Electronic structure and nematic phase transition in superconducting multiple-layer FeSe films grown by pulsed laser deposition method

We report comprehensive angle-resolved photoemission investigations on the electronic structure of single crystal multiple-layer FeSe films grown on CaF_2 substrate by pulsed laser deposition(PLD) method. Measurements on FeSe/CaF_2 samples with different superconducting transition temperatures T_c of 4 K, 9 K, and 14 K reveal electronic difference in their Fermi surface and band structure. Indication of the nematic phase transition is observed from temperature-dependent measurements of these samples; the nematic transition temperature is 140-160 K, much higher than ~90 K for the bulk FeSe. Potassium deposition is applied onto the surface of these samples; the nematic phase is suppressed by potassium deposition which introduces electrons to these FeSe films and causes a pronounced electronic structure change. We compared and discussed the electronic structure and superconductivity of the FeSe/CaF_2 films by PLD method with the FeSe/SrTiO_3 films by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE) method and bulk FeSe. The PLD-grown multilayer FeSe/CaF_2 is more hole-doped than that in MBE-grown multiple-layer FeSe films. Our results on FeSe/CaF_2 films by PLD method establish a link between bulk FeSe single crystal and FeSe/SrTiO_3 films by MBE method, and provide important information to understand superconductivity in FeSe-related systems.     

Low-temperature collapse of the Fermi surface and phase transitions in correlated Fermi systems

A topological crossover, associated with the collapse of the Fermi surface in strongly correlated Fermi systems, is examined. It is demonstrated that in these systems, the temperature domain where standard Ferrai liquid results hold dramatically narrows, because the Landau regime is replaced by a classical one. The impact of the collapse of the Fermi surface on pairing correlations is analyzed. In the domain of the Lifshitz phase diagram where the Fermi surface collapses, splitting of the BCS superconducting phase transition into two different ones of the same symmetry is shown to occur.     

Fermi surface reconstruction in strongly correlated Fermi systems as a first-order phase transition

A quantum phase transition in strongly correlated Fermi systems beyond the topological quantum critical point has been studied using the Fermi liquid approach. The transition takes place between topologically equivalent states with three Fermi surface sheets, but one of them is characterized by a quasiparticle halo in the quasiparticle momentum distribution n(p), and the other one is characterized by a hole pocket. It has been found that the transition between these states is a first-order phase transition for the interaction constant g and temperature T. The phase diagram in the vicinity of this transition has been constructed.     

Electronic surface states of Cu(1 1 0) surface

Surface states are a unique and important class of quantum states that shave an important effect on the electronic properties of Cu(1 1 0) surface. The Cu(1 1 0) surface has been studied using ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (PES), inverse photoemission spectroscopy (IPES), and reflection anisotropy spectroscopy (RAS), and shows a resonance in the RAS spectra at 2.1 eV due to a transition between occupied and unoccupied surface states. The unoccupied surface state involved in the RAS transition at an energy of 1.7 eV at the point of the surface Brillouin zone has been investigated using IPES and the occupied surface state is seen in PES spectra at 0.45 eV below the Fermi level. The energy difference of the surface states, 2.15 eV, is a good match to the transition energy found in the RAS experiments.     

Fermi surface of LaAg

Electronic structure, especially the Fermi surface, is calculated for the intermetallic rare-earth compound LaAg, known to show the structural phase transition when In is substituted for Ag, by a self-consistent fully-relativistic APW method with the exchange-correlation potential in a local-density approximation. The Fermi surface is found to consist of large hole and electron sheets as well as small hole and electron sheets. This result confirms well the theoretical prediction by Niksch et al. (1987). These Fermi surface sheets are found to explain the experimental results for the de Haas-van Alphen effect by Niksch et al. (1987) and Motoki et al. (1995) reasonably well. But, the frequency branches originating from the large hole sheet have been observed only partially. Local curvature of the large hole sheet is investigated as a possible origin of the disappearance of these frequency branches.     

