No Arabic abstract
Exotic phenomenon can be achieved in quantum materials by confining electronic states into two dimensions. For example, relativistic fermions are realised in a single layer of carbon atoms, the quantized Hall effect can result from two-dimensional (2D) systems, and the superconducting transition temperature can be enhanced significantly in a one-atomic-layer material. Ordinarily, 2D electronic system can be obtained by exfoliating the layered materials, growing monolayer materials on substrates, or establishing interfaces between different materials. Herein, we use femtosecond infrared laser pulses to invert the periodic lattice distortion sectionally in a three-dimensional (3D) charge density wave material, creating macroscopic domain walls of transient 2D ordered electronic states with exotic properties. The corresponding ultrafast electronic and lattice dynamics are captured by time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and MeV ultrafast electron diffraction. Surprisingly, a novel energy gap state, which might be a signature of light-induced superconductivity, is identified in the photoinduced 2D domain wall near the surface. Such optical modulation of atomic motion is a new path to realise 2D electronic states and will be a new platform for creating novel phases in quantum materials.
In the vicinity of a quantum critical point, quenched disorder can lead to a quantum Griffiths phase, accompanied by an exotic power-law scaling with a continuously varying dynamical exponent that diverges in the zero-temperature limit. Here, we investigate a nematic quantum critical point in the iron-based superconductor FeSe$_{0.89}$S$_{0.11}$ using applied hydrostatic pressure. We report an unusual crossing of the magnetoresistivity isotherms in the non-superconducting normal state which features a continuously varying dynamical exponent over a large temperature range. We interpret our results in terms of a quantum Griffiths phase caused by nematic islands that result from the local distribution of Se and S atoms. At low temperatures, the Griffiths phase is masked by the emergence of a Fermi liquid phase due to a strong nematoelastic coupling and a Lifshitz transition that changes the topology of the Fermi surface.
Quantum well states appear in metallic thin films due to the confinement of the wave function by the film interfaces. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we unexpectedly observe quantum well states in fractured single crystals of CeCoIn$_5$. We confirm that confinement occurs by showing that these states binding energies are photon-energy independent and are well described with a phase accumulation model, commonly applied to quantum well states in thin films. This indicates that atomically flat thin films can be formed by fracturing hard single crystals. For the two samples studied, our observations are explained by free-standing flakes with thicknesses of 206 and 101 r{A}. We extend our analysis to extract bulk properties of CeCoIn$_5$. Specifically, we obtain the dispersion of a three-dimensional band near the zone center along in-plane and out-of-plane momenta. We establish part of its Fermi surface, which corresponds to a hole pocket centered at $Gamma$. We also reveal a change of its dispersion with temperature, a signature that may be caused by the Kondo hybridization.
High temperature superconductivity in cuprates arises from doping a parent Mott insulator by electrons or holes. A central issue is how the Mott gap evolves and the low-energy states emerge with doping. Here we report angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on a cuprate parent compound by sequential in situ electron doping. The chemical potential jumps to the bottom of the upper Hubbard band upon a slight electron doping, making it possible to directly visualize the charge transfer band and the full Mott gap region. With increasing doping, the Mott gap rapidly collapses due to the spectral weight transfer from the charge transfer band to the gapped region and the induced low-energy states emerge in a wide energy range inside the Mott gap. These results provide key information on the electronic evolution in doping a Mott insulator and establish a basis for developing microscopic theories for cuprate superconductivity.
Recent developments in high-temperature superconductivity highlight a generic tendency of the cuprates to develop competing electronic (charge) supermodulations. While coupled to the lattice and showing different characteristics in different materials, these supermodulations themselves are generally conceived to be quasi-two-dimensional, residing mainly in individual CuO2 planes, and poorly correlated along the c-axis. Here we observed with resonant elastic x-ray scattering a distinct type of electronic supermodulation in YBa2Cu3O7-x (YBCO) thin films grown epitaxially on La0.7Ca0.3MnO3 (LCMO). This supermodulation has a periodicity nearly commensurate with four lattice constants in-plane, eight out-of-plane, with long correlation lengths in three dimensions. It sets in far above the superconducting transition temperature and competes with superconductivity below this temperature for electronic states predominantly in the CuO2 plane. Our finding sheds new light on the nature of charge ordering in cuprates as well as a reported long-range proximity effect between superconductivity and ferromagnetism in YBCO/LCMO heterostructures.
Negative compressibility is a sign of thermodynamic instability of open or non-equilibrium systems. In quantum materials consisting of multiple mutually coupled subsystems, the compressibility of one subsystem can be negative if it is countered by positive compressibility of the others. Manifestations of this effect have so far been limited to low-dimensional dilute electron systems. Here we present evidence from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) for negative electronic compressibility (NEC) in the quasi-three-dimensional (3D) spin-orbit correlated metal (Sr1-xLax)3Ir2O7. Increased electron filling accompanies an anomalous decrease of the chemical potential, as indicated by the overall movement of the deep valence bands. Such anomaly, suggestive of NEC, is shown to be primarily driven by the lowering in energy of the conduction band as the correlated bandgap reduces. Our finding points to a distinct pathway towards an uncharted territory of NEC featuring bulk correlated metals with unique potential for applications in low-power nanoelectronics and novel metamaterials.