Itinerant spin excitations near the hidden order transition in URu2Si2
J. A. Janik, H. D. Zhou, Y. -J. Jo, L. Balicas, G. J. MacDougall, G. M. Luke, J. D. Garrett, K. J. McClellan, E. D. Bauer, J. L. Sarrao, Y. Qiu, J. R. D. Copley… 展开作者
J. A. Janik, H. D. Zhou, Y. -J. Jo, L. Balicas, G. J. MacDougall, G. M. Luke, J. D. Garrett, K. J. McClellan, E. D. Bauer, J. L. Sarrao, Y. Qiu, J. R. D. Copley, Z. Yamani, W. J. L. Buyers, C. R. Wiebe
By means of neutron scattering we show that the high-temperature precursor to the hidden order state of the heavy fermion superconductor URu$_{2}$Si$_{2}$ exhibits heavily damped incommensurate paramagnons whose strong energy dispersion is very similar to that of the long-lived longitudinal f-spin excitations that appear below T$_{0}$. Since the underlying local f-exchange is preserved we expect only the f-d interactions to change across the phase transition and to cause the paramagnetic damping. The damping exhibits single-ion behavior independent of wave vector and vanishes below the hidden order transition. We suggest that this arises from a transition from valence fluctuations to a hybridized f-d state below T$_{0}$. Here we present evidence that the itinerant excitations, like those in chromium, are due to Fermi surface nesting of hole and electron pockets so that the hidden order phase likely originates from a Fermi-surface instability. We identify wave vectors that span nested regions of a band calculation and that match the neutron spin crossover from incommensurate to commensurate on approach to the hidden order phase.
The temperature-dependent evolution pattern of 5f electrons helps to elucidate the long-standing itinerant-localized dual nature in plutonium-based compounds. In this work, we investigate the correlated electronic states of PuIn3 dependence on temperature by using a combination of the density functional theory and the dynamical mean-field theory. Not only the experimental photoemission spectroscopy is correctly reproduced, but also a possible hidden 5f itinerant-localized crossover is identified. Moreover, it is found that the quasiparticle multiplets from the many-body transitions gradually e…
Collective excitations in magnetic materials can be investigated by means of inelastic neutron scattering. We show that this experimental method gives access to the complete spectrum of magnetic fluctuations through the energy- and momentum-dependence of the dynamical susceptibility. We focus on the dynamical properties of magnets with localized spin densities and of metals. From such studies, microscopic parameters like exchange integrals, spin-wave stiffness and relaxation times can be determined. This is of great help to test current theories in magnetism.
We calculate the magnetic and quasiparticle excitation spectra of an itinerant $J_1-J_2$ model for iron pnictides. In addition to an acoustic spin-wave branch, the magnetic spectrum has a second, optical branch, resulting from the coupled four-sublattice magnetic structure. The spin-wave velocity has also a planar directional anisotropy, due to the collinear/striped antiferromagnetism. Within the magnetically ordered phase, the quasiparticle spectrum is composed of two Dirac cones, resulting from the folding of the magnetic Brillouin zone. We discuss the relevance of our findings to the unders…
Spin crossover is expected to enrich unusual physical states in various types of condensed matter. Through inelastic neutron scattering, we study the spin-state excitations in the canonical and advanced platform, LaCoO$_3$, and reveal that the spatial correlation robustly maintains the seven-Co-site size below 300 K and the internal Co-$d$ electrons are spatially delocalized. By combining theoretical calculations, this dynamical short-range order is identified as a new collective unit for describing spin-state with dual spin-state nature beyond the conventional one-Co-site classification.
