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Register a new userVortex phases and glassy dynamics in the highly anisotropic superconductor HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$
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We present an extensive study of vortex dynamics in a high-quality single crystal of HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$ (Hg1201), a highly anisotropic superconductor that is a model system for studying the effects of anisotropy. From magnetization $M$ measurements over a wide range of temperatures $T$ and fields $H$, we construct a detailed vortex phase diagram. We find that the temperature-dependent vortex penetration field $H_p(T)$, second magnetization peak $H_{smp}(T)$, and irreversibility field $H_{irr}(T)$ all decay exponentially at low temperatures and exhibit an abrupt change in behavior at high temperatures $T/T_c gtrsim 0.5$. By measuring the rates of thermally activated vortex motion (creep) $S(T,H)=|d ln M(T,H) / d ln t|$, we reveal glassy behavior involving collective creep of bundles of 2D pancake vortices as well as temperature- and time-tuned crossovers from elastic (collective) dynamics to plastic flow. Based on the creep results, we show that the second magnetization peak coincides with the elastic-to-plastic crossover at low $T$, yet the mechanism changes at higher temperatures.
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We present an inelastic neutron scattering study of the structurally simple single-layer compound HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$ close to optimal doping ($T_c approx 96$ K). A well-defined antiferromagnetic resonance with energy $omega_r = 56$ meV ($approx 6.8 k_BT_c$) is observed below the superconducting transition temperature $T_c$. The resonance mode is energy-resolution limited and exhibits an intrinsic momentum width of about $0.2 mathrm{mathring{A}^{-1}}$, consistent with prior work on several other cuprates. However, the unusually large value of the mode energy implies a non-universal relationship between $omega_r$ and $T_c$ across different families of cuprates.
High magnetic fields have revealed a surprisingly small Fermi-surface in underdoped cuprates, possibly resulting from Fermi-surface reconstruction due to an order parameter that breaks translational symmetry of the crystal lattice. A crucial issue concerns the doping extent of this state and its relationship to the principal pseudogap and superconducting phases. We employ pulsed magnetic field measurements on the cuprate HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$ to identify signatures of Fermi surface reconstruction from a sign change of the Hall effect and a peak in the temperature-dependent planar resistivity. We trace the termination of Fermi-surface reconstruction to two hole concentrations where the superconducting upper critical fields are found to be enhanced. One of these points is associated with the pseudogap end-point near optimal doping. These results connect the Fermi-surface reconstruction to both superconductivity and the pseudogap phenomena.
Measurements of the $^{17}$O nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quadrupolar spectrum of apical oxygen in HgBa$_{2}$CuO$_{4+delta}$ were performed over a range of magnetic fields from 6.4 to 30,T in the superconducting state. Oxygen isotope exchanged single crystals were investigated with doping corresponding to superconducting transition temperatures from 74,K underdoped, to 78,K overdoped. The apical oxygen site was chosen since its NMR spectrum has narrow quadrupolar satellites that are well separated from any other resonance. Non-vortex contributions to the spectra can be deconvolved in the time domain to determine the local magnetic field distribution from the vortices. Numerical analysis using Brandts Ginzburg-Landau theory was used to find structural parameters of the vortex lattice, penetration depth, and coherence length as a function of magnetic field in the vortex solid phase. From this analysis we report a vortex structural transition near 15,T from an oblique lattice with an opening angle of $73^{circ}$ at low magnetic fields to a triangular lattice with $60^{circ}$ stabilized at high field. The temperature for onset of vortex dynamics has been identified with vortex lattice melting. This is independent of the magnetic field at sufficiently high magnetic field similar to that reported for YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$ and Bi$_{2}$Sr$_{2}$CaCu$_{2}$O$_{8+delta}$ and is correlated with mass anisotropy of the material. This behavior is accounted for theoretically only in the limit of very high anisotropy.
The pseudogap phenomenon in cuprates is the most mysterious puzzle in the research of high-temperature superconductivity. In particular, whether the pseudogap is associated with a crossover or phase transition has been a long-standing controversial issue. The tetragonal cuprate HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$, with only one CuO$_2$ layer per primitive cell, is an ideal system to tackle this puzzle. Here, we measure the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility within the CuO$_2$ plane with exceptionally high-precision magnetic torque experiments. Our key finding is that a distinct two-fold in-plane anisotropy sets in below the pseudogap temperature $T^*$, which provides thermodynamic evidence for a nematic phase transition with broken four-fold symmetry. Most surprisingly, the nematic director orients along the diagonal direction of the CuO$_2$ square lattice, in sharp contrast to the bond nematicity reported in various iron-based superconductors and double-layer YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+delta}$, where the anisotropy axis is along the Fe-Fe and Cu-O-Cu directions, respectively. Another remarkable feature is that the enhancement of the diagonal nematicity with decreasing temperature is suppressed around the temperature at which short-range charge-density-wave (CDW) formation occurs. This is in stark contrast to YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6+delta}$, where the bond nematicity is not influenced by the CDW. Our result suggests a competing relationship between diagonal nematic and CDW order in HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4+delta}$.
The specific heat $C$ of the single-layer cuprate superconductor HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4 + delta}$ was measured in an underdoped crystal with $T_{rm c} = 72$ K at temperatures down to $2$ K in magnetic fields up to $35$ T, a field large enough to suppress superconductivity at that doping ($p simeq 0.09$). In the normal state at $H = 35$ T, a residual linear term of magnitude $gamma = 12 pm 2$ mJ/K$^2$mol is observed in $C/T$ as $T to 0$, a direct measure of the electronic density of states. This high value of $gamma$ has two major implications. First, it is significantly larger than the value measured in overdoped cuprates outside the pseudogap phase ($p >p^star$), such as La$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CuO$_4$ and Tl$_2$Ba$_2$CuO$_{6 + delta}$ at $p simeq 0.3$, where $gamma simeq 7$ mJ/K$^2$mol. Given that the pseudogap causes a loss of density of states, and assuming that HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4 + delta}$ has the same $gamma$ value as other cuprates at $p simeq 0.3$, this implies that $gamma$ in HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4 + delta}$ must peak between $p simeq 0.09$ and $p simeq 0.3$, namely at (or near) the critical doping $p^star$ where the pseudogap phase is expected to end ($p^starsimeq 0.2$). Secondly, the high $gamma$ value implies that the Fermi surface must consist of more than the single electron-like pocket detected by quantum oscillations in HgBa$_2$CuO$_{4 + delta}$ at $p simeq 0.09$, whose effective mass $m^star= 2.7times m_0$ yields only $gamma = 4.0$ mJ/K$^2$mol. This missing mass imposes a revision of the current scenario for how pseudogap and charge order respectively transform and reconstruct the Fermi surface of cuprates.
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