SearcharxivSearch

arXiv subjects

Yu-Te Hsu

Publications and source records attributed to Yu-Te Hsu.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Magnetothermopower and particle-hole symmetry in a cuprate strange metal

Here, we report magnetothermopower measurements on overdoped (Bi,Pb)2(Sr,La)2CuO6+delta (Bi2201) single crystals in magnetic fields up to 35 T. Whereas the temperature dependence of the zero-field Seebeck coefficient S(T) can be captured using Boltzmann transport theory, the field-dependent response S(H) cannot. Instead, the magnetothermopower contains a large additional contribution whose field and temperature dependence is consistent with the presence of short-range superconducting order well above Tc. Combined with earlier Hall and magnetoresistance results, these data imply that the overdoped cuprate strange metal contains two transport sectors with distinct particle-hole symmetry: a conventional particle-hole-asymmetric Fermi-liquid (FL) contribution governing the Hall effect and the zero-field thermopower, and a nearly particle-hole-symmetric sector dominating the anomalous longitudinal magnetotransport. We formulate a phenomenological real-space model in which disconnected FL islands are embedded in a compensated Dirac liquid of phase-incoherent d-wave Bogoliubov quasiparticles. This picture reconciles conventional zero-field transport with anomalous magnetothermopower and magnetoresistance and offers a concrete framework for thinking about strange metallicity in overdoped cuprates.

cond-mat.supr-con

${H}$-linear magnetoresistance in the ${T^2}$ resistivity regime of overdoped infinite-layer nickelate La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$NiO$_2$

We report a systematic magnetotransport study on high-crystallinity La$_{1-x}$Sr$_{x}$NiO$_2$ (LSNO) thin films with $x=0.20-0.24$. By conducting pulsed-field transport experiment up to 62 T, we reveal two salient features of the normal-state transport in overdoped LSNO thin films: (1) the magnetoresistance does not follow the Kohler's rule but exhibits a $H$-linear behavior in the high $H/T$ limit and (2) the normal-state $\rho(T)$ below 30 K consistently follows a $T^2$ behavior across the overdoped regime. Our results demonstrate a coexistence of $H$-linear magnetoresistance and $T^2$ resistivity in a model unconventional superconductor and provide new information on the transport characteristics of the normal ground state that host superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates.

cond-mat.supr-con

Fermi-liquid transport beyond the upper critical field in superconducting La$_2$PrNi$_2$O$_7$ thin films

Unconventional superconductivity typically emerges out of a strongly correlated normal state, manifesting as a highly renormalized Fermi liquid or a strange metal with $T$-linear resistivity. In Ruddlesden-Popper bilayer nickelates, superconductivity with a critical temperature $T_{\rm c}$ exceeding 80 and 40~K has been respectively realised in pressurized bulk crystals and epitaxially strained thin films. These advancements call for the characterisation of fundamental normal-state and superconducting parameters in these new materials platforms of high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductivity. Here we report detailed magnetotransport experiments on superconducting La$_2$PrNi$_2$O$_7$ (LPNO) thin films under pulsed magnetic fields up to 64~T and access the normal-state behaviour over a wide temperature range between 1.5 and 300~K. We find that the normal state of thin-film LPNO exhibits the hallmarks of Fermi-liquid transport, including $T^2$ temperature dependence of resistivity and Hall angle, and $H^2$ magnetoresistance obeying Kohler scaling. Using the empirical Kadowaki-Woods ratio, we estimate a quasiparticle effective mass $m^*/m_e \simeq 10$, thereby revealing the highly renormalized Fermi liquid state therein. Our results demonstrate that thin-film LPNO follows the same $T_{\rm c}/T_{\rm F}$ scaling observed across a myriad of strongly correlated superconductors and establish key normal-state characteristics of strained bilayer superconducting nickelates.

cond-mat.supr-con

Carrier density crossover and quasiparticle mass enhancement in a doped 5$d$ Mott insulator

High-temperature superconductivity in cuprates emerges upon doping the parent Mott insulator. Robust signatures of the low-doped electronic state include a Hall carrier density that initially tracks the number of doped holes and the emergence of an anisotropic pseudogap; the latter characterised by disconnected Fermi arcs, closure at a critical doping level $p^* \approx 0.19$, and, in some cases, a strongly enhanced carrier effective mass. In Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, a spin-orbit-coupled Mott insulator often regarded as a 5$d$ analogue of the cuprates, surface probes have revealed the emergence of an anisotropic pseudogap and Fermi arcs under electron doping, though neither the corresponding $p^*$ nor bulk signatures of pseudogap closing have as yet been observed. Here, we report electrical transport and specific heat measurements on Sr$_{2-x}$La$_x$IrO$_4$ over an extended doping range 0 $\leq x \leq$ 0.20. The effective carrier density $n_{\rm H}$ at low temperatures exhibits a crossover from $n_{\rm H} \approx x$ to $n_{\rm H} \approx 1+x$ near $x$ = 0.16, accompanied by \textcolor{blue}{a five-orders-of-magnitude increase in conductivity} and a six-fold enhancement in the electronic specific heat. These striking parallels in the bulk pseudogap phenomenology, coupled with the absence of superconductivity in electron-doped Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, disfavour the pseudogap as a state of precursor pairing and thereby narrow the search for the key ingredient underpinning the formation of the superconducting condensate in doped Mott insulators.

