Three-dimensional fermi-liquid ground state in the quasi-one-dimensional cuprate PrBa(2)Cu(4)O(8)

Emergent symmetry in a low-dimensional superconductor on the edge of Mottness

Upon cooling, condensed-matter systems typically transition into states of lower symmetry. The converse-i.e., the emergence of higher symmetry at lower temperatures-is extremely rare. In this work, we show how an unusually isotropic magnetoresistance in the highly anisotropic, one-dimensional conductor Li0.9Mo6O17 and its temperature dependence can be interpreted as a renormalization group (RG) flow toward a so-called separatrix. This approach is equivalent to an emergent symmetry in the system. The existence of two distinct ground states, Mott insulator and superconductor, can then be traced back to two opposing RG trajectories. By establishing a direct link between quantum field theory and an experimentally measurable quantity, we uncover a path through which emergent symmetry might be identified in other candidate materials.

Simultaneous loss of interlayer coherence and long-range magnetism in quasi-two-dimensional PdCrO2

In many layered metals, coherent propagation of electronic excitations is often confined to the highly conducting planes. While strong electron correlations and/or proximity to an ordered phase are believed to be the drivers of this electron confinement, it is still not known what triggers the loss of interlayer coherence in a number of layered systems with strong magnetic fluctuations, such as cuprates. Here, we show that a definitive signature of interlayer coherence in the metallic-layered triangular antiferromagnet PdCrO₂ vanishes at the Néel transition temperature. Comparison with the relevant energy scales and with the isostructural non-magnetic PdCoO₂ reveals that the interlayer incoherence is driven by the growth of short-range magnetic fluctuations. This establishes a connection between long-range order and interlayer coherence in PdCrO₂ and suggests that in many other low-dimensional conductors, incoherent interlayer transport also arises from the strong interaction between the (tunnelling) electrons and fluctuations of some underlying order.

Incoherent transport is an important feature of many anisotropic quantum materials but often its origin is not well understood. Here, the authors show that in a layered quantum magnet, incoherence is driven by the interaction of electrons with spin fluctuations after the melting of magnetic order.

Determination of the resistivity anisotropy of orthorhombic materials via transverse resistivity measurements

Measurements of the resistivity anisotropy can provide crucial information about the electronic structure and scattering processes in anisotropic and low-dimensional materials, but quantitative measurements by conventional means often suffer very significant systematic errors. Here we describe a novel approach to measuring the resistivity anisotropy of orthorhombic materials, using a single crystal and a single measurement that is derived from a π4 rotation of the measurement frame relative to the crystallographic axes. In this new basis, the transverse resistivity gives a direct measurement of the resistivity anisotropy, which combined with the longitudinal resistivity also gives the in-plane elements of the conventional resistivity tensor via a 5-point contact geometry. This is demonstrated through application to the charge-density wave compound ErTe₃, and it is concluded that this method presents a significant improvement on existing techniques, particularly when measuring small anisotropies.

Extreme thermopower anisotropy and interchain transport in the quasi-one-dimensional metal Li0.9Mo6O17

Thermopower and electrical resistivity measurements transverse to the conducting chains of the quasi-one-dimensional metal Li0.9Mo6O17 are reported in the temperature range 5≤T≤500  K. For T≥400  K the interchain transport is determined by thermal excitation of charge carriers from a valence band ∼0.14  eV below the Fermi level, giving rise to a large, p-type thermopower that coincides with a small, n-type thermopower along the chains. This dichotomy-semiconductorlike in one direction and metallic in a mutually perpendicular direction-gives rise to substantial transverse thermoelectric effects and a transverse thermoelectric figure of merit among the largest known for a single compound.

