Proximity of pseudogapped superconductor and commensurate antiferromagnet in a quasi-two-dimensional organic system

We performed the single-crystal 13C NMR studies on a quasi-two-dimensional system, deuterated kappa-(BEDT-TTF)2Cu[N(CN)(2)]Br, which is just on the border of the Mott transition. The NMR spectra are separated into two parts coming from the metallic (superconducting) and insulating phases due to the phase separation at low temperature. The examination of the separated spectra revealed that the Mott transition in this system is characterized by the first-order transition between the pseudogapped superconductor and the simplest commensurate antiferromagnet with a moment of 0.26 mu(B)/dimer.     

Imaging nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity in the lightly doped Mott insulator Ca(2-x)NaxCuO2Cl2

The spatial variation of electronic states was imaged in the lightly doped Mott insulator Ca(2-x)NaxCuO2Cl2 using scanning tunneling microscopy or spectroscopy. We observed nanoscale domains with a high local density of states within an insulating background. The observed domains have a characteristic length scale of 2 nm (approximately 4-5a, a: lattice constant) with preferred orientations along the tetragonal [100] direction. We argue that such spatially inhomogeneous electronic states are inherent to slightly doped Mott insulators and play an important role for the insulator to metal transition.     

Magnetic-field-induced Mott transition in a quasi-two-dimensional organic conductor

We investigated the effect of magnetic field on the highly correlated metal near the Mott transition in the quasi-two-dimensional layered organic conductor, kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Cl, by the resistance measurements under control of temperature, pressure, and magnetic field. It was demonstrated that the marginal metallic phase near the Mott transition is susceptible to the field-induced localization transition of the first order, as was predicted theoretically. The thermodynamic consideration of the present results gives a conceptual pressure-field phase diagram of the Mott transition at low temperatures.     

Anisotropic transport properties of charge-ordered La_(5/8-y)Pr_yCa_(3/8)MnO_3(y= 0.43) film

The anisotropic resistances along [001] and [1-10] axes are investigated for an La5/8-yPryCa3/8MnO3(y = 0.43)(LPCMO) film grown on(110)-oriented La AlO3 substrate. It is found that the charge order(CO) transition is much stronger and the resistance is larger along the [001] direction than that along the [1-10] direction. Special attention has been paid to the different effects of a magnetic field on the resistances of the two axes. The resistance is more susceptible to the magnetic field along the [001] direction compared with that along the [1-10] direction. Our results demonstrate that the anisotropic transport properties can be ascribed to the intrinsic anisotropic strain field in the film, which changes the shape of metallic domains for the phase separation manganite film. We also provide a feasible method to rule out the Joule heat effect from the electric current effect. This could be useful for future construction and application of materials and devices.     

Direct observation of melted Mott state evidenced from Raman scattering in 1T-TaS_2 single crystal

The evolution of electron correlation and charge density wave(CDW)in 1T-TaS_2 single crystal has been investigated by temperature-dependent Raman scattering,which undergoes two obvious peaks of A_(1g) modes about 70.8 cm~(-1) and 78.7 cm~(-1) at 80 K,respectively.The former peak at 70.8 cm~(-1) is accordant with the lower Hubbard band,resulting in the electron-correlation-driven Mott transition.Strikingly,the latter peak at 78.7 cm~(-1) shifts toward low energy with increasing the temperature,demonstrating the occurrence of nearly commensurate CDW phase(melted Mott phase).In this case,phonon transmission could be strongly coupled to commensurate CDW lattice via Coulomb interaction,which likely induces appearance of hexagonal domains suspended in an interdomain phase,composing the melted Mott phase characterized by a shallow electron pocket.Combining electronic structure,atomic structure,transport properties with Raman scattering,these findings provide a novel dimension in understanding the relationship between electronic correlation,charge order,and phonon dynamics.     

Mott transition,compressibility divergence,and the P-T phase diagram of layered organic superconductors: an ultrasonic investigation

The phase diagram of the organic superconductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Cl has been investigated by ultrasonic velocity measurements under helium gas pressure. Different phase transitions were identified through several elastic anomalies characterized from isobaric and isothermal sweeps. Our data reveal two crossover lines that end on the critical point terminating the first-order Mott transition line. When the critical point is approached along these lines, we observe a dramatic anomaly of the sound velocity which is consistent with a diverging compressibility of the electronic degrees of freedom.     

Phase separation close to the density-driven Mott transition in the Hubbard-Holstein model

The density-driven Mott transition is studied by means of dynamical mean-field theory in the Hubbard-Holstein model, where the Hubbard term leading to the Mott transition is supplemented by an electron-phonon (e-ph) term. We show that an intermediate e-ph coupling leads to a first-order transition at T=0, which is accompanied by a phase separation between a metal and an insulator. The compressibility in the metallic phase is substantially enhanced. At quite larger values of the coupling, a polaronic phase emerges coexisting with a nonpolaronic metal.     