cond-mat.str-el

Rare-Earth Control of the Superconducting Upper Critical Field in Infinite-Layer Nickelates

The consequences of varying the rare-earth element in the superconducting infinite-layer nickelates have been much debated. Here we show striking differences in the magnitude and anisotropy of the superconducting upper critical field across the La-, Pr-, and Nd-nickelates. These 5 distinctions originate from the 4f electron characteristics of the rare-earth ions in the lattice: they are absent for La3+, nonmagnetic for the Pr3+ singlet ground state, and magnetic for the Nd3+ Kramer's doublet. The unique polar and azimuthal angle-dependent magnetoresistance found in the Nd-nickelates can be understood to arise from the magnetic contribution of the Nd3+ 4f moments. In the absence of rare-earth effects, we find that the nickelates broadly violate the Pauli limit. Such robust and tunable superconductivity suggests potential in future high-field applications.

cond-mat.supr-con

Fermi surface and nested magnetic breakdown in WTe2

We report a detailed Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) study on the Weyl type-II semimetal WTe2 in magnetic fields up to 29 T. By using the SdH results to guide our density functional theory calculations, we are able to accurately determine its Fermi surface by employing a moderate Hubbard U term, which is an essential step in explaining the unusual electronic properties of this much studied material. In addition to the fundamental orbits, we observe magnetic breakdown, which can consistently be explained within the model of a Russian-doll-nested Fermi surface of electron and hole pockets. The onset of magnetic breakdown in WTe2 is solely determined by impurity damping in contrast to magnetic breakdown scenarios in other metallic systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall

The thickness dependence of quantum oscillations in ferromagnetic Weyl metal SrRuO$_{3}$

Quantum oscillations in resistivity and magnetization at high magnetic fields are a macroscopic fingerprint of the energy quantization due to the cyclotron motion of quasiparticles. In a thin Weyl semimetal, a unique thickness dependent Weyl-orbit quantum oscillation was proposed to exist, originating from a nonlocal cyclotron orbit via the electron tunneling between the top and bottom Fermi-arc surface states. Here, untwinned and high crystalline Weyl metal SrRuO$_3$ thin films with different thicknesses were grown on miscut SrTiO$_3$ (001) substrates. Magneto-transport measurements were carried out in magnetic fields up to 35 T, and quantum oscillations with different frequencies were observed and compared to the calculated band structure. In particular, we discovered a frequency $F \approx$ 30 T at low temperatures and above 3 T that corresponds to a small Fermi pocket with a light effective mass. Its oscillation amplitude appears to be at maximum for film thicknesses in a range of 10 to 20 nm, and the phase of the oscillation exhibits a systematic change with the film thickness. After isolating the well separated frequencies, the constructed Landau fan diagram shows an unusual concave downward curvature in the 1/$\mu_0H_n$-$n$ curve, where $n$ is the Landau level index. Based on the rigorous analysis of the thickness and field-orientation dependence of the quantum oscillations, the oscillation with $F \approx$ 30 T is attributed to be of surface origin, which is related to the Fermi-arc surface state originating from non-overlapping Weyl nodes projected on the film's surface plane. Those findings can be understood within the framework of the Weyl-orbit quantum oscillation effect with non-adiabatic corrections.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Insulator-to-Metal Crossover near the Edge of the Superconducting Dome in Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$

We report a systematic magnetotransport study of superconducting infinite-layer nickelate thin films Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$ with $0.15 \leq x \leq 0.225$. By suppressing superconductivity with out-of-plane magnetic fields up to 37.5 T, we find that the normal state resistivity of Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$ is characterized by a crossover from a metallic $T^2$-behavior to an insulating log(1/$T$)-behavior for all $x$ except $x = 0.225$, at which the resistivity is predominantly metallic. The log(1/$T$)-behavior is found to be robust against magnetic fields, inconsistent with scenarios involving localization or Kondo scattering, and points to an anomalous insulating state possibly driven by strong correlations. In the metallic state, we find no evidence for non-Fermi-liquid behavior arising from proximity to a putative quantum critical point located inside the superconducting dome.

