Large Fermi Surface Research Articles

Transport Spectroscopy of the Field Induced Cascade of Lifshitz Transitions in YbRh2Si2

A series of strong anomalies in the thermoelectric power is observed in the heavy fermion compound YbRh$_2$Si$_2$ under the effect of magnetic field varying in the range from 9.5~T to 13~T. We identify these features with a sequence of topological transformations of the sophisticated Fermi surface of this compound, namely a cascade of Lifshitz topological transitions. In order to undoubtedly attribute these anomalies to the specific topological changes of the Fermi surface, we employ the renormalized band method. Basing on its results we suggest a simplified model consisting of the large peripheral Fermi surface sheet and the number of continuously appearing (disappearing) small "voids" or "necks". We account for the multiple electron scattering processes between various components of the Fermi surface, calculate the corresponding scattering times, and, finally, find the magnetic field dependence of the Seebeck coefficient. The obtained analytical expression reproduces reasonably the observed positions of the maxima and minima as well as the overall line shapes and allows us to identify the character of corresponding topological transformations.

Large Fermi surface expansion through anisotropic mixing of conduction and f electrons in the semimetallic Kondo lattice CeBi

Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and resonant ARPES, we report evidence of strong anisotropic conduction-f electron mixing (c-f mixing) in CeBi by observing a largely expanded Ce-5d pocket at low temperature, with no change in the Bi-6p bands. The Fermi surface (FS) expansion is accompanied by a pronounced spectral weight transfer from the local 4f 0 peak of Ce (corresponding to Ce3+) to the itinerant conduction bands near the Fermi level. Careful analysis suggests that the observed large FS change (with a volume expansion of the electron pocket up to 40%) can most naturally be explained by a small valence change (~ 1%) of Ce, which coexists with a very weak Kondo screening. Our work therefore provides evidence for a FS change driven by real charge fluctuations deep in the Kondo limit, which is made possible by the low carrier density.

Hybridization Effects Revealed by Angle-Resolved Photoemission Spectroscopy in Heavy-Fermion Ce2IrIn8**Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China under Grant Nos 2016YFA0401000, 2015CB921300, 2016YFA0300303, 2016YFA0401002 and 2017YFA0303103, the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos 11674371, 11774401 and 11874330, the Strategic Priority Research Program (B) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences under Grant No XDB07000000, and

We utilize high-resolution resonant angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to study the band structure and hybridization effect of the heavy-fermion compound Ce2IrIn8. We observe a nearly flat band at the binding energy of 7 meV below the coherent temperature , which characterizes the electrical resistance maximum and indicates the onset temperature of hybridization. However, the Fermi vector and the Fermi surface volume have little change around Tcoh, which challenges the widely believed evolution from a high-temperature small Fermi surface to a low-temperature large Fermi surface. Our experimental results of the band structure fit well with the density functional theory plus dynamic mean-field theory calculations.

Odd-parity superconductivity driven by octahedra rotations in iridium oxides

Iridium oxides have provided a playground to study novel phases originating from spin-orbit coupling and electron-electron interactions. Among them, the d-wave singlet superconductor was proposed for electron-doped Sr$_2$IrO$_4$, containing two Ir atoms in a unit cell due to the staggered rotation of oxygen octahedra about the c-axis. It was also noted that such oxygen octahedra rotation affects electronic transports. Here we study the role of octahedra tilting away from the c-axis, in determining superconducting pairing symmetry. We show that the octahedra tilting changes the large Fermi surface to a Dirac point, which strongly suppresses the conventional d-wave pairing. Furthermore, it also promotes effective spin-triplet interactions in the strong Hubbard interaction limit, leading to a transition from the even-parity to odd-parity superconducting phase. Thus, tuning octahedra distortions can be used as a tool to engineer a spin triplet superconductor in strongly correlated systems with strong spin-orbit coupling.