Spin-triplet pairing instability of the spinon fermi surface in a U(1) spin liquid

Recent experiments on the organic compound kappa-(ET)2Cu2(CN)3 have provided a promising example of a two-dimensional spin liquid state. This phase is described by a two-dimensional spinon Fermi sea coupled to a U(1) gauge field. We study Kohn-Luttinger-like pairing instabilities of the spinon Fermi surface due to singular interaction processes with twice-the-Fermi-momentum transfer. We find that under certain circumstances the pairing instability occurs in odd-orbital-angular momentum or spin-triplet channels. Implications to experiments are discussed.     

Breakup of the Fermi surface near the mott transition in low-dimensional systems

We investigate the Mott transition in weakly coupled one-dimensional (1D) fermionic chains. Using a generalization of dynamical mean field theory, we show that the Mott gap is suppressed at some critical hopping t{ perpendicular}{c2}. The transition from the 1D insulator to a 2D metal proceeds through an intermediate phase where the Fermi surface is broken into electron and hole pockets. The quasiparticle spectral weight is strongly anisotropic along the Fermi surface, both in the intermediate and metallic phases. We argue that such pockets would look like "arcs" in photoemission experiments.     

Catastrophic Fermi surface reconstruction in the shape-memory alloy AuZn

AuZn undergoes a shape-memory transition at 67 K. The de Haas-van Alphen effect persists to 100 K enabling the observation of a change in the quantum oscillation spectrum indicative of a catastrophic Fermi surface reconstruction at the transition. The coexistence of both Fermi surfaces at low temperatures suggests an intrinsic phase separation in the bulk of the material. In addition, Dingle analysis reveals a sharp change in the scattering mechanism at a threshold cyclotron radius, attributable to the underlying microstructure driving the shape-memory effect.     

Evolution of the Fermi surface across a magnetic order-disorder transition in the two-dimensional Kondo lattice model: a dynamical cluster approach

We use the dynamical cluster approximation, with a quantum Monte Carlo cluster solver on clusters of up to 16 orbitals, to investigate the evolution of the Fermi surface across the magnetic order-disorder transition in the two-dimensional doped Kondo lattice model. In the paramagnetic phase, we observe the generic hybridized heavy-fermion band structure with large Luttinger volume. In the antiferromagnetic phase, the heavy-fermion band drops below the Fermi surface giving way to hole pockets centered around k=(pi/2,pi/2) and equivalent points. In this phase Kondo screening does not break down, but the topology of the resulting Fermi surface is that of a spin-density wave approximation in which the localized spins are frozen.     

Energy bands,fermi surface and lattice instability in VS

The energy bands of vanadium monosulfide have been calculated by the KKR method in the muffin-tin approximation. The Fermi surface is very complicated, but there are two nearly cylindrical sheets of nearly equal cross-sections centered around Φ and M respectively. We suggest that this Fermi surface feature can support a charge-density-wave (CDW) state in the conduction electron system at low enough temperatures, and the formation of the CDW explains the lattice phase transition in this compound.     

Nested fermi surface and electronic instability in Ca3Ru2O7

High-resolution angular resolved photoemission data reveal well-defined quasiparticle bands of unusually low weight, emerging in line with the metallic phase of Ca(3)Ru(2)O(7) below approximately 30 K . At the bulk structural phase transition temperature of 48 K, we find clear evidence for an electronic instability, gapping large parts of the underlying Fermi surface that appears to be nested. Metallic pockets are found to survive in the small, non-nested sections, constituting a low-temperature Fermi surface with 2 orders of magnitude smaller volume than in all other metallic ruthenates. The Fermi velocities and volumes of these pockets are in agreement with the results of complementary quantum oscillation measurements on the same crystal batches.     

Fermi surface topology of Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4 determined by angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy

We report angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy results of the Fermi surface of Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4, which is at the boundary of magnetic/orbital instability in the phase diagram of the Ca-substituted Sr ruthenates. Three t(2g) energy bands and the corresponding Fermi surface sheets are observed, which are also present in the Ca-free Sr2RuO4. We find that while the Fermi surface topology of the alpha,beta (d(yz,zx)) sheets remains almost the same in these two materials, the gamma (d(xy)) sheet exhibits a holelike Fermi surface in Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4 in contrast to being electronlike in Sr2RuO4. Our observation of all three volume conserving Fermi surface sheets clearly demonstrates the absence of orbital-selective Mott transition, which was proposed theoretically to explain the unusual transport and magnetic properties in Ca1.5Sr0.5RuO4.     

