations of the link between the superconductivity and normal-state electronic property in the single crystals and films. These samples were successfully synthesized by our recently developed soft-chemical hydrothermal methods, which are also briefly described. Particularly in the Mn-doped high-Tc (Li,Fe)OHFeSe film, a strong enhancement of the superconducting critical current density was achieved, which is promising for practical application of the superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

GmFace: A Mathematical Model for Face Image Representation Using Multi-Gaussian

Establishing mathematical models is a ubiquitous and effective method to understand the objective world. Due to complex physiological structures and dynamic behaviors, mathematical representation of the human face is an especially challenging task. A mathematical model for face image representation called GmFace is proposed in the form of a multi-Gaussian function in this paper. The model utilizes the advantages of two-dimensional Gaussian function which provides a symmetric bell surface with a shape that can be controlled by parameters. The GmNet is then designed using Gaussian functions as neurons, with parameters that correspond to each of the parameters of GmFace in order to transform the problem of GmFace parameter solving into a network optimization problem of GmNet. The face modeling process can be described by the following steps: (1) GmNet initialization; (2) feeding GmNet with face image(s); (3) training GmNet until convergence; (4) drawing out the parameters of GmNet (as the same as GmFace); (5) recording the face model GmFace. Furthermore, using GmFace, several face image transformation operations can be realized mathematically through simple parameter computation.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2020

Continuous learning of face attribute synthesis

The generative adversarial network (GAN) exhibits great superiority in the face attribute synthesis task. However, existing methods have very limited effects on the expansion of new attributes. To overcome the limitations of a single network in new attribute synthesis, a continuous learning method for face attribute synthesis is proposed in this work. First, the feature vector of the input image is extracted and attribute direction regression is performed in the feature space to obtain the axes of different attributes. The feature vector is then linearly guided along the axis so that images with target attributes can be synthesized by the decoder. Finally, to make the network capable of continuous learning, the orthogonal direction modification module is used to extend the newly-added attributes. Experimental results show that the proposed method can endow a single network with the ability to learn attributes continuously, and, as compared to those produced by the current state-of-the-art methods, the synthetic attributes have higher accuracy.

cs.CV↗