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We review electric dipole active magnetic resonance and nonreciprocal directional dichroism in magnetoelectric multiferroic materials in terahertz and millimeter wave regions. Owing to dynamical magnetoelectric coupling generated by the spin-dependent electric polarization, magnetic resonance, which usually occurs owing to magnetic dipole transition, can be induced by the oscillating electric fields of electromagnetic wave. This electric dipole active magnetic resonance can be useful for microscopic investigations of magnetic excitation in unconventional spin systems. The magnetoelectric coupling also induces the nonreciprocal directional dichroism, which provides a novel functionality to materials as an optical diode, in teraheltz and microwave absorption by magnetic resonance. As examples, we describe the results of the high field ESR measurements of the triangular lattice antiferromagnet $$\hbox {CuFeO}_{\mathrm{2}}$$ and the interacting quantum spin dimer systems $$\hbox {TlCuCl}_{\mathrm{3}}$$ and $$\hbox {KCuCl}_{\mathrm{3}}$$ .

KCuCl$_3$ is known to show a quantum phase transition from the disordered to antiferromagnetically ordered phases by applying pressure. There is a longitudinal excitation mode (Higgs amplitude mode) in the vicinity of the quantum critical point in the ordered phase. To detect the Higgs amplitude mode, high-pressure ESR measurements are performed in KCuCl$_3$. The experimental data are analyzed by the extended spin-wave theory on the basis of the vector spin chirality. We report the first ESR detection of the Higgs amplitude mode and the important role of the electric dipole described by the vector spin chirality., 24 pages, 12 figures

In this study, dielectric constant and pyroelectric current measurements under high pressure up to 16.7 kbar have been performed for the interacting spin dimer system ${\mathrm{TlCuCl}}_{3}$, which exhibits spin-driven ferroelectricity in the magnon Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) phase with strong quantum spin fluctuation. When pressure is applied, the magnon BEC phase becomes significantly stabilized, whereas the value of the electric polarization decreases in high-pressure regions. It is also observed that electric polarization becomes harder under pressure. Analyses based on both a Landau theory and a microscopic spin Hamiltonian demonstrate that the suppression of quantum fluctuation on the application of pressure caused the observed pressure effects. Consequently, it is revealed that the ferroelectricity in ${\mathrm{TlCuCl}}_{3}$ is highly governed by the quantum spin fluctuation.

We present a microwave electron spin resonance study of the quantum spin dimer system TlCuCl_{3}, which shows the magnetic-field-induced ordering with both antiferromagnetic spin order and ferroelectricity by the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of triplon quasiparticles. Our main achievement is an electrical switching of the nonreciprocal directional microwave response in the triplon BEC phase. High-speed directional control of microwave absorption by applying an electric field has been accomplished in this Letter. The strength of the observed nonreciprocal microwave response well agrees with the calculation based on Kubo theory with the parameters, evaluated from the static electric polarization in this material.

We study a local antisymmetric spin-orbit (ASO) coupling effect on a triangular-triple-quantum-dot (TTQD) system as a theoretical proposal for a new application of the Kondo physics to nanoscale devices. The electric polarization induced by the Kondo effect is strongly correlated with the spin configurations and molecular orbital degrees of freedom in the TTQD. In particular, an abrupt sign reversal of the emergent electric polarization is associated with a quantum critical point in a magnetic field, which can also be controlled by the ASO coupling that changes the mixing weight of different orbital components in the TTQD ground state.

Magnetoelectric effects in honeycomb antiferromagnet Co4Nb2O9 are investigated on the basis of symmetry analyses of Co ions in trigonal P-3c1 space group. For each Co ion, the possible spin dependence is classified by C3 point-group symmetry. This accounts for the observed main effect that an electric polarization rotates in the opposite direction at the twice speed relative to the rotation of the external magnetic field applied in the ab-plane. Inversion centers and twofold axes in the unit cell restrict the active spin-dependence of the electric polarization, which well explains the observed experimental results. Expected optical properties of quadrupolar excitation and various types of dichroism are also discussed., Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures

Magnetic field-induced nonreciprocal magnon in noncollinear magnet is investigated in detail from symmetry viewpoint. To understand the nonreciprocal dispersion relation, we discuss similarity to t...