A broken symmetry ground state without any magnetic moments has been calculated by means of local-density-approximation to density functional theory plus a local exchange term, the so-called LDA+$U$ approach, for URu$_{2}$Si$_{2}$. The solution is analysed in terms of a multipole tensor expansion of the itinerant density matrix and is found to be a non-trivial magnetic multipole. Analysis and further calculations show that this type of multipole enters naturally in time reversal breaking in presence of large effective spin-orbit coupling and co-exists with magnetic moments for most magnetic ac…
To reveal the nature of elementary excitations in a quantum spin liquid (QSL), we measured low temperature thermal conductivity and specific heat of 1T-TaS$_2$, a QSL candidate material with frustrated triangular lattice of spin-1/2. The nonzero temperature linear specific heat coefficient $γ$ and the finite residual linear term of the thermal conductivity in the zero temperature limit $κ_0/T=κ/T(T\rightarrow 0)$ are clearly resolved. This demonstrates the presence of highly mobile gapless excitations, which is consistent with fractionalized spinon excitations that form a Fermi surface. Remark…
We introduce a novel approach for the investigation of spin-wave excitations in itinerant ferromagnets. Our theory is based on a variational treatment of general multi-band Hubbard models which describe elements and compounds of transition metals. The magnon dispersion is derived approximately as the energy of a variational spin-wave state in the limit of large spatial dimensions. A numerical evaluation of our results is feasible for general multi-band models. As a first application we consider a model with two degenerate orbitals per lattice site. From our results we can conclude that spin-wa…
We present the theory of orbital ordering in orbital-degenerate itinerant electron systems. After proposing the criterion of instability for orbital ordering or orbital density wave ordering, we find that the orbital and the spin-orbital collective excitation spectra in ferro-orbital ordered phase exhibit finite gaps. The anomalous electronic energy spectra manifested in the angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and the orbital occupation in the resonant X-ray scattering (RXS) intensities are also presented for the orbital-ordered phase.
The most fascinating feature of certain two-dimensional (2D) gapless quantum spin liquid (QSL) is that their spinon excitations behave like the fermionic carriers of a paramagnetic metal. The spinon Fermi surface is then expected to produce a linear increase of the thermal conductivity with temperature that should manifest via a residual value ($κ_0/T$) in the zero-temperature limit. However, this linear in T behavior has been reported for very few QSL candidates. Here, we studied the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity of an effective spin-1/2 triangular QSL candidate Na$_2$BaCo(PO$_4$)…
We argue that salient experimental features of the magnetic excitations in the SDW phase of iron-based superconductors can be understood within an itinerant model. We identify a minimal itinerant model and use a multi-band RPA treatment of the dynamical spin susceptibility. Weakly-damped spin-waves are found near the ordering momentum and it is shown how they dissolve into the particle-hole continuum. We show that ellipticity of the electron bands accounts for the anisotropy of the spin waves along different crystallographic directions and the gap at the momentum conjugated to the ordering one…
Using a degenerate double-exchange model, we investigate the spin excitation spectra of iron pnictides. The model consists of local spin moments on each Fe site, as well as itinerant electrons from the degenerate $d_{xz}$ and $d_{yz}$ orbitals. The local moments interact with each other through antiferromagnetic $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$ Heisenberg interactions, and they couple to the itinerant electrons through a ferromagnetic Hund coupling. We employ the fermionic spinon representation for the local moments and perform a generalized random-phase approximation calculation on both spinons and itinerant …
We study the quantum dynamics of fractional excitations in quantum spin ice. We focus on the density of states in the two-monopole sector, $ρ(ω)$, as this can be connected to the wavevector-integrated dynamical structure factor accessible in neutron scattering experiments. We find that $ρ(ω)$ exhibits a strikingly characteristic singular and asymmetric structure which provides a useful fingerprint for comparison to experiment. $ρ(ω)$ obtained from exact diagonalisation of a finite cluster agrees well with that from the analytical solution of a hopping problem on a Husimi cactus representing co…