Topological transitions in metals

We investigate if a sharp topological transition in a metal with a large Fermi surface may be detected in transport measurements. In particular, we address if a skew scattering and a side jump on elastic disorder in the bulk of such a metal masks signatures of the topological transition. We conclude that certain transport coefficients exhibit discontinuous changes across the transition. These discontinuities are not smeared or dwarfed by the bulk metallic transport in a broad range of parameters.

Scattering mechanisms and electrical transport near an Ising nematic quantum critical point

Electrical transport properties near an electronic Ising-nematic quantum critical point in two dimensions are of both theoretical and experimental interest. In this work, we derive a kinetic equation valid in a broad regime near the quantum critical point using the memory matrix approach. The formalism is applied to study the effect of the critical fluctuations on the dc resistivity through different scattering mechanisms, including umklapp, impurity scattering, and electron-hole scattering in a compensated metal. We show that electrical transport in the quantum critical regime exhibits a rich behavior that depends sensitively on the scattering mechanism and the band structure. In the case of a single large Fermi surface, the resistivity due to umklapp scattering crosses over from $\rho\sim T^2$ at low temperature to sublinear at high temperature. The crossover temperature scales as $q_0^3$, where $q_0$ is the minimal wavevector for umklapp scattering. Impurity scattering leads to $\rho-\rho_0\sim T^\alpha$ ($\rho_0$ being the residual resistivity), where $\alpha$ is either larger than 2 if there is only a single Fermi sheet present, or 4/3 in the case of multiple Fermi sheets. Finally, in a perfectly compensated metal with an equal density of electrons and holes, the low temperature behavior depends strongly on the structure of "cold spots" on the Fermi surface, where the coupling between the quasiparticles and order parameter fluctuations vanishes by symmetry. In particular, for a system where cold spots are present on some (but not all) Fermi sheets, $\rho\sim T^{5/3}$. At higher temperatures there is a broad crossover regime where $\rho$ either saturates or $\rho\sim T$, depending on microscopic details. We discuss these results in the context of recent quantum Monte Carlo simulations of a metallic Ising nematic critical point, and experiments in certain iron-based superconductors.

Fate of superconductivity in disordered Dirac and semi-Dirac semimetals

The influence of weak disorder on the superconductivity in ordinary metals can be formally described by the Abrikosov-Gorkov diagrammatic approach. The vertex correction is ignored in this approach because an inequality kF l ≫ 1, where kF is the Fermi momentum and l mean free path, is satisfied in ordinary metals with a large Fermi surface. In a Dirac semimetal that has discrete Fermi points, this inequality may break down even for arbitrarily weak disorder since , and thus the vertex correction could be important. We incorporate the vertex correction into the self-consistent equations of the superconducting gap and the disorder scattering rate, and then apply the generalized approach to study how s-wave superconductivity is affected by random chemical potential in two- and three-dimensional Dirac semimetals, as well as two-dimensional semi-Dirac semimetal. In the clean limit, superconductivity is formed only when the pairing interaction strength is greater than some critical value in these materials. Adding random chemical potential to the system promotes superconductivity by generating a finite fermionic density of states at the Fermi level. In three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, the critical attraction strength is reduced by weak disorder, but remains finite. In the other two cases, superconductivity is induced by arbitrarily weak attraction. Including the vertex correction does not change these qualitative results, and actually could further promote superconductivity in the weak-attraction regime. Bilayer graphene is quite special in that its zero-energy density of states is nonzero despite the existence of Fermi points. Due to this peculiar property, superconductivity is always slightly suppressed by random chemical potential, and the impact of vertex correction is nearly negligible.

Density Wave Probes Cuprate Quantum Phase Transition

In cuprates, the strong correlations in proximity to the antiferromagnetic Mott insulating state give rise to an array of unconventional phenomena beyond high temperature superconductivity. Developing a complete description of the ground state evolution is crucial to decoding the complex phase diagram. Here we use the structure of broken translational symmetry, namely $d$-form factor charge modulations in (Bi,Pb)$_2$(Sr,La)$_2$CuO$_{6+\delta}$, as a probe of the ground state reorganization that occurs at the transition from truncated Fermi arcs to a large Fermi surface. We use real space imaging of nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity as a tool to access a range of dopings within each sample, and we definitively validate the spectral gap $\Delta$ as a proxy for local hole doping. From the $\Delta$-dependence of the charge modulation wavevector, we discover a commensurate to incommensurate transition that is coincident with the Fermi surface transition from arcs to large hole pocket, demonstrating the qualitatively distinct nature of the electronic correlations governing the two sides of this quantum phase transition. Furthermore, the doping dependence of the incommensurate wavevector on the overdoped side is at odds with a simple Fermi surface driven instability.

