Anisotropic Violation of the Wiedemann-Franz Law at a Quantum Critical Point

Dynamical Scaling and Planckian Dissipation Due to Heavy-Fermion Quantum Criticality

We study dynamical scaling associated with a Kondo-breakdown quantum-critical point (KB QCP) of the periodic Anderson model, treated by two-site cellular dynamical mean-field theory (2CDMFT). In the quantum-critical region, the dynamical staggered-spin susceptibility exhibits ω/T scaling. We propose a scaling ansatz that describes this behavior and reveals Planckian dissipation for the longest-lived excitations. The current susceptibility follows the same scaling, leading to strange-metal behavior for the optical conductivity and resistivity. Importantly, this behavior is driven by strong short-ranged vertex contributions, not single-particle decay. This suggests that the KB QCP described by 2CDMFT is a novel intrinsic (i.e., disorder-free) strange-metal fixed point. Our results for the optical conductivity match experimental observations on YbRh_{2}Si_{2} and CeCoIn_{5}.

Abnormally enhanced Hall Lorenz number in the magnetic Weyl semimetal NdAlSi

In Landau's celebrated Fermi liquid theory, electrons in a metal obey the Wiedemann-Franz law at the lowest temperatures. This law states that electron heat and charge transport are linked by a constant L0, i.e., the Sommerfeld value of the Lorenz number (L). Such relation can be violated at elevated temperatures where the abundant inelastic scattering leads to a reduction of the Lorenz number (L < L0). Here, we report a rare case of remarkably enhanced Lorenz number (L > L0) discovered in the magnetic topological semimetal NdAlSi. Measurements of the transverse electrical and thermal transport coefficients reveal that the Hall Lorenz number Lxy in NdAlSi starts to deviate from the canonical value far above its magnetic ordering temperature. Moreover, Lxy displays strong nonmonotonic temperature and field dependence, reaching its maximum value close to 2L0 in an intermediate parameter range. Further analysis excludes charge-neutral excitations as the origin of enhanced Lxy. Alternatively, we attribute it to the Kondo-type elastic scattering off localized 4f electrons, which creates a peculiar energy distribution of the quasiparticle relaxation time. Our results provide insights into the perplexing transport phenomena caused by the interplay between charge and spin degrees of freedom.

Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid and quantum criticality in spin- 1 2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain C 14 H 18 CuN 4 O 10 via Wilson ratio

The ground state of a one-dimensional spin-1 2 uniform antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain (AfHc) is a Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid which is quantum-critical with respect to applied magnetic fields up to a saturation field μ 0 H s beyond which it transforms to a fully polarized state. Wilson ratio has been predicted to be a good indicator for demarcating these phases [Phys. Rev. B 96, 220401 (2017)]. From detailed temperature and magnetic field-dependent magnetization, magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements in a metalorganic complex and comparisons with field theory and quantum transfer matrix method calculations, the complex was found to be a very good realization of a spin-1 2 AfHc. Wilson ratio obtained from experimentally obtained magnetic susceptibility and magnetic contribution of specific heat values was used to map the magnetic phase diagram of the uniform spin-1 2 AfHc over large regions of phase space demarcating Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid, saturation field quantum critical, and fully polarized states. Luttinger parameter and spinon velocity were found to match very well with the values predicted from conformal field theory.

Anderson Localization of Phonons in Thermally Superinsulating Graphene Aerogels with Metal-Like Electrical Conductivity

In the quest to improve energy efficiency and design better thermal insulators, various engineering strategies have been extensively investigated to minimize heat transfer through a material. Yet, the suppression of thermal transport in a material remains elusive because heat can be transferred by multiple energy carriers. Here, the realization of Anderson localization of phonons in a random 3D elastic network of graphene is reported. It is shown that thermal conductivity in a cellular graphene aerogel can be drastically reduced to 0.9 mW m-1 K-1 by the application of compressive strain while keeping a high metal-like electrical conductivity of 120 S m-1 and ampacity of 0.9 A. The experiments reveal that the strain can cause phonon localization over a broad compression range. The remaining heat flow in the material is dominated by charge transport. Conversely, electrical conductivity exhibits a gradual increase with increasing compressive strain, opposite to the thermal conductivity. These results imply that strain engineering provides the ability to independently tune charge and heat transport, establishing a new paradigm for controlling phonon and charge conduction in solids. This approach will enable the development of a new type of high-performance insulation solutions and thermally superinsulating materials with metal-like electrical conductivity.

