Momentum‐resolved resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering on a single crystal under high pressure

A single‐crystal momentum‐resolved resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering (RIXS) experiment under high pressure using an originally designed diamond anvil cell (DAC) is reported. The diamond‐in/diamond‐out geometry was adopted with both the incident and scattered beams passing through a 1 mm‐thick diamond. This enabled us to cover wide momentum space keeping the scattering angle condition near 90°. Elastic and inelastic scattering from the diamond was drastically reduced using a pinhole placed after the DAC. Measurement of the momentum‐resolved RIXS spectra of Sr_2.5Ca_11.5Cu₂₄O₄₁ at the Cu K‐edge was thus successful. Though the inelastic intensity becomes weaker by two orders than the ambient pressure, RIXS spectra both at the center and the edge of the Brillouin zone were obtained at 3 GPa and low‐energy electronic excitations of the cuprate were found to change with pressure.     

Vortex phases and dynamics in high-temperature and conventional amorphous superconductors

The vortex phases and dynamics of high-temperature and conventional amorphous superconductors are investigated over a broad frequency range. A second-order vortex-solid melting transition in both YBa₂Cu₃O₇ single crystals with random point defects and amorphous Mo₃Si films is manifested by a set of universal critical exponents (ν≈2/3 and z≈3) from both ac and dc transport as well as ac magnetic susceptibility measurements. In contrast, the melting transition in YBa₂Cu₃O₇ single crystals with correlated columnar defects is found to be consistent with a Bose-glass phase transition characterized by a different set of critical exponents (ν≈1/2 and z′≈4).     

Hybridization and bonding in transition metal compound superconductors: X-ray photoemission from crystalline and amorphous Nb3Ge.

An XPS (or ESCA) study of the high T_c crystalline and the low T_c amorphous phases of Nb₃Ge indicates a change of the Nb-Ge bonding from covalent to metallic upon the amorphous to crystalline transition. The high T_c superconductivity of Nb₃Ge does not appear to stem only from an unusually high electronic density of states at the Fermi level but rather from another property such as a resonant enhancement of the electron-phonon coupling resulting from cation-anion hybridization at E_F.     

Pressure-dependent electronic structures in multiferroic DyMnO(3): A combined lifetime-broadening-suppressed x-ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio electronic structure study

Variations in the electronic structure and structural distortion in multiferroic DyMnO(3) were probed by synchrotron x-ray diffraction, lifetime-broadening-suppressed x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), and ab initio electronic structure calculations. The refined x-ray diffraction data enabled an observation of a diminished local Jahn-Teller distortion of Mn sites within MnO(6) octahedra in DyMnO(3) on applying the hydrostatic pressure. The intensity of the white line in Mn K-edge x-ray absorption spectra of DyMnO(3) progressively increased with the increasing pressure. With the increasing hydrostatic pressure, the absorption threshold of an Mn K-edge spectra of DyMnO(3) shifted toward a greater energy, whereas the pre-edge line slightly shifted to a smaller energy. We provide the spectral evidence for the pressure-induced bandwidth broadening for manganites. The intensity enhancement of the white line in Mn K-edge spectra is attributed to a diminished Jahn-Teller distortion of MnO(6) octahedra in compressed DyMnO(3). A comparison of the pressure-dependent XAS spectra with the ab initio electronic structure calculations and full calculations of multiple scattering using the code FDMNES shows the satisfactory agreement between experimental and calculated Mn K-edge spectra.     

Strong coupling between 4f valence instability and 3d ferromagnetism in Yb(x)Fe4Sb12 studied by resonant x-ray emission spectroscopy

We have investigated the temperature and pressure dependency of the electronic structure of Yb-filled skutterudites, YbFe(4)Sb(12) and Yb(0.88)Fe(4)Sb(12), using x-ray absorption and emission spectroscopies. An anomalous increase of the Yb valence, which is beyond the conventional Anderson model picture, is found to coincide with the onset of the ferromagnetic order in the x=0.88 sample below 20 K. In contrast, the nearly stoichiometric YbFe(4)Sb(12) is paramagnetic down to 2 K and the Yb valence is independent of temperature. This evidences a close interplay between the magnetic instability of the Fe 3d electrons and valence instability of the Yb 4f electrons. Under pressure, a sudden increase in the valence is found to occur around 13 GPa for YbFe(4)Sb(12) and 17 GPa for Yb(0.88)YbFe(4)Sb(12).