No Arabic abstract
The physical properties of plutonium and plutonium-based intermetallic compounds are extremely sensitive to temperature, pressure, and chemical alloying. A celebrated example is the high-temperature $delta$ phase plutonium, which can be stabilized at room temperature by doping it with a few percent trivalent metal impurities, such as gallium or aluminum. The cubic phase Pu$_{3}$Ga, one of the plutonium-gallium intermetallic compounds, plays a key role in understanding the phase stability and phase transformation of the plutonium-gallium system. Its electronic structure might be essential to figure out the underlying mechanism that stabilizes the $delta$ phase plutonium-gallium alloy. In the present work, we studied the temperature-dependent correlated electronic states of cubic phase Pu$_{3}$Ga by means of a combination of the density functional theory and the embedded dynamical mean-field theory. We identified orbital selective 5$f$ itinerant-localized (coherent-incoherent) crossovers which could occur upon temperature. Actually, there exist two well-separated electronic coherent temperatures. The higher one is for the $5f_{5/2}$ state [$T_{text{coh}}(5f_{5/2}) approx 700$ K], while the lower one is for the $5f_{7/2}$ state [$T_{text{coh}}(5f_{7/2}) approx 100$ K]. In addition, the quasiparticle multiples which originate from the many-body transitions among the $5f^{4}$, $5f^{5}$, and $5f^{6}$ electronic configurations, decay gradually. The hybridizations between the localized 5$f$ bands and conduction bands are subdued by high temperature. Consequently, the Fermi surface topology is changed, which signals a temperature-driven electronic Lifshitz transition. Finally, the calculated linear specific heat coefficient $gamma$ is approximately 112 mJ / (mol K$^2$) at $T = 80$ K.
The temperature-dependent evolution pattern of 5f electrons helps to elucidate the long-standing itinerant-localized dual nature in plutonium-based compounds. In this work, we investigate the correlated electronic states of PuIn3 dependence on temperature by using a combination of the density functional theory and the dynamical mean-field theory. Not only the experimental photoemission spectroscopy is correctly reproduced, but also a possible hidden 5f itinerant-localized crossover is identified. Moreover, it is found that the quasiparticle multiplets from the many-body transitions gradually enhance with decreasing temperature, accompanied by the hybridizations with 5f electrons and conduction bands. The temperature-induced variation of Fermi surface topology suggests a possible electronic Lifshitz transition and the onset of magnetic order at low temperature. Finally, the ubiquitous existence orbital selective 5f electron correlation is also discovered in PuIn3. These illuminating results shall enrich the understanding on Pu-based compounds and serve as critical predictions for ongoing experimental research.
In heavy-fermion compounds, f electrons show both itinerant and localized behaviour depending on the external conditions, and the hybridization between localized f electrons and itinerant conduction bands gives rise to their exotic properties like heavy-fermions, magnetic orders and unconventional superconductivity. Duo to the risk of handling radioactive actinide materials, the direct experimental evidence of the band structure evolution across the localized-itinerant and magnetic transitions for 5f electrons is lacking. Here, by using angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we revealed the dual nature (localized vs itinerant) and the development of two different kinds of heavy quasi-particle bands of 5f electrons in antiferromagnetic (AFM) USb2. Partially opened energy gaps were observed on one quasi-particle 5f band cross the AFM transition around 203 K, indicating that the magnetic orders in USb2 are of spin density wave (SDW) type similar to Cr. The localized 5f electrons and itinerant conduction bands hybridize to form another heavy quasi-particle band at about 120 K, and then open hybridization gaps at even lower temperature. Our results provide direct spectral demonstration of the localized-itinerant transition, hybridization and SDW transition of 5f electrons for uranium-based materials.
A combination of the density functional theory and the single-site dynamical mean-field theory is employed to study the electronic structures of various allotropes of elemental curium (Cm-I, Cm-II, and Cm-III). We find that the 5$f$ valence electrons in the high-symmetry Cm-I and Cm-II phases remain localized, while they turn into itinerancy in the low-symmetry monoclinic Cm-III phase. In addition, conspicuous quasiparticle multiplets are identified in the 5$f$ electronic density of states of the Cm-III phase. We believe that it is the many-body transition between $5f^{7}$ and $5f^{8}$ configurations that gives rise to these quasiparticle multiplets. Therefore, the Cm-III phase is probably a new realization of the so-called Racah metal.
Using femtosecond time-resolved resonant magnetic x-ray diffraction at the Ho L3 absorption edge, we investigate the demagnetization dynamics in antiferromagnetically ordered metallic Ho after femtosecond optical excitation. Tuning the x-ray energy to the electric dipole (E1, 2p -> 5d) or quadrupole (E2, 2p -> 4f) transition allows us to selectively and independently study the spin dynamics of the itinerant 5d and localized 4f electronic subsystems via the suppression of the magnetic (2 1 3-tau ) satellite peak. We find demagnetization timescales very similar to ferromagnetic 4f systems, suggesting that the loss of magnetic order occurs via a similar spin-flip process in both cases. The simultaneous demagnetization of both subsystems demonstrates strong intra-atomic 4f-5d exchange coupling. In addition, an ultrafast lattice contraction due to the release of magnetostriction leads to a transient shift of the magnetic satellite peak.
The spectrum of the strongly correlated systems usually shows resonant peaks at finite energy, with examples in the 115 Ce family which are reproduced by the dynamical mean-field theory. A similar structure has been seen recently in the orbitally selective Mott (OSM) phase of two-band model, known as doublon-holon bound state, with implications on the fate of such phase in the zero Hunds coupling limit. We show that these features can be captured with the slave-particle methods once their Hilbert space is taken into account. We use slave-spin calculations, justifiable in the limit of large dimensions, to explicitly demonstrate this and compare the results with dynamical mean-field theory.