Large oscillatory thermal hall effect in kagome metals

The thermal Hall effect recently provided intriguing probes to the ground state of exotic quantum matters. These observations of transverse thermal Hall signals lead to the debate on the fermionic versus bosonic origins of these phenomena. The recent report of quantum oscillations (QOs) in Kitaev spin liquid points to a possible resolution. The Landau level quantization would most likely capture only the fermionic thermal transport effect. However, the QOs in the thermal Hall effect are generally hard to detect. In this work, we report the observation of a large oscillatory thermal Hall effect of correlated Kagome metals. We detect a 180-degree phase change of the oscillation and demonstrate the phase flip as an essential feature for QOs in the thermal transport properties. More importantly, the QOs in the thermal Hall channel are more profound than those in the electrical Hall channel, which strongly violates the Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law for QOs. This result presents the oscillatory thermal Hall effect as a powerful probe to the correlated quantum materials.

Heat conductance of the quantum Hall bulk

The quantum Hall effect is a prototypical realization of a topological state of matter. It emerges from a subtle interplay between topology, interactions and disorder1-9. The disorder enables the formation of localized states in the bulk that stabilize the quantum Hall states with respect to the magnetic field and carrier density3. Still, the details of the localized states and their contribution to transport remain beyond the reach of most experimental techniques10-31. Here we describe an extensive study of the bulk's heat conductance. Using a novel 'multiterminal' short device (on a scale of 10 µm), we separate the longitudinal thermal conductance, [Formula: see text] (owing to the bulk's contribution), from the topological transverse value [Formula: see text] by eliminating the contribution of the edge modes24. When the magnetic field is tuned away from the conductance plateau centre, the localized states in the bulk conduct heat efficiently ([Formula: see text]), whereas the bulk remains electrically insulating. Fractional states in the first excited Landau level, such as the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], conduct heat throughout the plateau with a finite [Formula: see text]. We propose a theoretical model that identifies the localized states as the cause of the finite heat conductance, agreeing qualitatively with our experimental findings.

A criterion for strange metallicity in the Lorenz ratio

The Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law, stating that the Lorenz ratio L = κ/(Tσ) between the thermal and electrical conductivities in a metal approaches a universal constant L 0 = π 2 k B 2 / ( 3 e 2 ) at low temperatures, is often interpreted as a signature of fermionic Landau quasi-particles. In contrast, we show that various models of weakly disordered non-Fermi liquids also obey the WF law at T → 0. Instead, we propose using the leading low-temperature correction to the WF law, L(T) - L0 (proportional to the inelastic scattering rate), to distinguish different types of strange metals. As an example, we demonstrate that in a solvable model of a marginal Fermi-liquid, L(T) - L0 ∝ - T. Using the quantum Boltzmann equation (QBE) approach, we find analogous behavior in a class of marginal- and non-Fermi liquids with a weakly momentum-dependent inelastic scattering. In contrast, in a Fermi-liquid, L(T) - L0 is proportional to - T2. This holds even when the resistivity grows linearly with T, due to T - linear quasi-elastic scattering (as in the case of electron-phonon scattering at temperatures above the Debye frequency). Finally, by exploiting the QBE approach, we demonstrate that the transverse Lorenz ratio, Lxy = κxy/(Tσxy), exhibits the same behavior.

