Heisenberg interactions are ubiquitous in magnetic materials and play a central role in modelling and designing quantum magnets. Bond-directional interactions offer a novel alternative to Heisenberg ...exchange and provide the building blocks of the Kitaev model, which has a quantum spin liquid as its exact ground state. Honeycomb iridates, A2 IrO3 (A = Na, Li), offer potential realizations of the Kitaev magnetic exchange coupling, and their reported magnetic behaviour may be interpreted within the Kitaev framework. However, the extent of their relevance to the Kitaev model remains unclear, as evidence for bond-directional interactions has so far been indirect. Here we present direct evidence for dominant bond-directional interactions in antiferromagnetic Na2 IrO3 and show that they lead to strong magnetic frustration. Diffuse magnetic X-ray scattering reveals broken spin-rotational symmetry even above the Néel temperature, with the three spin components exhibiting short-range correlations along distinct crystallographic directions. This spin- and real-space entanglement directly uncovers the bond-directional nature of these interactions, thus providing a direct connection between honeycomb iridates and Kitaev physics.
An end‐station for resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering and (resonant) X‐ray emission spectroscopy at beamline ID20 of ESRF – The European Synchrotron is presented. The spectrometer hosts five crystal ...analysers in Rowland geometry for large solid angle collection and is mounted on a rotatable arm for scattering in both the horizontal and vertical planes. The spectrometer is optimized for high‐energy‐resolution applications, including partial fluorescence yield or high‐energy‐resolution fluorescence detected X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and the study of elementary electronic excitations in solids. In addition, it can be used for non‐resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering measurements of valence electron excitations.
An end‐station for resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering at beamline ID20 of ESRF – The European Synchrotron is described. The spectrometer is optimized for high‐energy‐resolution applications, including partial fluorescence yield or high‐energy‐resolution fluorescence detected X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and the study of elementary electronic excitations in solids.
The concept that superconductivity competes with other orders in cuprate superconductors has become increasingly apparent, but obtaining direct evidence with bulk-sensitive probes is challenging. We ...have used resonant soft x-ray scattering to identify two-dimensional charge fluctuations with an incommensurate periodicity of ∼3.2 lattice units in the copper-oxide planes of the superconductors (Y,Nd)Ba 2 Cu 3 O 6+x , with hole concentrations of 0.09 to 0.13 per planar Cu ion. The intensity and correlation length of the fluctuation signal increase strongly upon cooling down to the superconducting transition temperature (T c ); further cooling below T c abruptly reverses the divergence of the charge correlations. In combination with earlier observations of a large gap in the spin excitation spectrum, these data indicate an incipient charge density wave instability that competes with superconductivity.
An end‐station for X‐ray Raman scattering spectroscopy at beamline ID20 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is described. This end‐station is dedicated to the study of shallow core ...electronic excitations using non‐resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering. The spectrometer has 72 spherically bent analyzer crystals arranged in six modular groups of 12 analyzer crystals each for a combined maximum flexibility and large solid angle of detection. Each of the six analyzer modules houses one pixelated area detector allowing for X‐ray Raman scattering based imaging and efficient separation of the desired signal from the sample and spurious scattering from the often used complicated sample environments. This new end‐station provides an unprecedented instrument for X‐ray Raman scattering, which is a spectroscopic tool of great interest for the study of low‐energy X‐ray absorption spectra in materials under in situ conditions, such as in operando batteries and fuel cells, in situ catalytic reactions, and extreme pressure and temperature conditions.
An end‐station for X‐ray Raman scattering spectroscopy at beamline ID20 of the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility is described, dedicated to the study of shallow core electronic excitations using non‐resonant inelastic X‐ray scattering.
Superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelates holds exciting analogies with that of cuprates, with similar structures and 3d-electron count. Using resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, we studied ...electronic and magnetic excitations and charge density correlations in Nd1-xSrxNiO2 thin films with and without an SrTiO3 capping layer. We observe dispersing magnons only in the capped samples, progressively dampened at higher doping. We detect an elastic resonant scattering peak in the uncapped x=0 compound at wave vector (∼⅓,0), remindful of the charge order signal in hole doped cuprates. The peak weakens at x=0.05 and disappears in the superconducting x=0.20 film. The role of the capping on the electronic reconstruction far from the interface remains to be understood.
The asymmetry between electron and hole doping in high critical-temperature superconducting (HTS) cuprates is key information for the understanding of Cooper pair formation mechanisms. Despite ...intensive studies on different cuprates, a comprehensive description of related magnetic and charge excitations is still fragmentary. In the present work, artificial cuprates were used to cover the entire phase diagram within the same HTS family. In particular, Cu L3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements were performed on artificial n- and p-type infinite layer (IL) epitaxial films. Beside several similarities, RIXS spectra show noticeable differences in the evolution, with doping level, of magnetic and charge intensity and damping. Compatible trends can be found in spectra measured on bulk cuprates, as well as in theoretical calculations of the spin dynamical structure factor S(q,ω). The findings give a deeper insight into the evolution of collective excitations across the cuprate phase diagram, and on underlying general features, only connected to the doping type. Moreover, they pave the way to the exploration of general properties of HTS physics over a broad range of conditions, by means of artificial compounds not constrained by the thermodynamic limitations governing the chemical stability of bulk materials.
We probe the collective magnetic modes of La2CuO4 and underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 (LSCO) by momentum resolved resonant inelastic x-ray scattering (RIXS) at the Cu L3 edge. For the undoped ...antiferromagnetic sample, we show that the single magnon dispersion measured with RIXS coincides with the one determined by inelastic neutron scattering, thus demonstrating that x rays are an alternative to neutrons in this field. In the spin dynamics of LSCO, we find a branch dispersing up to approximately 400 meV coexisting with one at lower energy. The high-energy branch has never been seen before. It indicates that underdoped LSCO is in a dynamic inhomogeneous spin state.
In the search for the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity, intense research has been focused on the evolution of the spin excitation spectrum on doping from the antiferromagnetic ...insulating to the superconducting state of the cuprates. Because of technical limitations, the experimental investigation of doped cuprates has been largely focused on low-energy excitations in a small range of momentum space. Here we use resonant inelastic X-ray scattering to show that a large family of superconductors, encompassing underdoped YBa2Cu4O8 and overdoped YBa2Cu3O7, exhibits damped spin excitations (paramagnons) with dispersions and spectral weights closely similar to those of magnons in undoped cuprates. The comprehensive experimental description of this surprisingly simple spectrum enables quantitative tests of magnetic Cooper pairing models. A numerical solution of the Eliashberg equations for the magnetic spectrum of YBa2Cu3O7 reproduces its superconducting transition temperature within a factor of two, a level of agreement comparable to that of Eliashberg theories of conventional superconductors. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
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