Motivated by the recent progress of phonon-mediated control in quantum spin devices, we propose a possibility of hybrid measurement using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and a surface acoustic wave (SAW). Considering quadrupole-strain (QS) couplings suggested for silicon vacancies, we present a minimum model of the two-level system to investigate a magnetoacoustic resonance (MAR) coupled to various strain modes driven by the SAW. The longitudinal and transverse QS couplings can be changed by rotating a magnetic field, which depends on a combination of the strain modes. Using the Floquet theory, we elucidate each coupling effect on the time-averaged transition probability, especially focus on a single-phonon transition process. The important result is that the longitudinal QS coupling brings about a sharp photon-assisted resonance and leads to an abrupt change in the field-angle dependent transition probability. Since this phonon transition process is always accompanied by the photon transition, the field angle for the sharp resonance peak can be detected by the EPR measurement. The hybrid EPR-MAR measurement is useful to confirm the existence of quadrupole degrees of freedom strongly coupled to elastic strains, and thus it is expected to be a complementary probe for the precise evaluation of quadrupole properties., Comment: 10 pages, 12 figures

Magnetic excitations in the multiferroic ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{CoGe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ are measured by combination of unpolarized and polarized neutron-scattering techniques. The unpolarized neutron spectrum reveals an anisotropic $\mathbf{Q}$ dependence of the intensity of the electromagnon mode at 4 meV. The analysis of the polarized neutron spectra identifies the directions of the magnetic fluctuations of the observed modes. The determined modes are consistent with the calculation by the extended spin-wave theory. A couple of transverse modes and a single longitudinal mode are involved in the magnetic excitation of ${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{CoGe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$. The longitudinal fluctuation takes on a main role in the electromagnon mode.

In this Rapid Communication, we propose a mechanism for electric dipole active spin resonance caused by spin-dependent electric polarization in a quantum spin gapped system. This proposal was successfully confirmed by high-frequency electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements of the quantum spin dimer system ${\mathrm{KCuCl}}_{3}$. ESR measurements by an illuminating linearly polarized electromagnetic wave reveal that the optical transition between the singlet and triplet states in ${\mathrm{KCuCl}}_{3}$ is driven by an ac electric field. The selection rule of the observed transition agrees with the calculation by taking into account spin-dependent electric polarization. We suggest that spin-dependent electric polarization is effective in achieving fast control of quantum spins by an ac electric field.

The notion of a quasiparticle, such as a phonon, a roton, or a magnon, is used in modern condensed matter physics to describe an elementary collective excitation. The intrinsic zero-temperature magnon damping in quantum spin systems can be driven by the interaction of the one-magnon states and multi-magnon continuum. However, detailed experimental studies on this quantum many-body effect induced by an applied magnetic field are rare. Here we present a high-resolution neutron scattering study in high fields on an S=1/2 antiferromagnet C9H18N2CuBr4. Compared with the non-interacting linear spin-wave theory, our results demonstrate a variety of phenomena including field-induced renormalization of one-magnon dispersion, spontaneous magnon decay observed via intrinsic linewidth broadening, unusual non-Lorentzian two-peak structure in the excitation spectra, and a dramatic shift of spectral weight from one-magnon state to the two-magnon continuum., 8 pages, 6 figures, some typos were corrected in the revised version