Ground-state phase diagram of a half-filled one-dimensional extended hubbard model

The density-matrix renormalization group is used to study the phase diagram of the one-dimensional half-filled Hubbard model with on-site (U) and nearest-neighbor (V) repulsion and hopping t. A critical line V(c)(U) approximately U/2 separates a Mott insulating phase from a charge-density-wave phase. The formation of bound charge excitations for V>2t changes the phase transition from continuous to first-order at a tricritical point U(t) approximately 3.7t, V(t)=2t. A frustrating effective antiferromagnetic spin coupling induces a bond-order-wave phase on the critical line V(c)(U) for U(t)相似文献   

Anomalous lattice response at the Mott transition in a quasi-2D organic conductor

Discontinuous changes of the lattice parameters at the Mott metal-insulator transition are detected by high-resolution dilatometry on deuterated crystals of the layered organic conductor kappa-(BEDT-TTF)(2)Cu[N(CN)(2)]Br. The uniaxial expansivities uncover a striking and unexpected anisotropy, notably a zero effect along the in-plane c axis along which the electronic interactions are relatively strong. A huge thermal expansion anomaly is observed near the end point of the first-order transition line enabling us to explore the critical behavior with very high sensitivity. The analysis yields critical fluctuations with an exponent alpha approximately 0.8+/-0.15 at odds with the novel criticality recently proposed for these materials [Kagawa et al., Nature (London) 436, 534 (2005)]. Our data suggest an intricate role of the lattice degrees of freedom in the Mott transition for the present materials.     

Mott transition from a spin liquid to a Fermi liquid in the spin-frustrated organic conductor kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3

The pressure-temperature phase diagram of the organic Mott insulator kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3, a model system of the spin liquid on triangular lattice, has been investigated by 1H NMR and resistivity measurements. The spin-liquid phase is persistent before the Mott transition to the metal or superconducting phase under pressure. At the Mott transition, the spin fluctuations are rapidly suppressed and the Fermi-liquid features are observed in the temperature dependence of the spin-lattice relaxation rate and resistivity. The characteristic curvature of the Mott boundary in the phase diagram highlights a crucial effect of the spin frustration on the Mott transition.     

Dynamics of quantum phase transition in an array of Josephson junctions

We study the dynamics of the Mott insulator-superfluid quantum phase transition in a periodic 1D array of Josephson junctions. We show that crossing the critical point at a finite rate with a quench time tau(Q) induces finite quantum fluctuations of the current around the loop proportional to tau(-1/6)(Q). This scaling could be experimentally verified with an array of weakly coupled Bose-Einstein condensates or superconducting grains.     

Off-site trimer superfluid on a one-dimensional optical lattice

The Bose-Hubbard model with an effective off-site three-body tunneling,characterized by jumps towards one another,between one atom on a site and a pair atoms on the neighborhood site,is studied systematically on a one-dimensional(1D) lattice,by using the density matrix renormalization group method.The off-site trimer superfluid,condensing at momentum k = 0,emerges in the softcore Bose-Hubbard model but it disappears in the hardcore Bose-Hubbard model.Our results numerically verify that the off-site trimer superfluid phase derived in the momentum space from[Phys.Rev.A81,011601(R)(2010)]is stable in the thermodynamic limit.The off-site trimer superfluid phase,the partially off-site trimer superfluid phase and the Mott insulator phase are found,as well as interesting phase transitions,such as the continuous or first-order phase transition from the trimer superfluid phase to the Mott insulator phase.Our results are helpful in realizing this novel off-site trimer superfluid phase by cold atom experiments.     

First-order isostructural Mott transition in highly compressed MnO

We present evidence for an isostructural, first-order Mott transition in MnO at 105+/-5 GPa, based on high-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy and angle-resolved x-ray diffraction data. The pressure-induced structural and spectral changes provide a coherent picture of MnO phase transitions from paramagnetic B1 to antiferromagnetic distorted B1 at 30 GPa, to paramagnetic B8 at 90 GPa, and to diamagnetic B8 at 105+/-5 GPa. The last is the Mott transition, accompanied by a significant loss of magnetic moment, an approximately 6.6% volume collapse and the insulator-metal transition as demonstrated by recent resistance measurements.     

Mott transition in a valence-bond solid insulator with a triangular lattice

We have investigated the Mott transition in a quasi-two-dimensional Mott insulator EtMe{3}P[Pd(dmit){2}]{2} with a spin-frustrated triangular-lattice in hydrostatic pressure and magnetic-field [Et and Me denote C2H5 and CH3, respectively, and Pd(dmit){2} (dmit=1,3-dithiole-2-thione-4,5-dithiolate,dithiolate) is an electron-acceptor molecule]. In the pressure-temperature (P-T) phase diagram, a valence-bond solid phase is found to neighbor the superconductor and metal phases at low temperatures. The profile of the phase diagram is common to those of Mott insulators with antiferromagnetic order. In contrast to the antiferromagnetic Mott insulators, the resistivity in the metallic phase exhibits anomalous temperature dependence, rho=rho{0}+AT(2.5).     