Gauge theory for the cuprates near optimal doping

We describe the phase diagram of a 2+1 dimensional SU(2) gauge theory of fluctuating incommensurate spin density waves for the hole-doped cuprates. Our primary assumption is that all low energy fermionic excitations are gauge neutral and electron-like, while the spin density wave order is fractionalized into Higgs fields transforming as adjoints of the gauge SU(2). The confining phase of the gauge theory is a conventional Fermi liquid with a large Fermi surface (and its associated $d$-wave superconductor). There is a quantum phase transition to a Higgs phase describing the `pseudogap' at lower doping. Depending upon the quartic terms in the Higgs potential, the Higgs phase exhibits one or more of charge density wave, Ising-nematic, time-reversal odd scalar spin chirality, and $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological orders. It is notable that the emergent broken symmetries in our theory of fluctuating spin density waves co-incide with those observed in diverse experiments. For the electron-doped cuprates, the spin density wave fluctuations are at wavevector $(\pi,\pi)$, and then the corresponding SU(2) gauge theory only has a crossover between the confining and Higgs regimes, with an exponentially large confinement scale deep in the Higgs regime. On the Higgs side, for both the electron- and hole-doped cases, and at scales shorter than the confinement scale (which can be infinite when $\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order is present), the electron spectral function has a `fractionalized Fermi liquid (FL*)' form with small Fermi surfaces. We also describe the deconfined quantum criticality of the Higgs transition in the limit of a large number of Higgs flavors, and perturbatively discuss its coupling to fermionic excitations.

Divalent EuRh2Si2 as a reference for the Luttinger theorem and antiferromagnetism in trivalent heavy-fermion YbRh2Si2

Application of the Luttinger theorem to the Kondo lattice YbRh2Si2 suggests that its large 4f-derived Fermi surface (FS) in the paramagnetic (PM) regime should be similar in shape and volume to that of the divalent local-moment antiferromagnet (AFM) EuRh2Si2 in its PM regime. Here we show by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy that paramagnetic EuRh2Si2 has a large FS essentially similar to the one seen in YbRh2Si2 down to 1 K. In EuRh2Si2 the onset of AFM order below 24.5 K induces an extensive fragmentation of the FS due to Brillouin zone folding, intersection and resulting hybridization of the Fermi-surface sheets. Our results on EuRh2Si2 indicate that the formation of the AFM state in YbRh2Si2 is very likely also connected with similar changes in the FS, which have to be taken into account in the controversial analysis and discussion of anomalies observed at the quantum critical point in this system.

Quadratic to linear magnetoresistance tuning in TmB4

The change of a material's electrical resistance (R) in response to an external magnetic field (B) provides subtle information for the characterization of its electronic properties and has found applications in sensor and storage related technologies. In good metals, Boltzmann's theory predicts a quadratic growth in magnetoresistance (MR) at low B, and saturation at high fields. On the other hand, a number of nonmagnetic materials with weak electronic correlation and low carrier concentration for metallicity, such as inhomogeneous conductors, semimetals, narrow gap semiconductors and topological insulators, two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) show positive, non-saturating linear magnetoresistance (LMR). However, observation of LMR in single crystals of a good metal is rare. Here we present low-temperature, angle dependent magnetotransport in single crystals of the antiferromagnetic metal, TmB4. We observe large, positive and anisotropic MR(B), which can be tuned from quadratic to linear by changing the direction of the applied field. In view of the fact that isotropic, single crystalline metals with large Fermi surface (FS) are not expected to exhibit LMR, we attribute our observations to the anisotropic FS topology of TmB4. Furthermore, the linear MR is found to be temperature-independent, suggestive of quantum mechanical origin.

