Related papers: Modulated Anti-Ferroelectric Smectic Phases with O…
Neutron diffraction and nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) measurements were employed to investigate magnetic order in the non-ferroelectric phase preceding the low-temperature multiferroic state in FeTe2O5Br. Refnement of the neutron…
Regulation of topological structures and pattern formation is attracting wide interest in the field of condensed matter. Liquid crystals (LCs) represent soft matter with a remarkable combination of fluidity and anisotropic properties.…
We present a theory of the electron smectic fixed point of the stripe phases of doped layered Mott insulators. We show that in the presence of a spin gap three phases generally arise: (a) a smectic superconductor, (b) an insulating stripe…
Antiferromagnetic (AFM) semiconductor MnS$_2$ possesses both high-spin and low-spin magnetic phases that can be reversibly switched by applying pressure. With increasing pressure, the high-spin state undergoes pressure-induced metalization…
Surface interactions are responsible for many properties of condensed matter, ranging from crystal faceting to the kinetics of phase transitions. Usually, these interactions are polar along the normal to the interface and apolar within the…
Correlated electron fluids can exhibit a startling array of complex phases, among which one of the more surprising is the electron nematic, a translationally invariant metallic phase with a spontaneously generated spatial anisotropy.…
We explore surface alignment and edge dislocations in the recently discovered twist-bend ferroelectric nematic, NTBF, in which the vector of spontaneous polarization follows an oblique helicoidal trajectory around a polar twist-bend axis.…
Chiral smectic liquid crystals exhibit a series of phases, including ferroelectric, antiferroelectric and ferrielectric commensurate structures as well as an incommensurate SmCalpha phase. We carried out an extension of the phenomenological…
The recently discovered ferroelectric nematic liquids incorporate to the functional combination of fluidity, processability and anisotropic optical properties of nematic liquids, an astonishing range of physical properties derived from the…
The character of the ground state of an antiferromagnetic insulator is fundamentally altered upon addition of even a small amount of charge. The added charges agglomerate along domain walls at which the spin correlations, which may or may…
We investigate the electronic structure and the ferroelectric properties of the recently discovered multiferroic ScFeO$_3$ by means of ab-initio calculations. The $3d$ manifold of Fe in the half-filled configuration naturally favors an…
The twist-grain-boundary (TGB) phases, characterized by a periodic, helical arrangement of blocks made of polar smectic phases, SmAF and SmCF, have been discovered. They have been observed for rod-like molecules with a strong longitudinal…
We have investigated the nature of the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase induced by uniaxial stress sigma in URu2Si2, by performing elastic neutron scattering measurements up to 0.4 GPa. We have found that the AF Bragg-peak intensity shows a…
The nature of the "failed" ferroelectric transition in SrTiO3 has been a long-standing puzzle in condensed matter physics. A compelling explanation is the competition between ferroelectricity and an instability with a mesoscopic modulation…
Correlated oxides can exhibit complex magnetic patterns, characterized by domains with vastly different size, shape and magnetic moment spanning the material. Understanding how magnetic domains form in the presence of chemical disorder and…
For multi-stage, displacive structural transitions we present a general framework that accounts for various intermediate modulated phases, elastic constant, phonon and related thermodynamic anomalies. Based on the presence or absence of…
We demonstrate an exceptional ability of a high-polarisation 3D ferroelectric liquid to form freely-suspended fluid fibres at room temperature. Unlike fluid threads in modulated smectics and columnar phases, where translational order is a…
Metal-organic frameworks comprehend a wide class of hybrid organic-inorganic materials with general structure A$_m$BX$_n$, with $A$ and $X$ being organic molecules and B a metal cation. This often results in enhanced structural flexibility…
We have carried out a spectroscopic study on a prototype ferroelectric nematic material (RM7343) doped with a non-polar chiral compound. The mixture presents two chiral nematic phases, one conventional (N*) and the other polar (NF*), whose…
Spin nematic (SN) is a magnetic analog of classical liquid crystals, a fourth state of matter exhibiting characteristics of both liquid and solid. Particularly intriguing is a valence-bond SN, in which spins are quantum entangled to form a…