Robust superconductivity and the suppression of charge-density wave in the quasi-skutteruditesCa3(Ir1-xRhx)4Sn13single crystals at ambient pressure.

Single crystals of the quasi-skutterudite compounds Ca3(Ir1-xRhx)4Sn13(3-4-13) were synthesized by flux growth and characterized by x-ray diffraction, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, magnetization, resistivity, and radio frequency magnetic susceptibility techniques. The coexistence and competition between the charge density wave (CDW) and superconductivity was studied by varying the Rh/Ir ratio. The superconducting transition temperature,Tc, varies from 7 K in pure Ir (x = 0) to 8.3 K in pure Rh (x = 1). Temperature-dependent electrical resistivity reveals monotonic suppression of the CDW transition temperature,TCDW(x). The CDW starts in pure Ir,x = 0, atTCDW≈ 40 K and extrapolates roughly linearly to zero atxc≈0.53-0.58 under the superconducting dome. Magnetization and transport measurements show a significant influence of CDW on superconducting and normal states. Meissner expulsion is substantially reduced in the CDW region, indicating competition between the CDW and superconductivity. The low-temperature resistivity is higher in the CDW part of the phase diagram, consistent with the reduced density of states due to CDW gapping. Its temperature dependence just aboveTcshows signs of non-Fermi liquid behavior in a cone-like composition pattern. We conclude that the Ca3(Ir1-xRhx)4Sn13alloy is a good candidate for a composition-driven quantum critical point at ambient pressure.

Magnetoelectric behavior via a spin state transition.

In magnetoelectric materials, magnetic and dielectric/ferroelectric properties couple to each other. This coupling could enable lower power consumption and new functionalities in devices such as sensors, memories and transducers, since voltages instead of electric currents are sensing and controlling the magnetic state. We explore a different approach to magnetoelectric coupling in which we use the magnetic spin state instead of the more traditional ferro or antiferromagnetic order to couple to electric properties. In our molecular compound, magnetic field induces a spin crossover from the S = 1 to the S = 2 state of Mn3+, which in turn generates molecular distortions and electric dipoles. These dipoles couple to the magnetic easy axis, and form different polar, antipolar and paraelectric phases vs magnetic field and temperature. Spin crossover compounds are a large class of materials where the spin state can modify the structure, and here we demonstrate that this is a route to magnetoelectric coupling.