Disorder Quenching of the Charge Density Wave in ZrTe_{3}.

The charge density wave (CDW) in ZrTe_{3} is quenched in samples with a small amount of Te isoelectronically substituted by Se. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy we observe subtle changes in the electronic band dispersions and Fermi surfaces upon Se substitution. The scattering rates are substantially increased, in particular for the large three-dimensional Fermi surface sheet. The quasi-one-dimensional band is unaffected by the substitution and still shows a gap at low temperature, which starts to open from room temperature. Long-range order is, however, absent in the electronic states as in the periodic lattice distortion. The competition between superconductivity and the CDW is thus linked to the suppression of long-range order of the CDW.

Many-body approach to Luttinger's theorem for the Kondo lattice

A numerical verification of Luttinger's theorem, based on a recently developed many-body approach, is given for the Kondo-lattice model. For a two-dimensional lattice the completely localized spins $(S=1/2)$ are found to contribute to the Fermi sea volume as if they were electrons, which is in agreement with Oshikawa's topological proof of Luttinger's theorem. Underpinning this result we explicitly calculate the momentum-resolved one-particle spectral function showing nearly dispersionless excitations clearly below the Fermi level for different values of the conduction electron filling. Numerical integration over momentum and energy always leads to the correct particle number of the localized spins according to the well-accepted picture of a large Fermi surface. In this paper, a first many-body approach is shown, which is able to reproduce the correct value of Luttinger's theorem for this model.

Magnetic field induced quantum criticality and the Luttinger sum rule

We show that when there is a sudden transition from a small to a large Fermi surface at a field-induced quantum critical point, similar to what may have been observed in some heavy-fermion compounds, an additional term has to be taken into account in the Luttinger-Friedel sum rule.We calculate this additional term for a local model which has a field-induced quantum critical point (QCP) and show that it changes abruptly at the transition, such that it satisfies a generalized Luttinger-Friedel sum rule on each side of the transition, and characterizes the two Fermi-liquid phases separated by the QCP as a discrete (topological) index.

Electronic hydrodynamics and the breakdown of the Wiedemann-Franz and Mott laws in interacting metals

We present the theory of thermoelectric transport in metals with long-lived quasiparticles, carefully addressing the interplay of electron-electron scattering as well as electron-impurity scattering, but neglecting electron-phonon scattering. In Fermi liquids with a large Fermi surface and weak electron-impurity scattering, we provide universal and simple formulas for the behavior of the thermoelectric conductivities across the ballistic-to-hydrodynamic crossover. In this regime, the electrical conductivity is relatively unchanged by hydrodynamic effects. In contrast, the thermal conductivity can be parametrically smaller than predicted by the Wiedemann-Franz law. A less severe violation of the Mott law arises. We quantitatively compare the violations of the Wiedemann-Franz law arising from (i) momentum-conserving electron-electron scattering in the collision integral, (ii) hydrodynamic modifications of the electron-impurity scattering rate, and (iii) thermal broadening of the Fermi surface, and show that (i) is the largest. We present simple formulas for electrical and thermal magnetoconductivity across the ballistic-to-hydrodynamic limit, along with a more complicated formula for the thermoelectric magnetoconductivity. In a finite magnetic field, the Lorenz number may be smaller or larger than predicted by the Wiedemann-Franz law, and the crossover between these behaviors is a clear prediction for experiments. The arbitrarily strong violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law found in our work arises entirely from electron-electron interaction effects within the Fermi liquid paradigm, and does not imply any non-Fermi liquid behavior. We predict clear experimental signatures of bulk hydrodynamics in high-mobility 2D GaAs semiconductor structures, where failure of the Wiedemann-Franz law should persist down to very low temperatures in high-quality, low-density samples.

