Browsing by Author "Song, Yu"
Now showing 1 - 20 of 31
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item A Mott insulator continuously connected to iron pnictide superconductors(Springer Nature, 2016) Song, Yu; Yamani, Zahra; Cao, Chongde; Li, Yu; Zhang, Chenglin; Chen, Justin S.; Huang, Qingzhen; Wu, Hui; Tao, Jing; Zhu, Yimei; Tian, Wei; Chi, Songxue; Cao, Huibo; Huang, Yao-Bo; Dantz, Marcus; Schmitt, Thorsten; Yu, Rong; Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.; Morosan, Emilia; Si, Qimiao; Dai, Pengcheng; Rice Center for Quantum MaterialsIron-based superconductivity develops near an antiferromagnetic order and out of a bad-metal normal state, which has been interpreted as originating from a proximate Mott transition. Whether an actual Mott insulator can be realized in the phase diagram of the iron pnictides remains an open question. Here we use transport, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and neutron scattering to demonstrate that NaFe1−xCuxAs near x≈0.5 exhibits real space Fe and Cu ordering, and are antiferromagnetic insulators with the insulating behaviour persisting above the Néel temperature, indicative of a Mott insulator. On decreasing x from 0.5, the antiferromagnetic-ordered moment continuously decreases, yielding to superconductivity ∼x=0.05. Our discovery of a Mott-insulating state in NaFe1−xCuxAs thus makes it the only known Fe-based material, in which superconductivity can be smoothly connected to the Mott-insulating state, highlighting the important role of electron correlations in the high-Tc superconductivity.Item Anisotropic neutron spin resonance in underdoped superconducting NaFe1−xCoxAs(American Physical Society, 2014) Zhang, Chenglin; Song, Yu; Regnault, L.-P.; Su, Yixi; Enderle, M.; Kulda, J.; Tan, Guotai; Sims, Zachary C.; Egami, Takeshi; Si, Qimiao; Dai, PengchengWe use polarized inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to study spin excitations in superconducting NaFe0.985Co0.015As (C15) with static antiferromagnetic (AF) order along the a axis of the orthorhombic structure and NaFe0.935Co0.045As (C45) without AF order. In previous unpolarized INS work, spin excitations in C15 were found to have a dispersive sharp resonance near Er1=3.25 meV and a broad dispersionless mode at Er2=6 meV. Our neutron polarization analysis reveals that the dispersive resonance in C15 is highly anisotropic and polarized along the a and c axes, while the dispersionless mode is isotropic similar to that of C45. Since the a-axis polarized spin excitations of the anisotropic resonance appear below Tc, our data suggests that the itinerant electrons contributing to the magnetism are also coupled to the superconductivity.Item c-axis pressure-induced antiferromagnetic order in optimally P-doped BaFe2(As0.70P0.30)2 superconductor(Springer Nature, 2018) Hu, Ding; Wang, Weiyi; Zhang, Wenliang; Wei, Yuan; Gong, Dongliang; Tam, David W.; Zhou, Panpan; Li, Yu; Tan, Guotai; Song, Yu; Georgii, Robert; Pedersen, Björn; Cao, Huibo; Tian, Wei; Roessli, Bertrand; Yin, Zhiping; Dai, PengchengSuperconductivity in BaFe2(As1−xPx)2 iron pnictides emerges when its in-plane two-dimensional (2D) orthorhombic lattice distortion associated with nematic phase at Ts and three-dimensional (3D) collinear antiferromagnetic order at TN (Ts = TN) are gradually suppressed with increasing x, reaching optimal superconductivity around x = 0.30 with Tc ≈ 30 K. Here we show that a moderate uniaxial pressure along the c-axis in BaFe2(As0.70P0.30)2 spontaneously induces a 3D collinear antiferromagnetic order with TN = Ts > 30 K, while only slightly suppresses Tc. Although a ~ 400 MPa pressure compresses the c-axis lattice while expanding the in-plane lattice and increasing the nearest-neighbor Fe–Fe distance, it barely changes the average iron-pnictogen height in BaFe2(As0.70P0.30)2. Therefore, the pressure-induced antiferromagnetic order must arise from a strong in-plane magnetoelastic coupling, suggesting that the 2D nematic phase is a competing state with superconductivity.Item Coexistence of Ferromagnetic and Stripe Antiferromagnetic Spin Fluctuations in SrCo2As2(American Physical Society, 2019) Li, Yu; Yin, Zhiping; Liu, Zhonghao; Wang, Weiyi; Xu, Zhuang; Song, Yu; Tian, Long; Huang, Yaobo; Shen, Dawei; Abernathy, D.L.; Niedziela, J.L.; Ewings, R.A.; Perring, T.G.; Pajerowski, Daniel