EtMe$_3$Sb[Pd(dmit)$_2$]$_2$, an organic Mott insulator with nearly isotropic triangular lattice, is a candidate material for a quantum spin liquid, in which the zero-point fluctuations do not allow the spins to order. The itinerant gapless excitations inferred from the thermal transport measurements in this system have been a hotly debated issue recently. While the presence of a finite linear residual thermal conductivity, $κ_0/T \equiv κ/T (T \rightarrow 0)$, has been shown [M. Yamashita {\it et al.} Science {\bf 328}, 1246 (2010)], recent experiments [P. Bourgeois-Hope {\it et al.}, Phys. R…
NaOsO$_{\text{3}}$ undergoes a metal-insulator transition (MIT) at 410 K, concomitant with the onset of antiferromagnetic order. The excitation spectra have been investigated through the MIT by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Os L$_{\text{3}}$ edge. Low resolution ($ΔE \sim$ 300 meV) measurements over a wide range of energies reveal that local electronic excitations do not change appreciably through the MIT. This is consistent with a picture in which structural distortions do not drive the MIT. In contrast, high resolution ($ΔE \sim $ 56 meV) measurements show that the well-d…
By calculating orbitally resolved Pauli susceptibilities within maximally localized Wannier orbital basis transformed from first principles band structures, we find that magnetism in Fe$_{1+x}$Te still has its itinerant origin even without Fermi surface nesting, provided orbital modulation of particle-hole excitations are considered. This leads to strong magnetic instabilities at wave vector (0,$π$)/($π$,0) in d$_{xz}$/d$_{yz}$ orbitals that are responsible for the bicollinear antiferromagnetic state as extra electrons donated from excess Fe are considered. Magnetic exchange coupling between e…
We study the competition of Coulomb interaction and hybridization effects in the five-orbital Anderson impurity model by means of continuous time quantum Monte Carlo, exact diagonalization, and Hartree Fock calculations. The dependence of the electronic excitation spectra and thermodynamic ground state properties on hybridization strength and the form of the Coulomb interaction is systematically investigated for impurity occupation number $N \approx 6$. With increasing hybridization strength, a Kondo resonance emerges, broadens and merges with some of the upper and lower Hubbard peaks. Concomi…
An attractive proposal for the hidden order (HO) in the heavy electron compound URu2Si2 is an itinerant multipole order of high rank. It is due to the pairing of electrons and holes centered on zone center and boundary, respectively in states that have maximally different total angular momentum components. Due to the pairing with commensurate zone boundary ordering vector the translational symmetry is broken and a HO quasiparticle gap opens below the transition temperature T_HO. Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) has demonstrated that for T<T_HO the collective magnetic response is dominated by…
CeRhIn$_{5}$ is an itinerant magnet where the Ce$^{3+}$ spins order in a simple helical phase. We investigate the spin excitations and observe sharp spin-waves parameterized by a nearest neighbor exchange $J_{RKKY}$=0.88 $\pm$ 0.05 meV. At higher energies, the spin fluctuations are heavily damped where single quasiparticle excitations are replaced by a momentum and energy broadened continuum constrained by kinematics of energy and momentum conservation. The delicate energy balance between localized and itinerant characters results in the breakdown of the single quasiparticle picture in CeRhIn$…
We show on the basis of electronic structure calculations that the uranium 5$f$ magnetic moment in URu$_2$Si$_2$ exhibits a unique Ising behavior, which surprisingly, arises from itinerant electronic states. The origin of the unusual Ising behavior is analyzed as due to the peculiar near-Fermi edge nested electronic structure of URu$_2$Si$_2$ involving its strong spin-orbit interaction. The Ising anisotropy has pertinent implications for theories applicable to explaining the Hidden Order phase in URu$_2$Si$_2$.
We demonstrated experimentally a direct way to probe a hidden propensity to the formation of spin density wave (SDW) in a non-magnetic metal with strong Fermi surface nesting. Substituting Fe for a tiny amount of Cu (1%) induced an incommensurate magnetic order below 20 K in heavily-overdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO). Elastic neutron scattering suggested that this order cannot be ascribed to the localized spins on Cu or doped Fe. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), combined with numerical calculations, revealed a strong Fermi surface nesting inherent in the pristine LSCO that likely …
A recent focus of quantum spin liquid (QSL) studies is how disorder/randomness in a QSL candidate affects its true magnetic ground state. The ultimate question is whether the QSL survives disorder or the disorder leads to a "spin-liquid-like" state, such as the proposed random-singlet (RS) state. Since disorder is a standard feature of most QSL candidates, this question represents a major challenge for QSL candidates. YbMgGaO$_4$, a triangular lattice antiferromagnet with effective spin-1/2 Yb$^{3+}$ ions, is an ideal system to address this question, since it shows no long-range magnetic order…
