Ryan Baumbach

Bio: Ryan Baumbach is an academic researcher from Florida State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Superconductivity & Antiferromagnetism. The author has an hindex of 25, co-authored 205 publications receiving 2795 citations. Previous affiliations of Ryan Baumbach include Los Alamos National Laboratory & University of California.

Electronic correlations in the iron pnictides

Abstract: When electrons experience Coulomb repulsion, their kinetic energy becomes significantly reduced. This effect has now been measured in the pnictide superconductor LaFePO, and shows that correlations between electrons in these materials are just as strong as in some copper oxide and ruthenate superconductors. In correlated metals derived from Mott insulators, the motion of an electron is impeded by Coulomb repulsion due to other electrons. This phenomenon causes a substantial reduction in the electron’s kinetic energy, leading to remarkable experimental manifestations in optical spectroscopy1. The high-transition-temperature (Tc) superconducting cuprates are perhaps the most studied examples of such correlated metals. The occurrence of high-Tc superconductivity in the iron pnictides2,3,4 puts a spotlight on the relevance of correlation effects in these materials5. Here, we present an infrared and optical study on single crystals of the iron pnictide superconductor LaFePO. We find clear evidence of electronic correlations in metallic LaFePO with the kinetic energy of the electrons reduced to half of that predicted by band theory of nearly free electrons. We deduce that electronic many-body effects are important in the iron pnictides despite the absence of a Mott transition.

Visualizing nodal heavy fermion superconductivity in CeCoIn5

Abstract: By means of low-temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, a heavy fermion material in its superconducting and mixed states can be imaged. Besides probing the superconducting gap symmetry, the measurements also reveal a pseudogap.

Visualizing heavy fermions emerging in a quantum critical Kondo lattice

Abstract: In solids containing elements with f orbitals, the interaction between f-electron spins and those of itinerant electrons leads to the development of low-energy fermionic excitations with a heavy effective mass. These excitations are fundamental to the appearance of unconventional superconductivity and non-Fermi-liquid behaviour observed in actinide- and lanthanide-based compounds. Here we use spectroscopic mapping with the scanning tunnelling microscope to detect the emergence of heavy excitations with lowering of temperature in a prototypical family of cerium-based heavy-fermion compounds. We demonstrate the sensitivity of the tunnelling process to the composite nature of these heavy quasiparticles, which arises from quantum entanglement of itinerant conduction and f electrons. Scattering and interference of the composite quasiparticles is used to resolve their energy-momentum structure and to extract their mass enhancement, which develops with decreasing temperature. The lifetime of the emergent heavy quasiparticles reveals signatures of enhanced scattering and their spectral lineshape shows evidence of energy-temperature scaling. These findings demonstrate that proximity to a quantum critical point results in critical damping of the emergent heavy excitation of our Kondo lattice system.

Emergence of californium as the second transitional element in the actinide series

Abstract: A break in periodicity occurs in the actinide series between plutonium and americium as the result of the localization of 5f electrons. The subsequent chemistry of later actinides is thought to closely parallel lanthanides in that bonding is expected to be ionic and complexation should not substantially alter the electronic structure of the metal ions. Here we demonstrate that ligation of californium(III) by a pyridine derivative results in significant deviations in the properties of the resultant complex with respect to that predicted for the free ion. We expand on this by characterizing the americium and curium analogues for comparison, and show that these pronounced effects result from a second transition in periodicity in the actinide series that occurs, in part, because of the stabilization of the divalent oxidation state. The metastability of californium(II) is responsible for many of the unusual properties of californium including the green photoluminescence.

Evidence for broken time-reversal symmetry in the superconducting phase of URu 2 Si 2

Abstract: Recent experimental and theoretical interest in the superconducting phase of the heavy-fermion material ${\mathrm{URu}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$ has led to a number of proposals in which the superconducting order parameter breaks time-reversal symmetry (TRS). In this study we measure the polar Kerr effect (PKE) as a function of temperature for several high-quality single crystals of ${\mathrm{URu}}_{2}{\mathrm{Si}}_{2}$. We find an onset of PKE below the superconducting transition that is consistent with a TRS-breaking order parameter. This effect appears to be independent of an additional, possibly extrinsic, PKE generated above the hidden order transition at ${T}_{\text{HO}}=17.5$ K, and contains a structure below ${T}_{c}$ suggestive of additional physics within the superconducting state.

From quantum matter to high-temperature superconductivity in copper oxides

Abstract: The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in the copper oxides in 1986 triggered a huge amount of innovative scientific inquiry. In the almost three decades since, much has been learned about the novel forms of quantum matter that are exhibited in these strongly correlated electron systems. A qualitative understanding of the nature of the superconducting state itself has been achieved. However, unresolved issues include the astonishing complexity of the phase diagram, the unprecedented prominence of various forms of collective fluctuations, and the simplicity and insensitivity to material details of the 'normal' state at elevated temperatures.