Dirac Points, Spinons, and Spin Liquid in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

Twisted bilayer graphene is an excellent example of highly correlated system demonstrating a nearly flat electron band, the Mott transition and probably a spin liquid state. Besides the one-electron picture, analysis of Dirac points is performed in terms of spinon Fermi surface in the limit of strong correlations. Application of gauge field theory to describe deconfined spin liquid phase is treated. Topological quantum transitions, including those from small to large Fermi surface in the presence of van Hove singularities, are discussed.

Optical Study of Electron-Doped Cuprate Pr1.3−xLa0.7CexCuO4+δ in Under-Doped Regime: Revisit the Phase Diagram

A recent progress of reduction process for electron-doped cuprates enabled us to get superconducting samples at very low doping levels. In order to clarify the electronic state of strongly reduced Pr1.3−xLa0.7CexCuO4+δ (x = 0.05, 0.10) which exhibit high Tc (∼27 K) superconductivity, we have measured their optical spectra. The reflectivity of these samples was found much higher than the published data for the moderately reduced and non-superconducting samples with the same Ce concentrations. Moreover, the estimated effective electron numbers Neff for x = 0.05 and 0.10 were close to that of the optimally doped and superconducting sample with x = 0.15. Given that the parent compound is a Mott insulator, these results indicate that in the electron-doped cuprates only a small amount of carrier doping changes the system to a high Tc superconductor with a large Fermi surface. At low temperatures, a broad mid-infrared peak appeared even in the superconducting samples.

Fermi surfaces in Kondo insulators

We report magnetic quantum oscillations measured using torque magnetisation in the Kondo insulator YbB12 and discuss the potential origin of the underlying Fermi surface. Observed quantum oscillations as well as complementary quantities such as a finite linear specific heat capacity in YbB12 exhibit similarities with the Kondo insulator SmB6, yet also crucial differences. Small heavy Fermi sections are observed in YbB12 with similarities to the neighbouring heavy fermion semimetallic Fermi surface, in contrast to large light Fermi surface sections in SmB6 which are more similar to the conduction electron Fermi surface. A rich spectrum of theoretical models is suggested to explain the origin across different Kondo insulating families of a bulk Fermi surface potentially from novel itinerant quasiparticles that couple to magnetic fields, yet do not couple to weak DC electric fields.

First-principles study of electronic structure and Fermi surface in semimetallic YAs

In the course of searching for new systems, which exhibit nonsaturating and extremely large positive magnetoresistance, electronic structure, Fermi surface, and de Haas-van Alphen characteristics of the semimetallic YAs compound were studied using the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented-plane wave (FP–LAPW) approach in the framework of the generalized gradient approximation (GGA). In the scalar-relativistic calculation, the cubic symmetry splits fivefold degenerate Y-d orbital into low-energy threefold-degenerate t2g and twofold degenerate doublet e1g states at Γ point around the Fermi energy. One of them, together with the threefold degenerate t1u character of As-p orbital, render the YAs semimetal with a topologically trivial band order and fairly low density of states at the Fermi level. Including spin–orbit (SO) coupling into the calculation leads to pronounced splitting of the t1u state and shifting the bands in the energy scale. Consequently, the determined four different 3-dimensional Fermi surface sheets of YAs consists of three concentric hole-like bands at Γ and one ellipsoidal electron-like sheet centred at the X points. In full accordance with the previous first-principles calculations for isostructural YSb and YBi, the calculated Fermi surface of YAs originates from fairly compensated multi-band electronic structures.

Quantum linear magnetoresistance in NbTe2

NbTe2 is a quasi-2D layered semimetal with charge density wave ground state showing a distorted-1T structure at room temperature. Here we report the anisotropic magneto-transport properties of NbTe2. An anomalous linear magnetoresistance up to 30% at 3 K in 9 T was observed, which can be well explained by a quantum linear magnetoresistance model. Our results reveal that a large quasi-2D Fermi surface and small Fermi pockets with linearly dispersive bands coexist in NbTe2. The comparison with the isostructural TaTe2 provides more information about the band structure evolution with charge density wave transitions in NbTe2 and TaTe2.