M.; Matsuda, Masaaki; Bourges, Philippe; Mechthild, Enderle; Su, Yixi; Dai, PengchengWe use inelastic neutron scattering to study energy and wave vector dependence of spin fluctuations in SrCo2As2, derived from SrFe2−xCoxAs2 iron pnictide superconductors. Our data reveal the coexistence of antiferromagnetic (AF) and ferromagnetic (FM) spin fluctuations at wave vectors QAF=(1,0) and QFM=(0,0)/(2,0), respectively. By comparing neutron scattering results with those of dynamic mean field theory calculation and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments, we conclude that both AF and FM spin fluctuations in SrCo2As2 are closely associated with a flatband of the eg orbitals near the Fermi level, different from the t2g orbitals in superconducting SrFe2−xCoxAs2. Therefore, Co substitution in SrFe2−xCoxAs2 induces a t2g to eg orbital switching, and is responsible for FM spin fluctuations detrimental to the singlet pairing superconductivity.Item Disentangling superconducting and magnetic orders in NaFe1−xNixAs using muon spin rotation(American Physical Society, 2018) Cheung, Sky C.; Guguchia, Zurab; Frandsen, Benjamin A.; Gong, Zizhou; Yamakawa, Kohtaro; Almeida, Dalson E.; Onuorah, Ifeanyi J.; Bonfá, Pietro; Miranda, Eduardo; Wang, Weiyi; Tam, David W.; Song, Yu; Cao, Chongde; Cai, Yipeng; Hallas, Alannah M.; Wilson, Murray N.; Munsie, Timothy J.S.; Luke, Graeme; Chen, Bijuan; Dai, Guangyang; Jin, Changqing; Guo, Shengli; Ning, Fanlong; Fernandes, Rafael M.; De Renzi, Roberto; Dai, Pengcheng; Uemura, Yasutomo J.Muon spin rotation and relaxation studies have been performed on a “111” family of iron-based superconductors, NaFe1−xNixAs, using single crystalline samples with Ni concentrations x=0, 0.4, 0.6, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.5%. Static magnetic order was characterized by obtaining the temperature and doping dependences of the local ordered magnetic moment size and the volume fraction of the magnetically ordered regions. For x=0 and 0.4%, a transition to a nearly-homogeneous long range magnetically ordered state is observed, while for x≳0.4% magnetic order becomes more disordered and is completely suppressed for x=1.5%. The magnetic volume fraction continuously decreases with increasing x. Development of superconductivity in the full volume is inferred from Meissner shielding results for x≳0.4%. The combination of magnetic and superconducting volumes implies that a spatially-overlapping coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity spans a large region of the T−x phase diagram for NaFe1−xNixAs. A strong reduction of both the ordered moment size and the volume fraction is observed below the superconducting TC for x=0.6, 1.0, and 1.3%, in contrast to other iron pnictides in which one of these two parameters exhibits a reduction below TC, but not both. The suppression of magnetic order is further enhanced with increased Ni doping, leading to a reentrant nonmagnetic state below TC for x=1.3%. The reentrant behavior indicates an interplay between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity involving competition for the same electrons. These observations are consistent with the sign-changing s± superconducting state, which is expected to appear on the verge of microscopic coexistence and phase separation with magnetism. We also present a universal linear relationship between the local ordered moment size and the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature TN across a variety of iron-based superconductors. We argue that this linear relationship is consistent with an itinerant-electron approach, in which Fermi surface nesting drives antiferromagnetic ordering. In studies of superconducting properties, we find that the T=0 limit of superfluid density follows the linear trend observed in underdoped cuprates when plotted against TC. This paper also includes a detailed theoretical prediction of the muon stopping sites and provides comparisons with experimental results.Item Dynamic Spin-Lattice Coupling and Nematic Fluctuations in NaFeAs(American Physical Society, 2018) Li, Yu; Yamani, Zahra; Song, Yu; Wang, Weiyi; Zhang, Chenglin; Tam, David W.; Chen, Tong; Hu, Ding; Xu, Zhuang; Chi, Songxue; Xia, Ke; Zhang, Li; Cui, Shifeng; Guo, Wenan; Fang, Ziming; Liu, Yi; Dai, PengchengItem Effect of Pnictogen