Neutron scattering measurements of the magnetic excitations in single crystals of antiferromagnetic CaFe2As2 reveal steeply dispersive and well-defined spin waves up to an energy of 100 meV. Magnetic excitations above 100 meV and up to the maximum energy of 200 meV are however broader in energy and momentum than the experimental resolution. While the low energy modes can be fit to a Heisenberg model, the total spectrum cannot be described as arising from excitations of a local moment system. Ab-initio calculations of the dynamic magnetic susceptibility suggest that the high energy behavior is …
We report on inelastic neutron scattering measurements that find incommensurate itinerant like magnetic excitations in the normal state of superconducting FeTe$_{0.6}$Se$_{0.4}$ (\Tc=14K) at wave-vector $\mathbf{Q}_{inc}=(1/2\pmε,1/2\mpε)$ with $ε$=0.09(1). In the superconducting state only the lower energy part of the spectrum shows significant changes by the formation of a gap and a magnetic resonance that follows the dispersion of the normal state excitations. We use a four band model to describe the Fermi surface topology of iron-based superconductors with the extended $s(\pm)$ symmetry an…
Spectra of one-electron and collective excitations in narrow-band ferromagnets with unquenched orbital moments are calculated in various theoretical models. The interaction of spin and orbital excitations with conduction electrons results in the damping of the former which, however, turns out to be rather small; therefore, apart from usual spin waves, well-defined orbitons can exist. Non-quasiparticle states occur in the electron energy spectrum near the Fermi energy due to this interaction. The criteria of stability of the saturated spin and orbital ferromagnetic ordering are considered. Poss…
We report inelastic neutron scattering measurements of the magnetic excitations in SrFe2As2, the parent of a family of iron-based superconductors. The data extend throughout the Brillouin zone and up to energies of ~260meV. An analysis with the local-moment J_1-J2 model implies very different in-plane nearest-neighbor exchange parameters along the $a$ and $b$ directions, both in the orthorhombic and tetragonal phases. However, the spectrum calculated from the J1-J2 model deviates significantly from our data. We show that the qualitative features that cannot be described by the J1-J2 model are …
We analyze, in exact terms, multiband 2D itinerant correlated fermionic systems with many-body spin-orbit interactions, and in-plane external magnetic fields. Even if such systems with broad applicability in leading technologies are non-integrable, we set up an exact solution procedure for them, which is described in detail. Casting the Hamiltonian in positive semidefinite form, the technique leads to the ground state and also characterizes the low lying excitation spectrum.
A novel method for mapping the local spin and orbital nature of the ground state of a system via corresponding flip excitations in both sectors is proposed based on angle resolved resonant photoemission and related diffraction patterns, presented here for the first time via an ab-initio modified one-step theory of photoemission. The analysis is done on the paradigmatic weak itinerant ferromagnet bcc Fe, whose magnetism, seen as a correlation phenomenon given by the coexistence of localized moments and itinerant electrons, and the non-Fermi liquid behaviour at ambient and extreme conditions bot…
There has been a long-standing debate on the coexistence between itinerant electrons and localized spins in the PdCrO$_2$ delafossite. By means of the charge self-consistent combination of density functional theory and dynamical mean-field theory, it is corroborated that despite overall remarkable metallic response, the CrO$_2$ layers are indeed Mott insulating as suggested by previous experimental work. The resulting ${\bf k}$-resolved spectral function in the paramagnetic phase is in excellent agreement with available photoemission data. Subtle coupling between the itinerant and Mott-localiz…
We study the photoinduced magnetic transition in an itinerant magnet described by the double-exchange model, in which conduction electrons couple with localized spins through the ferromagnetic (FM) Hund coupling. It is shown that intense light applied to the FM ground state induces an antiferromagnetic (AFM) order, in contrast to the AFM-to-FM transition due to the photocarrier injection. In particular, we focus on the mechanism for instability of the FM structure by the light irradiation. The magnon spectrum in the Floquet state is formulated on the basis of the pertrubative expansion of the …