Thermal Management in Neuromorphic Materials, Devices, and Networks

Machine learning has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, often referred to as an "artificial intelligence revolution." Biological systems inspire the fundamental approach for this new computing paradigm: using neural networks to classify large amounts of data into sorting categories. Current machine-learning schemes implement simulated neurons and synapses on standard computers based on a von Neumann architecture. This approach is inefficient in energy consumption, and thermal management, motivating the search for hardware-based systems that imitate the brain. Here, the present state of thermal management of neuromorphic computing technology and the challenges and opportunities of the energy-efficient implementation of neuromorphic devices are considered. The main features of brain-inspired computing and quantum materials for implementing neuromorphic devices are briefly described, the brain criticality and resistive switching-based neuromorphic devices are discussed, the energy and electrical considerations for spiking-based computation are presented, the fundamental features of the brain's thermal regulation are addressed, the physical mechanisms for thermal management and thermoelectric control of materials and neuromorphic devices are analyzed, and challenges and new avenues for implementing energy-efficient computing are described.

Anisotropic Melting of Frustrated Ising Antiferromagnets

Magnetic frustrations and dimensionality play an important role in determining the nature of the magnetic long-range order and how it melts at temperatures above the ordering transition T_{N}. In this Letter, we use large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to study these phenomena in a class of frustrated Ising spin models in two spatial dimensions. We find that the melting of the magnetic long-range order into an isotropic gaslike paramagnet proceeds via an intermediate stage where the classical spins remain anisotropically correlated. This correlated paramagnet exists in a temperature range T_{N}<T<T^{*}, whose width increases as magnetic frustrations grow. This intermediate phase is typically characterized by short-range correlations; however, the two-dimensional nature of the model allows for an additional exotic feature-formation of an incommensurate liquidlike phase with algebraically decaying spin correlations. The two-stage melting of magnetic order is generic and pertinent to many frustrated quasi-2D magnets with large (essentially classical) spins.

Electronic thermal transport measurement in low-dimensional materials with graphene non-local noise thermometry

In low-dimensional systems, the combination of reduced dimensionality, strong interactions and topology has led to a growing number of many-body quantum phenomena. Thermal transport, which is sensitive to all energy-carrying degrees of freedom, provides a discriminating probe of emergent excitations in quantum materials and devices. However, thermal transport measurements in low dimensions are dominated by the phonon contribution of the lattice, requiring an experimental approach to isolate the electronic thermal conductance. Here we measured non-local voltage fluctuations in a multi-terminal device to reveal the electronic heat transported across a mesoscopic bridge made of low-dimensional materials. Using two-dimensional graphene as a noise thermometer, we measured the quantitative electronic thermal conductance of graphene and carbon nanotubes up to 70 K, achieving a precision of ~1% of the thermal conductance quantum at 5 K. Employing linear and nonlinear thermal transport, we observed signatures of energy transport mediated by long-range interactions in one-dimensional electron systems, in agreement with a theoretical model.

Are Heavy Fermion Strange Metals Planckian?

Strange metal behavior refers to a linear temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity that is not due to electron-phonon scattering. It is seen in numerous strongly correlated electron systems, from the heavy fermion compounds, via transition metal oxides and iron pnictides, to magic angle twisted bi-layer graphene, frequently in connection with unconventional or "high temperature" superconductivity. To achieve a unified understanding of these phenomena across the different materials classes is a central open problem in condensed matter physics. Tests whether the linear-in-temperature law might be dictated by Planckian dissipation-scattering with the rate∼ k B T / ℏ -are receiving considerable attention. Here we assess the situation for strange metal heavy fermion compounds. They allow to probe the regime of extreme correlation strength, with effective mass or Fermi velocity renormalizations in excess of three orders of magnitude. Adopting the same procedure as done in previous studies, i.e., assuming a simple Drude conductivity with the above scattering rate, we find that for these strongly renormalized quasiparticles, scattering is much weaker than Planckian, implying that the linear temperature dependence should be due to other effects. We discuss implications of this finding and point to directions for further work.

