In a many-body fermionic system, the suppression of continuous transitions to absolute zero can result in a low temperature quantum fluid which deviates strongly from typical metallic behaviour; unconventional superconductivity can be induced by the strange metal region surrounding the zero-temperature phase transition. In this thesis we focus on three systems which demonstrate a highly tunable phase transition, with the aim of pushing them toward the border of a zero-temperature phase transition, and potentially superconductivity. CeAgSb2 is a uniaxial 4f ferromagnet, where physical pressure or a transverse field may be used to tune the magnetic transition towards T = 0 K. Our investigations, however, did not reveal the presence of superconductivity. It is likely that the field tuned transition does not correspond to a true critical point, whilst the high pressure region may be occupied by an antiferromagnetic phase, with the true critical point at higher pressures. However, other interesting features emerge in the electrical resistivity and AC-susceptibility, along with novel thermodynamic signatures linking the magnetisation to the specific heat. The doping series Lu(1-x)YxFe2Ge2 shows an antiferromagnetic transition which is suppressed to absolute zero at a critical concentration x_c=0.2. YFe2Ge2 displays anomalous low temperature behaviour consistent with the proximity to quantum critical fluctuations, along with a superconducting transition which appears in the electrical resistivity beneath a critical temperature of T_c ~ 1.7 K. Using low temperature DC magnetisation measurements, we show that this is a bulk effect, and that the superconductivity in YFe2Ge2 is of type-II. The thermodynamic and BCS properties of the superconducting phase are analysed in line with the parameters we extract experimentally. The superconducting 3-4-13 stannides (Ca,Sr)3Ir4Sn13 show a high temperature structural transition which may be suppressed by the application of hydrostatic pressure or effective chemical pressure. A superconducting dome is found, which appears to peak near where the structural transition extrapolates to zero temperature. Anomalous exponents are seen in the electrical resistivity over a wide temperature range. We investigate the influence of pressure on the superconducting critical temperature in Ca3Ir4Sn13 and the related compound Co3Ca4Sn13, along with an analysis of the upper critical field and flux-line phenomena in Ca3Ir4Sn13 and Sr3Ir4Sn13.

At low temperatures, strongly correlated materials, which typically contain partially filled d- or f-electron shells, often exhibit phases with interesting properties, which may be of both research value and technological significance. The mechanisms of phase formation in them if could be clarified, are believed to be able to provide important insights not only into physics but also into the design of new materials. In this thesis, the experimental study of two strongly correlated materials, Sr₂RuO₄ and CeAuSb₂ is presented. Sr₂RuO₄ is an unconventional superconductor, and a strong candidate for spin-triplet superconductivity. Its potential significance in relation to quantum computing also makes it of great scientific interest. In order to clarify the role of the Van Hove singularity (VHS) in its superconductivity, experimental study has been performed with the recently developed uniaxial strain methods. The experimental results suggest that as the sample is compressed towards the VHS, the transition temperature can be enhanced by a factor of =2.3 whilst the upper critical field can be enhanced by a factor of more than ten. The experimental findings are intriguing and new possibilities are open for future study. CeAuSb₂ is a Kondo lattice system which has been speculated to be close to a quantum critical point. The similarity between some of its low temperature properties and those of a well-known quantum critical system Sr₃Ru₂O₇ makes it especially interesting. In this thesis, new magnetoresistivity and torque magnetometry measurements are used to clarify its low temperature phase diagram, and reveal the strength of its magnetic anisotropy.

