Hall effect in heavy fermion metals

Asymmetrical tunneling in heavy fermion metals as a possible probe for their non-Fermi liquid peculiarities

Considerable evidence exists for the failure of the traditional theory of quantum critical points, pointing to the need to incorporate novel excitations. The destruction of Kondo entanglement and the concomitant critical Kondo effect may underlie these emergent excitations in heavy fermion metals (a prototype system for quantum criticality), but the effect remains poorly understood. Here, we show how ferromagnetic single-electron transistors can be used to study this effect. We theoretically demonstrate a gate-voltage-induced quantum phase transition. The critical Kondo effect is manifested in a fractional-power-law dependence of the conductance on temperature (T). The AC conductance and thermal noise spectrum have related power-law dependences on frequency (omega) and, in addition, show an omega/T scaling. Our results imply that the ferromagnetic nanostructure constitutes a realistic model system to elucidate magnetic quantum criticality that is central to the heavy fermions and other bulk materials with non-Fermi liquid behavior.

Short-range (SR) magnetic orders such as magnetic glass orders or fluctuations in a quantum system usually host exotic states or critical behaviors. As the long-range (LR) magnetic orders, SR magnetic orders can also break time-reversal symmetry and drive the non-zero Berry curvature leading to novel transport properties. In this work, we report that in EuZn$_2$As$_2$ compound, besides the LR A-type antiferromagnetic (AF) order, the SR magnetic order is observed in a wide temperature region. The magnetization measurements and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements reveal the ferromagnetic (FM) correlations for this SR magnetic order which results in an obvious anomalous Hall effect above the AF transition. Moreover the ESR results reveal that this FM SR order coexists with LR AF order exhibiting anisotropic magnetic correlations below the AF transition. The interactions of LR and SR magnetism evolving with temperature and field can host non-zero spin charility and berry curvature leading the additional topological Hall contribution even in a centrosymmetric simple AF system. Our results indicate that EuZn$_2$As$_2$ is a fertile platform to investigate exotic magnetic and electronic states.

We present a general methodology for measuring the Hall effect on nanostructures with one-dimensional (1D) nanowire morphology. Relying only on typical e-beam lithography, the methodology developed herein utilizes an angled electrode evaporation technique so that the nanowire itself is a shadow mask and an intimate sidewall contact can be formed for the Hall electrodes. A six-contact electrode scheme with offset transverse contacts is utilized that allows monitoring of both the longitudinal resistivity and the Hall resistivity which is extracted from the raw voltage from the transverse electrodes using an antisymmetrization procedure. Our method does not require the use of a highly engineered lithographic process to produce directly opposing Hall electrodes with a very small gap. Hall effect measurements on semiconducting iron pyrite (FeS2) nanowire devices are validated by comparing to Hall effect measurements in the conventional Hall geometry using FeS2 plate devices. This Hall effect measurement is further extended to MnSi nanowires, and the distinct anomalous Hall effect signature is identified for the first time in chiral magnetic MnSi nanowires, a significant step toward identifying the topological Hall effect due to skyrmions in chiral magnetic nanowires.

Experimental studies of the antiferromagnetic (AF) heavy fermion metal $\rm YbRh_2Si_2$ in a magnetic field $B$ indicate the presence of a jump in the Hall coefficient at a magnetic-field tuned quantum state in the zero temperature limit. This quantum state occurs at $B\geq B_{c0}$ and induces the jump even though the change of the magnetic field at $B=B_{c0}$ is infinitesimal. We investigate this by using the model of heavy electron liquid with the fermion condensate. Within this model the jump takes place when the magnetic field reaches the critical value $B_{c0}$ at which the ordering temperature $T_N(B=B_{c0})$ of the AF transition vanishes. We show that at $B\to B_{c0}$, this second order AF phase transition becomes the first order one, making the corresponding quantum and thermal critical fluctuations vanish at the jump. At $T\to0$ and $B=B_{c0}$, the Gr\"uneisen ratio as a function of temperature $T$ diverges. We demonstrate that both the divergence and the jump are determined by the specific low temperature behavior of the entropy $S(T)\propto S_0+a\sqrt{T}+bT$ with $S_0$, $a$ and $b$ are temperature independent constants.

Study of voltage-controlled perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Ta/ FeB/MgO and W/FeB/MgO nanowires by the Hall effect measurements

Understanding the magnetic properties of atomic chains on superconductors is an essential cornerstone on the road towards controlling and constructing topological electronic matter. Yet, even in simple models, the magnetic ground states remain debated. Ferromagnetic (FM), antiferromagnetic (AFM), and spin spiral configurations have been suggested and experimentally detected, while non-coplanar and complex collinear phases have been additionally conjectured. Here, we resolve parts of the controversy by determining the magnetic ground states of chains of magnetic atoms in proximity to a superconductor with Monte-Carlo methods. We confirm the existence of FM, AFM and spin spiral ground states, exclude non-coplanar phases in the model and clarify the parametric region of a $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow\downarrow$-phase. We further identify a number of novel complex collinear spin configurations, including the periodic spin configurations $\uparrow\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$, and $\uparrow \uparrow \uparrow \downarrow \uparrow \downarrow \downarrow \downarrow \uparrow \downarrow$, which are in some cases combined with harmonic and anharmonic spirals to form the ground state. We topologically classify the electronic structures, investigate their stability against increasing the superconducting order parameter, and explain the complex collinear order by an effective Heisenberg model with dominant four-spin interactions.

