Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Klavins, Peter

Publications and source records attributed to Klavins, Peter.

Avoided Quantum Tricritical Point and Emergence of a Canted Magnetic Phase in LaCr 1 – x Fe x Sb 3

New phases or new phenomena are often observed near-zero temperature phase transitions. These new effects represent nature’s way of avoiding quantum critical phase transitions. Here, we look at the quantum tricritical point (QTCP), the special case where two transitions are driven to zero temperature at the same time. Unlike the case of quantum critical points, the avoidance of quantum tricritical points has yet to be demonstrated. Using chemical substitution and a magnetic field, we drive LaCrSb 3 toward a quantum tricritical point. For the first time near a QTCP, here we observe the emergence of a new magnetic phase and the avoidance of the QTCP via a first order phase transition.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Copper migration and surface oxidation of CuxBi2Se3 in ambient pressure environments

Abstract Chemical modifications such as intercalation can be used to modify surface properties or to further functionalize the surface states of topological insulators (TIs). Using ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, we report copper migration in C u x B i 2 S e 3 , which occurs on a timescale of hours to days after initial surface cleaving. The increase in near-surface copper proceeds along with the oxidation of the sample surface and large changes in the selenium content. These complex changes are further modeled with core-level spectroscopy simulations, which suggest a composition gradient near the surface which develops with oxygen exposure. Our results shed light on a new phenomenon that must be considered for intercalated TIs—and intercalated materials in general—that surface chemical composition can change when specimens are exposed to ambient conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Suppression of ferromagnetism governed by a critical lattice parameter in CeTiGe 3 with hydrostatic pressure or V substitution

We combine structural and magnetic measurements to compare the different magnetic phase diagrams between the pressure and substitution studies in CeTiGe 3 . We report on the structural, magnetic, and electrical transport properties of single crystals of CeTi 1–x V x Ge 3 (x = 0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.9, and 1), and of polycrystalline samples (x = 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8), as well as structural properties of CeTiGe 3 under pressure up to 9 GPa. The ferromagnetic ordering in CeTiGe 3 is suppressed with V doping in CeTi 1–x V x Ge 3 , and suggests a possible ferromagnetic quantum critical point near x = 0.45. We perform a detailed crystalline electric field (CEF) analysis, and the magnetic susceptibility data in pure CeTiGe 3 and CeVGe 3 can be well explained by the CEF model. The proposed CEF energy levels suggest that there is a gradual change of the ground state from |±5/2 in CeTiGe 3 to |±1/2 in CeVGe 3 , and a suppression of CEF splitting energies near the quantum critical region. When hydrostatic pressure is used instead of chemical substitution, the quantum critical point is avoided by the appearance of magnetic phases above around 4.1 GPa. In the substitution study, the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic regions are well separated, whereas they touch in the pressure study. We observe a different trend in the temperature dependence of the resistivity maximum in both studies, suggesting that the CEF splitting energy is suppressed by V substitution but enhanced by pressure. Here, we also observe different responses in lattice constants between the two studies, highlighting the fact that substitution effects cannot be reduced to chemical pressure effects only. Nevertheless, when the magnetic phase diagrams of both hydrostatic pressure and substitution are compared, we find a common critical lattice constant c = 5.78 Å where the ferromagnetic ordering is suppressed in both studies.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Statistics on magnetic properties of Co compounds: A database-driven method for discovering Co-based ferromagnets

The search for new ferromagnetic compounds is often targeted at known structure families, particularly those containing iron, cobalt, and manganese. Here, we propose a method to expand this search to lesser-known structure types, using a database of experimental Curie and Néel temperatures. This study, in particular, illustrates the case of compounds containing the element cobalt, and we demonstrate how the use of such a database can lead to the discovery of ferromagnetic materials that had previously been overlooked. We report statistics from a literature survey of the magnetic properties of Co-based compounds with more than 33 at. % Co. We classify more than 13 000 compounds by structure type, cobalt content, and magnetic ground state. From these data, compounds TaCo 2 Ga, La 6 Co 13 Bi, and Nd 2 Co 3 were identified as potential ferromagnets, and we confirm their ferromagnetic ordering theoretically via first-principles calculations and experimentally via synthesis and characterization measurements. In addition, the analysis is focused on the collection of data trends and discovery of ferromagnetic materials with easy-axis magnetic anisotropy. Both known ferromagnetic materials with unknown magnetic anisotropy, and unstudied compounds were considered. From the subset of known ferromagnets with unknown anisotropy, the compound Co 2 Mg was synthesized, characterized, and determined to have easy-axis magnetic anisotropy at room temperature.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Separation of Kondo lattice coherence from crystal electric field in CeIn 3 with Nd substitutions

