Piezoelectric-based apparatus for strain tuning

Hicks, Clifford W.; Barber, Mark E.; Edkins, Stephen; Brodsky, Daniel; Mackenzie, A. P.

doi:10.1063/1.4881611

Cited by 169 publications

(179 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…They are therefore large installations allowing for neither cooling of the sample below room temperature, nor application of magnetic fields, both required for the investigation of modulated long-period magnetic structures. Small strain cells that enable investigation of the effects of strain on electrical transport, bulk magnetization, or nuclear magnetic resonance at low temperatures have been developed, 16 and can be obtained commercially in some cases, but, due to the relatively large samples ( 1 mm 3 ) required for SANS, these strain cells are unsuitable for this purpose.…”

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“…The brackets ensure that the sample is fully embedded in epoxy at its attachment points; this method has the advantage of a more even strain distribution that prevents "bowing" of the sample which was observed in a previously report where the sample was attached using on one of its long surfaces. 16 . Stycast epoxy was used due to its known ability to withstand high pressures, relevant for compression, 28 but equally due to its demonstrated favorable cryogenic tensile properties.…”

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“…2. We note that strain cell designs for bulk measurements, which expect significantly smaller samples, utilize piezo-electric stacks to apply strain, 16 the advantages being their ability to produce large forces on the sample, and easy controllability via applied voltage. However, the stroke of piezo-electric stacks is only in the range of a few µm, and therefore cannot be utilized for the large samples required for SANS (typically > 1 mm 3 ).…”

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Versatile strain-tuning of modulated long-period magnetic structures

Fobes

Luo

León-Brito

et al. 2017

Applied Physics Letters

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We report a detailed small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) study of the skyrmion lattice phase of MnSi under compressive and tensile strain. In particular, we demonstrate that tensile strain applied in the skyrmion lattice plane, perpendicular to the magnetic field, acts to destabilize the skyrmion lattice phase. This experiment was enabled by our development of a versatile strain cell, unique in its ability to select the application of either tensile or compressive strain in-situ by using two independent helium-actuated copper pressure transducers, whose design has been optimized for magnetic SANS on modulated long-period magnetic structures and vortex lattices, and is compact enough to fit in common sample environments, such as cryostats and superconducting magnets.Modulated long-period magnetic structures incommensurate to the underlying crystal structure have been demonstrated to be at the heart of a wide range of phenomena in solid-state physics such as the magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic materials, 1 the magnetocaloric effect, 2 , the emergence of topologically-stabilized magnetic defects such as solitons 3 and skyrmions, 4 and unconventional superconductivity. In the latter case, long-period magnetic arrangements arise in two distinct forms, namely the underlying long-range ordered antiferromagnetic state whose critical fluctuations are believed to mediate unconventional superconductivity, 5 and the vortex lattice that forms in type-II superconductors, 6 which in some cases are intimately coupled to one another. 7 This makes long-period magnetic structures relevant for applications ranging from solid-state cooling to energy-applications to data storage and spintronics.Strain frequently represents an important tuning parameter in the optimization of the desired material response related to these phenomena. For example, in multiferroic materials, the ferroelectric polarization is strongly coupled to the underlying crystal structure, which can be tuned by strain, and will affect the magnetization via magnetostriction. 8 Likewise, uniaxial strain can be utilized to alter magnetic exchange integral overlap along a specific direction, and thus introduce or enhance magnetic anisotropy. It has also been demonstrated that magnetic anisotropy in magnetocaloric materials results in the rotating magnetocaloric effect, which is believed to facilitate the implementation of magnetic cooling. 9 Additionally, uniaxial magnetic anisotropy has been shown to increase the stability of skyrmion lattice phases. 10-14 Finally, in the iron pnictide family of materials the antiferromagnetic and unconventional superconducting states show extreme sensitivity to strain. 15 Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has proven itself to be one of the most powerful probes to study relevant microscopic parameters of modulated long-period magnetic structures, such as the order parameter and the period, and is a crucial tool for the study of superconducting vortex lattices. 6 However, most available insitu strain application options f...