Dans les supraconducteurs de type II, le champ magnétique pénètre le matériau sous forme de vortex, tourbillon de courants supraconducteurs circulant autour d'un c¿ur normal. Dans les travaux de cette thèse, nous montrons comment le confinement d'un système à une échelle comparable à la longueur de cohérence ? nanométrique modifie sensiblement ses propriétés supraconductrices.Cette étude est menée dans des nanostructures de plomb déposé in-situ sur un substrat de silicium (111), puis mesurées par spectroscopie à effet tunnel, sous UHV, à 300 mK et sous champ magnétique.En confinement extrême (taille latérale D<<10 ?), le système créé des vortex Géants, objets quantiques prédits théoriquement depuis 45 ans. En confinement plus faible (D~10 ?), les vortex peuvent être piégés, s'organisent ensuite en réseau triangulaire d'Abrikosov, puis s'interpénètrent avec le champ magnétique croissant.Les îlots de Pb cristallins supraconducteurs sont reliés entre eux par une monocouche de mouillage de Pb, ici désordonnée et non supraconductrice. Au voisinage des îlots, cette couche acquiert des caractéristiques spectroscopiques spécifiques qui reflètent la supraconductivité induite par proximité et les interactions entre électrons de type Altshuler-Aronov. L'évolution spatiale des spectres tunnel sont simulés en combinant les équations d'Usadel et la théorie du blocage de Coulomb dynamique.En réduisant la distance entre les îlots, l'effet de proximité autour de chacun se recouvre, ce qui forme une jonction Josephson. Sont étudiés finement le nombre, la position, le spectre et la forme des c¿urs de vortex Josephson sous champ magnétique, à travers une grande panoplie de jonctions. / In type II superconductors, the applied magnetic field penetrates the material in quanta of flux called vortices, vortices of superconducting currents circulating around a normal core. In the work of this thesis, we show how the confinement of a system to a scale comparable to the nanometric coherent length ? substantially modifies its superconducting properties.This study is carried out in nanostructures of lead deposited in-situ on a silicon (111) substrate, then studied by scanning tunneling spectroscopy, under UHV, at 300 mK, and under magnetic field. In extremely confinement (lateral size D<<10 ?), systems create Giant vortices, quantum objects predicted 45 years ago. In the weakly confinement (D~10 ?), vortices may be pinned, then are organized in the triangular Abrikosov lattice, finally interpenetrate in surface superconductivity with the increasing magnetic field. Crystalline superconducting Pb islands are here connected by a disordered non-superconducting wetting layer of Pb. In the vicinity of each superconducting island, the wetting layer acquires specific tunnelling characteristics which reflect the interplay between the proximity induced superconductivity and the inherent electron correlations of this ultimate diffusive two-dimensional metal. Spatial evolution of the tunnel spectra are simulated by combining the Usadel equations and the theory of dynamic Coulomb blockade. With reducing the distance between the islands, the proximity effect around each overlaps and forms a Josephson junction. Thanks to the tunneling spectroscopy, number, position, the spectrum and the form of Josephson vortex cores are studied in detail for a large variety of junctions.

Cette thèse s'intéresse à l'étude de la supraconductivité bidimensionnelle à l'interface entre les oxydes LaAlO3 et SrTiO3 contrôlée par effet de champ électrique. Lorsqu'on fait croître une couche mince de quelques mailles atomiques de LaAlO3 sur un substrat de SrTiO3, l'interface devient conductrice, et même supraconductrice au-dessous de 300mK, bien que ces deux oxydes de structure pérovskite soient des isolants. Il se forme ainsi un gaz bidimensionnel d'électrons de haute mobilité, dont les propriétés - supraconductivité et fort couplage spin-orbite de type Rashba - peuvent être contrôlées par effet de champ électrique à l'aide d'une Back Gate. Nous avons étudié cette supraconductivité bidimensionnelle par trois approches expérimentales différentes : l'étude de la transition supraconductrice en température à l'aide du modèle de Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless incluant une distribution inhomogène de rigidité ; l'analyse par le groupe de renormalisation de la transition de phase quantique supraconducteur-isolant induite par un champ magnétique perpendiculaire à l'interface selon le modèle de Spivak, Oreto et Kivelson ; et enfin l'étude de l'hystérèse du courant critique ainsi que de sa nature probabiliste dans le cadre du modèle RCSJ. Nous proposons donc de considérer l'interface comme un réseau de flaques supraconductrices couplées par effet Josephson à travers un gaz 2D métallique, dont la transition est régie par le modèle XY des fluctuations de phase. Enfin, nous avons démontré pour la première fois la possibilité de contrôler les propriétés du gaz 2D à l'aide d'une Top Gate, et comparé les effets des deux grilles (Top ou Back Gate). / In this PhD work, we study the field-effect modulated two-dimensional superconductivity at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 oxides hetero-interface. When one grows epitaxially a few unit cells thin film of LaAlO3 on a SrTiO3 substrate, the interface becomes conducting, and even superconducting below 300mK, although these two perovskite oxides are insulators. The properties of this high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas – superconductivity and strong Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling - can be field-effect modulated by the mean of a Back Gate. We have investigated this two-dimensional superconductivity through three different experimental approaches : the temperature-driven transition with the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless model including an inhomogeneous distribution of rigidity ; the finite-size scaling analysis of the superconductor-to-insulator quantum phase transition induced by a perpendicular magnetic field using the model developed by Spivak, Oreto and Kivelson ; and finally the measure of the hysteretic and stochastic properties of the critical current in the framework of the RCSJ model. We hence propose to consider this 2D electron gas as an inhomogeneous network of superconducting puddles coupled to one another by Josephson effect through a normal metallic matrix, which transition is dominated by the XY model of the phase fluctuations. Finally, we demonstrated for the first time the possibility of Top Gated-control of this interface, and we investigated the compared effects of Top and Back Gating.