Wiedemann-Franz Law for Massless Dirac Fermions with Implications for Graphene

In the 2016 experiment by Crossno et al. the electronic contribution to the thermal conductivity of graphene was found to violate the well-known Wiedemann-Franz (WF) law for metals. At liquid nitrogen temperatures, the thermal to electrical conductivity ratio of charge-neutral samples was more than 10 times higher than predicted by the WF law, which was attributed to interactions between particles leading to collective behavior described by hydrodynamics. Here, we show, by adapting the handbook derivation of the WF law to the case of massless Dirac fermions, that significantly enhanced thermal conductivity should appear also in few- or even sub-kelvin temperatures, where the role of interactions can be neglected. The comparison with numerical results obtained within the Landauer-Büttiker formalism for rectangular and disk-shaped (Corbino) devices in ballistic graphene is also provided.

Giant isotropic magneto-thermal conductivity of metallic spin liquid candidate Pr2Ir2O7 with quantum criticality

Spin liquids are exotic states with no spontaneous symmetry breaking down to zero-temperature because of the highly entangled and fluctuating spins in frustrated systems. Exotic excitations like magnetic monopoles, visons, and photons may emerge from quantum spin ice states, a special kind of spin liquids in pyrochlore lattices. These materials usually are insulators, with an exception of the pyrochlore iridate Pr2Ir2O7, which was proposed as a metallic spin liquid located at a zero-field quantum critical point. Here we report the ultralow-temperature thermal conductivity measurements on Pr2Ir2O7. The Wiedemann-Franz law is verified at high fields and inferred at zero field, suggesting no breakdown of Landau quasiparticles at the quantum critical point, and the absence of mobile fermionic excitations. This result puts strong constraints on the description of the quantum criticality in Pr2Ir2O7. Unexpectedly, although the specific heats are anisotropic with respect to magnetic field directions, the thermal conductivities display the giant but isotropic response. This indicates that quadrupolar interactions and quantum fluctuations are important, which will help determine the true ground state of this material.

Quantized thermoelectric Hall effect induces giant power factor in a topological semimetal

Thermoelectrics are promising by directly generating electricity from waste heat. However, (sub-)room-temperature thermoelectrics have been a long-standing challenge due to vanishing electronic entropy at low temperatures. Topological materials offer a new avenue for energy harvesting applications. Recent theories predicted that topological semimetals at the quantum limit can lead to a large, non-saturating thermopower and a quantized thermoelectric Hall conductivity approaching a universal value. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the non-saturating thermopower and quantized thermoelectric Hall effect in the topological Weyl semimetal (WSM) tantalum phosphide (TaP). An ultrahigh longitudinal thermopower \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$S_{xx} \sim 1.1 \times 10^3 \, \mu \, {\mathrm{V}} \, {\mathrm{K}}^{ - 1}$$\end{document}Sxx~1.1×103μVK−1 and giant power factor \documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\sim 525 \, \mu \, {\mathrm{W}} \, {\mathrm{cm}}^{ - 1} \, {\mathrm{K}}^{ - 2}$$\end{document}~525μWcm−1K−2 are observed at ~40 K, which is largely attributed to the quantized thermoelectric Hall effect. Our work highlights the unique quantized thermoelectric Hall effect realized in a WSM toward low-temperature energy harvesting applications.

Theories predict a large thermopower and a quantized thermoelectric Hall conductivity in topological semimetals. Here, the authors observe an ultrahigh longitudinal thermopower and a giant power factor attributed to the quantized thermoelectric Hall effect in a Weyl semimetal TaP.

Thermal and electrical signatures of a hydrodynamic electron fluid in tungsten diphosphide

In stark contrast to ordinary metals, in materials in which electrons strongly interact with each other or with phonons, electron transport is thought to resemble the flow of viscous fluids. Despite their differences, it is predicted that transport in both conventional and correlated materials is fundamentally limited by the uncertainty principle applied to energy dissipation. Here we report the observation of experimental signatures of hydrodynamic electron flow in the Weyl semimetal tungsten diphosphide. Using thermal and magneto-electric transport experiments, we find indications of the transition from a conventional metallic state at higher temperatures to a hydrodynamic electron fluid below 20 K. The hydrodynamic regime is characterized by a viscosity-induced dependence of the electrical resistivity on the sample width and by a strong violation of the Wiedemann–Franz law. Following the uncertainty principle, both electrical and thermal transport are bound by the quantum indeterminacy, independent of the underlying transport regime.