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Versatile strain-tuning of modulated long-period magnetic structures

Fobes

Luo

León-Brito

et al. 2017

Applied Physics Letters

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“…Applying a large amount of tensile strain in a controllable fashion to macroscopic crystals has been difficult until very recently when a tri-piezo technique 13 was introduced to enhance the superconducting transition temperature of Sr 2 RuO 4 with strain, which is the fractional change of the sample length 14 . For this study we have adopted this technique and constructed a strain set-up that can apply between −0.5% and 1% strain to SmB 6 crystals (see Methods).…”

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“…As shown in Fig. 1a, the piezo stacks and titanium pieces are arranged so that they compensate for differential thermal contraction 13 . Naturally needle-shaped SmB 6 crystals obtained directly from growth were mounted to the gap between the titanium pieces using hard cryogenic epoxy.…”

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Surface-dominated conduction up to 240 K in the Kondo insulator SmB6 under strain

et al. 2017

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SmB 6 is a strongly correlated mixed-valence Kondo insulator 1,2 with a newly discovered surface state 3,4 , proposed to be of non-trivial topological origin 5,6 . However, the surface state dominates electrical conduction only below T * ≈ 4 K (ref. 3), limiting its scientific investigation and device application. Here, we report the enhancement of T * in SmB 6 under the application of tensile strain. With 0.7% tensile strain we report surface-dominated conduction at up to a temperature of 240 K, persisting even after the strain has been removed. This can be explained in the framework of strain-tuned temporal and spatial fluctuations of f-electron configurations, which might be generally applied to other mixed-valence materials. We note that this amount of strain can be induced in epitaxial SmB 6 films via substrate in potential device applications.SmB 6 is a prototypical Kondo insulator, a material where the quantum mechanical hybridization between the conduction and f -electronic orbitals leads to an opening of a narrow Kondo gap near the Fermi energy 1,2 . Experimental observations of the robust surface conductivity on the background of the fully insulating bulk 3,4 and quantum oscillations from a two-dimensional surface 7 both contribute to the highly non-trivial nature of an insulating state in SmB 6 . SmB 6 has so far attracted much attention as a prominent candidate material for a strongly correlated topological insulator 5,6,8 . It is noteworthy to mention that the first application of SmB 6 as a radiofrequency micro-oscillator device 9 has been recently demonstrated, operating at cryogenic temperatures.Due to the small value of the bandgap ∆, scientific investigations and device applications of SmB 6 have thus far been limited to temperatures below the resistance saturation temperature T *

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Modulations in Superconductors: Probes of Underlying Physics

et al. 2023

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development of various modulations techniques, breakthroughs in quantum materials are achieved, such as the quantum anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in topological insulators, [1][2][3][4] gate-tuned roomtemperature ferromagnetism in 2D van der Waals materials, [5][6][7][8] and emergent magnetic monopoles in artificial spin ice. [9] Especially, as the quantum materials of particular interest with zero dissipation, superconductors have been intensively studied with advanced modulations, aiming to reveal a plethora of emergent phenomena in condensed matter physics, such as superconductor-to-insulator transitions (SIT), [10][11][12] intermediate bosonic metallic state, [13] Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC)-Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) crossover, [14,15] and intertwined orders, [16][17][18] as well as to develop applications in quantum computing [19][20][21] and ultrasensitive detections. [22][23][24] The superconductivity composes of two ingredients, including the Cooper pairs, each formed by two electrons, and phase coherence among Cooper pairs. [25] Superconductors such as metals and alloys are in the weak-coupling regime, which is well understood by BCS theory. [26,27] However, the later discovered superconductors, including cuprates, iron-based superconductors, and heavy-fermion superconductors, are strongly correlated systems, where a widely accepted microscopic mechanism yet remains absent. Therefore, various modulations have been utilized for the ultimate understanding of these superconductors and routines for room temperature superconductivity. Traditional modulations, such as elemental substitution, annealing, and polarization-induced gating are usually accompanied by some severe problems, including discontinuity, disorders, and limited ranges. Recently, state-of-the-art techniques have been developed with improved convenience, increased capability, and unprecedented dimensionalities, enabling more thorough investigations of unconventional superconductors.As a manifestation, we take some examples discussed in this review in advance. The carrier density can be tuned more conveniently and continuously. The techniques of ionic field-effect transistor (iFET) and electric double-layer transistor (EDLT) surpass conventional methods limited by solid solubility or dielectric breakdown, which enables the more precise phase diagram and detailed scaling analysis at the quantum phaseThe importance of modulations is elevated to an unprecedented level, due to the delicate conditions required to bring out exotic phenomena in quantum materials, such as topological materials, magnetic materials, and superconductors. Recently, state-of-the-art modulation techniques in material science, such as electric-double-layer transistor, piezoelectric-based strain apparatus, angle twisting, and nanofabrication, have been utilized in superconductors. They not only efficiently increase the tuning capability to the broader ranges but also extend the tuning dimensionality to unprecedented degrees of freedom, including quantum fluctuations of...

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Piezoelectric-based apparatus for strain tuning

Cited by 169 publications

References 20 publications

Versatile strain-tuning of modulated long-period magnetic structures

Versatile strain-tuning of modulated long-period magnetic structures

Surface-dominated conduction up to 240 K in the Kondo insulator SmB6 under strain

Modulations in Superconductors: Probes of Underlying Physics

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