Contribution of the Multiplicity Fluctuation in the Temperature Dependence of Phonon Spectra of Rare-Earth Cobaltites

We have studied, both experimentally and theoretically, the unusual temperature dependence of the phonon spectra in NdCoO3, SmCoO3 and GdCoO3, where the Co3+ ion is in the low-spin (LS) ground state, and at the finite temperature, the high-spin (HS) term has a nonzero concentration nHS due to multiplicity fluctuations. We measured the absorption spectra in polycrystalline and nanostructured samples in the temperature range 3–550 K and found a quite strong breathing mode softening that cannot be explained by standard lattice anharmonicity. We showed that the anharmonicity in the electron–phonon interaction is responsible for this red shift proportional to the nHS concentration.

Unconventional Co-Existence of Insulating Nano-Regions and Conducting Filaments in Reduced SrTiO3: Mode Softening, Local Piezoelectricity, and Metallicity

Doped SrTiO3 becomes a metal at extremely low doping concentrations n and is even superconducting at n < 1020 cm−3, with the superconducting transition temperature adopting a dome-like shape with increasing carrier concentration. In this paper it is shown within the polarizability model and from first principles calculations that up to a well-defined carrier concentration nc transverse optic mode softening takes place together with polar nano-domain formation, which provides evidence of inhomogeneity and a two-component type behavior with metallicity coexisting with polarity. Beyond this region, a conventional metal is formed where superconductivity as well as mode softening is absent. For n ≤ nc the effective electron-phonon coupling follows the superconducting transition temperature. Effusion measurements, as well as macroscopic and nanoscopic conductivity measurements, indicate that the distribution of oxygen vacancies is local and inhomogeneous, from which it is concluded that metallicity stems from filaments which are embedded in a polar matrix as long as n ≤ nc.

Pressure-driven significant phonon mode softening and robust superconductivity in layered germanium phosphide

A remarkable pressure-dependent structural transformation that includes significant phonon mode softening and robust superconductivity is discovered in layered 2D GeP5.

Microscopic origin of pressure-induced phase-transitions in urea: a detailed investigation through first principles calculations

Pressure induced phase transitions of urea are identified. The violation of Born stability criteria in the P212121 structure along with acoustic mode softening in the U–R direction are responsible for P212121 → P21212.

Cavity quantum-electrodynamical polaritonically enhanced electron-phonon coupling and its influence on superconductivity

So far, laser control of solids has been mainly discussed in the context of strong classical nonlinear light-matter coupling in a pump-probe framework. Here, we propose a quantum-electrodynamical setting to address the coupling of a low-dimensional quantum material to quantized electromagnetic fields in quantum cavities. Using a protoypical model system describing FeSe/SrTiO3with electron-phonon long-range forward scattering, we study how the formation of phonon polaritons at the two-dimensional interface of the material modifies effective couplings and superconducting properties in a Migdal-Eliashberg simulation. We find that through highly polarizable dipolar phonons, large cavity-enhanced electron-phonon couplings are possible, but superconductivity is not enhanced for the forward-scattering pairing mechanism due to the interplay between coupling enhancement and mode softening. Our results demonstrate that quantum cavities enable the engineering of fundamental couplings in solids, paving the way for unprecedented control of material properties.