Height on Spin Waves in Iron Pnictides(American Physical Society, 2014) Zhang, Chenglin; Harriger, Leland W.; Yin, Zhiping; Lv, Weicheng; Wang, Miaoyin; Tan, Guotai; Song, Yu; Abernathy, D.L.; Tian, Wei; Egami, Takeshi; Haule, Kristjan; Kotliar, Gabriel; Dai, PengchengWe use inelastic neutron scattering to study spin waves in the antiferromagnetic ordered phase of iron pnictide NaFeAs throughout the Brillouin zone. Comparing with the well-studied AFe2As2 (A=Ca, Sr, Ba) family, spin waves in NaFeAs have considerably lower zone boundary energies and more isotropic effective in-plane magnetic exchange couplings. These results are consistent with calculations from a combined density functional theory and dynamical mean field theory and provide strong evidence that pnictogen height controls the strength of electron-electron correlations and consequently the effective bandwidth of magnetic excitations.Item Electron doping evolution of structural and antiferromagnetic phase transitions in NaFe1−xCoxAs iron pnictides(American Physical Society, 2016) Tan, Guotai; Song, Yu; Zhang, Chenglin; Lin, Lifang; Xu, Zhuang; Hou, Tingting; Tian, Wei; Cao, Huibo; Li, Shiliang; Feng, Shiping; Dai, PengchengWe use transport and neutron diffraction to study the electronic phase diagram of NaFe1−xCoxAs. In the undoped state, NaFeAs exhibits a tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition below Tsfollowed by a collinear antiferromagnetic (AF) order below TN. Upon codoping to form NaFe1−xCoxAs,Ts and TN are gradually suppressed, leading to optimal superconductivity near Co-doping x=0.025. While transport experiments on these materials reveal an anomalous behavior suggesting the presence of a quantum critical point (QCP) near optimal superconductivity, our neutron diffraction results indicate that commensurate AF order becomes transversely incommensurate with TN>Tc before vanishing abruptly at optimal superconductivity. These results are remarkably similar to electron-doping and isovalent-doping evolution of the AF order in BaFe2−xNixAs2 and BaFe2(As1−xPx)2, thus suggesting a universal behavior in the suppression of the magnetic order in iron pnictides as superconductivity is induced.Item Electron doping evolution of the magnetic excitations in NaFe1−xCoxAs(American Physical Society, 2016) Carr, Scott V.; Zhang, Chenglin; Song, Yu; Tan, Guotai; Li, Yu; Abernathy, D.L.; Stone, M.B.; Granroth, G.E.; Perring, T.G.; Dai, PengchengWe use time-of-flight (TOF) inelastic-neutron-scattering (INS) spectroscopy to investigate the doping dependence of magnetic excitations across the phase diagram of NaFe 1 − x Co x As with x = 0 , 0.0175, 0.0215, 0.05, and 0.11 . The effect of electron doping by partially substituting Fe by Co is to form resonances that couple with superconductivity, broaden, and suppress low-energy ( E ≤ 80 meV) spin excitations compared with spin waves in undoped NaFeAs. However, high-energy ( E > 80 meV) spin excitations are weakly Co-doping-dependent. Integration of the local spin dynamic susceptibility χ ' ' ( ω ) of NaFe 1 − x Co x As reveals a total fluctuating moment of 3.6 μ 2 B /Fe and a small but systematic reduction with electron doping. The presence of a large spin gap in Co-overdoped nonsuperconducting NaFe 0.89 Co 0.11 As suggests that Fermi surface nesting is responsible for low-energy spin excitations. These results parallel the Ni-doping evolution of spin excitations in BaFe 2 − x Ni x As 2 in spite of the differences in crystal structures and Fermi surface evolution in these two families of iron pnictides, thus confirming the notion that low-energy spin excitations coupling with itinerant electrons are important for superconductivity, while weakly doping-dependent high-energy spin excitations result from localized moments.Item Electron doping evolution of the neutron spin resonance in NaFe1−xCoxAs(American Physical Society, 2016) Zhang, Chenglin; Lv, Weicheng; Tan, Guotai; Song, Yu; Carr, Scott V.; Chi, Songxue; Matsuda, M.; Christianson, A.D.; Fernandez-Baca, J.A.; Harriger, L.W.; Dai, PengchengNeutron spin resonance, a collective magnetic excitation coupled to superconductivity, is one of the most prominent features shared by a broad family of unconventional superconductors including copper oxides, iron pnictides, and heavy fermions. In this paper, we study the