Sn/Ge(111) surface charge-density-wave phase transition

Angle-resolved photoemission has been utilized to study the surface electronic structure of 1 / 3 monolayer of Sn on Ge(111) in both the room-temperature (sqrt[3]xsqrt[3] )R30 degrees phase and the low-temperature ( 3x3) charge-density-wave phase. The results reveal a gap opening around the ( 3x3) Brillouin zone boundary, suggesting a Peierls-like transition despite the well-documented lack of Fermi nesting. A highly sensitive electronic response to doping by intrinsic surface defects is the cause for this unusual behavior, and a detailed calculation illustrates the origin of the ( 3x3) symmetry.     

Fermi surface studies of non-dilute disordered alloys by positron experiments

The technique of positron annihilation experiments as applied to the study of Fermi surfaces in metals and alloys is briefly reviewed. The angular correlation of the two annihilation photons is directly related to the momentum distribution of the positron-electron system; breaks in this distribution reflect the size and shape of the Fermi surface. Recent two-dimensional angular correlation measurements designed to study the Fermi surface of Cu?Al and Cu?Zn alloys are presented, and are compared with theoretical predictions.     

Fermi surface effect on intrinsic Lorenz number of Fermi liquids

We investigate a Fermi surface effect on the ideal Lorenz ratio of an anisotropic Fermi liquid caused by the onset of Umklapp scatterings. After discussing simple models by way of illustration, we present numerical results for transition metals, and indicate a material with a simple Fermi surface like sodium cobaltite as a possible candidate to observe the effect.     

Surface segregation and surface electronic interactions in PtCu

Photoemission and Auger electron spectroscopy on Pt_0.98Cu_0.02 show that the (110) face has over twice as much Cu surface segregation as the (111) face. The Cu 3d-derived surface “density of states” differ strikingly in peak shape and in width (by 0.5 eV). The centroids, compared with bulk Cu d states, are shifted by more than 0.3 eV towards the Fermi level. This is the first experimental correlation between surface segregation and surface bonding.     

"Live" surface ferromagnetism in Fe nanodots/Cu multilayers on Cu(111)

We investigate the crossover behavior from two-dimensional (2D) to three-dimensional in multilayers of magnetic nanodots grown by stacking 2D Fe nanodot assemblies on Cu(111) single crystal substrate with a Cu spacing layer. Using an in situ magneto-optical Kerr effect, we have observed a striking ferromagnetic to spin-glass-like phase transition with an increasing number of Fe dot layers. The topmost layer of the Fe dots survives the phase transition and remains ferromagnetic. This unusual surface ferromagnetism is likely caused by a surface-state-mediated coupling which is stronger than the coupling in bulk layers. This is confirmed by the fact that the critical temperature of the surface ferromagnetism is considerably higher than that of the bulk spin-glass phase in the system.     

Ni2MnGa(100) ferromagnetic shape memory alloy: A surface study

Ni₂MnGa(100) single crystal studied using low energy electron diffraction (LEED) and ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) exhibits interesting modification of the surface properties that are mainly influenced by surface composition as well as intrinsic effects. In the martensite phase, the LEED spot profiles show presence of an incommensurate modulation for the stoichiometric surface. In contrast, a commensurate modulation is observed for Mn-excess Ni–Mn–Ga surface. A pre-martensite phase is identified at the surface. Both the surface martensitic and pre-martensitic transition temperatures decrease as the Mn content increases. The UPS spectra in the austenite phase exhibit systematic change in shape as a function of surface composition that can be related to changes in the hybridization between Ni and Mn 3d states. The spectra in the martensite phase exhibit interesting modifications near the Fermi level, which has been compared to density of states calculated for a modulated structure by ab-initio density functional theory. Intrinsic surface properties dissimilar from the bulk are enhanced hysteresis width of the martensite transition and increased pre-martensitic transition temperature.