Andrew Boothroyd

Abstract:

Magneto-electric multiferroics exemplified by TbMnO 3 possess both magnetic and ferroelectric long-range order. The magnetic order is mostly understood, whereas the nature of the ferroelectricity has remained more elusive. Competing models proposed to explain the ferroelectricity are associated respectively with charge transfer and ionic displacements. Exploiting the magneto-electric coupling, we used an electric field to produce a single magnetic domain state, and a magnetic field to induce ionic displacements. Under these conditions, interference between charge and magnetic x-ray scattering arose, encoding the amplitude and phase of the displacements. When combined with a theoretical analysis, our data allow us to resolve the ionic displacements at the femtoscale, and show that such displacements make a substantial contribution to the zero-field ferroelectric moment.

Abstract:

We report neutron inelastic-scattering measurements on the stoichiometric iron-based superconductor LiFeAs. We find evidence for (i) magnetic scattering consistent with strong antiferromagnetic fluctuations and (ii) an increase in intensity in the superconducting state at low energies, similar to the resonant magnetic excitation observed in other iron-based superconductors. The results do not support a recent theoretical prediction of spin-triplet p-wave superconductivity in LiFeAs but instead suggest that the mechanism of superconductivity is similar to that in the other iron-based superconductors. © 2011 American Physical Society.

Abstract:

We report inelastic neutron-scattering measurements of the magnetic excitations in SrFe2As2, the parent of a family of iron-based superconductors. The data extend throughout the Brillouin zone and up to energies of ~260 meV. The spectrum calculated from a J1-J 2 model does not accurately describe our data, and we show that some of the qualitative features that the model fails to describe are readily explained by calculations from a five-band itinerant mean-field model. In particular, the high-energy part of the spectra recorded above TN do not differ significantly from those at low temperature, which is explained by the itinerant model and which has implications for theories of electronic nematic and orbital ordering. © 2011 American Physical Society.