doping evolution of the resonances in NaFe1−xCoxAs covering the entire superconducting dome. For the underdoped compositions, two resonance modes coexist. As doping increases, the low-energy resonance gradually loses its spectral weight to the high-energy one but remains at the same energy. By contrast, in the overdoped regime we only find one single resonance, which acquires a broader width in both energy and momentum but retains approximately the same peak position even when Tc drops by nearly a half compared to optimal doping. These results suggest that the energy of the resonance in electron overdoped NaFe1−xCoxAs is neither simply proportional to Tc nor the superconducting gap but is controlled by the multiorbital character of the system and doped impurity scattering effect.Item Energy dependence of the spin excitation anisotropy in uniaxial-strained BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2(American Physical Society, 2015) Song, Yu; Lu, Xingye; Abernathy, D.L.; Tam, David W.; Niedziela, J.L.; Tian, Wei; Luo, Huiqian; Si, Qimiao; Dai, PengchengWe use inelastic neutron scattering to study the temperature and energy dependence of the spin excitation anisotropy in uniaxial-strained electron-doped iron pnictide BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2 near optimal superconductivity (Tc=20K). Our work has been motivated by the observation of in-plane resistivity anisotropy in the paramagnetic tetragonal phase of electron-underdoped iron pnictides under uniaxial pressure, which has been attributed to a spin-driven Ising-nematic state or orbital ordering. Here we show that the spin excitation anisotropy, a signature of the spin-driven Ising-nematic phase, exists for energies below ∼60 meV in uniaxial-strained BaFe1.9Ni0.1As2. Since this energy scale is considerably larger than the energy splitting of the dxz and dyz bands of uniaxial-strained Ba(Fe1−xCox)2As2 near optimal superconductivity, spin Ising-nematic correlations are likely the driving force for the resistivity anisotropy and associated electronic nematic correlations.Item High-energy magnetic excitations from heavy quasiparticles in CeCu2Si2(Springer Nature, 2021) Song, Yu; Wang, Weiyi; Cao, Chongde; Yamani, Zahra; Xu, Yuanji; Sheng, Yutao; Löser, Wolfgang; Qiu, Yiming; Yang, Yi-feng; Birgeneau, Robert J.; Dai, PengchengMagnetic fluctuations is the leading candidate for pairing in cuprate, iron-based, and heavy fermion superconductors. This view is challenged by the recent discovery of nodeless superconductivity in CeCu2Si2, and calls for a detailed understanding of the corresponding magnetic fluctuations. Here, we mapped out the magnetic excitations in superconducting (S-type) CeCu2Si2 using inelastic neutron scattering, finding a strongly asymmetric dispersion for E ≲ 1.5 meV, which at higher energies evolves into broad columnar magnetic excitations that extend to E ≳ 5 meV. While low-energy magnetic excitations exhibit marked three-dimensional characteristics, the high-energy magnetic excitations in CeCu2Si2 are almost two-dimensional, reminiscent of paramagnons found in cuprate and iron-based superconductors. By comparing our experimental findings with calculations in the random-phase approximation,we find that the magnetic excitations in CeCu2Si2 arise from quasiparticles associated with its heavy electron band, which are also responsible for superconductivity. Our results provide a basis for understanding magnetism and superconductivity in CeCu2Si2, and demonstrate the utility of neutron scattering in probing band renormalization in heavy fermion metals.Item Impact of uniaxial pressure on structural and magnetic phase transitions in electron-doped iron pnictides(American Physical Society, 2016) Lu, Xingye; Tseng, Kuo-Feng; Keller, T.; Zhang, Wenliang; Hu, Ding; Song, Yu; Man, Haoran; Park, J.T.; Luo, Huiqian; Li, Shiliang; Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.; Dai, PengchengWe use neutron resonance spin echo and Larmor diffraction to study the effect of uniaxial pressure on the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural (Ts) and antiferromagnetic (AF) phase transitions in iron pnictides BaFe2−xNixAs2 (x=0,0.03,0.12),SrFe1.97Ni0.03As2, and BaFe2(As0.7P0.3)2. In antiferromagnetically ordered BaFe2−xNixAs2 and SrFe1.97Ni0.03As2 with TN and Ts (TN≤Ts), a uniaxial