Quantum magnets, which involve strong quantum fluctuation stemming from noncommutative properties of spin operators, have attracted much attention because of those fascinating properties. In this paper, we report detailed behaviors of the ferroelectricity, driven by the field-induced Bose-Einstein condensation of magnon quasiparticles in the quantum spin gap system ${\mathrm{TlCuCl}}_{3}$. Superposition of the wave functions inherent in a quantum magnet in its ground state plays a key role in the appearance of this ferroelectricity. The field dependence of the spontaneous electric polarization clearly demonstrates that the ferroelectricity is caused by the emergence of the vector spin chirality in the magnon Bose-Einstein condensate. The ferroelectricity is suggested to be significantly enhanced by quantum entanglement in the spin dimer. Furthermore, reflecting the isotropic nature of ${\mathrm{TlCuCl}}_{3}$, the ferroelectricity is very soft with a low electric coercive field ${E}_{\mathrm{r}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.03$ MV/m. Our analysis indicates that vector components of the electric polarization, which are not caused by the spin current mechanism, appear in ${\mathrm{TlCuCl}}_{3}$.

We measured magnetization, specific heat, electron spin resonance, neutron diffraction, and inelastic neutron scattering of ${\mathrm{CrVMoO}}_{7}$ powder. An antiferromagnetically ordered state appears below ${T}_{\mathrm{N}}=26.5\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.8$ K. We consider that the probable spin model for ${\mathrm{CrVMoO}}_{7}$ is an interacting antiferromagnetic spin-$\frac{3}{2}$ dimer model. We evaluated the intradimer interaction $J$ to be $25\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ K and the effective interdimer interaction ${J}_{\mathrm{eff}}$ to be $8.8\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1$ K. ${\mathrm{CrVMoO}}_{7}$ is a rare spin dimer compound that shows an antiferromagnetically ordered state at atmospheric pressure and zero magnetic field. The magnitude of ordered moments is $0.73(2){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$. It is much smaller than a classical value $\ensuremath{\sim}3{\ensuremath{\mu}}_{\mathrm{B}}$. Longitudinal-mode magnetic excitations may be observable in single crystalline ${\mathrm{CrVMoO}}_{7}$.

We measured the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat and the magnetic-field dependence of the magnetization of CuInVO$_5$. An antiferromagnetically ordered state appears below $T_{\rm N} = 2.7$ K. We observed a $\frac{1}{2}$ quantum magnetization plateau above 30 T at 1.3 K. We show that the spin system consists of antiferromagnetic spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ tetramers with $J_1 = 240 \pm 20$ and $J_2 = -142 \pm 10$ K for the intratetramer interactions.

Crystal field triplet ground states in f2 configurations such as Pr ions have quadrupolar coupling as well as magnetic coupling to conduction electrons, leading to a nontrivial non-Fermi liquid Kon...

The Bose–Einstein condensation is a fascinating phenomenon, which results from quantum statistics for identical particles with an integer spin. Surprising properties, such as superfluidity, vortex quantization or Josephson effect, appear owing to the macroscopic quantum coherence, which spontaneously develops in Bose–Einstein condensates. Realization of Bose–Einstein condensation is not restricted in fluids like liquid helium, a superconducting phase of paired electrons in a metal and laser-cooled dilute alkali atoms. Bosonic quasi-particles like exciton-polariton and magnon in solids-state systems can also undergo Bose–Einstein condensation in certain conditions. Here, we report that the quantum coherence in Bose–Einstein condensate of the magnon quasi particles yields spontaneous electric polarization in the quantum magnet TlCuCl3, leading to remarkable magnetoelectric effect. Very soft ferroelectricity is realized as a consequence of the O(2) symmetry breaking by magnon Bose–Einstein condensation. The finding of this ferroelectricity will open a new window to explore multi-functionality of quantum magnets., Magnons, quantized spin excitations in magnetic materials, may undergo Bose-Einstein condensation into a macroscopic correlated quantum state at low temperature. Here, the authors demonstrate how magnon condensation in quantum magnet TlCuCl3 generates an electrical polarization.

