Theory for slightly doped antiferromagnetic mott insulators

New trial wave functions, constructed explicitly from the unique Mott insulating state with antiferromagnetic order, are proposed to describe the ground state of a Mott insulator slightly doped with holes or electrons. A rigid band is observed as charged quasiparticles with well-defined momenta being realized in these states. These states have much less superconducting correlations than previously studied ones. Small Fermi patches obtained are consistent with recent experiments on high T(c) cuprates doped lightly with holes or electrons.     

Strong photon nonlinearities and photonic mott insulators

We show that photon nonlinearities in an electromagnetically induced transparency can be at least 1 order of magnitude larger than predicted in all previous approaches. As an application we demonstrate that in this regime they give rise to very strong photon-photon interactions which are strong enough to make an experimental realization of a photonic Mott insulator state feasible in arrays of coupled ultrahigh-Q microcavities.     

Mechanism of hopping transport in disordered mott insulators

By using a combination of detailed experimental studies and simple theoretical arguments, we identify a novel mechanism characterizing the hopping transport in the Mott insulating phase of Ca2-xSrxRuO4 near the metal-insulator transition. The hopping exponent alpha shows a systematic evolution from a value of alpha=1/2 deeper in the insulator to the conventional Mott value alpha=1/3 closer to the transition. This behavior, which we argue to be a universal feature of disordered Mott systems close to the metal-insulator transition, is shown to reflect the gradual emergence of disorder-induced localized electronic states populating the Mott-Hubbard gap.     

Superconductivity in a doped mott insulator

Starting from the d-wave resonating-valence-bond mean-field theory of Kotliar and Liu, we present a new, long-wavelength/low-energy exact, treatment of gauge fluctuations. The result is a theory of gapless fermion quasiparticles coupled to superconducting phase fluctuations. We will discuss the physical implications, and the similarity and differences to a theory of superconductors with phase fluctuations.     

Resonant two-magnon Raman scattering and photoexcited States in two-dimensional mott insulators

We investigate the resonant two-magnon Raman scattering in two-dimensional (2D) Mott insulators by using a half-filled 2D Hubbard model in the strong coupling limit. By performing numerical diagonalization calculations for small clusters, we find that the Raman intensity is enhanced when the incoming photon energy is not near the optical absorption edge but well above it, being consistent with experimental data. The absence of resonance near the gap edge is associated with the presence of background spins, while photoexcited states for resonance are found to be characterized by the charge degree of freedom. The resonance mechanism is different from those proposed previously.     

Comparing inverse photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopies

The comparison of inverse photoemission with X-ray absorption spectra is possible. We discuss some of the similarities and differences that must be considered in both techniques. Two examples of such comparison are given: the NiMnSb half-Heusler alloy and the La_0.65Pb_0.35MnO₃ perovskite. We briefly present the dipole and symmetry selection rules which can be used for the interpretation of inverse photoemission as well as the absorption spectra. Due to the symmetry constraints imposed by the initial state, the selection rules in inverse photoemission are more restrictive than in the case of X-ray absorption.     

Nature of spin excitations in two-dimensional mott insulators: undoped cuprates and other materials

We investigate the excitation spectrum of a two-dimensional resonating valence bond (RVB) state. Treating the pi-flux phase with antiferromagnetic correlations as a variational ground state, we recover the long wavelength magnon as an "RVB exciton." However, this excitation does not exhaust the entire spectral weight and the high-energy spectrum is dominated by fermionic excitations. The latter can be observed directly by inelastic neutron scattering, and we predict their characteristic energy scales along different high symmetry directions in the magnetic Brillouin zone. We also interpret experimental results on two magnon Raman scattering and midinfrared absorption within this scenario.     

Ferromagnetism in doped excitonic insulators

The theory of doped excitonic insulators is reinvestigated in light of recent experiments on hexaborides. For the appropriate valley-degenerate X3,X'3 band structure, "intravalley" condensation is energetically favored. Ferromagnetism occurs upon doping due to the quenching of kinetic energy at the otherwise direct first-order excitonic insulator-metal transition. The phase diagram includes states of spatially inhomogeneous density and magnetization at low temperatures.     

