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Littlewood, P. B.

Publications and source records attributed to Littlewood, P. B..

16 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Quantum interference in superposed lattices

Charge transport in solids at low temperature reveals a material’s mesoscopic properties and structure. Under a magnetic field, Shubnikov–de Haas (SdH) oscillations inform complex quantum transport phenomena that are not limited by the ground state characteristics and have facilitated extensive explorations of quantum and topological interest in two- and three-dimensional materials. Here, in elemental metal Cr with two incommensurately superposed lattices of ions and a spin-density-wave ground state, we reveal that the phases of several low-frequency SdH oscillations in σ xx (ρ xx ) and σ yy (ρ yy ) are no longer identical but opposite. These relationships contrast with the SdH oscillations from normal cyclotron orbits that maintain identical phases between σ xx (ρ xx ) and σ yy (ρ yy ) . We trace the origin of the low-frequency SdH oscillations to quantum interference effects arising from the incommensurate orbits of Cr’s superposed reciprocal lattices and explain the observed π-phase shift by the reconnection of anisotropic joint open and closed orbits.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Lamellar fluctuations melt ferroelectricity.

We consider a standard Ginzburg-Landau model of a ferroelectric whose electrical polarization is coupled to gradients of elastic strain. At the harmonic level, such flexoelectric interaction is known to hybridize acoustic and optic phonon modes and lead to phases with modulated lattice structures that precede the state with spontaneously broken inversion symmetry. Here, we use the self-consistent phonon approximation to calculate the effects of thermal and quantum polarization fluctuations on the bare hybridized modes to show that such long-range modulated order is unstable at all temperatures. We discuss the implications for the nearly ferroelectric SrTiO3 and KTaO3, and we propose that these systems are melted versions of an underlying modulated state that is dominated by nonzero momentum thermal fluctuations except at the very lowest temperatures.

Guzman-Verri, G. G.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Linear magnetoresistance in the low-field limit in density-wave materials

The magnetoresistance (MR) of a material is typically insensitive to reversing the applied field direction and varies quadratically with magnetic field in the low-field limit. Quantum effects, unusual topological band structures, and inhomogeneities that lead to wandering current paths can induce a cross-over from quadratic to linear MR with increasing magnetic field. Here we explore a series of metallic charge- and spin-density-wave systems that exhibit extremely large positive linear MR. By contrast to other linear MR mechanisms, this effect remains robust down to miniscule magnetic fields of tens of Oersted at low temperature. We frame an explanation of this phenomenon in a semiclassical narrative for a broad category of materials with partially gapped Fermi surfaces due to density waves.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Dielectric Response of Quantum Critical Ferroelectric as a Function of Pressure

In this study we report for the first time measurements of the dielectric loss of single-crystal SrTiO 3 under the application of hydrostatic pressure up to 20 kbar and temperatures down to 200 mK which allow us to comment on the evolution of new fundamental material properties and their relationship with the recently discovered quantum critical phenomena in this material. The well known 18 K peak or shoulder was no longer observed after pressure was applied, even after subsequently removing it, suggesting it is associated with the twin walls formed at the 110 K cubic-tetragonal transition. The family of familiar peaks were all seen to increase in temperature linearly with pressure, and the height of the 9.4 K peak was drastically suppressed by even the smallest pressures. This peak is discussed in the context of a postulated ferroelectric quantum critical point in SrTiO 3 and the behaviour of its size linked to the position of this point on the recently established phase diagram.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Landau theory and giant room-temperature barocaloric effect in M F 3 metal trifluorides