The onset of heavy-fermion coherent-ground-state behavior is studied in Ce${\mathrm{Cu}}_{6}$ by Hall-effect and magnetoresistance measurements. Ce${\mathrm{Cu}}_{6}$ is an ideal system for this study since the fermions are extremely heavy and the system does not become either magnetic or superconducting. The strong temperature dependence of the Hall effect sets the scale for the high-temperature, single-Kondo-impurity, incoherent regime, a broad transition region, and the very-low-temperature coherent regime. In contrast to the resistivity, which shows a gradual transition to the coherent state, the Hall effect shows a rather sharp feature at the onset of coherence.

Abstract

Impurity levels in Ag-doped p-GaSe have been studied by using photoluminescence and Hall effect measurements. The PL spectra at 77 K are dominated by two new emission bands at 2.02 and 1.74 eV. From the combined results of Hall effect and PL measurements, it is found that the 2.02 and 1.74 eV emission bands are associated with the same acceptor level at 0.07 eV above the valence band, moreover, the 2.02 and 1.74 eV emission bands are caused by conduction band–acceptor and donor–acceptor transitions, respectively.

Hall effect measurements are important for elucidating the fundamental charge transport mechanisms and intrinsic mobility in organic semiconductors. However, Hall effect studies frequently reveal an unconventional behavior that cannot be readily explained with the simple band-semiconductor Hall effect model. Here, we develop an analytical model of Hall effect in organic field-effect transistors in a regime of coexisting band and hopping carriers. The model, which is supported by the experiments, is based on a partial Hall voltage compensation effect, occurring because hopping carriers respond to the transverse Hall electric field and drift in the direction opposite to the Lorentz force acting on band carriers. We show that this can lead in particular to an underdeveloped Hall effect observed in organic semiconductors with substantial off-diagonal thermal disorder. Our model captures the main features of Hall effect in a variety of organic semiconductors and provides an analytical description of Hall mobility, carrier density and carrier coherence factor.

In this review, we consider the time reversal T and particle-antiparticle C symmetries that, being most fundamental, can be violated at microscopic level by a weak interaction. The notable example here is from condensed matter, where strongly correlated Fermi systems like heavy-fermion metals and high Tc superconductors exhibit C and T symmetries violation due to so-called non-Fermi liquid (NFL) behavior. In these systems, tunneling differential conductivity (or resistivity) is a very sensitive tool to experimentally test the above symmetry break. When a strongly correlated Fermi system turns out to be near the topological fermion condensation quantum phase transition (FCQPT), it exhibits the NFL properties, so that the C symmetry breaks down, making the differential tunneling conductivity to be an asymmetric function of the bias voltage V. This asymmetry does not take place in normal metals, where Landau Fermi liquid (LFL) theory holds. Under the application of magnetic field, a heavy fermion metal transits to the LFL state, and σ(V) becomes symmetric function of V. These findings are in good agreement with experimental observations. We suggest that the same topological FCQPT underlies the baryon asymmetry in the Universe. We demonstrate that the most fundamental features of the nature are defined by its topological and symmetry properties.

By using ab initio methods on different levels we study the magnetic ground state of(finite) atomic wires deposited on metallic surfaces. A phenomenological model based onsymmetry arguments suggests that the magnetization of a ferromagnetic wire is alignedeither normal to the wire and, generally, tilted with respect to the surface normal orparallel to the wire. From a first-principles point of view, this simple model canbe best related to the so-called magnetic force theorem calculations being oftenused to explore magnetic anisotropy energies of bulk and surface systems. Thesecond theoretical approach that we use to search for the canted magnetic groundstate is the first-principles adiabatic spin dynamics technique extended to thecase of fully relativistic electron scattering. First, for the case of two adjacent Featoms on a Cu(111) surface we demonstrate that the reduction of the surfacesymmetry can indeed lead to canted magnetism. The anisotropy constants andconsequently the ground state magnetization direction are very sensitive to the positionof the dimer with respect to the surface. We also performed calculations for aseven-atom Co chain placed along a step edge of a Pt(111) surface. As far as theground state spin orientation is concerned, we obtain excellent agreement withexperiment. Moreover, the magnetic ground state turns out to be slightly non-collinear.

Magnetic ground state of orthorhombically distorted CaCoO3 perovskite oxide: GGA and GGA+U calculations

Low-energy quantum fluctuations and frustrated magnetism in rare-earth-based Shastry-Sutherland lattices: Insights on the CaCo2Al8 structure type antiferromagnets