${\mathrm{Ba}}_{2}{\mathrm{CoGe}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{7}$ exhibits a collinear-antiferromagnetic structure with the easy axis along $\ensuremath{\langle}100\ensuremath{\rangle}$ directions and an antiferroelectric order with the polarization axis along the [001] direction. By applying the electric field the magnetic moment rotates from $\ensuremath{\langle}100\ensuremath{\rangle}$ to [110] directions and, simultaneously, the antiferroelectric state changes to the ferroelectric state gradually. This magnetoelectric effect, i.e., continuous control of the local magnetic moment by the electric field, is quantitatively explained by the Hamiltonian including the dielectric energy.

A triangular triple quantum dot gives various Kondo effects, such as the emergence of an electric polarization accompanied by a complete compensation of spin degrees of freedom. The interplay of spin and charge of electrons in quantum dots is investigated using an Anderson model with an equilateral triangular spin cluster, in which a single electron state at one site is hybridized with a conduction band in a lead. The numerical renormalization group analysis shows how a nonzero electric polarization develops with local electrons traveling in the loop and how it depends on the hybridization strength as an experimentally controllable parameter in the Kondo effect., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

We performed inelastic neutron scattering experiments on ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}^{114}\mathrm{Cd}{}^{11}{\text{B}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}$ powder. The magnetic excitations at low temperatures are similar to those of the interacting spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ tetramers in the ordered state. The weak excitations existing above 3 meV suggest that the Higgs mode appears in ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{2}{\mathrm{CdB}}_{2}{\mathrm{O}}_{6}$ at ambient pressure and zero magnetic field. We evaluated ${J}_{1}=27.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.0$ and ${J}_{2}=\ensuremath{-}14.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1.4$ meV for the intratetramer interactions and ${J}_{3}=\ensuremath{-}0.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2$ and ${J}_{4}=1.4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2$ meV for the intertetramer interactions. The spin gap in the isolated spin tetramer was calculated to be 1.6 meV, which is less than the effective intertetramer interaction value $(3.6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.8$ meV). Therefore, antiferromagnetic long-range order is possible, although the ground state of the isolated spin tetramer is the spin-singlet state. We discuss the temperature dependence of the magnetic excitations.

We measured the temperature dependence of the magnetic susceptibility and specific heat and the magnetic-field dependence of the magnetization of CuInVO5. An antiferromagnetically ordered state appears below T N = 2.7 K. We observed a quantum magnetization plateau above 30 T at 1.3 K. The probable spin model for CuInVO5 is an interacting spin- tetramer model. We evaluated the values of the intratetramer interactions as J 1 = 240 ± 20 K (antiferromagnetic) and J 2 = −142 ± 10 K (ferromagnetic) and the value of the effective intertetramer interaction as J eff = 30 ± 4 K. The ground state of the isolated spin tetramer with the J 1 and J 2 values is spin singlet. The shrinkage of ordered magnetic moments by quantum fluctuation can be expected. Longitudinal-mode magnetic excitations may be observable in CuInVO5.

We designed a reflectometer for grazing-incidence X-ray measurements with a rotational feedthrough consisting of three welded bellows and a circle-type goniometer. This apparatus does not require differential pumping and is suitable for ultra-high-vacuum applications. With this reflectometer, we successfully performed high-precision synchrotron radiation X-ray reflectivity measurements on a thin iron-film under an ultra-high-vacuum condition.

Ultra-thin films of Cr2O3(0 0 0 1) grown on Cr(1 1 0) were investigated by reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS). An absorption band at 720 cm−1 is assigned to a longitudinal optical phonon of Cr2O3. With increasing O2 exposure, this absorption band shifts to higher frequency, which is qualitatively explained by a simple spring model. After successive oxidation with 18O2 and 16O2, two absorption bands corresponding to Cr 2 18 O 3 and Cr 2 16 O 3 were distinctly observed suggesting that oxygen diffusion hardly occurs during the oxide growth. Temperature dependence of the RAIRS spectrum taken from the Cr2O3 film revealed that the absorption band position shifts to lower frequency along with broadening of the band width. Anharmonic coupling with low-frequency phonons and effects of the antiferromagnetic to paramagnetic phase transition are discussed.

