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The ability to efficiently control charge and spin in the cuprate high-temperature superconductors is crucial for fundamental research and underpins technological development. Here, we explore the tunability of magnetism, superconductivity and crystal structure in the stripe phase of the cuprate La_2-xBa_xCuO_4, with x = 0.115 and 0.135, by employing temperature-dependent (down to 400 mK) muon-spin rotation and AC susceptibility, as well as X-ray scattering experiments under compressive uniaxial stress in the CuO_2 plane. A sixfold increase of the 3-dimensional (3D) superconducting critical temperature T_c and a full recovery of the 3D phase coherence is observed in both samples with the application of extremely low uniaxial stress of 0.1 GPa. This finding demonstrates the removal of the well-known 1/8-anomaly of cuprates by uniaxial stress. On the other hand, the spin-stripe order temperature as well as the magnetic fraction at 400 mK show only a modest decrease under stress. Moreover, the onset temperatures of 3D superconductivity and spin-stripe order are very similar in the large stress regime. However, a substantial decrease of the magnetic volume fraction and a full suppression of the low-temperature tetragonal structure is found at elevated temperatures, which is a necessary condition for the development of the 3D superconducting phase with optimal T_c. Our results evidence a remarkable cooperation between the long-range static spin-stripe order and the underlying crystalline order with the three-dimensional fully coherent superconductivity. Overall, these results suggest that the stripe- and the SC order may have a common physical mechanism., Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. This work builds on our earlier findings on LBCO, arXiv:2008.01159, and substantially expands it

Piezomagnetism couples strain linearly to magnetic order producing magnetization. Thus, unlike magnetostriction, it enables bidirectional control of a net magnetic moment. If this effect becomes large at room temperature, it may be technologically relevant, similar to its electric analogue, piezoelectricity. To date, however, the studies of the piezomagnetic effect have been primarily restricted to antiferromagnetic (AF) insulators at cryogenic temperatures. Here we report the discovery of a large piezomagnetism in a metal at room temperature. Strikingly, by using the AF Weyl semimetal Mn$_3$Sn, known for its nearly magnetization-free anomalous Hall effect (AHE), we find that an application of small uniaxial strain of the order of 0.1 % can control both the sign and size of the AHE. Our experiment and theory show that the piezomagnetism can control the AHE distinctly from the magnetization, which will be useful for spintronics applications., Comment: 25 pages, 4 figures, To appear in Nature Physics

The tetragonal heavy-fermion compound CeAuSb$_2$ (space group $P4/nmm$) exhibits incommensurate spin density wave (SDW) order below $T_{N}\approx6.5~K$ with the propagation vector $\mathbf{q}_A = (\delta_A,\delta_A,1/2)$. The application of uniaxial stress along the [010] direction induces a sudden change in the resistivity ratio $\rho_a/\rho_b$ at a compressive strain of $\epsilon \approx -0.5$\%. Here we use neutron scattering to show that the uniaxial stress induces a first-order transition to a SDW state with a different propagation vector $(0,\delta_B,1/2)$ with $\delta_B=0.25$. The magnetic structure of the new (B) phase consists of Ce layers with ordered moments alternating with layers with zero moment stacked along the $c$-axis. The ordered layers have an up-up-down-down configuration along the $b$-axis. This is an unusual situation in which the loss of spatial inversion is driven by the magnetic order. We argue that the change in SDW wavevector leads to Fermi surface reconstruction and a concomitant change in the transport properties., Comment: Final author version

We study single crystals of Dy$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ and Ho$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ under magnetic field and stress applied along their [001] direction. We find that many of the features that the emergent gauge field of spin ice confers to the macroscopic magnetic properties are preserved in spite of the finite temperature. The magnetisation vs. field shows an upward convexity within a broad range of fields, while the static and dynamic susceptibilities present a peculiar peak. Following this feature for both compounds, we determine a single experimental transition curve: that for the Kasteleyn transition in three dimensions, proposed more than a decade ago. Additionally, we observe that compression up to $-0.8\%$ along [001] does not significantly change the thermodynamics. However, the dynamical response of Ho$_2$Ti$_2$O$_7$ is quite sensitive to changes introduced in the ${\rm Ho}^{3+}$ environment. Uniaxial compression can thus open up experimental access to equilibrium properties of spin ice at low temperatures.

