Quantum spin dynamics

Abstract:

Unconventional superconductivity typically occurs in materials in which a small change of a parameter such as bandwidth or doping leads to antiferromagnetic or Mott insulating phases. As such competing phases are approached, the properties of the superconductor often become increasingly exotic. For example, in organic superconductors and underdoped high-T(c) cuprate superconductors a fluctuating superconducting state persists to temperatures significantly above T(c). By studying alloys of quasi-two-dimensional organic molecular metals in the κ-(BEDT-TTF)₂X family, we reveal how the Nernst effect, a sensitive probe of superconducting phase fluctuations, evolves in the regime of extreme Mott criticality. We find strong evidence that, as the phase diagram is traversed through superconductivity towards the Mott state, the temperature scale for superconducting fluctuations increases dramatically, eventually approaching the temperature at which quasiparticles become identifiable at all.

Abstract:

We report the two-step synthesis of a highly soluble fullerene dimer, both for short reaction times and at the microscale. We apply this reaction scheme to starting materials that contain 15N@C60 and 14N@C60, and we demonstrate how, if applied to highly pure N@C60 in the future, this scheme may be used to produce (14N@C60)2 or (15N@C60)2 dimers in one step, and crucially 14N@C60-15N@C60 dimers in a second step. Such dimers represent isolated electron spin pairs that may be used to demonstrate entanglement between the spins. Additionally, CW EPR spectroscopy of the 15N@C60-C60 dimer in the solid state reveals permanent zero-field splitting (D = 14.6 MHz and E = 0.56 MHz). © 2013 Royal Society of Chemistry.