cond-mat.supr-con

Evidence for strong electron correlations in a non-symmorphic Dirac semimetal

Metallic iridium oxides (iridates) provide a fertile playground to explore new phenomena resulting from the interplay between topological protection, spin-orbit and electron-electron interactions. To date, however, few studies of the low energy electronic excitations exist due to the difficulty in synthesising crystals with sufficiently large carrier mean-free-paths. Here, we report the observation of Shubnikov-de Haas quantum oscillations in high-quality single crystals of monoclinic SrIrO$_3$ in magnetic fields up to 35~T. Analysis of the oscillations reveals a Fermi surface comprising multiple small pockets with effective masses up to 4.5 times larger than the calculated band mass. \textit{Ab-initio} calculations reveal robust linear band-crossings at the Brillouin zone boundary, due to its non-symmorphic symmetry, and overall we find good agreement between the angular dependence of the oscillations and the theoretical expectations. Further evidence of strong electron correlations is realized through the observation of signatures of non-Fermi liquid transport as well as a large Kadowaki-Woods ratio. These collective findings, coupled with knowledge of the evolution of the electronic state across the Ruddlesden-Popper iridate series, establishes monoclinic SrIrO$_3$ as a topological semimetal on the boundary of the Mott metal-insulator transition.

cond-mat.str-el

Unconventional quantum vortex matter state hosts quantum oscillations in the underdoped high-temperature cuprate superconductors

A central question in the underdoped cuprates pertains to the nature of the pseudogap ground state. A conventional metallic ground state of the pseudogap region has been argued to host quantum oscillations upon destruction of the superconducting order parameter by modest magnetic fields. Here we use low applied measurement currents and millikelvin temperatures on ultra-pure single crystals of underdoped YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+x}$ to unearth an unconventional quantum vortex matter ground state characterized by vanishing electrical resistivity, magnetic hysteresis, and non-ohmic electrical transport characteristics beyond the highest laboratory accessible static fields. A new model of the pseudogap ground state is now required to explain quantum oscillations that are hosted by the bulk quantum vortex matter state without experiencing sizeable additional damping in the presence of a large maximum superconducting gap; possibilities include a pair density wave.

cond-mat.supr-con

Intrinsic bulk quantum oscillations in a bulk unconventional insulator SmB$_6$

The finding of bulk quantum oscillations in the bulk Kondo insulator SmB$_6$, which has been proposed to be a correlated topological insulator, proved a considerable surprise. The subsequent measurement of bulk quantum oscillations in other correlated insulators including YbB$_{12}$ have lent support to our discovery of a class of unconventional insulators that are host to bulk quantum oscillations, of which SmB$_6$ was the first example. Here we perform a series of experiments to examine evidence for the intrinsic character of bulk quantum oscillations in floating zone-grown single crystals of SmB$_6$ that have been the subject of our quantum oscillation studies thus far. We present results of experiments including chemical composition analysis, magnetisation, thermal conductivity, electrical transport, and heat capacity on floating zone-grown single crystals of SmB$_6$, and a series of quantum oscillation experiments as a function of magnetic field, temperature, and magnetic field-orientation on single crystals of floating-zone grown SmB$_6$, LaB$_6$, and elemental Aluminium. Results of these experimental studies establish the intrinsic origin of quantum oscillations from the bulk of pristine floating zone-grown single crystals of SmB$_6$. The origin of the underlying bulk Fermi surface that bears close similarity with the unhybridised Fermi surface in metallic hexaborides despite the bulk insulating character of SmB$_6$ is thus at the heart of a theoretical mystery.

cond-mat.str-el

Hard antinodal gap revealed by quantum oscillations in the pseudogap regime of underdoped high-$T_{\rm c}$ superconductors

An understanding of the missing antinodal electronic excitations in the pseudogap state is essential for uncovering the physics of the underdoped cuprate high temperature superconductors. The majority of high temperature experiments performed thus far, however, have been unable to discern whether the antinodal states are rendered unobservable due to their damping, or whether they vanish due to their gapping. Here we distinguish between these two scenarios by using quantum oscillations to examine whether the small Fermi surface pocket, found to occupy only 2% of the Brillouin zone in the underdoped cuprates, exists in isolation against a majority of completely gapped density of states spanning the antinodes, or whether it is thermodynamically coupled to a background of ungapped antinodal states. We find that quantum oscillations associated with the small Fermi surface pocket exhibit a signature sawtooth waveform characteristic of an isolated two-dimensional Fermi surface pocket. This finding reveals that the antinodal states are destroyed by a hard gap that extends over the majority of the Brillouin zone, placing strong constraints on a drastic underlying origin of quasiparticle disappearance over almost the entire Brillouin zone in the pseudogap regime.

cond-mat.supr-con