Ultra-thin films of Cr2O3(0001) grown on Cr(110) were investigated by low-energy electron diffraction (LEED). Two samples with different oxide thicknesses were prepared. For the 5 nm-thick film, LEED revealed that the structure changes from 1×1 at 300 K to √3×√3 at 150 K and 1×1 at 100 K, which is in good agreement with a previous study. For the film thicker than 10 nm, LEED spot intensities were found to change with the sample temperature. LEED I-V curves shifted towards higher energy at 100 K compared to 300 K, which is attributed to a change of the mean inner potential. The origin of this change of the mean inner potential is discussed. [DOI: 10.1380/ejssnt.2006.534]

In PrOs4Sb12, the lowest-lying singlet and triplet states in a Pr 4f^2 configuration hybridize with conduction electrons having local a_u and t_u point-group symmetries. It is shown that for an attractive triplet pairing interaction, the orbital degrees of freedom of the t_u component are important. In addition, the Th point-group symmetry characteristic of skutterudites plays an important role in stabilizing triplet superconductivity., 4 pages, 2 figures

TlCuCl 3 is an example of a quantum spin liquid of S = 1/2 Cu 2+ dimers. Strong inter-dimer superexchange interactions give rise to a three-dimensional dispersion of the triplet magnon. The minimum excitation energy determines the spin gap which is significantly smaller than the dimer coupling. It can be closed by an applied hydrostatic pressure of the order of 1 kbar or by a magnetic field of 5.6 T, offering a unique opportunity to study the evolution of the magnon modes through the pressure- and field-induced quantum phase transitions.

The ground state of a spin dimer system is a non-magnetic singlet accompanied by dispersive triplet excitations. We introduce a conduction electron system coupled to spin dimers. The triplet excitations generate spin fluctuations, giving rise to an attractive interaction between conduction electrons. We study superconductivity mediated by the spin dimer triplet excitations with a simple two-dimensional model, and discuss a possibility of unconventional superconductivity.

We investigate, analytically and numerically, the ground state of the S = 1/2 distorted diamond type spin chain having three kinds of couplings, where one or two types of the couplings are ferromagnetic. We obtained the phase diagram at zero-magnetic field and also at M s /3, where M s is the saturation magnetization. We also discuss the plateau at (2/3)M s .

The wavefunction of the Cooper pair of the conventional BCS state is characterized by an evenparity (s-wave) spin-singlet state. An external magnetic field is well known to modify the wavefunction of the Cooper pair and to break the conventional BCS superconducting state. We find that the wavefunction of the modified Cooper pair contains a spin-triplet component with s-wave orbital symmetry. While the spin-triplet s-wave Cooper pair is forbidden owing to the fermion property, it is permitted in the generalized theoretical framework containing an odd-frequency dependence of the order parameter. We investigate this point on the basis of the self-consistent calculation in the Eliashberg theory and find that the odd-frequency order parameter coexists with the evenfrequency one. We also report how the physical properties are affected by the induced odd-frequency superconducting order parameter.

One possible origin of the field-induced ordered phase (FIOP) in PrOs 4 Sb 12 is an interaction of quadrupolar moments of Pr 4 f electrons in the singlet–triplet crystal-field (CF) levels. We study...

We measured the flux flow resistivity ρ f associated with a purely viscous motion of the vortices in high-quality MgB 2 by the microwave surface impedance. The flux flow resistivity exhibits unusual field dependence with strong enhancement at low fields, which is markedly different from that in conventional s-wave superconductors. A crossover field which separates two distinct flux flow regime with different slope of ρ f was observed in H ∥ ab -plane. The unusual H -dependence indicates that two very differently sized superconducting gaps in MgB 2 manifest themselves clearly in the vortex dynamics and nearly equally contribute to the energy dissipation.

