A microscopic Kondo lattice model for the heavy fermion antiferromagnet CeIn3.

Electrons at the border of localization generate exotic states of matter across all classes of strongly correlated electron materials and many other quantum materials with emergent functionality. Heavy electron metals are a model example, in which magnetic interactions arise from the opposing limits of localized and itinerant electrons. This remarkable duality is intimately related to the emergence of a plethora of novel quantum matter states such as unconventional superconductivity, electronic-nematic states, hidden order and most recently topological states of matter such as topological Kondo insulators and Kondo semimetals and putative chiral superconductors. The outstanding challenge is that the archetypal Kondo lattice model that captures the underlying electronic dichotomy is notoriously difficult to solve for real materials. Here we show, using the prototypical strongly-correlated antiferromagnet CeIn3, that a multi-orbital periodic Anderson model embedded with input from ab initio bandstructure calculations can be reduced to a simple Kondo-Heisenberg model, which captures the magnetic interactions quantitatively. We validate this tractable Hamiltonian via high-resolution neutron spectroscopy that reproduces accurately the magnetic soft modes in CeIn3, which are believed to mediate unconventional superconductivity. Our study paves the way for a quantitative understanding of metallic quantum states such as unconventional superconductivity.

Simple method for the synthesis of inverse patchy colloids.

Inverse patchy colloids (IPC's) have recently been introduced as a conceptually simple model to study the phase-behavior of heterogeneously charged units. This class of patchy particles is referred to as inverse to highlight that the patches repel each other in contrast to the attractive interactions of conventional patches. IPCs demonstrate a complex interplay between attractions and repulsions that depend on their patch size and charge, their relative orientations as well as on charge of the substrate below; the resulting wide array of different types of aggregates that can be formed motivates their fabrication and use as model system. We present a novel method that does not rely on clean-room facilities and that is easily scalable to modify the surface of colloidal particles to create two polar regions with the opposite charge with respect to that of the equatorial region. The patch size is characterized by electron microscopy and fluorescently labeled to facilitate using confocal microscopy to study their phase behavior. We show that the pH can be used to tune the charges of the IPCs thus offering a tool to steer the self assembly.

Neutron study of the magnetism in NiCl2·4SC(NH2)2.

We study the strongly anisotropic quasi-one-dimensional S = 1 quantum magnet NiCl2·4SC(NH2)2 using elastic and inelastic neutron scattering. We demonstrate that a magnetic field splits the excited doublet state and drives the lower doublet state to zero energy at a critical field Hc1. For Hc1 < H < Hc2, where Hc2 indicates the transition to a fully magnetized state, three-dimensional magnetic order is established with the AF moment perpendicular to the magnetic field. We mapped the temperature/magnetic field phase diagram, and we find that the total ordered magnetic moment reaches m(tot) = 2.1 µB at the field µ(0)H = 6 T and is thus close to the saturation value of the fully ordered moment. We study the magnetic spin dynamics in the fully magnetized state for H > Hc2, and we demonstrate the presence of an AF interaction between Ni(2+) on the two interpenetrating sublattices. In the antiferromagnetically ordered phase, the spin-waves that develop from the lower-energy doublet are split into two modes. This is most likely the result of the presence of the AF interaction between the interpenetrating lattices.

Exploring the fragile antiferromagnetic superconducting phase in CeCoIn5.

CeCoIn5 is a heavy fermion type-II superconductor showing clear signs of Pauli-limited superconductivity. A variety of measurements give evidence for a transition at high magnetic fields inside the superconducting state, when the field is applied either parallel to or perpendicular to the c axis. When the field is perpendicular to the c axis, antiferromagnetic order develops on the high-field side of the transition. This order remains as the field is rotated out of the basal plane, but the associated moment eventually disappears above 17°, indicating that anomalies seen with the field parallel to the c axis are not related to this magnetic order. We discuss the implications of this finding.

Coupled superconducting and magnetic order in CeCoIn5.

Strong magnetic fluctuations can provide a coupling mechanism for electrons that leads to unconventional superconductivity. Magnetic order and superconductivity have been found to coexist in a number of magnetically mediated superconductors, but these order parameters generally compete. We report that close to the upper critical field, CeCoIn5 adopts a multicomponent ground state that simultaneously carries cooperating magnetic and superconducting orders. Suppressing superconductivity in a first-order transition at the upper critical field leads to the simultaneous collapse of the magnetic order, showing that superconductivity is necessary for the magnetic order. A symmetry analysis of the coupling between the magnetic order and the superconducting gap function suggests a form of superconductivity that is associated with a nonvanishing momentum.

Bose-Einstein condensation of S = 1 nickel spin degrees of freedom in NiCl2-4SC(NH2)2.

It has recently been suggested that the organic compound NiCl2-4SC(NH2)2 (DTN) undergoes field-induced Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of the Ni spin degrees of freedom. The Ni S = 1 spins exhibit three-dimensional XY antiferromagnetism above a critical field H(c1) approximately 2 T. The spin fluid can be described as a gas of hard-core bosons where the field-induced antiferromagnetic transition corresponds to Bose-Einstein condensation. We have determined the spin Hamiltonian of DTN using inelastic neutron diffraction measurements, and we have studied the high-field phase diagram by means of specific heat and magnetocaloric effect measurements. Our results show that the field-temperature phase boundary approaches a power-law H - H(c1) proportional variant T(alpha)(c) near the quantum critical point, with an exponent that is consistent with the 3D BEC universal value of alpha = 1.5.

Antiferromagnetic ordering in superconducting YBa2Cu3O6.5.

Commensurate antiferromagnetic ordering has been observed in the superconducting high- Tc cuprate YBa2Cu3O6.5 ( Tc = 55 K) by polarized and unpolarized elastic neutron scattering. The magnetic peak intensity exhibits a marked enhancement at Tc. Zero-field muon-spin-resonance experiments demonstrate that the staggered magnetization is not truly static but fluctuates on a nanosecond time scale. These results point towards an unusual spin density wave state coexisting with superconductivity.

Anomalous peak in the superconducting condensate density of cuprate high- T(c) superconductors at a unique doping state.

The doping dependence of the ratio of the superconducting condensate density to the effective mass, n(o)(s)/m(*)(ab), was studied in detail by muon-spin rotation for Y(0.8)Ca(0.2)Ba(2)(Cu(1-z)Zn(z))(3)O(7-delta) and Tl(0.5-y)Pb(0.5+y)Sr(2)Ca(1-x)Y(x)Cu(2)O(7). Our data show that n(o)(s)/m(*)(ab) exhibits a peak at a unique doping state in the overdoped regime. Its position coincides with the critical doping state, where the normal state pseudogap was reported to appear and to deplete the electronic density of states. This finding implies that the pseudogap primarily arises from a change in the electronic ground state rather than from thermal fluctuations.

Depth-resolved profile of the magnetic field beneath the surface of a superconductor with a few nm resolution

The variation of a magnetic field as a function of depth beneath the surface of an YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7-delta) thin film in the Meissner state has been measured using low energy muons. The depth of implantation was varied from 20-150 nm by tuning the energy of the implanted muons from 3-30 keV. These are direct measurements of the penetration of a magnetic field beneath a superconducting surface which illustrate the power of low energy muons for near surface studies in superconductivity and magnetism.