One of the primary goals of modern condensed matter physics is to elucidate the nature of the ground state in various electronic systems. Many correlated electron materials, such as high temperature superconductors, geometrically frustrated oxides, and low-dimensional magnets are still the objects of fruitful study because of the unique properties which arise due to poorly understood many-body effects. Heavy fermion metals - materials which have high effective electron masses due to these effects - represent a class of materials with exotic properties, such as unusual magnetism, unconventional…
The collective spin-wave excitations in the antiferromagnetic state of $γ$-Fe$_{0.7}$Mn$_{0.3}$ were investigated using the inelastic neutron scattering technique. The spin excitations remain isotropic up to the high excitation energy, ${\hbarω}= 78$ meV. The excitations gradually become broad and damped above 40 meV. The damping parameter $γ$ reaches 110(16) meV at ${\hbarω} = 78$ meV, which is much larger than that for other metallic compounds, e.g., CaFe$_2$As$_2$ (24 meV), La$_{2-2x}$Sr$_{1+2x}$Mn$_2$O$_7$ ($52-72$ meV), and Mn$_{90}$Cu$_{10}$ (88 meV). In addition, the spin-wave dispersio…
We study symmetry-broken phases in twisted bilayer graphene at small filling above charge neutrality and at Van Hove filling. We argue that the Landau functionals for the particle-hole order parameters at these fillings both have an approximate SU(4) symmetry, but differ in the sign of quartic terms. We determine the order parameter manifold of the ground state and analyze its excitations. For small fillings, we find a strong 1st-order transition to an SU(3)$\otimes$U(1) manifold of orders that break spin-valley symmetry and induce a 3-1 splitting of fermionic excitations. For Van Hove filling…
We discuss the form of the damping of magnetic excitations in a metal near a ferromagnetic instability. The paramagnon theory predicts that the damping term should have the form $Ω/Γ(q)$ with $Γ(q) \propto q$ (the Landau damping). However, the experiments on uranium metallic compounds UGe$_2$ and UCoGe showed that $Γ(q)$ tends to a constant value at vanishing $q$. A non-zero $Γ(0)$ is impossible in systems with one type of carriers (either localized or itinerant) because it would violate the spin conservation. It has been conjectured recently that a non-zero $Γ(q)$ in UGe$_2$ and UCoGe may be …
We consider a two dimensional itinerant antiferromagnet near a quantum critical point. We show that, contrary to conventional wisdom, fermionic excitations in the ordered state are not the usual Fermi liquid quasiparticles. Instead, down to very low frequencies, the fermionic self energy varies as $ω^{2/3}$. This non-Fermi liquid behavior originates in the coupling of fermions to the longitudinal spin susceptibility $χ_{\parallel}(q, Ω)$ in which the order-induced ``gap'' in the spectrum at $q=0$ dissolves into the Landau damping term at $v_F q >Ω$. The transverse spin fluctuations obey $z=1$ …
We present the ultralow-temperature specific heat and thermal conductivity measurements on single crystals of triangular-lattice antiferromagnet Na$_2$BaCo(PO$_4$)$_2$, which was recently argued to host itinerant fermionic excitations, like a quantum spin liquid, above its antiferromagnetic phase transition temperature $T_{\rm N}$ = 0.148 K. In specific heat measurements, we confirm the peaks due to antiferromagnetic ordering when magnetic field $μ_0 H \leq$ 1 T, roughly consistent with previous work [N. Li $et$ $al.$, Nat. Commun. 11, 4216 (2020)]. However, in thermal conductivity measurement…
Motivated by experiment, we argue that the enigmatic hidden order in $URu_2Si_2$ demands a dual description that encompasses both its itinerant and its local aspects. A combination of symmetry considerations and observation allow us to rule out a number of possibilities. The two remaining scenarios, the quadrupolar charge density wave and the orbital antiferromagnet, are discussed and experiments are suggested to select between these proposals.
We study spin relaxation and dynamics of collective spin excitations in correlated double--exchange ferromagnets. For this, we introduce an expansion of the Green's functions equations of motion that treats non--perturbativerly all correlations between a given number of spin and charge excitations and becomes exact within a sub--space of states. Our method treats relaxation beyond Fermi's Golden Rule while recovering previous variational results for the spin--wave dispersion. We find that the momentum dependence of the spin--wave dephasing rate changes qualitatively due to the on--site Coulomb…
The heavy fermion compound URu$_2$Si$_2$ continues to attract great interest due to the unidentified hidden order it develops below 17.5K. The unique Ising character of the spin fluctuations and low temperature quasiparticles is well established. We present detailed measurements of the angular anisotropy of the nonlinear magnetization that reveal a $\cos^4 θ$ Ising anisotropy both at and above the ordering transition. With Landau theory, we show this implies a strongly Ising character of the itinerant hidden order parameter.