pressure necessary to detwin the sample also increases TN, smears out the structural transition, and induces an orthorhombic lattice distortion at all temperatures. By comparing temperature and doping dependence of the pressure induced lattice parameter changes with the elastoresistance and nematic susceptibility obtained from transport and ultrasonic measurements, we conclude that the in-plane resistivity anisotropy found in the paramagnetic state of electron underdoped iron pnictides depends sensitively on the nature of the magnetic phase transition and a strong coupling between the uniaxial pressure induced lattice distortion and electronic nematic susceptibility.Item In-plane uniaxial pressure-induced out-of-plane antiferromagnetic moment and critical fluctuations in BaFe2As2(Springer Nature, 2020) Liu, Panpan; Klemm, Mason L.; Tian, Long; Lu, Xingye; Song, Yu; Tam, David W.; Schmalzl, Karin; Park, J. T.; Li, Yu; Tan, Guotai; Su, Yixi; Bourdarot, Frédéric; Zhao, Yang; Lynn, Jeffery W.; Birgeneau, Robert J.; Dai, PengchengA small in-plane external uniaxial pressure has been widely used as an effective method to acquire single domain iron pnictide BaFe2As2, which exhibits twin-domains without uniaxial strain below the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural (nematic) transition temperature Ts. Although it is generally assumed that such a pressure will not affect the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system, it is known to enhance the antiferromagnetic (AF) ordering temperature TN ( < Ts) and create in-plane resistivity anisotropy above Ts. Here we use neutron polarization analysis to show that such a strain on BaFe2As2 also induces a static or quasi-static out-of-plane (c-axis) AF order and its associated critical spin fluctuations near TN/Ts. Therefore, uniaxial pressure necessary to detwin single crystals of BaFe2As2 actually rotates the easy axis of the collinear AF order near TN/Ts, and such effects due to spin-orbit coupling must be taken into account to unveil the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system.Item Local breaking of fourfold rotational symmetry by short-range magnetic order in heavily overdoped Ba(Fe1−xCux)2As2(American Physical Society, 2017) Wang, Weiyi; Song, Yu; Hu, Ding; Li, Yu; Zhang, Rui; Harriger, L.W.; Tian, Wei; Cao, Huibo; Dai, PengchengWe investigate Cu-doped Ba(Fe1−xCux)2As2 with transport, magnetic susceptibility, and elastic neutron scattering measurements. In the heavily Cu-doped regime where long-range stripe-type antiferromagnetic order in BaFe2As2 is suppressed, Ba(Fe1−xCux)2As2 (0.145≤x≤0.553) samples exhibit spin-glass-like behavior in magnetic susceptibility and insulating-like temperature dependence in electrical transport. Using elastic neutron scattering, we find stripe-type short-range magnetic order in the spin-glass region identified by susceptibility measurements. The persistence of short-range magnetic order over a large doping range in Ba(Fe1−xCux)2As2 likely arises from local arrangements of Fe and Cu that favor magnetic order, with Cu acting as vacancies relieving magnetic frustration and degeneracy. These results indicate locally broken fourfold rotational symmetry, suggesting that stripe-type magnetism is ubiquitous in iron pnictides.Item Local orthorhombic lattice distortions in the paramagnetic tetragonal phase of superconducting NaFe1−xNixAs(Springer Nature, 2018) Wang, Weiyi; Song, Yu; Cao, Chongde; Tseng, Kuo-Feng; Keller, Thomas; Li, Yu; Harriger, L.W.; Tian, Wei; Chi, Songxue; Yu, Rong; Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.; Dai, PengchengUnderstanding the interplay between nematicity, magnetism and superconductivity is pivotal for elucidating the physics of iron-based superconductors. Here we use neutron scattering to probe magnetic and nematic orders throughout the phase diagram of NaFe1-xNixAs, finding that while both static antiferromagnetic and nematic orders compete with superconductivity, the onset temperatures for these two orders remain well separated approaching the putative quantum critical points. We uncover local orthorhombic distortions that persist well above the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural transition temperature Ts in underdoped samples and extend well into the overdoped regime that exhibits neither magnetic