Abstract
A variety of compounds, for example, doped paraelectrics and polar metals, exhibit both ferroelectricity and correlated electronic phenomena such as low-density superconductivity and anomalous transport. Characterizing such properties is tied to understanding the quantum dynamics of inversion symmetry breaking in the presence of itinerant electrons. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the properties of a metal near a quantum critical transition to a ferroelectric state, in both two and three dimensions. Starting from a minimal model of electrons coupled to a transverse polar phonon via a Rashba-type spin-orbit interaction, we compute the dynamical response of both electrons and phonons. We find that the system can evince both Fermi and non-Fermi liquid phases, as well as enhanced pairing in both singlet and triplet channels. Furthermore, we systematically compute corrections to one-loop theory and find a tendency to quantum order-by-disorder, leading to a phase diagram that can include second-order, first-order, and finite-momentum phase transitions. Finally, we show that the entire phase diagram can be controlled via application of external strain, either compressive or volume-preserving. Our results provide a map of the dynamical and thermodynamical phase space of quantum ferroelectic metals, which can serve in characterizing existing materials and in seeking applications for quantum technologies.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 165110 |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 107 |
Issue number | 16 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 15 Apr 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023 American Physical Society.
Funding
We thank A. V. Chubukov, D. M. Maslov, A. Kumar, P. Volkov, J. Schmalian, M. H. Christensen, M. Feigel'man, A. Kundu, M. Navarro-Gastiasoro, D. Pelc, and D. van der Marel for many helpful discussions. A.K. and J.R. acknowledge support by the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), and the Israeli Directorate for Defense Research and Development (DDR&D) under Grant No. 3467/21. V.K. was supported by the Quantum Materials program at LBNL, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. A part of the work by V.K. was performed at Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. PHY-1607611 and by a grant from the Simons Foundation. R.M.F. was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy through the University of Minnesota Center for Quantum Materials, under Grant No. DE-SC-0016371
Funders | Funder number |
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DDR&D | 3467/21 |
Israeli Directorate for Defense Research and Development | |
University of Minnesota Center for Quantum Materials | DE-SC-0016371 |
National Science Foundation | PHY-1607611 |
U.S. Department of Energy | DE-AC02-05CH11231 |
Simons Foundation | |
Israel Science Foundation |