We present a detailed temperature and frequency dependence of the optical conductivity measured on clean high quality single crystals of URu$_{2}$Si$_{2}$ of $ac$- and $ab$-plane surfaces. Our data demonstrate the itinerant character of the narrow 5f bands, becoming progressively coherent as temperature is lowered below a cross-over temperature $T^*{\sim}75~K$. $T^*$ is higher than in previous reports as a result of a different sample preparation, which minimizes residual strain. We furthermore present the density-response (energy-loss) function of this compound, and determine the energies of …
A theory of Kondo lattices is applied to studying possible magnetic and charge structures of itinerant-electron antiferromagnets. Even helical spin structures can be stabilized when the nesting of the Fermi surface is not sharp and the superexchange interaction, which arises from the virtual exchange of pair excitations across the Mott-Hubbard gap, is mainly responsible for magnetic instability. Sinusoidal spin structures or spin density waves (SDW) are only stabilized when the nesting of the Fermi surface is sharp enough and a novel exchange interaction arising from that of pair excitations o…
The Hubbard model in the Heisenberg limit is studied by Kondo-lattice theory. The Kondo temperature T_K or k_BT_K, which is an energy scale of low-energy local quantum spin fluctuations, is enhanced by the resonating valence bond (RVB) mechanism, so that T_K\simeq T_MF/(2D), where T_MF is the Neel temperature in the mean-field approximation of the corresponding Heisenberg model and D is the spatial dimensionality. Electrons certainly behave as localized spins at T\gg T_K, but they are still itinerant at T\ll T_K unless an antiferromagnetic complete gap opens. When the Neel temperature T_N is s…
Employing the four-band tight-binding model we study theoretically the doping dependence of the spin response in the normal state of novel Fe-based pnictide superconductors. We show that the commensurate spin density wave (SDW) transition that arises due to interband scattering between the hole $α$-pockets and the electron $β$-pockets disappears already at the doping concentration $x \approx 0.04$ reflecting the evolution of the Fermi surfaces. Correspondingly, with further increase of the doping the antiferromagnetic fluctuations are suppressed for $x > 0.1$ and the Im$χ({\bf Q_{AFM}},ω)$ bec…
Spin wave dispersion and damping are investigated in the metallic SDW state of different itinerant electron models including a small interlayer hopping. Magnetic excitations in iron pnictides are shown to be well understood in terms of physical mechanisms characteristic of metallic magnets, such as carrier-induced ferromagnetic spin couplings, intra-band particle-hole excitations, and the spin-charge coupling mechanism, which is also important in ferromagnetic manganites.
The quasistatic approach is used to analyze the criterion of ferromagnetism for two-dimensional (2D) systems with the Fermi level near Van Hove (VH) singularities of the electron spectrum. It is shown that the spectrum of spin excitations (paramagnons) is positively defined when the interaction between electrons and paramagnons, determined by the Hubbard on-site repulsion U, is sufficiently large. Due to incommensurate spin fluctuations near the ferromagnetic quantum phase transition, the critical interaction Uc remains finite at VH filling and exceeds considerably its value obtained from the …
We use inelastic neutron scattering measurements to show that the energy gap in the magnetic excitations of URu$_2$Si$_2$, induced by the Hidden Order transition, is closed by Re substitution. The magnetic excitations remain ungapped in compositions where the specific heat anomaly associated with Hidden Order is no longer observed, which means that the entropy associated with Hidden Order is tied mostly to the magnetic gapping. Further, the onset of ferromagnetic order does not gap the excitations, reflecting the fact that Re substitution does not dramatically affect the Kondo lattice hybridiz…
Physicists have long debated whether the hidden order in URu2Si2 is itinerant or localized, and it remains inaccessible to direct external probes. Recent observation of an overdamped collective mode in this material (C. Weibe et al, Nature Physics 3, 96-100 (2007)), appears to resolve this outstanding issue.
In the local or itinerant extreme, magnetic excitations can be described by the Heisenberg model which treats electron spins as localized moments, or by the itinerant-electron model where the exchange interaction between electrons leads to unequal numbers of electrons with up and down spins. However, it has been elusive when both local moments and itinerant electrons are present in the intermediate range. Using inelastic neutron scattering, we provide direct spectroscopic evidence on the coexistence of and interplay between local moments and itinerant electrons in a van der Waals metallic ferr…
We theoretically study spin and charge excitations of skyrmion crystals stabilized by conduction-electron-mediated magnetic interactions via spin-charge coupling in a centrosymmetric Kondo-lattice model by large-scale spin-dynamics simulations combined with the kernel polynomial method. We reveal clear segregation of spin and charge excitation channels and nonreciprocal nature of the spin excitations governed by the Fermi-surface geometry, which are unique to the skyrmion crystals in centrosymmetric itinerant hosts and can be a source of novel physical phenomena.