nor structural phase transitions. These unexpected local orthorhombic distortions display Curie-Weiss temperature dependence and become suppressed below the superconducting transition temperature Tc, suggesting that they result from the large nematic susceptibility near optimal superconductivity. Our results account for observations of rotational symmetry breaking above Ts, and attest to the presence of significant nematic fluctuations near optimal superconductivity.Item NaFe0.56Cu0.44As: A Pnictide Insulating Phase Induced by On-Site Coulomb Interaction(American Physical Society, 2016) Matt, C.E.; Xu, N.; Lv, Baiqing; Ma, Junzhang; Bisti, F.; Park, J.; Shang, T.; Cao, Chongde; Song, Yu; Nevidomskyy, Andriy H.; Dai, Pengcheng; Patthey, L.; Plumb, N.C.; Radovic, M.; Mesot, J.; Shi, M.In the studies of iron pnictides, a key question is whether their bad-metal state from which the superconductivity emerges lies in close proximity with a magnetically ordered insulating phase. Recently, it was found that at low temperatures, the heavily Cu-doped NaFe1−xCuxAs (x>0.3) iron pnictide is an insulator with long-range antiferromagnetic order, similar to the parent compound of cuprates but distinct from all other iron pnictides. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we determined the momentum-resolved electronic structure of NaFe1−xCuxAs (x=0.44) and identified that its ground state is a narrow-gap insulator. Combining the experimental results with density functional theory (DFT) and DFT+U calculations, our analysis reveals that the on-site Coulombic (Hubbard) and Hund’s coupling energies play crucial roles in the formation of the band gap about the chemical potential. We propose that at finite temperatures, charge carriers are thermally excited from the Cu-As-like valence band into the conduction band, which is of Fe 3d-like character. With increasing temperature, the number of electrons in the conduction band becomes larger and the hopping energy between Fe sites increases, and finally the long-range antiferromagnetic order is destroyed at T>TN. Our study provides a basis for investigating the evolution of the electronic structure of a Mott insulator transforming into a bad metallic phase and eventually forming a superconducting state in iron pnictides.Item Nature of the spin resonance mode in CeCoIn5(Springer Nature, 2020) Song, Yu; Wang, Weiyi; Van Dyke, John S.; Pouse, Naveen; Ran, Sheng; Yazici, Duygu; Schneidewind, A.; Čermák, Petr; Qiu, Y.; Maple, M.B.; Morr, Dirk K.; Dai, PengchengSpin-fluctuation-mediated unconventional superconductivity can emerge at the border of magnetism, featuring a superconducting order parameter that changes sign in momentum space. Detection of such a sign-change is experimentally challenging, since most probes are not phase-sensitive. The observation of a spin resonance mode (SRM) from inelastic neutron scattering is often seen as strong phase-sensitive evidence for a sign-changing superconducting order parameter, by assuming the SRM is a spin-excitonic bound state. Here we show that for the heavy fermion superconductor CeCoIn5, its SRM defies expectations for a spin-excitonic bound state, and is not a manifestation of sign-changing superconductivity. Instead, the SRM in CeCoIn5 likely arises from a reduction of damping to a magnon-like mode in the superconducting state, due to its proximity to magnetic quantum criticality. Our findings emphasize the need for more stringent tests of whether SRMs are spin-excitonic, when using their presence to evidence sign-changing superconductivity.Item Neutron scattering studies of some NaFeAs and BaFe2As2 derivatives and Ce1-xYbxCoIn5(2016-12-22) Song, Yu; Dai, PengchengWithin this thesis I present several neutron scattering works on unconventional superconductors, including derivatives of iron pnictides BaFe$_2$As$_2$, NaFeAs and the heavy fermion compound CeCoIn$_5$. Similar to the cuprates, superconductivity in these systems appear in proximity to magnetically ordered phases and strong magnetic fluctuations persist in paramagnetic superconductors. Neutron scattering is an ideal probe to study spin-spin correlations and hence the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity. In the iron pnictide parent compounds BaFe$_2$As$_2$ and NaFeAs I demonstrate that while applying uniaxial stress may