On the Origin of the Anomalous Upper Critical Field in Quasi-One-Dimensional Superconductors

Upper critical field, H_c2, in quasi-1D superconductors is investigated by the weak coupling renormalization group technique. It is shown that H_c2 greatly exceeds not only the Pauli limit, but also the conventional paramagnetic limit of the Flude-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state. This increase is mainly due to quasi-1D fluctuations effect as triggered by interference between unconventional superconductivity and density-wave instabilities. Our results give a novel viewpoint on the large H_c2 observed in TMTSF-salts in terms of a d-wave FFLO state that is predicted to be verified by the H_c2 measurements under pressure.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

Transport Properties and Diamagnetism of Dirac Electrons in Bismuth

Bismuth crystal is known for its remarkable properties resulting from particular electronic states, e. g., the Shubnikov-de Haas effect and the de Haas-van Alphen effect. Above all, the large diamagnetism of bismuth had been a long-standing puzzle soon after the establishment of quantum mechanics, which had been resolved eventually in 1970 based on the effective Hamiltonian derived by Wolff as due to the interband effects of a magnetic field in the presence of a large spin-orbit interaction. This Hamiltonian is essentially the same as the Dirac Hamiltonian, but with spatial anisotropy and an effective velocity much smaller than the light velocity. This paper reviews recent progress in the theoretical understanding of transport and optical properties, such as the weak-field Hall effect together with the spin Hall effect, and ac conductivity, of a system described by the Wolff Hamiltonian and its isotropic version with a special interest of exploring possible relationship with orbital magnetism. It is shown that there exist a fundamental relationship between spin Hall conductivity and orbital susceptibility in the insulating state on one hand, and the possibility of fully spin-polarized electric current in magneto-optics. Experimental tests of these interesting features have been proposed.Comment: 22 pages, 23 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

Analytical Solutions for the Surface States of Bi1−x_{1-x}Sbx_x (0≤x≲0.10\le x \lesssim 0.1)

Analytical solutions for the surface state (SS) of an extended Wolff Hamiltonian, which is a common Hamiltonian for strongly spin-orbit coupled systems, are obtained both for semi-infinite and finite-thickness boundary conditions. For the semi-infinite system, there are three types of SS solutions: (I-a) linearly crossing SSs in the direct bulk band gap, (I-b) SSs with linear dispersions entering the bulk conduction or valence bands away from the band edge, and (II) SSs with nearly flat dispersions entering the bulk state at the band edge. For the finite-thickness system, a gap opens in the SS of solution I-a. Numerical solutions for the SS are also obtained based on the tight-binding model of Liu and Allen [Phys. Rev. B, 52, 1566 (1995)] for Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ ($0\le x \le 0.1$). A perfect correspondence between the analytic and numerical solutions is obtained around the $\bar{M}$ point including their thickness dependence. This is the first time that the character of the SS numerically obtained is identified with the help of analytical solutions. The size of the gap for I-a SS can be larger than that of bulk band gap even for a "thick" films ($\lesssim 200$ bilayers $\simeq 80$ nm) of pure bismuth. Consequently, in such a film of Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$, there is no apparent change in the SSs through the band inversion at $x\simeq 0.04$, even though the nature of the SS is changed from solution I-a to I-b. Based on our theoretical results, the experimental results on the SS of Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ ($0\le x \lesssim 0.1$) are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 12 figure

Crystalline spin-orbit interaction and the Zeeman splitting in Pb1−x_{1-x}Snx_xTe

The ratio of the Zeeman splitting to the cyclotron energy ($M=\Delta E_Z / \hbar \omega_c$), which characterizes the relative strength of the spin-orbit interaction in crystals, is examined for the narrow gap IV-VI semiconductors PbTe, SnTe, and their alloy Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te on the basis of the multiband $k\cdot p$ theory. The inverse mass $\alpha$, the g-factor $g$, and $M$ are calculated numerically by employing the relativistic empirical tight-binding band calculation. On the other hand, a simple but exact formula of $M$ is obtained for the six-band model based on the group theoretical analysis. It is shown that $M1$ for SnTe, which are interpreted in terms of the relevance of the interband couplings due to the crystalline spin-orbit interaction. It is clarified both analytically and numerically that $M=1$ just at the band inversion point, where the transition from trivial to nontrivial topological crystalline insulator occurs. By using this property, one can detect the transition point only with the bulk measurements. It is also proposed that $M$ is useful to evaluate quantitatively a degree of the Dirac electrons in solids.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Angle dependence of the orbital magnetoresistance in bismuth

We present an extensive study of angle-dependent transverse magnetoresistance in bismuth, with a magnetic field perpendicular to the applied electric current and rotating in three distinct crystallographic planes. The observed angular oscillations are confronted with the expectations of semi-classic transport theory for a multi-valley system with anisotropic mobility and the agreement allows us to quantify the components of the mobility tensor for both electrons and holes. A quadratic temperature dependence is resolved. As Hartman argued long ago, this indicates that inelastic resistivity in bismuth is dominated by carrier-carrier scattering. At low temperature and high magnetic field, the threefold symmetry of the lattice is suddenly lost. Specifically, a $2\pi/3$ rotation of magnetic field around the trigonal axis modifies the amplitude of the magneto-resistance below a field-dependent temperature. By following the evolution of this anomaly as a function of temperature and magnetic field, we mapped the boundary in the (field, temperature) plane separating two electronic states. In the less-symmetric state, confined to low temperature and high magnetic field, the three Dirac valleys cease to be rotationally invariant. We discuss the possible origins of this spontaneous valley polarization, including a valley-nematic scenario.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Origin of the large anisotropic g-factor of holes in bismuth

The ratio of the Zeeman splitting to the cyclotron energy ($M=\Delta E_{\rm Z}/\hbar \omega_{\rm c}$) for hole-like carriers in bismuth has been quantified with a great precision by many experiments performed during the past five decades. It exceeds 2 when the magnetic field is along the trigonal axis and vanishes in the perpendicular configuration. Theoretically, however, $M$ is expected to be isotropic and equal to unity in a two-band Dirac model. We argue that a solution to this half-a-century-old puzzle can be found by extending the $k\cdot p$ theory to multiple bands. Our model not only gives a quantitative account of magnitude and anisotropy of $M$ for hole-like carriers in bismuth, but also explains its contrasting evolution with antimony doping pressure, both probed by new experiments reported here. The present results have important implications for the magnitude and anisotropy of $M$ in other systems with strong spin-orbit coupling.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure