We have investigated crystal field and phonon dynamics of the multiferroic orthoferrite DyFeO$_3$ via polarized infrared spectroscopy. Reflectance of single crystals was measured in the far- to mid-infrared spectral range at range of temperatures fro
m 10-295 K. We observe a strongly anisotropic phonon spectrum which differs from earlier lattice dynamical calculations in its symmetry, as well as a mode with significant and unusual temperature dependence that we interpret as a coupled phonon-crystal-field excitation.
We present a comprehensive infrared spectroscopic study of lattice dynamics in the pnictide parent compound BaFe$_2$As$_2$. In the tetragonal structural phase, we observe the two degenerate symmetry-allowed in-plane infrared active phonon modes. Foll
owing the structural transition from the tetragonal to orthorhombic phase, we observe splitting into four non-degenerate phonon modes and a significant phonon strength enhancement. These detailed data allow us to provide a physical explanation for the anomalous phonon strength enhancement as the result of anisotropic conductivity due to Hunds coupling.
We report a novel aspect of the competition and coexistence between magnetism and superconductivity in the high-$T_{c}$ cuprate La$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CuO$_{4}$ (La214). With a modest magnetic field applied $H parallel c$-axis, we monitored the infrared s
ignature of pair tunneling between the CuO$_2$ planes and discovered the complete suppression of interlayer coupling in a series of underdoped La214 single crystals. We find that the in-plane superconducting properties remain intact, in spite of enhanced magnetism in the planes.
We present an infrared magneto-optical study of the highly thermoelectric narrow-gap semiconductor Bi$_2$Se$_3$. Far-infrared and mid-infrared (IR) reflectance and transmission measurements have been performed in magnetic fields oriented both paralle
l and perpendicular to the trigonal $c$ axis of this layered material, and supplemented with UV-visible ellipsometry to obtain the optical conductivity $sigma_1(omega)$. With lowering of temperature we observe narrowing of the Drude conductivity due to reduced quasiparticle scattering, as well as the increase in the absorption edge due to direct electronic transitions. Magnetic fields $H parallel c$ dramatically renormalize and asymmetrically broaden the strongest far-IR optical phonon, indicating interaction of the phonon with the continuum free-carrier spectrum and significant magnetoelectric coupling. For the perpendicular field orientation, electronic absorption is enhanced, and the plasma edge is slightly shifted to higher energies. In both cases the direct transition energy is softened in magnetic field.
We report a study of magnetic dynamics in multiferroic hexagonal manganite HoMnO3 by far-infrared spectroscopy. Low-temperature magnetic excitation spectrum of HoMnO3 consists of magnetic-dipole transitions of Ho ions within the crystal-field split J
=8 manifold and of the triangular antiferromagnetic resonance of Mn ions. We determine the effective spin Hamiltonian for the Ho ion ground state. The magnetic-field splitting of the Mn antiferromagnetic resonance allows us to measure the magnetic exchange coupling between the rare-earth and Mn ions.
We report on far infrared measurements of interplane conductivity for underdoped single-crystal YBa2Cu3Oy in magnetic field and situate these new data within earlier work on two other high-Tc cuprate superconductors, La(2-x)SrxCuO4 and Bi2Sr2CaCu2O(8
+d). The three systems have displayed apparently disparate electrodynamic responses in the Josephson vortex state formed when magnetic field H is applied parallel to the CuO2 planes. Specifically, there is discrepancy in the number and field dependence of longitudinal modes observed. We compare and contrast these findings with several models of the electrodynamics in the vortex state and suggest that most differences can be reconciled through considerations of the Josephson vortex lattice ground state as well as the c-axis and in-plane quasiparticle dissipations.