The Wiedemann-Franz law in the putative one-dimensional metallic phase of PrBa₂Cu₄O₈

The nature of the electronic state of a metal depends strongly on its dimensionality. In a system of isolated conducting chains, the Fermi-liquid (quasiparticle) description appropriate for higher dimensions is replaced by the so-called Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid picture characterized by collective excitations of spin and charge. Temperature is often regarded as a viable tuning parameter between states of different dimensionality, but what happens once thermal broadening becomes comparable to the interchain hopping energy remains an unresolved issue, one that is central to many organic and inorganic conductors. Here we use the ratio of the thermal to electrical conductivities to probe the nature of the electronic state in PrBa₂Cu₄O₈ as a function of temperature. We find that despite the interchain transport becoming non-metallic, the charge carriers within the CuO chains appear to retain their quasiparticle nature. This implies that temperature alone cannot induce a crossover from Fermi-liquid to Tomonaga-Luttinger-liquid behaviour in quasi-one-dimensional metals.

Upper critical magnetic field far above the paramagnetic pair-breaking limit of superconducting one-dimensional Li0:9Mo6O17 single crystals

The upper critical field H(c2) of purple bronze Li0:9Mo6O17 is found to exhibit a large anisotropy, in quantitative agreement with that expected from the observed electrical resistivity anisotropy. With the field aligned along the most conducting axis, H(c2) increases monotonically with decreasing temperature to a value 5 times larger than the estimated paramagnetic pair-breaking field. Theories for the enhancement of H(c2) invoking spin-orbit scattering or strong-coupling superconductivity are shown to be inadequate in explaining the observed behavior, suggesting that the pairing state in Li0:9Mo6O17 is unconventional and possibly spin triplet.

Directional field-induced metallization of quasi-one-dimensional Li0.9Mo6O17

We report a detailed magnetotransport study of the highly anisotropic quasi-one-dimensional oxide Li(0.9)Mo(6)O(17) whose in-chain electrical resistivity diverges below a temperature T_{min} approximately 25 K. For T < T_{min}, a magnetic field applied parallel to the conducting chain induces a large negative magnetoresistance and, ultimately, the recovery of a metallic state. We show evidence that this insulator-metal crossover is a consequence of field-induced suppression of a density-wave gap in a highly one-dimensional conductor. At the highest fields studied, there is evidence for the possible emergence of a novel superconducting state with an onset temperature T_{c} > 10 K.

Irradiation-induced confinement in a quasi-one-dimensional metal

The anisotropic resistivity of PrBa(2)Cu(4)O(8) has been measured as a function of electron irradiation fluence. Localization effects are observed for extremely small amounts of disorder corresponding to electron mean free paths of order 100 unit cells. Estimates of the localization corrections suggest that this anomalous localization threshold heralds a crossover to a ground state with pronounced one-dimensional character in which conduction electrons become confined to a small cluster of chains.

Possible coexistence of local itinerancy and global localization in a quasi-one-dimensional conductor

In the chain compound PrBa2Cu4O8 localization appears simultaneously with a dimensional crossover in the electronic ground state when the scattering rate in the chains exceeds the hopping rate between the chains. Here we report the discovery of a large, transverse magnetoresistance in PrBa2Cu4O8 in the localized regime. This result suggests a novel form of localization whereby electrons retain their metallic (quasi-one-dimensional) character over a microscopic length scale despite the fact that, macroscopically, they exhibit localized (one-dimensional) behavior.

Quantum limit in a parallel magnetic field in layered conductors

We show that electron wave functions in a quasi-two-dimensional conductor in a parallel magnetic field are always localized on conducting layers. In particular, wave functions and the electron spectrum in a quantum limit, where the sizes of quasiclassical electron orbits are of the order of nanoscale distances between the layers, are determined. ac infrared measurements to investigate Fermi surfaces and to test Fermi-liquid theory in quasi-two-dimensional organic and high-Tc materials in high magnetic fields, H approximately equal 10-45 T, are suggested.

Charge freezing in the zigzag chain PrBa2Cu4O8 cuprate

We report nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) studies on the chain Cu sites of PrBa2Cu4O8, a quasi-one-dimensional conductor with a nearly quarter-filled band. The nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 shows a pronounced peak near 100 K caused by fluctuations of electric field gradient. Similar peak was observed for the spin-echo decay rate 1/T2, however, at a different temperature near 50 K. These results and broadening of the NQR spectrum at low temperatures indicate that slow charge fluctuations of either electronic or ionic origin freeze gradually at low temperatures.