No Arabic abstract
We investigated the crystal structure and lattice excitations of the ternary intermetallic stannide Ca3Ir4Sn13 using neutron and x-ray scattering techniques. For T > T* ~ 38 K the x-ray diffraction data can be satisfactorily refined using the space group Pm-3n. Below T* the crystal structure is modulated with a propagation vector of q = (1/2, 1/2, 0). This may arise from a merohedral twinning in which three tetragonal domains overlap to mimic a higher symmetry, or from a doubling of the cubic unit cell. Neutron diffraction and neutron spectroscopy results show that the structural transition at T* is of a second-order, and that it is well described by mean-field theory. Inelastic neutron scattering data point towards a displacive structural transition at T* arising from the softening of a low-energy phonon mode with an energy gap of Delta(120 K) = 1.05 meV. Using density functional theory the soft phonon mode is identified as a breathing mode of the Sn12 icosahedra and is consistent with the thermal ellipsoids of the Sn2 atoms found by single crystal diffraction data.
Polarized Raman scattering measurements have been performed on Na0.5CoO2 single crystal from 8 to 305 K. Both the A1g and E1g phonon modes show a softening below Tc1 ~ 83 K. Additionally, the A1g phonon mode, which is forbidden in the scattering geometry of cross polarization for the triangular CoO2 layers, appears below Tc1. In contrast, the metal-insulator transition at Tc2 ~ 46 K has only secondary effect on the Raman spectra. The phonon softening and the ``forbidden Raman intensity follow closely magnetic order parameter and the gap function at the Fermi surface, indicating that the distortion of CoO6 octahedra at Tc1, instead of the Na ordering at ~350 K, is the relevant structural component of the 83 K phase transition.
The elastic property of quantum critical quasicrystal (QC) Yb$_{15}$Al$_{34}$Au$_{51}$ is analyzed theoretically on the basis of the approximant crystal (AC) Yb$_{14}$Al$_{35}$Au$_{51}$. By constructing the realistic effective model in the AC, we evaluate the 4f-5d Coulomb repulsion at Yb as $U_{fd}approx 1.46$ eV realizing the quantum critical point (QCP) of the Yb-valence transition. The RPA analysis of the QCP shows that softening in elastic constants occurs remarkably for bulk modulus and longitudinal mode at low temperatures. Possible relevance of these results to the QC as well as the pressure-tuned AC is discussed.
Quasiparticle dynamics of FeSe single crystals revealed by dual-color transient reflectivity measurements ({Delta}R/R) provides unprecedented information on Fe-based superconductors. The amplitude of fast component in {Delta}R/R clearly tells a competing scenario between spin fluctuations and superconductivity. Together with the transport measurements, the relaxation time analysis further exhibits anomalous changes at 90 K and 230 K. The former manifests a structure phase transition as well as the associated phonon softening. The latter suggests a previously overlooked phase transition or crossover in FeSe. The electron-phonon coupling constant {lambda} is found to be 0.16, identical to the value of theoretical calculations. Such a small {lambda} demonstrates an unconventional origin of superconductivity in FeSe.
We report a direct observation of a sharp Kohn-like anomaly in the doubly degenerate copper-oxygen bond-stretching phonon mode occurring at $mathbf{q}mathrm{=(0.3, 0,0)}$ in La$_{2-x}$Ba$_x$CuO$_{4+delta}$ with $mathrm{x=0.14pm0.01}$, thanks to the high $mathbf{Q}$ resolution of inelastic x-ray scattering. This anomaly is clearly seen when the inelastic signal is analysed using a single mode but is also consistent with a two mode hypothesis possibly due to a splitting of the degenerate modes due to symmetry breaking stripes. Our observation shows that the effect persists at the stripe propagation vector in a superconducting system close to optimal doping.
The iron arsenide Eu3Fe2O5Fe2As2 was synthesized at 1173-1373 K in a resistance furnace and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction with Rietveld analysis: Sr3Fe2O5Cu2S2-type, I4/mmm, a = 406.40(1) pm, c = 2646.9(1) pm. Layers of edge-sharing FeAs4/4 tetrahedra are separated by perovskite-like oxide blocks. No structural transition occurs in the temperature range from 10 to 300 K. Magnetic measurements have revealed Curie-Weiss behavior with an effective magnetic moment of 7.79 muB per europium atom in agreement with the theoretical value of 7.94 muB for Eu2+. A drop in the magnetic susceptibility at 5 K indicates possible antiferromagnetic ordering. 151Eu and 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopic measurements have confirmed a beginning cooperative magnetic phenomenon by showing significantly broadened spectra at 4.8 K compared to those at 78 K.