No Arabic abstract
Two phase transitions in the tetragonal strongly correlated electron system CeNiAsO were probed by neutron scattering and zero field muon spin rotation. For $T <T_{N1}$ = 8.7(3) K, a second order phase transition yields an incommensurate spin density wave with wave vector $textbf{k} = (0.44(4), 0, 0)$. For $T < T_{N2}$ = 7.6(3) K, we find co-planar commensurate order with a moment of $0.37(5)~mu_B$, reduced to $30 %$ of the saturation moment of the $|pmfrac{1}{2}rangle$ Kramers doublet ground state, which we establish by inelastic neutron scattering. Muon spin rotation in $rm CeNiAs_{1-x}P_xO$ shows the commensurate order only exists for x $le$ 0.1 so the transition at $x_c$ = 0.4(1) is from an incommensurate longitudinal spin density wave to a paramagnetic Fermi liquid.
The physical properties of rare-earth (RE) dodecaborides, characterized by a cage-glass crystal structure with loosely bound RE ions, are reviewed. These compounds are strongly correlated electron systems with simultaneously active charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom, which explains the complexity of all $Rmathrm{B}_{12}$ compounds including antiferromagnetic (TbB$_{12}$-TmB$_{12}$) and nonmagnetic (LuB$_{12}$) metals, on one side, and the so-called Kondo insulator compound YbB$_{12}$ and Yb-based Yb$_{x}R_{1-x}$B$_{12}$ solid solutions, on the other. The development of the cooperative dynamic Jahn-Teller instability of the covalent boron network produces trigonal and tetragonal distortions of the rigid cage and results in the symmetry lowering of the fcc lattice in the dodecaborides. The ferrodistortive dynamics in the boron sub-lattice generates both the collective modes and quasilocal vibrations (rattling modes) of the heavy RE ions, causing a modulation in the charge-carrier density and the emergence of dynamic charge stripes. We consider their manifestations both in the properties of the nonmagnetic reference compound LuB$_{12}$ and in the phase diagrams of the $Rmathrm{B}_{12}$ antiferromagnets that exhibit multiple magnetic phases with anisotropic field-angular phase diagrams in the form of the Maltese cross. We also discuss the metal-insulator transitions in YbB$_{12}$ and Yb-based dodecaborides in terms of the instability of the Yb 4$f$-electron configuration, which appears in addition to the Jahn-Teller instability of the boron cage, providing one more mechanism of the charge and spin fluctuations. The experimental results challenge the established Kondo-insulator scenario in YbB$_{12}$, providing arguments in favor of the appearance of Yb-Yb vibrationally coupled pairs which should be considered as the main factor responsible for the charge- and spin-gap formation.
Layered pnictide materials have provided a fruitful platform to study various emergent phenomena, including superconductivity, magnetism, charge density waves, etc. Here we report the observation of structural distortion and noncollinear magnetism in layered pnictide EuAg$_4$As$_2$ via transport, magnetization, single crystal X-ray and neutron diffraction data. EuAg$_4$As$_2$ single crystal shows a structural distortion at 120 K, where two sets of superlattice peaks with the propagation vectors of $q_1=pm$(0, 0.25, 0.5) and $q_2=pm$(0.25, 0, 1) emerge. Between 9 K to 15 K, the hexagonal Eu$^{2+}$ sub-lattice enters an unpinned state, with magnetic Bragg reflections pictured as circular-sectors. Below 9 K, it orders in an incommensurate noncollinear antiferromagnetic state with a well-defined propagation wavevector of (0, 0.1, 0.12), where the magnetic structure is helical along the $c$ axis and cycloidal along the $b$ axis with a moment of 6.4 $mu_B$/Eu$^{2+}$. Furthermore, rich magnetic phases under magnetic fields, large magnetoresistance, and strong coupling between charge carriers and magnetism in EuAg$_4$As$_2$ are revealed.
Emergent relativistic quasiparticles in Weyl semimetals are the source of exotic electronic properties such as surface Fermi arcs, the anomalous Hall effect, and negative magnetoresistance, all observed in real materials. Whereas these phenomena highlight the effect of Weyl fermions on the electronic transport properties, less is known about what collective phenomena they may support. Here, we report a new Weyl semimetal, NdAlSi that offers an example. Using neutron diffraction, we report a long-wavelength magnetic order in NdAlSi whose periodicity is linked to the nesting vector between two topologically non-trivial Fermi pockets, which we characterize using density functional theory and quantum oscillation measurements. Our work provides a rare example of Weyl fermions driving collective magnetism.
Neutron scattering studies on powder and single crystals have provided new evidences for unconventional magnetism in Cu2Te2O5Cl2. The compound is built from tetrahedral clusters of S=1/2 Cu2+ spins located on a tetragonal lattice. Magnetic ordering, emerging at TN=18.2 K, leads to a very complex multi-domain, most likely degenerate, ground state, which is characterized by an incommensurate (ICM) wave vector k ~ [0.15, 0.42,1/2]. The Cu2+ ions carry a magnetic moment of 0.67(1) mB/ Cu2+ at 1.5 K and form a four helices spin arrangement with two canted pairs within the tetrahedra. A domain redistribution is observed when a magnetic field is applied in the tetragonal plane (Hc≈0.5 T), but not for H||c up to 4 T. The excitation spectrum is characterized by two well-defined modes, one completely dispersionless at 6.0 meV, the other strongly dispersing to a gap of 2 meV. The reason for such complex ground state and spin excitations may be geometrical frustration of the Cu2+ spins within the tetrahedra, intra- and inter-tetrahedral couplings having similar strengths and strong Dzyaloshinski-Moriya anisotropy. Candidates for the dominant intra- and inter-tetrahedral interactions are proposed.
We propose a theory of longitudinal resistivity in the normal phase of quasi-one-dimensional organic superconductors near the quantum critical point where antiferromagnetism borders with superconductivity under pressure. The linearized semi-classical Boltzmann equation is solved numerically, fed in by the half-filling electronic umklapp scattering vertex as derived from one-loop renormalization group calculations for the quasi-one-dimensional electron gas model. The momentum and temperature dependence of umklapp scattering has an important impact on the behaviour of longitudinal resistivity in the the normal phase. Resistivity is found to be linear in temperature around the quantum critical point at which spin-density-wave order joins superconductivity along the antinesting axis, to gradually evolve towards the Fermi liquid behaviour in the limit of weak superconductivity. A comparison is made between theory and experiments performed on the (TMTSF)$_2$PF$_6$ member of the Bechgaard salt series under pressure.