Potential Lifshitz transition at optimal substitution in nematic pnictide BaSrNiAs.

BaNiAs is a structural analog of the pnictide superconductor BaFeAs, which, like the iron-based superconductors, hosts a variety of ordered phases including charge density waves (CDWs), electronic nematicity, and superconductivity. Upon isovalent Sr substitution on the Ba site, the charge and nematic orders are suppressed, followed by a sixfold enhancement of the superconducting transition temperature (). To understand the mechanisms responsible for enhancement of , we present high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements of the BaSrNiAs series, which agree well with our density functional theory (DFT) calculations throughout the substitution range.

Multiple Charge Density Waves and Superconductivity Nucleation at Antiphase Domain Walls in the Nematic Pnictide Ba_{1-x}Sr_{x}Ni_{2}As_{2}.

How superconductivity interacts with charge or nematic order is one of the great unresolved issues at the center of research in quantum materials. Ba_{1-x}Sr_{x}Ni_{2}As_{2} (BSNA) is a charge ordered pnictide superconductor recently shown to exhibit a sixfold enhancement of superconductivity due to nematic fluctuations near a quantum phase transition (at x_{c}=0.7) [1].

Sixfold enhancement of superconductivity in a tunable electronic nematic system.

The electronic nematic phase-in which electronic degrees of freedom lower the crystal rotational symmetry-is commonly observed in high-temperature superconductors. However, understanding the role of nematicity and nematic fluctuations in Cooper pairing is often made more complicated by the coexistence of other orders, particularly long-range magnetic order. Here we report the enhancement of superconductivity in a model electronic nematic system that is not magnetic, and show that the enhancement is directly born out of strong nematic fluctuations associated with a quantum phase transition.

Effect of chemical substitution on the skyrmion phase in CuOSeO.

Magnetic skyrmions have been the focus of intense research due to their unique qualities which result from their topological protections. Previous work on CuOSeO, the only known insulating multiferroic skyrmion material, has shown that chemical substitution alters the skyrmion phase. We chemically substitute Zn, Ag, and S into powdered CuOSeO to study the effect on the magnetic phase diagram.

Unconventional Charge Density Wave Order in the Pnictide Superconductor Ba(Ni_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}.

Ba(Ni_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2} is a structural homologue of the pnictide high temperature superconductor, Ba(Fe_{1-x}Co_{x})_{2}As_{2}, in which the Fe atoms are replaced by Ni. Superconductivity is highly suppressed in this system, reaching a maximum T_{c}=2.3  K, compared to 24 K in its iron-based cousin, and the origin of this T_{c} suppression is not known.