In this work I present a constructive method for finding critical points of the Ginzburg-Landau energy functional using the method of Sobolev gradients. I give a description of the construction of the Sobolev gradient and obtain convergence results for continuous steepest descent with this gradient. I study the Ginzburg-Landau functional with magnetic field and the Ginzburg-Landau functional without magnetic field. I then present the numerical results I obtained by using steepest descent with the discretized Sobolev gradient.

abstract: The chemical, structural, and electrical properties of niobium-silicon, niobium-germanium, and YBCO-dielectric interfaces are characterized. Reduction in the concentration of interfacial defects in these structures can improve the performance of (i) many devices including low-loss coplanar, microstrip, and stripline microwave resonators used in next-generation cryogenic communication, sensor, and quantum information technologies and (ii) layers used in device isolation, inter-wiring dielectrics, and passivation in microwave and Josephson junction circuit fabrication. Methods were developed to synthesize amorphous-Ge (a-Ge) and homoepitaxial-Si dielectric thin-films with loss tangents of 1–2×10 -6 and 0.6–2×10 -5 at near single-photon powers and sub-Kelvin temperatures (≈40 mK), making them potentially a better choice over undoped silicon and sapphire substrates used in quantum devices. The Nb/Ge interface has 20 nm of chemical intermixing, which is reduced by a factor of four using 10 nm Ta diffusion layers. Niobium coplanar resonators using this structure exhibit reduced microwave losses. The nature and concentration of defects near Nb-Si interfaces prepared with commonly-used Si surface treatments were characterized. All samples have H, C, O, F, and Cl in the Si within 50 nm of the interface, and electrically active defects with activation energies of 0.147, 0.194, 0.247, 0.339, and 0.556 eV above the valence band maximum (E vbm ), with concentrations dominated by a hole trap at E vbm +0.556 eV (presumably Nb Si ). The optimum surface treatment is an HF etch followed by an in-situ 100 eV Ar ion mill. RCA etches, and higher energy ion milling processes increase the concentration of electrically active defects. A thin SrTiO 3 buffer layer used in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ superconductor/high-performance Ba(Zn 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 and Ba(Cd 1/3 Ta 2/3 )O 3 microwave dielectric trilayers improves the structural quality of the layers and results in 90 K superconductor critical temperatures. This advance enables the production of more compact high-temperature superconductor capacitors, inductors, and microwave microstrip and stripline devices. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Materials Science and Engineering 2020

Dans cette thèse, je me suis principalement intéressé aux effets liés aux impuretés magnétiques dans les métaux et supraconducteurs. Dans le premier chapitre je présenterai l’effet Kondo, celui-ci se produit lorsqu’une impureté magnétique présente un couplage antiferromagnétique avec le métal qu’elle pollue. Les électrons forment alors, à suffisamment basse température, un nuage écrantant le magnétisme de l’impureté. Le deuxième chapitre portera sur les états de Yu-Shiba-Rusinov produits par des impuretés magnétiques dans un supraconducteur. Dans ce cas, l’impureté brise localement l’ordre supraconducteur et un état quantique est crée à l’intérieur du gap.Certains matériaux dits topologiques peuvent comporter des états quantiques protégés à leurs bords contre les perturbations extérieures. Dans les deux derniers chapitres, je présenterai les propriétés des supraconducteurs topologiques et leurs états de bords. Dans le troisième chapitre je présenterai les différentes phases topologiques que peut comporter un supraconducteur avec un paramètre d’ordre complexe mélangeant ondes p et s en présence d’un champ Zeeman. Dans le quatrième et dernier chapitre je présenterai une étude des états de bords que peut comporter ce type de supraconducteurs. / In this thesis, I was mainly interested in the effects related to magnetic impurities in metals and superconductors.In the first chapter I will present the Kondo effect, this effect occurs when a magnetic impurity exhibits an antiferromagnetic coupling with the metal that it pollutes. The electrons then form, at a sufficiently low temperature, a cloud screening the magnetism of the impurity. The second chapter will focus on the states of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov products by magnetic impurities in a superconductor. In this case, the impurity locally breaks the superconducting order and a quantum state is created inside the gap.Some so-called topological materials may include quantum states protected at their edges against external perturbations. In the last two chapters, I will present the properties of topological superconductors and their edge states. In the third chapter I will present the different topological phases that can include a superconductor with a parameter of complex order mixing waves p and s in the presence of a Zeeman field.In the fourth and last chapter I will present a study of the states of edge that may include this type of superconductors.

La supraconductivité par effet de proximité est un phénomène apparaissant à basse températures qui confère des propriétés supraconductrices à un métal normal cohérent de phase connecté à des électrodes supraconductrices. C'est aussi un outil puissant de la physique mésoscopique, car il est sensible aux différents régimes de transport à basse température. En particulier, nous avons utilisé cet effet afin de révéler les propriétés électroniques spéciales de nanofils de Bi monocrystallins. Dans ce système, le transport est dominé par la surface. De plus, la présence de fort couplage spin-orbite dans le Bi à basse dimension influence profondément sa structure de bande : la bicouche de Bi orienté selon la direction (111) a été prédite d'être isolante dans le volume, mais conductrice sur les bords. Cet effet, appelé l'effet Hall quantique de spin donne lieu a deux états chiraux contra-propageants, qui sont insensibles au désordre tant que la symétrie par renversement du temps est préservée.A travers l'observation de la robustesse du courant critique à fort champ magnétique dans plusieurs échantillons, en même temps que des intérférences de type SQUID à bas champ magnétique, nous avons montré l'existence d'états de bord 1D portant le supercourant. La mesure de la relation courant-phase grâce à la technique de SQUID asymétrique sur un nanofil caractérisé auparavant a été réalisée et démontre que ces canaux sont en fait balistiques. Ces résultats sont compatibles avec des simulations de type liaisons fortes, qui étendent les résultats connus pour la bicouche de Bi (111) aux systèmes de type nanofil. L'ajout d'un champ Zeeman dans le plan permet d'observer des transitions 0-π, révélant ainsi des croisements de niveaux induits par la séparation en spin des états d'Andreev. Enfin, des mesures de la susceptibilité dynamique de ce système via des mesures de spectroscopie micro-onde ont été mises en place, et pourraient démontrer de manière univoque la propriété de protection topologique contre le désordre, d'après nos simulations numériques. / The superconducting proximity effect is a phenomenon occurring at low temperatures that conveys superconducting properties to a phase coherent normal metal sample connected to superconducting electrodes. It is also a powerful tool in mesoscopic physics because it is sensitive to different transport regimes at low temperatures. In particular, we have used this effect to reveal the special electronic transport properties of single crystal Bi nanowires. In this system, the transport is dominated by surface states. Moreover, the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling in Bi at low dimensions deeply influences its electronic structure : it was predicted that (111) oriented Bi bilayer are insulating in the bulk, but conducting along the edges. This so called Quantum Spin Hall Effect (QSHE), gives rise to counterpropagating chiral edge states, that are protected against disorder as long as time reversal symmetry is present.Through the observation of the resilience of the critical current in several samples at high magnetic field, along with SQUID-like interference pattern at low magnetic field, we showed the existence of supercurrent carrying 1D edge states. The measurement of the current-phase relation using the asymetric SQUID technique on a previously characterized nanowire was realized and further demonstrates that these edge states are ballistic. These findings are consistent with tight-binding simulations that extend the known results for (111) Bi bilayer to nanowire-like system. The addition of an in-plane Zeeman field allows one to observe 0-π transitions, thereby revealing spin-splitting induced Andreev level crossings. Finally, microwave spectroscopy measurement of the dynamical susceptibility in this system are initiated, that could reliably demonstrate the property of protection against disorder according to numerical simulations.By exploring Bi at low dimensions, this thesis paves the way towards the exploration of electronic states fully protected from disorder.

abstract: Recent developments inspired by string theoretic considerations provide multiple maps between gravitational and non-gravitational degrees of freedom. In this dis- sertation I discuss aspects of three such dualities, the gauge/gravity duality and how it applies to condensed matter systems, the fluid-gravity duality, and the color-kinematics duality. The first of these, colloquially referred to as holography, in its simplest form posits a mapping of d-dimensional conformal field theory (boundary) partition functions onto d+1 dimensional gravitational(bulk) partition functions, where the space-time carries a negative cosmological constant. In this dissertation I discuss the results of our calculations examining the emergence of Fermi-surface like structures in the bulk spacetime despite the absence of explicit Fermions in the theory.Specifically the 4+1 dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-Chern-Simons theory with scalar degrees of freedom, with and without symmetry breaking is considered. These theories are gravity duals to spatially modulated gauge theories. The results of calculations presented here indicate the existence of a rich phase space, most prominently Fermi shells are seen. The second set of dualities considered are the color-kinematic duality, also known as the double-copy paradigm and the fluid-gravity duality. The color-kinematic duality involves identifying spin-2 amplitudes as squares of spin-1 gauge amplitudes. This double copy picture is utilized to construct “single copy” representations for space- times where Einstein’s equations reduce to incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. In this dissertation I show how spacetimes that characterize irrotational fluids and constant vorticity fluids each map to distinct algebraically special spacetimes. The Maxwell fields obtained via the double-copy picture for such spacetimes further provide interesting parallels, for instance, the vorticity of the fluid is proportional to the magnetic field of the associated gauge field. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Physics 2020

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(理学) / 甲第22235号 / 理博第4549号 / 新制||理||1654(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院理学研究科物理学・宇宙物理学専攻 / (主査)教授 前野 悦輝, 教授 松田 祐司, 教授 佐藤 昌利 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Science / Kyoto University / DFAM