Advances in the fabrication of low-disorder metallic materials have made it possible to reach the hydrodynamic regime of electronic transport. Here the authors investigate a hydrodynamic electron fluid in tungsten diphosphide and find that both electrical and thermal transport are limited by the quantum indeterminacy.

Modular portable unit for thermal conductivity measurements in multiple cryogenic/magnetic field environments

A modular design for a miniature thermal conductivity cell suitable for a dilution refrigerator and other sample-in-vacuum cryogenic environments with different magnet options is described. The sample is mounted once and the contacts remain in place when the unit is repositioned or transported between different magnets and cryostats. This mobility enables comprehensive measurements with access to specific options, such as vector magnet in one lab and ultra-high field in another. This design enables significant expansion of the temperature range by using not only dilution refrigerators but also ³He, ⁴He cryostats and even ubiquitous Quantum Design Physical Property Measurement System.

Low-temperature thermal transport and thermopower of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide semiconductors

We study the low temperature thermal conductivity of single-layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). In the low temperature regime where heat is carried primarily through transport of electrons, thermal conductivity is linked to electrical conductivity through the Wiedemann-Franz law (WFL). Using a k.p Hamiltonian that describes the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] valley edges, we compute the zero-frequency electric (Drude) conductivity using the Kubo formula to obtain a numerical estimate for the thermal conductivity. The impurity scattering determined transit time of electrons which enters the Drude expression is evaluated within the self-consistent Born approximation. The analytic expressions derived show that low temperature thermal conductivity (1) is determined by the band gap at the valley edges in monolayer TMDCs and (2) in presence of disorder which can give rise to the variable range hopping regime, there is a distinct reduction. Additionally, we compute the Mott thermopower and demonstrate that under a high frequency light beam, a valley-resolved thermopower can be obtained. A closing summary reviews the implications of results followed by a brief discussion on applicability of the WFL and its breakdown in context of the presented calculations.

Quantum Critical Quasiparticle Scattering within the Superconducting State of CeCoIn_{5}

The thermal conductivity κ of the heavy-fermion metal CeCoIn_{5} was measured in the normal and superconducting states as a function of temperature T and magnetic field H, for a current and field parallel to the [100] direction. Inside the superconducting state, when the field is lower than the upper critical field H_{c2}, κ/T is found to increase as T→0, just as in a metal and in contrast to the behavior of all known superconductors. This is due to unpaired electrons on part of the Fermi surface, which dominate the transport above a certain field. The evolution of κ/T with field reveals that the electron-electron scattering (or transport mass m^{⋆}) of those unpaired electrons diverges as H→H_{c2} from below, in the same way that it does in the normal state as H→H_{c2} from above. This shows that the unpaired electrons sense the proximity of the field-tuned quantum critical point of CeCoIn_{5} at H^{⋆}=H_{c2} even from inside the superconducting state. The fact that the quantum critical scattering of the unpaired electrons is much weaker than the average scattering of all electrons in the normal state reveals a k-space correlation between the strength of pairing and the strength of scattering, pointing to a common mechanism, presumably antiferromagnetic fluctuations.