We report the development of a technique to measure heat capacity at large uniaxial pressure using a piezoelectric-driven device generating compressive and tensile strain in the sample. Our setup is optimized for temperatures ranging from 8 K down to millikelvin. Using an AC heat-capacity technique we are able to achieve an extremely high resolution and to probe a homogeneously strained part of the sample. We demonstrate the capabilities of our setup on the unconventional superconductor Sr$_2$RuO$_4$. By replacing thermometer and adjusting the remaining setup accordingly the temperature regime of the experiment can be adapted to other temperature ranges of interest., Comment: This manuscript is an extended version of the experimental methods part of arXiv:1906.07597, which is being split into two separate papers

We report a comprehensive Cu L$_3$-edge resonant x-ray scattering study of two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) incommensurate charge correlations in single crystals of the underdoped high-temperature superconductor YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{6.67}$ under uniaxial compression up to 1% along the two inequivalent Cu-O-Cu bond directions (a and b) in the CuO$_2$ planes. The pressure response of the 2D charge correlations is symmetric: pressure along a enhances correlations along b, and vice versa. Our results imply that the underlying order parameter is uniaxial. In contrast, 3D long-range charge order is only observed along b in response to compression along a. Spectroscopic resonant x-ray scattering measurements show that the 3D charge order resides exclusively in the CuO$_2$ planes and may thus be generic to the cuprates. We discuss implications of these results for models of electronic nematicity and for the interplay between charge order and superconductivity., Comment: Revised version - Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Lett

We report muon spin rotation and magnetic susceptibility experiments on in-plane stress effects on the static spin-stripe order and superconductivity in the cuprate system La2-xBaxCuO4 with x = 0.115. An extremely low uniaxial stress of 0.1 GPa induces a substantial decrease in the magnetic volume fraction and a dramatic rise in the onset of 3D superconductivity, from 10 to 32 K; however, the onset of at-least-2D superconductivity is much less sensitive to stress. These results show not only that large-volume-fraction spin-stripe order is anti-correlated with 3D superconducting (SC) coherence, but also that these states are energetically very finely balanced. Moreover, the onset temperatures of 3D superconductivity and spin-stripe order are very similar in the large stress regime. These results strongly suggest a similar pairing mechanism for spin-stripe order, the spatially-modulated 2D and uniform 3D SC orders, imposing an important constraint on theoretical models., Comment: To appear in Physical Review Letters (2020)

The Neutron Induced Fission Fragment Tracking Experiment (NIFFTE) collaboration has performed measurements with a fission time projection chamber (fissionTPC) to study the fission process by reconstructing full three-dimensional tracks of fission fragments and other ionizing radiation. The amount of linear momentum imparted to the fissioning nucleus by the incident neutron can be inferred by measuring the opening angle between the fission fragments. Using this measured linear momentum, fission fragment angular distributions can be converted to the center-of-mass frame for anisotropy measurements. Angular anisotropy is an important experimental observable for understanding the quantum mechanical state of the fissioning nucleus and vital to determining detection efficiency for cross section measurements. Neutron linear momentum transfer to fissioning $^{235}$U, $^{238}$U, and $^{239}$Pu and fission fragment angular anisotropy of $^{235}$U and $^{238}$U as a function of neutron energies in the range 130 keV--250 MeV are presented.

A key question regarding the unconventional superconductivity of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ remains whether the order parameter is single- or two-component. Under a hypothesis of two-component superconductivity, uniaxial pressure is expected to lift their degeneracy, resulting in a split transition. The most direct and fundamental probe of a split transition is heat capacity. Here, we report development of new high-frequency methodology for measurement of heat capacity of samples subject to large and highly homogeneous uniaxial pressure. We place an upper limit on the heat capacity signature of any second transition of a few per cent of the primary superconducting transition. The normalized jump in heat capacity, $\Delta C/C$, grows smoothly as a function of uniaxial pressure, but we find no qualitative evidence of a pressure-induced order parameter transition. Thanks to the high precision of our measurements, these findings place stringent constraints on theories of the superconductivity of Sr$_2$RuO$_4$., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, supplementary material included as separate PDF file