The Ce m M n In 3m+2n (m=1,2;n=0,1) family has been one of the most studied families of heavy fermion compounds. This family has revealed many interesting low-temperature physics phenomena, like quantum critical points, heavy fermion superconductivity, and non-Fermi liquid behavior, when these materials are exposed to pressure, magnetic fields, and/or chemical substitution. In this work, we provide a thorough investigation of the Ce 1-x Nd x In 3 phase diagram through single crystal synthesis, x-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility, and electrical resistivity measurements. Previous electrical resistivity measurements on CeIn 3 reveal a broad maximum, T max ~50 K, which has been associated with the Kondo lattice coherence crossover and/or the crystal electric field depopulation effect as the 4f electrons condense from the high-energy quartet down to the ground state doublet. Our findings show that in the most disordered substitution region, x=0.4–0.5, these features disjoin to reveal two distinct broad humps in electrical resistivity measurements. Magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity data on Ce 1-x Nd x In 3 also reveal the antiferromagnetic ordering competition between CeIn 3 and NdIn 3 , where the T N of CeIn 3 is linearly suppressed to a critical concentration of x Nd ~0.6. This concentration is slightly lower than what was previously reported in nonmagnetically substituted Ce 1-x La x In 3 . Our magnetic susceptibility measurements and subsequent simulations show that in the CeIn 3 antiferromagnetic regime, x Nd ≤0.4, the Nd ions act as free paramagnets. The large magnitude of the associated paramagnetic response then masks the overlapping antiferromagnetic ordering signature of the Ce ions. Overall our study further sheds light on the underlying crystal electric field and Kondo lattice coherence interactions within the Ce m M n In 3m+2n family and could stimulate further studies of these systems via neutron diffraction or under applied pressure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Dirac lines and loop at the Fermi level in the time-reversal symmetry breaking superconductor LaNiGa 2

Unconventional superconductors have Cooper pairs with lower symmetries than in conventional superconductors. In most unconventional superconductors, the additional symmetry breaking occurs in relation to typical ingredients such as strongly correlated Fermi liquid phases, magnetic fluctuations, or strong spin-orbit coupling in noncentrosymmetric structures. In this article, we show that the time-reversal symmetry breaking in the superconductor LaNiGa 2 is enabled by its previously unknown topological electronic band structure, with Dirac lines and a Dirac loop at the Fermi level. Two symmetry related Dirac points even remain degenerate under spin-orbit coupling. These unique topological features enable an unconventional superconducting gap in which time-reversal symmetry can be broken in the absence of other typical ingredients. Our findings provide a route to identify a new type of unconventional superconductors based on nonsymmorphic symmetries and will enable future discoveries of topological crystalline superconductors.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Robust antiferromagnetism in Y 2 Co 3

We report on a solution-growth based method to synthesise single crystals of Y 2 Co 3 and on its structural and magnetic properties. We find that Y 2 Co 3 crystallizes in the La 2 Ni 3 -type orthorhombic structure with space group Cmce (No. 64), with Co forming distorted kagome lattices. Y 2 Co 3 orders antiferromagnetically below TN=252 K. Magnetization measurements reveal that the moments are primarily aligned along the b axis with evidence for some canting. Band-structure calculations indicate that ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic orders are nearly degenerate, at odds with experimental results. Magnetization measurements under pressure up to 1 GPa reveal that the Néel temperature decreases with the slope of -1.69 K/GPa. We observe a field-induced spin-flop transition in the magnetization measurements at 1.5 K and 21 T with magnetic field along the b direction. The magnetization is not saturated up to 35 T, indicating that the antiferromagnetic ordering in Y 2 Co 3 is quite robust, which is surprising for such a Co-rich intermetallic.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