Correlated insulated phase suggests bond order between band and mott insulators in two dimensions

We investigate the ground state phase diagram of the half-filled repulsive Hubbard model in two dimensions in the presence of a staggered potential Delta, the so-called ionic Hubbard model, using cluster dynamical mean-field theory. We find that for large Coulomb repulsion, U > Delta, the system is a Mott insulator (MI). For weak to intermediate values of Delta, on decreasing U, the Mott gap closes at a critical value Uc1(Delta) beyond which a correlated insulating phase with possible bond order is found. Further, this phase undergoes a first-order transition to a band insulator (BI) at Uc2(Delta) with a finite charge gap at the transition. For large Delta, there is a direct first-order transition from a MI to a BI with a single metallic point at the phase boundary.     

D-wave superconductivity in doped Mott insulators

The effect of proximity to a Mott insulating phase on the charge transport properties of a superconductor is determined. An action describing the low energy physics is formulated and different scenarios for the approach to the Mott phase are distinguished by different variation with doping of the parameters in the action. A crucial issue is found to be the doping dependence of the quasiparticle charge which is defined here and which controls the temperature and field dependence of the electromagnetic response functions. Presently available data on high-T_c superconductors are analyzed. The data, while neither complete nor entirely consistent, suggest that neither the quasiparticle velocity nor the quasiparticle charge vanish as the Mott phase is approached, in contradiction to the predictions of several widely studied theories of lightly doped Mott insulators. Implications of the results for the structure of vortices in high-T_c superconductors are determined.     

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.     

The effect of non-constant effective tunneling mass and asymmetry for resonant tunneling in double-barrier structures

We discuss the transmission coefficient τ_d in non-repetitive, one-dimensional, rectangular double-barrier structures without simplifications such as strongly attenuating barriers, strong localization, or overall constant effective tunneling mass of the electron. For resonance τ_d=1, we obtain two non-approximative conditions which require different resonance energies of the tunneling electron than previously reported in the literature. In fact, the resonance peaks are shifted to higher energy levels in the order of the width of the peaks due to the effect of non-constant tunneling mass. We investigate the dependence of the resonance condition and the shape of the resonance peaks in regard to perturbation of the electron energy, the gap width as well as the barrier width and height. Resonance is stable for variation of the barrier width but sensitive for variation of the barrier height and the gap width. Received: 9 December 1998 / Accepted: 5 January 1999 / Published online: 31 March 1999     

Spin fluctuations and the superconducting state in doped insulators

We propose a model of electron pairing via spin fluctuations in doped insulators. The bare states for the superconducting condensate correspond to impurity bands in the original band gap of the undoped material. We obtain a complete set of equations for the superconducting state. We show that fermion pairing in impurity bands of extended states is possible, and thus so is superconductivity, if localized spin-0 bosons are produced. The latter are necessarily accompanied by localized spin-1 bosons, which are responsible for the relationship between singlet and triplet pairing channels of quasiparticles. Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 114, 1765–1784 (November 1998)     

Key pairing interaction in layered doped ionic insulators

A controversial issue on whether the electron-phonon interaction (EPI) is crucial for high-temperature superconductivity or it is weak and inessential has remained one of the most challenging problems of contemporary condensed matter physics. We employ a continuum random phase approximation for the dielectric response function allowing for a self-consistent semianalytical evaluation of the EPI strength, electron-electron attractions, and the carrier mass renormalization in layered high-temperature superconductors. We show that the Fr?hlich EPI with high-frequency optical phonons in doped ionic lattices is the key pairing interaction, which is beyond the BCS-Migdal-Eliashberg approximation in underdoped superconductors, and it remains a significant player in overdoped compounds.     

Investigations of oxide superconductors by x-ray absorption,photoemission and cognate spectroscopies

X-ray absorption spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectra and Auger spectra of cuprate superconductors are discussed. The studies establish the absence of Cu³⁺ for all practical purposes, but point out the importance of oxygen holes. X-ray photoelectron spectra of BaBi_0.25Pb_0.75O₃ and related compounds are also examined.