Non-local low energy neutral excitations in a strongly disordered triangular Mott magnet Cr$_3$Se$_2$Br$_5$
University of California, Berkeley(加州大学伯克利分校);Lawrence Berkeley National Lab(劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室);the University of Texas at Dallas(德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校);University of Michigan(密歇根大学);Oak Ridge National Laboratory(橡树岭国家实验室);University of Houston(休斯顿大学);CIFAR Quantum Materials(加拿大国际量子材料中心);Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute(卡弗里能源纳米科学研究所);Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory(劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室);Air Force Research Laboratory(空军研究实验室)
Simultaneous neutron-scattering and thermal expansion measurements on the heavy-fermion superconductor URu2Si2 under hydrostatic pressure of 0.67 GPa have been performed in order to detect the successive paramagnetic, hidden order, and large moment antiferromagnetic phases on cooling. The temperature dependence of the sharp low energy excitation at the wavevector Q_0=(100) shows that this excitation is clearly a signature of the hidden order state. In the antiferromagnetic phase, this collective mode disappears. The higher energy excitation at the incommensurate wavevector Q_1=(1.4,0,0) persis…
Using femtosecond time-resolved resonant magnetic x-ray diffraction at the Ho L3 absorption edge, we investigate the demagnetization dynamics in antiferromagnetically ordered metallic Ho after femtosecond optical excitation. Tuning the x-ray energy to the electric dipole (E1, 2p -> 5d) or quadrupole (E2, 2p -> 4f) transition allows us to selectively and independently study the spin dynamics of the itinerant 5d and localized 4f electronic subsystems via the suppression of the magnetic (2 1 3-tau ) satellite peak. We find demagnetization timescales very similar to ferromagnetic 4f systems, sugge…
A dramatic increase in the total thermal conductivity (k) is observed in the Hidden Order (HO) state of single crystal URu2Si2. Through measurements of the thermal Hall conductivity, we explicitly show that the electronic contribution to k is extremely small, so that this large increase in k is dominated by phonon conduction. An itinerant BCS/mean-field model describes this behavior well: the increase in kappa is associated with the opening of a large energy gap at the Fermi Surface, thereby decreasing electron-phonon scattering. Our analysis implies that the Hidden Order parameter is strongly…
We have performed polarized electronic Raman scattering on URu2Si2 single crystals at low temperature down to 8 K in the hidden order state and under magnetic field up to 10 T. The hidden order state is characterized by a sharp excitation at 1.7 meV and a gap in the electronic continuum below 6.8 meV. Both Raman signatures are of pure A2g symmetry. By comparing the behavior of the Raman sharp excitation and the neutron resonance at Q0=(0,0,1), we provide new evidence, constrained by selection rules of the two probes, that the hidden order state breaks the translational symmetry along the c axi…
The spin- and charge-density-wave order parameters of the itinerant antiferromagnet chromium are measured directly with non-resonant x-ray diffraction as the system is driven towards its quantum critical point with high pressure using a diamond anvil cell. The exponential decrease of the spin and charge diffraction intensities with pressure confirms the harmonic scaling of spin and charge, while the evolution of the incommensurate ordering vector provides important insight into the difference between pressure and chemical doping as means of driving quantum phase transitions. Measurement of the…
We use the quasistatic approach to analyze the criterion of ferromagnetism for two-dimensional (2D) systems with the Fermi level near Van Hove singularities (VHS) of the electronic spectrum. It is shown that the spectrum of spin excitations (paramagnons) is positively defined when the interaction I between electrons and paramagnons, which corresponds to the Hubbard on-site repulsion U, is sufficiently large. The critical interactions I_c and U_c remain finite at Van Hove filling and exceed considerably their values obtained from the Stoner criterion due to incommensurate spin fluctuations whic…
We use Ru $L_3$-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) to study the full range of excitations in Ca$_3$Ru$_2$O$_7$ from meV-scale magnetic dynamics through to the eV-scale interband transitions. This bilayer $4d$-electron correlated metal expresses a rich phase diagram, displaying long range magnetic order below 56 K followed by a concomitant structural, magnetic and electronic transition at 48 K. In the low temperature phase we observe a magnetic excitation with a bandwidth of $\sim$30 meV and a gap of $\sim$8 meV at the zone center, in excellent agreement with inelastic neutron scat…
A three-orbital itinerant-electron model involving d_{xz}, d_{yz} and d_{xy} Fe 3d orbitals is proposed for iron pnictides towards understanding the (π,0) ordered magnetism and magnetic excitations in these materials. It is shown that this model at half filling yields a gapped (π,0) magnetic state with high degree of robustness and stability, and simultaneously reproduces several experimentally observed features such as the electronic structure, spin excitations, as well as the ferro orbital order between the d_{xz} and d_{yz} orbitals.