No Arabic abstract
Sr3Ir4Sn13 is an interesting compound showing a coexistence of structural phase transition and superconductivity. The structural phase transition at 147 K leads to the formation of a superlattice. We performed optical spectroscopy measurements across the structural phase transition on single crystal sample of Sr3Ir4Sn13. The optical spectroscopy study reveals an unusual temperature induced spectral weight transfer over broad energy scale, yielding evidence for the presence of electron correlation effect. Below the structural phase transition temperature an energy gap-like suppression in optical conductivity was observed, leading to the removal of partial itinerant carriers near Fermi level. Unexpectedly, the suppression appears at much higher energy scale than that expected for a usual charge density wave phase transition.
We report on a detailed study of the optical properties of CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ at a large number of temperatures above and below the charge-density-wave (CDW) transition. Above the CDW transition, the low-frequency optical conductivity reveals two Drude components with distinct widths. An examination of the band structure allows us to ascribe the narrow Drude to multiple light and Dirac bands, and the broad Drude to the heavy bands near the $M$ points which form saddle points near the Fermi level. Upon entering the CDW state, the opening of the CDW gap is clearly observed. A large portion of the broad Drude is removed by the gap, whereas the narrow Drude is not affected. Meanwhile, an absorption peak associated with interband transitions near the saddle points shifts to higher energy and grows in weight. These observations are consistent with the scenario that the CDW in CsV$_{3}$Sb$_{5}$ is driven by nesting of Fermi surfaces near the saddle points at $M$.
Unconventional superconductivity often emerges at the border of long-range magnetic orders. Understanding the low-energy charge dynamics may provide crucial information on the formation of superconductivity. Here we report the unpolarized/polarized optical conductivity study of high quality MnP single crystals at ambient pressure. Our data reveal two types of charge carriers with very different lifetimes. In combination with the first-principles calculations, we show that the short-lifetime carriers have flat Fermi sheets which become gapped in the helimagnetic phase, causing a dramatic change in the low-frequency optical spectra, while the long-lifetime carriers are anisotropic three-dimensional like which are little affected by the magnetic transitions and provide major contributions to the transport properties. This orbital-dependent charge dynamics originates from the special crystal structure of MnP and may have an influence on the unconventional superconductivity and its interplay with helimagnetism at high pressures.
Although charge density wave (CDW) correlations appear to be a ubiquitous feature of the superconducting cuprates, their disparate properties suggest a crucial role for coupling or pinning of the CDW to lattice deformations and disorder. While diffraction intensities can demonstrate the occurrence of CDW domain formation, the lack of scattering phase information has limited our understanding of this process. Here, we report coherent resonant x-ray speckle correlation analysis, which directly determines the reproducibility of CDW domain patterns in La1.875Ba0.125CuO4 (LBCO 1/8) with thermal cycling. While CDW order is only observed below 54 K, where a structural phase transition results in equivalent Cu-O bonds, we discover remarkably reproducible CDW domain memory upon repeated cycling to temperatures well above that transition. That memory is only lost on cycling across the transition at 240(3) K that restores the four-fold symmetry of the copper-oxide planes. We infer that the structural-domain twinning pattern that develops below 240 K determines the CDW pinning landscape below 54 K. These results open a new view into the complex coupling between charge and lattice degrees of freedom in superconducting cuprates.
Recently, kagome lattice metal AV$_3$Sb$_5$ (A = K, Rb, Cs) family has received wide attention due to its presence of superconductivity, charge density wave (CDW) and peculiar properties from topological nontrivial electronic structure. With time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy, we show that the excited quasiparticle relaxation dynamics can be explained by formation of energy gap below the phase transition being similar to a usual second-order CDW condensate, by contrast, the structure change is predominantly first order phase transition. Furthermore, no CDW amplitude mode is identified in the ordered phase. The results suggest that the CDW order is very different from the traditional CDW condensate. We also find that weak pump pulse can non-thermally melt the CDW order and drive the sample into its high temperature phase, revealing the fact that the difference in lattice potential between those phases is small.
BaNi$_{2}$As$_{2}$ is a non-magnetic analogue of BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$, the parent compound of a prototype ferro-pnictide high-temperature superconductor. Recent diffraction studies on BaNi$_{2}$As$_{2}$ demonstrate the existence of two types of periodic lattice distortions above and below the tetragonal to triclinic phase transition, suggesting charge-density-wave (CDW) order to compete with superconductivity. We apply time-resolved optical spectroscopy and demonstrate the existence of collective CDW amplitude modes. The smooth evolution of these modes through the structural phase transition implies the CDW order in the triclinic phase smoothly evolves from the unidirectional CDW in the tetragonal phase and suggests that the CDW order drives the structural phase transition.