Nodal to nodeless superconducting energy-gap structure change concomitant with fermi-surface reconstruction in the heavy-fermion compound CeCoIn(5)

The London penetration depth λ(T) was measured in single crystals of Ce_{1-x}R_{x}CoIn_{5}, R=La, Nd, and Yb down to T_{min}≈50  mK (T_{c}/T_{min}∼50) using a tunnel-diode resonator. In the cleanest samples Δλ(T) is best described by the power law Δλ(T)∝T^{n}, with n∼1, consistent with the existence of line nodes in the superconducting gap. Substitutions of Ce with La, Nd, and Yb lead to similar monotonic suppressions of T_{c}; however, the effects on Δλ(T) differ. While La and Nd substitution leads to an increase in the exponent n and saturation at n∼2, as expected for a dirty nodal superconductor, Yb substitution leads to n>3, suggesting a change from nodal to nodeless superconductivity. This superconducting gap structure change happens in the same doping range where changes of the Fermi-surface topology were reported, implying that the nodal structure and Fermi-surface topology are closely linked.

Anisotropic breakdown of Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations in overdoped La₂-xSrxCuO₄

High-temperature superconductivity emerges from an un-conventional metallic state. This has stimulated strong efforts to understand exactly how Fermi liquids breakdown and evolve into an un-conventional metal. A fundamental question is how Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations break down in momentum space. Here we show, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, that the Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations of the overdoped superconducting cuprate La1.77Sr0.23CuO4 is highly anisotropic in momentum space. The quasiparticle scattering and residue behave differently along the Fermi surface and hence the Kadowaki-Wood's relation is not obeyed. This kind of Fermi liquid breakdown may apply to a wide range of strongly correlated metal systems where spin fluctuations are present.

Hidden T-linear scattering rate in Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 revealed by optical spectroscopy

The optical properties of Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 have been determined in the normal state for a number of temperatures over a wide frequency range. Two Drude terms, representing two groups of carriers with different scattering rates (1/τ), well describe the real part of the optical conductivity σ1(ω). A "broad" Drude component results in an incoherent background with a T-independent 1/τb, while a "narrow" Drude component reveals a T-linear 1/τn resulting in a resistivity ρn≡1/σ1n(ω→0) also linear in temperature. An arctan(T) low-frequency spectral weight is also strong evidence for a T-linear 1/τ. A comparison to other materials with similar behavior suggests that the T-linear 1/τn and ρn in Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2 originate from scattering from spin fluctuations and hence that an antiferromagnetic quantum critical point is likely to exist in the superconducting dome.

Zero-field quantum critical point in CeCoIn5

Quantum criticality in the normal and superconducting states of the heavy-fermion metal CeCoIn5 is studied by measurements of the magnetic Grüneisen ratio ΓH and specific heat in different field orientations and temperatures down to 50 mK. A universal temperature over magnetic field scaling of ΓH in the normal state indicates a hidden quantum critical point at zero field. Within the superconducting state, the quasiparticle entropy at constant temperature increases upon reducing the field towards zero, providing additional evidence for zero-field quantum criticality.

Verification of the Wiedemann-Franz law in YbRh2Si2 at a quantum critical point

The thermal conductivity measurements are performed on the heavy-fermion compound YbRh(2)Si(2) down to 0.04 K and under magnetic fields through a quantum critical point (QCP) at B(c)=0.66  T∥c axis. In the limit as T→0, we find that the Wiedemann-Franz law is satisfied within experimental error at the QCP despite the destruction of the standard signature of Fermi liquid. Our results place strong constraints on models that attempt to describe the nature of the unconventional quantum criticality of YbRh(2)Si(2).

Anomalous reduction of the Lorenz ratio at the quantum critical point in YbAgGe

We report measurements of the electrical and thermal transport on the hexagonal heavy-fermion metal YbAgGe for temperatures T ≥ 40  mK and in magnetic fields H∥ab up to 14 T. This distorted kagome-lattice system displays a series of magnetic states and a quantum critical point at H(c) = 4.5  T. The Lorenz ratio L(T)/L0 displays a marked reduction only close to H(c). A T-linear contribution below 120 mK, present at all different fields, allows us to extrapolate the Lorenz ratio towards T = 0. At the critical field this yields L/L0 = 0.92±0.03, suggesting a violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law due to strong inelastic scattering.

