EFFECTS OF DISORDER ON ELECTRONIC PROPERTIES NEAR NEMATIC QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITIONS: MODEL SYSTEMS TO EXPLORE FUNDAMENTAL PHYSICS RELEVANT TO THE DISCOVERY OF NEW SUPERCONDUCTING PHASES
Abstract
This project will provide insight to the effects of disorder induced by chemical substitution in a specific class of material - those that possess electronic ‘nematic’ order. Electronic nematic order refers to a type of electronic order that breaks rotational symmetries of a material, and has been recently identified in several families of technologically-relevant materials, including high temperature superconductors. However, the roles played by nematic fluctuations in these complex materials are currently poorly understood. In particular, since for practical applications such materials are typically tuned by chemical substitution, the effects of disorder induced by the chemical substitution on the electronic nematic order and associated fluctuations, and on any emergent superconductivity, need to be understood in detail. Empirically, optimal superconducting properties in several families of materials are found near nematic quantum phase transitions, motivating a specific focus on the effects of disorder in this regime. The experiments described in this proposal seek to explore and understand the effects of disorder on the electronic properties of materials proximate to electronic nematic quantum phase transitions. We do this by identifying model material systems based on 4f ferroquadrupole order, a specific realization of electronic nematic order for which the parent phase is well understood and for which chemical substitution can readily be used to vary the degree of quenched disorder. The proposed experiments will reveal how disorder affects the emergent ferroquadrupole (nematic) order, and how the interplay of the quadrupolar (nematic) fluctuations and quenched disorder affects the structural, thermodynamic and (for metallic systems) transport properties of the materials.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010252
Entities
People
- Ian Fisher
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Stanford University
- United States Air Force