affect the structural and magnetic transition temperatures, the effect is too small to account for the large temperature range over which resistivity anisotropy has been observed, confirming the resistivity anisotropy is intrinsic rather than being linked to a electronically ordered phase (stripe magnetic order) with broken rotational symmetry. Doping Ni into BaFe$_2$As$_2$ to the underdoped regime, I found uniaxial stress can be used to enhance the ordered moment. This is a novel manifestation of the competition between superconductivity and magnetic order since superconductivity is suppressed with uniaxial stress.Increasing Ni concentration towards optimal doping where long-range magnetic order is suppressed, I found the anisotropy of spin fluctuations as a function of energy transfer can be described as a power law decay. This result suggest spin fluctuations rather than orbital ordering drive the Ising-nematic correlations and agrees with proposals of the system being close to magnetic and nematic quantum critical points. Using polarized neutron scattering I studied the evolution of spin anisotropy in NaFe$_{1-x}$Co$_x$As including the the parent ($x=0$), under-doped ($x=0.015$) and over-doped ($x=0.05$) compounds. Spin anisotropy in NaFeAs can be described by two spin anisotropy terms similar to BaFe$_2$As$_2$ with $c$-axis being the easy-axis, in addition the likely presence of a longitudinal mode highlight the itinerant aspect of magnetism in iron pnictides. In the under-doped compounds polarization reveals the double neutron spin resonance modes seen in this compound has different characteristics, with the first mode being anisotropic and the second mode being isotropic. In the over-doped compound the single resonance is isotropic. In optimal hole-doped (Ba,K)Fe$_2$As$_2$ without static magnetic order, spin anisotropy at $E =3$ meV persists to $\sim 100$ K, while the resonance has a $c$-axis polarized component as well as an isotropic component. While the energy scales of spin anisotropy in these systems are low, they are nevertheless comparable to the superconducting gap and may be an important piece of the puzzle. CeCoIn$_5$ is believed to be an unconventional superconductivitor with $d_{x^2-y^2}$-wave pairing symmetry similar to the cuprates. Therefore it is anticipated that the neutron spin resonance in this system should also display a prominent downwards dispersion similar to the cuprates. On the contrary I found the resonance mode displays a prominent upwards dispersion that is robust against Yb doping, which induces significant changes to the Fermi surface. This result challenges the predominant view that the resonance can be understood from an itinerant perspective, but instead suggest that a robust nearest-neighbor coupling between Ce$^{3+}$ ions is responsible for the upward dispersion within magnon-like scenario.Item Phase diagram and neutron spin resonance of superconducting NaFe1−xCuxAs(American Physical Society, 2017) Tan, Guotai; Song, Yu; Zhang, Rui; Lin, Lifang; Xu, Zhuang; Tian, Long; Chi, Songxue; Graves-Brook, M.K.; Li, Shiliang; Dai, PengchengWe use transport and neutron scattering to study the electronic phase diagram and spin excitations of NaFe1−xCuxAs single crystals. Similar to Co- and Ni-doped NaFeAs, a bulk superconducting phase appears near x≈2% with the suppression of stripe-type magnetic order in NaFeAs. Upon further increasing Cu concentration the system becomes insulating, culminating in an antiferromagnetically ordered insulating phase near x≈50%. Using transport measurements, we demonstrate that the resistivity in NaFe1−xCuxAs exhibits non-Fermi-liquid behavior near x≈1.8%. Our inelastic neutron scattering experiments reveal a single neutron spin resonance mode exhibiting weak dispersion along c axis in NaFe0.98Cu0.02As. The resonance is high in energy relative to the superconducting transition temperature Tc but weak in intensity, likely resulting from impurity effects. These results are similar to other iron pnictides superconductors despite that the superconducting phase in NaFe1−xCuxAs is continuously connected to an antiferromagnetically ordered insulating phase near x≈50% with significant electronic correlations. Therefore, electron correlations is an important ingredient of superconductivity in NaFe1−xCuxAs and other iron pnictides.