Similarity of scattering rates in metals showing T-linear resistivity

Many exotic compounds, such as cuprate superconductors and heavy fermion materials, exhibit a linear in temperature (T) resistivity, the origin of which is not well understood. We found that the resistivity of the quantum critical metal Sr(3)Ru(2)O(7) is also T-linear at the critical magnetic field of 7.9 T. Using the precise existing data for the Fermi surface topography and quasiparticle velocities of Sr(3)Ru(2)O(7), we show that in the region of the T-linear resistivity, the scattering rate per kelvin is well approximated by the ratio of the Boltzmann constant to the Planck constant divided by 2π. Extending the analysis to a number of other materials reveals similar results in the T-linear region, in spite of large differences in the microscopic origins of the scattering.

A cellulose liquid crystal motor: a steam engine of the second kind

The salient feature of liquid crystal elastomers and networks is strong coupling between orientational order and mechanical strain. Orientational order can be changed by a wide variety of stimuli, including the presence of moisture. Changes in the orientation of constituents give rise to stresses and strains, which result in changes in sample shape. We have utilized this effect to build soft cellulose-based motor driven by humidity. The motor consists of a circular loop of cellulose film, which passes over two wheels. When humid air is present near one of the wheels on one side of the film, with drier air elsewhere, rotation of the wheels results. As the wheels rotate, the humid film dries. The motor runs so long as the difference in humidity is maintained. Our cellulose liquid crystal motor thus extracts mechanical work from a difference in humidity.

Quantum critical scaling at the edge of Fermi liquid stability in a cuprate superconductor

In the high-temperature cuprate superconductors, the pervasiveness of anomalous electronic transport properties suggests that violation of conventional Fermi liquid behavior is closely tied to superconductivity. In other classes of unconventional superconductors, atypical transport is well correlated with proximity to a quantum critical point, but the relative importance of quantum criticality in the cuprates remains uncertain. Here, we identify quantum critical scaling in the electron-doped cuprate material La(2-x)Ce(x)CuO(4) with a line of quantum critical points that surrounds the superconducting phase as a function of magnetic field and charge doping. This zero-temperature phase boundary, which delineates a metallic Fermi liquid regime from an extended non-Fermi liquid ground state, closely follows the upper critical field of the overdoped superconducting phase and gives rise to an expanse of distinct non-Fermi liquid behavior at finite temperatures. Together with signatures of two distinct flavors of quantum fluctuations, these facts suggest that quantum criticality plays a significant role in shaping the anomalous properties of the cuprate phase diagram.

Evidence for a non-Fermi-liquid phase in Ge-substituted YbRh2Si2

The canonical view of heavy fermion quantum criticality assumes a single quantum critical point separating the paramagnet from the antiferromagnet. However, recent experiments on Yb-based heavy fermion compounds suggest the presence of non-Fermi liquid behavior over a finite zero-temperature region. Using detailed susceptibility and transport measurements we show that the classic quantum critical system, Ge-substituted YbRh(2)Si(2), also displays such behavior. We advance arguments that this is not due to a disorder-smeared quantum critical point, but represents a new class of metallic phase.

Large violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law in Luttinger liquids

We show that in weakly disordered Luttinger liquids close to a commensurate filling the ratio of thermal conductivity kappa and electrical conductivity sigma can deviate strongly from the Wiedemann-Franz law valid for Fermi liquids scattering from impurities. In the regime where the umklapp scattering rate Gamma(U) is much larger than the impurity scattering rate Gamma(imp), the Lorenz number L = kappa/(sigmaT) rapidly changes from very large values L approximately Gamma(U)/Gamma(imp) >> 1 at the commensurate point to very small values L approximately Gamma(imp)/Gamma(U) << 1 for a slightly doped system. This surprising behavior is a consequence of approximate symmetries existing even in the presence of strong umklapp scattering.

Violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law at the Kondo breakdown quantum critical point

We study the electrical and thermal transport near the heavy-fermion quantum critical point, identified with the breakdown of the Kondo effect. We show that the electrical conductivity comes mainly from conduction electrons while the thermal conductivity is given by both conduction electrons and localized fermions (spinons), scattered with hybridization fluctuations of dynamical exponent z = 3. As a result, we reveal that not only electrical but also thermal resistivity displays quasilinear temperature dependence in the intermediate temperature range, the main prediction of our transport study. An important feature turns out to be emergence of additional entropy carriers, that is, spinon excitations. We find that the Wiedemann-Franz ratio should be larger than the standard value, differentiating the Kondo breakdown scenario from the Hertz-Moriya-Millis framework.

Apparent violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law near a magnetic field tuned metal-antiferromagnetic quantum critical point

The temperature dependences of the interlayer electrical and thermal resistivity in a layered metal are calculated for Fermi liquid quasiparticles which are scattered inelastically by two-dimensional antiferromagnetic spin fluctuations. Both resistivities have a linear temperature dependence over a broad temperature range. Extrapolations to zero temperature made from this linear-T range give values that appear to violate the Wiedemann-Franz law. However, below a low-temperature scale, which becomes small close to the critical point, a recovery of this law occurs. Our results describe recent measurements on CeCoIn5 near a magnetic field-induced quantum phase transition. Hence, the experiments do not necessarily imply a non-Fermi liquid ground state.

Multigap superconductivity in the heavy-Fermion system CeCoIn5

New thermal conductivity experiments on the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5 down to 10 mK rule out the suggested existence of unpaired electrons. Moreover, they reveal strong multigap effects with a remarkably low "critical" field Hc2S for the small gap band, showing that the complexity of heavy-fermion band structure has a direct impact on their response under magnetic field.

Field-induced quantum critical route to a Fermi liquid in high-temperature superconductors

In high-transition-temperature (T(c)) superconductivity, charge doping is a natural tuning parameter that takes copper oxides from the antiferromagnet to the superconducting region. In the metallic state above T(c), the standard Landau's Fermi-liquid theory of metals as typified by the temperature squared (T(2)) dependence of resistivity appears to break down. Whether the origin of the non-Fermi-liquid behavior is related to physics specific to the cuprates is a fundamental question still under debate. We uncover a transformation from the non-Fermi-liquid state to a standard Fermi-liquid state driven not by doping but by magnetic field in the overdoped high-T(c) superconductor Tl(2)Ba(2)CuO(6+x). From the c-axis resistivity measured up to 45 T, we show that the Fermi-liquid features appear above a sufficiently high field that decreases linearly with temperature and lands at a quantum critical point near the superconductivity's upper critical field-with the Fermi-liquid coefficient of the T(2) dependence showing a power-law diverging behavior on the approach to the critical point. This field-induced quantum criticality bears a striking resemblance to that in quasi-two-dimensional heavy-Fermion superconductors, suggesting a common underlying spin-related physics in these superconductors with strong electron correlations.

Dimensional crossover of quantum critical behavior in CeCoIn5

The nature of quantum criticality in CeCoIn5 is studied by low-temperature thermal expansion alpha(T). At the field-induced quantum critical point at H = 5 T a crossover scale T* approximately 0.3 K is observed, separating alpha(T)/T proportional, variant T(-1) from a weaker T(-1/2) divergence. We ascribe this change to a crossover in the dimensionality of the critical fluctuations which may be coupled to a change from unconventional to conventional quantum criticality. Disorder, whose effect on quantum criticality is studied in CeCoIn(5-x)Sn(x) (0 < or = x < or = 0.18), shifts T* towards higher temperatures.

Precursor State to Unconventional Superconductivity in CeIrIn5

We present Hall effect and magnetoresistance measurements in the heavy fermion superconductor CeIrIn(5). At low temperature, a Kondo coherent state is established. Deviations from Kohler's rule and a quadratic temperature dependence of the cotangent of the Hall angle are reminiscent of properties observed in the high-temperature superconducting cuprates. A striking observation pertains to the presence of a precursor state--characterized by a change in the Hall mobility--that precedes the superconductivity in this material, in similarity to the pseudogap in the cuprate superconductors.