We report experimental results on the interaction of hydrogen with monolayer thin Ag and Au films grown on a Pt(1 1 1) substrate, measured with thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and nuclear reaction analysis (NRA). We found that H2 dissociative adsorption is activated on both thin film surfaces. Atomic hydrogen was found to adsorb on the Ag and Au films on Pt(1 1 1) with main desorption temperatures of 160 and 120 K, respectively. The monolayer thin Ag and Au films on Pt(1 1 1) are chemically similar to the (1 1 1) surfaces of bulk Ag and Au, respectively.

We study the Kondo effect in a px + ipy-wave superconductor using the Wilson's numerical renormalization group method. For this triplet superconductor with a full energy gap, the ground state is always a spin doublet, which is different from the case of s-wave superconductors. The calculated magnetic susceptibility shows that a local spin is shrunk by the Kondo effect and that the spin of the ground state is generated by the orbital effect of the px + ipy-wave Cooper pairs. We also discuss the effect of spin polarization of the triplet superconductor.

The adsorption structure of NO on the Pt(1 1 1) surface at low temperature (90–130 K) was studied by dynamical analysis of low-energy electron diffraction and reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy. Three different 2×2 patterns were identified and their experimental intensity vs. voltage curves ( I – V curves) were compared with dynamically calculated I – V curves for the models including the tilted (bent) NO geometry. The differences of I – V curves can be recognized by virtue of the wider incident electron energy range than the previous dynamical analysis. The most promising interpretation is that NO occupies three sites sequentially depending on the NO coverage. In this interpretation, NO first adsorbs at the threefold fcc hollow site, next at the atop site and last at the threefold hcp hollow site. The NO saturation coverage is 0.75 ML ( 1 ML =1.5×10 −15 molecules/cm 2 ). The NO species at the atop site is tilted and those at both hollow sites are upright. Our new model agrees well with the recent density functional theory calculation and explains the experimental results better than the previous model, in which NO transits from the bridge site to the atop site with increasing coverage.

The Kondo effect in a $p_x + {\rm i} p_y$-wave superconductor is studied by applying the Wilson's numerical renormalization group method. In this type of superconductor with a full energy gap like a s-wave one, the ground state is always a spin doublet, while a local spin is shrunk by the Kondo effect. The calculated magnetic susceptibility indicates that the spin of the ground state is generated by the orbital effect of the $p_x + {\rm i} p_y$-wave Cooper pairs. The effect of spin polarization of the triplet superconductor is also discussed., 5 pages, 4 figures, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn

We study the local antisymmetric spin-orbit (ASO) coupling effect on spin, orbital, and charge degrees of freedom for the Kondo effect in a triangular triple quantum dot (TTQD). Here, one of the three QDs is coupled to a metallic lead through electron tunneling, and a local electric polarization is induced by the Kondo effect. The ASO interaction is introduced in the other two coupled QDs on the opposite side of the lead. Generally, the ASO coupling effect is very weak and not easily detectable, but it essentially causes spin and charge reconfigurations in the TTQD through the Kondo effect. Using an extended Anderson model for the TTQD Kondo system, we elucidate that the ASO coupling gives rise to a considerable reduction of the emergent electric polarization, as a consequence of the parity mixing of molecular orbitals in the triangular loop as well as the spin-up and spin-down coupling of local electrons. The latter leads to a local diamagnetic susceptibility owing to the ASO coupled spins. We also show that the Kondo-induced electric polarization can be controlled by the ASO coupling as well as by the magnetic flux penetrating through the TTQD., 11 pages, 5 figures

Spin-dependent electric dipole operators are investigated group-theoretically for the emergence of an electric dipole induced by a single spin or by two spins, where the spin dependences are completely classified up to the quadratic order. For a single spin, a product of spin operators behaves as an even-parity electric quadrupole operator, which differs from an odd-parity electric dipole. The lack of the inversion symmetry allows the even- and odd-parity mixing, which leads to the electric dipole described by the electric quadruple operators. Point-group tables are given for classification of the possible spin-dependent electric dipoles and for the qualitative analysis of multiferroic properties, such as an emergent electric dipole moment coexisting with a magnetic moment, electromagnon excitation, and directional dichroism. The results can be applied to a magnetic ion in crystals or embedded in molecules at a site without the inversion symmetry. In the presence of an inversion symmetry, the electric dipole does not appear for a single spin. This is not the case for the electric dipole induced by two spins with antisymmetric spin dependence, which is known as vector spin chirality, in the presence of the inversion center between the two spins. In the absence of the inversion center, symmetric spin-dependent electric dipoles are also relevant. The detailed analysis of various symmetries of two-spin states is applied to spin dimer systems and the related multiferroic properties., Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures

It is know that a paramagnetic phase is stabilized in integer spin systems with large easy-plane type single-ion anisotropy owing to the local singlet groundstate. In this case, applying pressure can collapse the excitation gap and induce a quantum phase transition into a magnetically ordered phase. We investigate how the magnetic excitation evolves with pressure on the basis of the extended spinwave theory. In the vicinity of the quantum critical point in the ordered phase, a longitudinal mode (Higgs mode) exists in the low-energy region. We report that the Higgs mode is observable as an electromagnon excitation.

A triangular triple quantum dot (TTQD) is an artificial variant of an orbitally-degenerate atomic system, which is expected to exhibit a novel Kondo physics. We focus on the emergence of electric polarization by the Kondo effect, owing to electron hopping in the triangular loop that is triggered by a point contact between the apex of TTQD and a metallic lead. Since the charge distribution depends on the spin correlation in TTQD, the electric dipole can be controlled by applying a magnetic field that suppresses the Kondo effect. We demonstrate this multiferroic behavior on the nanoscale using an impurity Anderson model for the TTQD Kondo system.

We demonstrate the existence of the spin-nematic interactions in an easy-plane type antiferromagnet Ba2CoGe2O7 by exploring the magnetic anisotropy and spin dynamics. The combination of neutron scattering and magnetic susceptibility measurements reveals that the origin of the in-plane anisotropy is an antiferro-type interaction of the spin-nematic operator. The relation between the nematic operator and the electric polarization in the ligand symmetry of this compound is presented. The introduction of the spin-nematic interaction is useful to understand the physics of spin and electric dipole in multiferroic compounds.

The adsorption and photoreaction of NO on Ag films deposited on Pt(1 1 1) were investigated at 90 K by reflection-absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS). Similar to Ag(1 1 1), NO molecules were found to be converted into (NO) 2 and N 2 O on the Ag films. At an Ag thickness of 1 ML, however, a new adsorption state that reveals a RAIRS band at 1848 cm −1 is present on the surface. The (NO) 2 dimer species was found to react into N 2 O, while the reaction of the new species was substantially suppressed. Upon photon irradiation with a wavelength of 193 nm, the three adsorption species on Ag(1 ML)/Pt(1 1 1) were depleted from the surface. The origin of the newly found species and the photoreaction mechanism are discussed.

Orbital degrees of freedom of a Cooper pair play an important role in the unconventional superconductivity. To elucidate the orbital effect in the Kondo problem, we investigated a single magnetic impurity coupled to Cooper pairs with a $p_x +i p_y$ ($d_{x^2-y^2}+id_{xy}$) symmetry using the numerical renormalization group method. It is found that the ground state is always a spin doublet. The analytical solution for the strong coupling limit explicitly shows that the orbital dynamics of the Cooper pair generates the spin 1/2 of the ground state., Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, JPSJ.sty, to be published in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 70 (2001) No. 10

The adsorption and initial absorption of hydrogen (H2) by Pd(1 0 0) at T=100–160 K are investigated by thermal desorption spectroscopy (TDS) and nuclear reaction analysis, which enables a depth-resolved determination of the hydrogen concentration at and below the Pd surface. Under 3×10−8 mbar H2 and T 130 K H-migration from such a near-surface hydride phase to the deeper bulk of the metal occurs and a solution of H in Pd is formed by means of facile diffusion. This bulk dissolved hydrogen emerges as a broad structure in TDS at T=200–260 K exhibiting a tailing at high temperatures characteristic of diffusion-controlled desorption kinetics.