We provide a quantitative description of a method to measure neutron-induced fission cross sections in ratio to elastic hydrogen scattering in a white-source neutron beam with the fission Time Projection Chamber. This detector has measured precision fission cross section ratios using actinide references such as $^{235}$U(n,f) and $^{238}$U(n,f). However, by employing a more precise reference such as the H(n,el) cross section there is the potential to further reduce the evaluation uncertainties of the measured cross sections. In principle the fissionTPC could provide a unique measurement by simultaneously measuring both fission fragments and proton recoils over a large solid angle. We investigate one method with a hydrogenous gas target and with the neutron energy determined by the proton recoil kinematics. This method enables the measurement to be performed in a white-source neutron beam and with the current configuration of the fissionTPC. We show that while such a measurement is feasible in the energy range of 0.5 MeV to $\sim$10 MeV, uncertainties on the proton detection efficiency and the neutron energy resolution do not allow us to preform a fission ratio measurement to the desired precision. Utilizing either a direct measurement of the neutron time-of-flight for the recoil proton or a mono-energetic neutron source or some combination of both would provide a path to a sub-percent precision measurement.

The superconducting state in the quasi-two-dimensional and strongly correlated Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ is uniquely held up as a solid state analog to superfluid $^3$He-$A$, with an odd-parity order parameter that also breaks time reversal symmetry, and for which the vector order parameter has the same direction in spin space for all electron momenta. The recent discovery that uniaxial pressure causes a steep rise and maximum in transition temperature ($T_c$) in strained samples motivated the study of $^{17}$O nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) that we describe in this article. A reduction of Knight shifts $K$ was observed for all strain values and temperatures $T

Pressure represents a clean tuning parameter for traversing the complex phase diagrams of interacting electron systems and as such has proved of key importance in the study of quantum materials. Application of controlled uniaxial pressure has recently been shown to more than double the transition temperature of the unconventional superconductor Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ for example, leading to a pronounced peak in $T_\mathrm{c}$ vs. strain whose origin is still under active debate. Here, we develop a simple and compact method to apply large uniaxial pressures passively in restricted sample environments, and utilize this to study the evolution of the electronic structure of Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ using angle-resolved photoemission. We directly visualize how uniaxial stress drives a Lifshitz transition of the $\gamma$-band Fermi surface, pointing to the key role of strain-tuning its associated van Hove singularity to the Fermi level in mediating the peak in $T_\mathrm{c}$. Our measurements provide stringent constraints for theoretical models of the strain-tuned electronic structure evolution of Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$. More generally, our novel experimental approach opens the door to future studies of strain-tuned phase transitions not only using photoemission, but also other experimental techniques where large pressure cells or piezoelectric-based devices may be difficult to implement.

Evidence of nematic effects in the mixed superconducting phase of slightly underdoped $\text{Ba}(\text{Fe}_{1-x}\text{Co}_x)_2\text{As}_2$ is reported. We have found strong in-plane resistivity anisotropy for crystals in different strain conditions. For these compositions, there is no magnetic long range order, so the description may be ascribed to the interplay between the superconducting and nematic order parameters. A piezoelectric-based apparatus is used to apply tensile or compressive strain to tune nematic domain orientation in order to examine intrinsic nematicity. Measurements are done under a rotating magnetic field and the analysis of the angular dependence of physical quantities identifies the cases in which the sample is {\em detwinned}. Furthermore, the angular dependence of the data allows us to evaluate the effects of nematicity on the in-plane superconductor stiffness. Our results show that although nematicity contributes in a decisive way in the conduction properties, its contributions to the anisotropy properties of the stiffness of the superconducting order parameter is not as significant in these samples., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. Published in Phys. Rev. B on 28 February 2019

The effects of uniaxial compressive stress on the normal state $^{17}$O nuclear magnetic resonance properties of the unconventional superconductor Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ are reported. The paramagnetic shifts of both planar and apical oxygen sites show pronounced anomalies near the nominal $\mathbf{a}$-axis strain $\varepsilon_{aa}\equiv\varepsilon_v$, that maximizes the superconducting transition temperature, $T_{c}$. The spin susceptibility weakly increases on lowering the temperature below $T$$\simeq$10 K, consistent with an enhanced density of states associated with passing the Fermi energy through a van Hove singularity. Although such a Lifshitz transition occurs in the $\gamma$ band, formed by the Ru $d_{xy}$ states hybridized with in-plane O $p_{\pi}$ orbitals, the large Hund's coupling renormalizes the uniform spin susceptibilty, which, in turn, affects the hyperfine fields of all nuclei. We estimate this \textquotedblleft Stoner\textquotedblright\ renormalization, $S,$ by combining the data with first-principles calculations and conclude that this is an important part of the strain effect, with implications for superconductivity., Comment: 15 pages, 9+6 figures, 0+1 table