The structural phase transitions of MF 3 (M = Al, Cr, V, Fe, Ti, Sc) metal trifluorides are studied within a simple Landau theory consisting of tilts of rigid MF 6 octahedra associated with soft antiferrodistortive optic modes that are coupled to long-wavelength strain generating acoustic phonons. We calculate the temperature and pressure dependence of several quantities such as the spontaneous distortions, volume expansion, and shear strains as well as T - P phase diagrams. By contrasting our model to experiments we quantify the deviations from mean-field behavior and find that the tilt fluctuations of the MF 6 octahedra increase with metal cation size. We apply our model to predict giant barocaloric effects in Sc-substituted TiF 3 of up to about 15 JK -1 kg -1 for modest hydrostatic compressions of 0.2GPa. The effect extends over a wide temperature range of over 140K (including room temperature) due to a large predicted rate, dT c /dP = 723K GPa -1 , which exceeds those of typical barocaloric materials. Our results suggest that open lattice frameworks such as the trifluorides are an attractive platform to search for giant barocaloric effects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Why is the electrocaloric effect so small in ferroelectrics?

Ferroelectrics are attractive candidate materials for environmentally friendly solid state refrigeration free of greenhouse gases. Their thermal response upon variations of external electric fields is largest in the vicinity of their phase transitions, which may occur near room temperature. The magnitude of the effect, however, is too small for useful cooling applications even when they are driven close to dielectric breakdown. Insight from microscopic theory is therefore needed to characterize materials and provide guiding principles to search for new ones with enhanced electrocaloric performance. Here, we derive from well-known microscopic models of ferroelectricity meaningful figures of merit for a wide class of ferroelectric materials. Such figures of merit provide insight into the relation between the strength of the effect and the characteristic interactions of ferroelectrics such as dipolar forces. We find that the long range nature of these interactions results in a small effect. A strategy is proposed to make it larger by shortening the correlation lengths of fluctuations of polarization. In addition, we bring into question other widely used but empirical figures of merit and facilitate understanding of the recently observed secondary broad peak in the electrocalorics of relaxor ferroelectrics.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Non-equilibrium Properties of a Pumped-Decaying Bose-Condensed Electron–Hole Gas in the BCS–BEC Crossover Region

We theoretically investigate a Bose-condensed exciton gas out of equilibrium. Within the framework of the combined BCS-Leggett strong-coupling theory with the non-equilibrium Keldysh formalism, we show how the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of excitons is suppressed to eventually disappear, when the system is in the non-equilibrium steady state. The supply of electrons and holes from the bath is shown to induce quasi-particle excitations, leading to the partial occupation of the upper branch of Bogoliubov single-particle excitation spectrum. We also discuss how this quasi-particle induction is related to the suppression of exciton BEC, as well as the stability of the steady state.

BCS-BEC crossover↗
DOE OSTI2015

Itinerant density wave instabilities at classical and quantum critical points

Charge ordering in metals is a fundamental instability of the electron sea, occurring in a host of materials and often linked to other collective ground states such as superconductivity. What is difficult to parse, however, is whether the charge order originates among the itinerant electrons or whether it arises from the ionic lattice. Here in this study we employ high-resolution X-ray diffraction, combined with high-pressure and low-temperature techniques and theoretical modelling, to trace the evolution of the ordering wavevector Q in charge and spin density wave systems at the approach to both thermal and quantum phase transitions. The non-monotonic behaviour of Q with pressure and the limiting sinusoidal form of the density wave point to the dominant role of the itinerant instability in the vicinity of the critical points, with little influence from the lattice. Fluctuations rather than disorder seem to disrupt coherence.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Domain wall fluctuations in ferroelectrics coupled to strain

Using a Ginzburg-Landau-Devonshire model that includes the coupling of polarization to strain, we calculate the fluctuation spectra of ferroelectric domain walls. The influence of the strain coupling differs between 180 degrees. and 90 degrees. walls due to the different strain profiles of the two configurations. The finite speed of acoustic phonons, vs, retards the response of the strain to polarization fluctuations, and the results depend on v(s). For v(s) -> infinity, the strain mediates an instantaneous electrostrictive interaction, which is long-range in the 90 degrees. wall case. For finite v(s), acoustic phonons damp the wall excitations, producing a continuum in the spectral function. As v(s) -> 0, a gapped mode emerges, which corresponds to the polarization oscillating in a fixed strain potential.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