The microscopic mechanism of circular currents induced in the vicinity of a non-magnetic impurity is analyzed for the (time-reversal symmetry breaking) chiral superconducting state ${\bf d}({\bf k}) = \hat{{\bf z}} (k_x \pm i k_y)$ which is very likely realized in Sr_2RuO_4. From the analytic, not self-consistent solution of the Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations we find two types of quasiparticle states, a bound state and the continuum state. Through impurity scattering the condensate transfers angular momentum to the quasiparticle states which generate a circular current. At low temperature the continuum part of the quasiparticle spectrum gives the main contribution. The non-selfconsistent solution yields a state of finite angular momentum. The comparison with the corresponding Ginzburg-Landau theory reveals the existence of a compensating counterflow created by the superconducting condensate. The currents and magnetic fields appearing around the impurity have possibly been observed by muon spin relaxation measurements., Comment: 16 page Latex, 3PS file, accepted by J.Phys.Soc.Jpn

The tunneling probability for a positive muon in high-purity tantalum is significantly enhanced by the onset of superconductivity. This establishes the predominant influence of low energy infrared couplings to the conduction electrons in the quantum tunneling motion of a charged interstitial atom in metals.

In a previous paper a possibility of coexistence of two superconducting order parameters was discussed for the (1, 1, 0) surface of d x 2 - y 2 -wave superconductors. In the present report physical properties are examined particularly for the time-reversal-breaking state ( s ± i d ) near the (1, 1, 0) surface. The nature of coexisting order parameters shows up in the local density of states. It is also shown that the superconducting current flows along the surface due to the time reversal breaking and induces the magnetic field. The induced magnetic field can be used to detect the time-reversal-breaking states experimentally.

Magnetic excitation in a spin dimer system on a bilayer honeycomb lattice is investigated in the presence of a zigzag edge, where disordered and ordered phases can be controlled by a quantum phase transition. In analogy with the case of graphene with a zigzag edge, a flat edge magnon mode appears in the disordered phase. In an ordered phase, a finite magnetic moment generates a mean-field potential to the magnon. Since the potential is nonuniform on the edge and bulk sites, it affects the excitation, and the dispersion of the edge mode deviates from the flat shape. We investigate how the edge magnon mode evolves when the phase changes through the quantum phase transition and discuss the similarities to ordered spin systems on a monolayer honeycomb lattice., Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures

The boundary effect in d -wave superconductors is studied for specular and rough surfaces. In particular, the local density of states near the boundary is examined to see how the d -wave symmetry shows up in the direction dependence of the surface relative to the order parameter.

We study an orbitally degenerate Kondo effect in a triangular triple quantum dot (TTQD), where the three dots are connected vertically with a single metallic lead through electron tunneling. Both spin and orbital degrees of freedom play an important role in the SU(4) Kondo effect. This is demonstrated by an equilateral TTQD Kondo system at half-filling, by Wilson's numerical renormalization group method. We show how an emergent electric polarization of the TTQD is associated with a crossover from SU(4) to SU(2) symmetry in the low-temperature state. A marked sign reversal of the electric polarization is generated by the fine-tuning of Kondo coupling with degenerate orbitals, which can be utilized to reveal orbital dynamics in the SU(4) Kondo effect., 5 pages, 5 figures

We investigate general structure of Landau free energy for stabilizing a novel superconducting state with both even-frequency and odd-frequency components in gap function. On the basis of the Luttinger-Ward functional, we elucidate an emergent mixing between different "parities" in time. The simplest case of the conventional s-wave singlet mixed with the odd-frequency triplet state under broken time-reversal symmetry is examined to demonstrate the anomalous structure of the free-energy functional. The induced odd-frequency component alters behaviors of physical quantities from those obtained by neglecting the odd-frequency component. The novel mixed state may also be relevant to strong-coupling superconductivity coexisting with ferromagnetism., 11 pages, 7 figures