Color theorems, chiral domain topology, and magnetic properties of Fe(x)TaS2.

Common mathematical theories can have profound applications in understanding real materials. The intrinsic connection between aperiodic orders observed in the Fibonacci sequence, Penrose tiling, and quasicrystals is a well-known example. Another example is the self-similarity in fractals and dendrites.

RKKY ferromagnetism with Ising-like spin states in intercalated Fe(1/4)TaS2.

We investigated the magnetic nature of Fe(1/4)TaS2 using x-ray absorption spectroscopy, photoemission spectroscopy, and first principles band calculations. The results show a large unquenched orbital magnetic moment (∼1.0  μ(B)/Fe) at intercalated Fe sites, resulting in a gigantic magnetic anisotropy (H(A)≃60  T).

Coupled magnetic cycloids in multiferroic TbMnO3 and Eu3/4Y1/4MnO3.

Based on the detailed Mn L(2,3)-edge x-ray resonant scattering results, we report a new complexity in the magnetic order of multiferroic orthomangnites, which has been considered as the simple A-type cycloid order inducing ferroelectricity. The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction involved in the orthorhombic distortion brings on F-type canting from the A type, and the ordering type becomes the off-phase synchronized bc cycloid in TbMnO(3) or the tilted antiphase ab cycloid in Eu(3/4)Y(1/4)MnO(3). The F-type canting is responsible for the magnetic field-driven multiferroicity to weak ferromagnetism transition.

Precursor polar clusters in the paraelectric phase of ferroelectric Ba₀.₈₀Ca₀.₂₀TiO₃ single crystals studied by Brillouin light scattering.

A strong relaxation mode was observed in the gigahertz frequency window in the paraelectric phase of Ba₀.₈₀Ca₀.₂₀TiO₃ single crystals by using Brillouin light scattering.

Anisotropic electric conductivity of delafossite PdCoO2 studied by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy.

An explicit connection between the electronic structure and the anisotropic high conductivity of delafossite-type PdCoO2 has been established by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and core-level x-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The ARPES spectra show that a large hexagonal electronlike Fermi surface (FS) consists of very dispersive Pd 4d states. The carrier velocity and lifetime are determined from the ARPES data, and the conductivity is calculated by a solution of the Boltzmann equation, which demonstrates that the high anisotropic conductivity originates from the high carrier velocity, the large two-dimensional FS, and the long lifetime of the carriers.

Thermal conductivity of geometrically frustrated, ferroelectric YMnO3: extraordinary spin-phonon interactions.

The thermal conductivity of the magnetically frustrated, ferroelectric YMnO3 exhibits an isotropic suppression in the cooperative paramagnetic state, followed by a sudden increase upon magnetic ordering. This unprecedented behavior without an associated static structural distortion probably originates from the strong dynamic coupling between acoustic phonons and low-energy spin fluctuations in geometrically frustrated magnets. The replacement of magnetic Ho for Y at the ferroelectrically active site results in an even larger effect, suggestive of the strong influence of multiferroicity.