Michael Schütt

Magnetoresistance in two-component systems

Two-component systems with equal concentrations of electrons and holes exhibit nonsaturating, linear magnetoresistance in classically strong magnetic fields. The effect is predicted to occur in finite-size samples at charge neutrality due to recombination. The phenomenon originates in the excess quasiparticle density developing near the edges of the sample due to the compensated Hall effect. The size of the boundary region is of the order of the electron-hole recombination length that is inversely proportional to the magnetic field. In narrow samples and at strong enough magnetic fields, the boundary region dominates over the bulk leading to linear magnetoresistance. Our results are relevant for two-and three-dimensional semimetals and narrow band semiconductors including most of the topological insulators.

Giant Magnetodrag in Graphene at Charge Neutrality

We report experimental data and theoretical analysis of Coulomb drag between two closely positioned graphene monolayers in a weak magnetic field. Close enough to the neutrality point, the coexistence of electrons and holes in each layer leads to a dramatic increase of the drag resistivity. Away from charge neutrality, we observe nonzero Hall drag. The observed phenomena are explained by decoupling of electric and quasiparticle currents which are orthogonal at charge neutrality. The sign of magnetodrag depends on the energy relaxation rate and geometry of the sample.

Coulomb interaction in graphene: Relaxation rates and transport

We analyze the inelastic electron-electron scattering in undoped graphene within the Keldysh diagrammatic approach. We demonstrate that finite temperature strongly affects the screening properties of graphene, which, in turn, influences the inelastic scattering rates as compared to the zero-temperature case. Focussing on the clean regime, we calculate the quantum scattering rate which is relevant for dephasing of interference processes. We identify an hierarchy of regimes arising due to the interplay of a plasmon enhancement of the scattering and finite-temperature screening of the interaction. We further address the energy relaxation and transport scattering rates in graphene. We find a non-monotonic energy dependence of the inelastic relaxation rates in clean graphene which is attributed to the resonant excitation of plasmons. Finally, we discuss the temperature dependence of the conductivity at the Dirac point in the presence of both interaction and disorder. Our results complement the kinetic-equation and hydrodynamic approaches for the collision-limited conductivity of clean graphene and can be generalized to the treatment of physics of inelastic processes in strongly non-equilibrium setups.

Collision-dominated nonlinear hydrodynamics in graphene

We present an effective hydrodynamic theory of electronic transport in graphene in the interaction-dominated regime. We derive the emergent hydrodynamic description from the microscopic Boltzmann kinetic equation taking into account dissipation due to Coulomb interaction and find the viscosity of Dirac fermions in graphene for arbitrary densities. The viscous terms have a dramatic effect on transport coefficients in clean samples at high temperatures. Within linear response, we show that viscosity manifests itself in the nonlocal conductivity as well as dispersion of hydrodynamic plasmons. Beyond linear response, we apply the derived nonlinear hydrodynamics to the problem of hot spot relaxation in graphene.

Origin of the Resistivity Anisotropy in the Nematic Phase of FeSe.

The in-plane resistivity anisotropy is studied in strain-detwinned single crystals of FeSe. In contrast to other iron-based superconductors, FeSe does not develop long-range magnetic order below the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic transition at T_{s}≈90  K. This allows for the disentanglement of the contributions to the resistivity anisotropy due to nematic and magnetic orders. Comparing direct transport and elastoresistivity measurements, we extract the intrinsic resistivity anisotropy of strain-free samples. The anisotropy peaks slightly below T_{s} and decreases to nearly zero on cooling down to the superconducting transition. This behavior is consistent with a scenario in which the in-plane resistivity anisotropy is dominated by inelastic scattering by anisotropic spin fluctuations.

Coulomb drag in graphene near the Dirac point.

We study Coulomb drag in graphene near the Dirac point, focusing on the regime of interaction-dominated transport. We establish a novel, graphene-specific mechanism of Coulomb drag based on fast interlayer thermalization, inaccessible by standard perturbative approaches. Using the quantum kinetic equation framework, we derive a hydrodynamic description of transport in double-layer graphene in terms of electric and energy currents. In the clean limit the drag becomes temperature independent. In the presence of disorder the drag coefficient at the Dirac point remains nonzero due to higher-order scattering processes and interlayer disorder correlations. At low temperatures (diffusive regime) these contributions manifest themselves in the peak in the drag coefficient centered at the neutrality point with a magnitude that grows with lowering temperature.

Effect of interlayer coupling on the coexistence of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in Fe pnictide superconductors: A study of Ca 0.74 ( 1 ) La 0.26 ( 1 ) ( Fe 1 − x Co x ) As 2 single crystals

Shan Jiang, Lian Liu, Michael Schütt, Alannah M. Hallas, Bing Shen, Wei Tian, Eve Emmanouilidou, Aoshuang Shi, Graeme M. Luke, Yasutomo J. Uemura, Rafael. M. Fernandes, and Ni Ni ∗ Department of Physics and Astronomy and California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA Department of Physics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4M1, Canada Quantum Condensed Matter Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TK 37831, USA Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA

Antagonistic In-Plane Resistivity Anisotropies from Competing Fluctuations in Underdoped Cuprates.

One of the prime manifestations of an anisotropic electronic state in underdoped cuprates is the in-plane resistivity anisotropy Δρ≡(ρ(a)-ρ(b))/ρ(b). Here we use a Boltzmann-equation approach to compute the contribution to Δρ arising from scattering by anisotropic charge and spin fluctuations, which have been recently observed experimentally. While the anisotropy in the charge fluctuations is manifested in the correlation length, the anisotropy in the spin fluctuations emerges only in the structure factor. As a result, we find that spin fluctuations favor Δρ>0, whereas charge fluctuations promote Δρ<0, which are both consistent with the doping dependence of Δρ observed in YBa(2)Cu(3)O(7). We also discuss the role played by CuO chains in these materials, and propose transport experiments in strained HgBa(2)CuO(4) and Nd(2)CuO(4) to probe directly the different resistivity anisotropy regimes.

Origin of DC and AC conductivity anisotropy in iron-based superconductors: Scattering rate versus spectral weight effects

To shed light on the transport properties of electronic nematic phases, we investigate the anisotropic properties of the AC and DC conductivities. Based on the analytical properties of the former, we show that the anisotropy of the effective scattering rate behaves differently than the actual scattering rate anisotropy and even changes sign as a function of temperature. Similarly, the effective spectral weight acquires an anisotropy even when the plasma frequency is isotropic. These results are illustrated by an explicit calculation of the AC conductivity due to the interaction between electrons and spin fluctuations in the nematic phase of the iron-based superconductors and shown to be in agreement with recent experiments.

Controlling competing orders via nonequilibrium acoustic phonons: Emergence of anisotropic effective electronic temperature

Ultrafast perturbations offer a unique tool to manipulate correlated systems due to their ability to promote transient behaviors with no equilibrium counterpart. A widely employed strategy is the excitation of coherent optical phonons, as they can cause significant changes in the electronic structure and interactions on short time scales. Here, we explore a promising alternative route: the non-equilibrium excitation of acoustic phonons. We demonstrate that it leads to the remarkable phenomenon of a momentum-dependent temperature, by which electronic states at different regions of the Fermi surface are subject to distinct local temperatures. Such an anisotropic electronic temperature can have a profound effect on the delicate balance between competing ordered states in unconventional superconductors, opening a novel avenue to control correlated phases.