Electric field induced avalanche breakdown and non-volatile resistive switching in the Mott Insulators AM4Q8

The Mott insulator compounds AM₄Q₈ exhibit a new type of volatile and non volatile resistive switchings that are of interest for RRAM application. We found that above a threshold electric field E _TH of the order of a few kV/cm these compounds undergo a volatile resistive switching based on an avalanche process. For electric field much higher than the threshold avalanche breakdown field, the resistive switching turns non volatile. Our EDXS and STEM analyses show that the non volatile resistive switching originating from the avalanche breakdown can neither be ascribed to local chemical modifications nor to a local phase change with symmetry breaking at a resolution better than a few nanometer. This is in strong contrast with non volatile resistive switching reported so far that are all based on chemical or structural changes. Conversely, our results suggest that the avalanche breakdown induce the collapse of the Mott insulating state at the local scale and the formation of a granular conductive filament formed by compressed metallic domains and expanded “superinsulating” domains.     

Effect of deuteration on the electronic and electron-vibrational properties of the organic conductor k-(D8-BEDT-TTF)2[Hg(SCN)2Br]

We present here for the first time polarized reflection spectra and optical conductivity spectra of single crystals of the newly deuterated organic conductor k-(D₈-BEDT-TTF)₂[Hg(SCN)₂Br] at room temperature. The spectral region investigated is 700–40 000 cm⁻¹. We examined the effect of deuteration on electronic and electron-vibrational transitions observed in the spectra. The observed shift of the electron “dimer” transition in the infrared toward lower frequencies upon deuteration is linked with an increase in the interaction between neighboring, mutually perpendicular dimers in the structure of the deuterated crystal. A lowering of the symmetry of the BEDT-TTF molecule is demonstrated in crystals similar to k-(BEDT-TTF)₂[Hg(SCN)₂Br], relative to the symmetry D _2h of the free molecule. We refine the assignment of the spectral features determined by the interaction of electrons with the fully-symmetric intramolecular vibrations of the C=C, C-S, and C-C-H bonds of the BEDT-TTF molecule. Fiz. Tverd. Tela (St. Petersburg) 40, 1595–1598 (September 1998)     

Competing orders and superconductivity in the doped mott insulator on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice

Quantum antiferromagnets on geometrically frustrated lattices often allow a number of unusual paramagnetic ground states. The fate of these Mott insulators upon doping is an important issue that may shed some light on the high T(c) cuprate problem. We consider the doped Mott insulator on the Shastry-Sutherland lattice via the t-J model. The U(1) slave-boson mean-field theory reveals the strong competition between different broken symmetry states. It is found that, in some ranges of doping, there exist superconducting phases with or without coexisting translational-symmetry-breaking orders such as the staggered flux or dimerization. Our results will be directly relevant to SrCu2(BO3)(2) when this material is doped in future.     

Mott transition, antiferromagnetism, and d-wave superconductivity in two-dimensional organic conductors

We study the Mott transition, antiferromagnetism, and superconductivity in layered organic conductors using the cellular dynamical mean-field theory for the frustrated Hubbard model. A d-wave superconducting phase appears between an antiferromagnetic insulator and a metal for t'/t=0.3-0.7 or between a nonmagnetic Mott insulator (spin liquid) and a metal for t'/t>or=0.8, in agreement with experiments on layered organic conductors including kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3. These phases are separated by a strong first-order transition. The phase diagram gives much insight into the mechanism for -wave superconductivity. Two predictions are made.     

单分子磁体-锰配合物的高压红外光谱研究

研究了单分子磁体锰配合物Ⅰ :[Mn1 2 O1 2 (O2 CC6 H4 3 Cl) 1 6 (H2 O) 3(3 Cl C6 H4 CO2 H) ]·(3 Cl C6 H4 CO2 H)和配合物Ⅱ :[Mn1 2 O1 2 (O2 CCH2 Br) 1 6 (H2 O) 4]·4 (CH2 Cl2 )的高压红外光谱 ,两者不同的压力诱导相转变的压力 (配合物Ⅰ :2 5～ 2 9kbar,配合物Ⅱ :2 9～ 35kbar)被观察到 ,两者均为二级压力诱导相转变。认为在压力诱导相转变时 ,也发生了配合物高自旋向低态自旋态的转变。配合物Ⅰ的平均压力灵敏度不同于通常情况 ,它在低压相区的平均压力灵敏度 (0 19cm- 1 ·kbar- 1 )比高压相区 (0 2 9cm- 1 ·kbar- 1 )低。而配合物Ⅱ与通常情况相似 ,在低压相区平均压力灵敏度 (0 34cm- 1 ·kbar- 1 )比高压相区 (0 2 3cm- 1 ·kbar- 1 )为高 ,即在高压相区的可压缩性比低压相区小。     

Electric Polarization in YCrO3 Induced by Restricted Polar Domains of Magnetic and Structural Natures

Physics of the Solid State - The electric polarization induced by local polar domains of two types (phase separation domains of magnetic nature and structure-distorted domains) has been observed in...