The Gardner transition is the transition that at mean-field level separates a stable glass phase from a marginally stable phase. This transition has similarities with the de Almeida-Thouless transition of spin glasses. We have studied a well-understood problem, that of disks moving in a narrow channel, which shows many features usually associated with the Gardner transition. However, we can show that some of these features are artifacts that arise when a disk escapes its local cage during the quench to higher densities. There is evidence that the Gardner transition becomes an avoided transition, in that the correlation length becomes quite large, of order 15 particle diameters, even in our quasi-one-dimensional system., Comment: Main text (4 pages, 6 figures) with supplemental material (3 pages, 2 figures)

The SeaQuest spectrometer at Fermilab was designed to detect oppositely-charged pairs of muons (dimuons) produced by interactions between a 120 GeV proton beam and liquid hydrogen, liquid deuterium and solid nuclear targets. The primary physics program uses the Drell-Yan process to probe antiquark distributions in the target nucleon. The spectrometer consists of a target system, two dipole magnets and four detector stations. The upstream magnet is a closed-aperture solid iron magnet which also serves as the beam dump, while the second magnet is an open aperture magnet. Each of the detector stations consists of scintillator hodoscopes and a high-resolution tracking device. The FPGA-based trigger compares the hodoscope signals to a set of pre-programmed roads to determine if the event contains oppositely-signed, high-mass muon pairs.

We measured the effects of periodic surface holes, created using a focused ion beam, on the phase diagram of the vortex matter in high-T_c Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+\delta} crystals. Differential magneto-optical measurements show that the irreversibility line is shifted to higher fields and temperatures, with respect to the pristine melting line. The irreversibility line displays weak field dependence between integer matching fields indicating multiple-flux-quanta pinning at holes. We find reduced equilibrium compressibility of the vortex matter at integer matching fields, which is strong evidence for the existence of thermodynamic Mott insulator phases. Shaking with a transverse ac field surprisingly reveals first-order melting that is not shifted with respect to the pristine melting line and that seems to occur within the Mott insulator regions. This melting is understood to be the first-order transition in the bulk of the crystal beneath the surface holes. The transition is visible at the surface, despite the reduced vortex compressibility in the top layer., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures. To appear in Physical Review B

Identifying the symmetry of the superconducting order parameter in the recently-discovered ferro-oxypnictide family of superconductors, RFeAsO$_{1-x}$F$_{y}$, where $R$ is a rare earth, is a high priority. Many of the proposed order parameters have internal $\pi$ phase shifts, like the d-wave order found in the cuprates, which would result in direction-dependent phase shifts in tunnelling. In dense polycrystalline samples, these phase shifts in turn would result in spontaneous orbital currents and magnetization in the superconducting state. We perform scanning SQUID microscopy on a dense polycrystalline sample of \NdFeAsO$_{0.94}$F$_{0.06}$ with $T_c=48$ K and find no such spontaneous currents, ruling out many of the proposed order parameters., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures; to appear in JPSJ

It is widely believed that the perovskite Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ is an unconventional superconductor with broken time reversal symmetry. It has been predicted that superconductors with broken time reversal symmetry should have spontaneously generated supercurrents at edges and domain walls. We have done careful imaging of the magnetic fields above Sr$_2$RuO$_4$ single crystals using scanning Hall bar and SQUID microscopies, and see no evidence for such spontaneously generated supercurrents. We use the results from our magnetic imaging to place upper limits on the spontaneously generated supercurrents at edges and domain walls as a function of domain size. For a single domain, this upper limit is below the predicted signal by two orders of magnitude. We speculate on the causes and implications of the lack of large spontaneous supercurrents in this very interesting superconducting system., Comment: 9 pages