TY - GEN A1 - Cea, Tommaso A1 - Bucheli, Daniel A1 - Seibold, Götz A1 - Benfatto, Lara A1 - Lorenzana, José A1 - Castellani, Claudio T1 - Optical excitation of phase modes in strongly disordered superconductors T2 - Physical Review B N2 - According to the Goldstone theorem the breaking of a continuous U(1) symmetry comes along with the existence of low-energy collective modes. In the context of superconductivity these excitations are related to the phase of the superconducting (SC) order parameter and for clean systems are optically inactive; that is, single-mode excitations do not directly couple to light. Here we show that for strongly disordered superconductors phase modes acquire a dipole moment and appear as a subgap spectral feature in the optical conductivity. This finding is obtained with both a gauge-invariant random-phase approximation scheme based on a fermionic Bogoliubov–de Gennes state and a prototypical bosonic model for disordered superconductors. In the strongly disordered regime, where the system displays an effective granularity of the SC properties, the optically active dipoles are linked to the isolated SC islands, offering a new perspective for realizing microwave optical devices. Y1 - 2014 UR - http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.174506 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.174506 SN - 2469-9969 VL - 89 SP - 174506 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bucheli, Daniel A1 - Grilli, Marco A1 - Peronaci, F. A1 - Seibold, Götz A1 - Caprara, Sergio T1 - Phase diagrams of voltage-gated oxide interfaces with strong Rashba coupling T2 - Physical Review B N2 - We propose a model for the two-dimensional electron gas formed at the interface of oxide heterostructures that includes a Rashba spin-orbit coupling proportional to an electric field oriented perpendicularly to the interface. Taking into account the electron density dependence of this electric field confining the electron gas at the interface, we report the occurrence of a phase separation instability (signaled by a negative compressibility) for realistic values of the spin-orbit coupling and of the electronic band-structure parameters at zero temperature. We extend the analysis to finite temperatures and in the presence of an in-plane magnetic field, thereby obtaining two phase diagrams that exhibit a phase separation dome. By varying the gating potential, the phase separation dome may shrink and vanish at zero temperature into a quantum critical point where the charge fluctuates dynamically. Similarly, the phase separation may be spoiled by a planar magnetic field even at zero temperature leading to a line of quantum critical points. Y1 - 2014 UR - https://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.195448 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.89.195448 SN - 2469-9969 VL - 89 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Seibold, Götz A1 - Bucheli, Daniel A1 - Caprara, Sergio A1 - Grilli, Marco T1 - Phase separation and long-wavelength charge instabilities in spin-orbit coupled systems T2 - EPL Europhysics Letters N2 - We investigate a two-dimensional electron model with Rashba spin-orbit interaction where the coupling constant $g=g(n)$ depends on the electronic density. It is shown that this dependence may drive the system unstable towards a long-wavelength charge density wave (CDW) where the associated second-order instability occurs in close vicinity to global phase separation. For very low electron densities the CDW instability is nesting-induced and the modulation follows the Fermi momentum kF. At higher density the instability criterion becomes independent of kF and the system may become unstable in a broad momentum range. Finally, upon filling the upper spin-orbit split band, finite momentum instabilities disappear in favor of phase separation alone. We discuss our results with regard to the inhomogeneous phases observed at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 or LaTiO3/SrTiO3 interfaces. Y1 - 2015 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1209/0295-5075/109/17006;jsessionid=34AAE2057398BD7AE51C0C4719FC29DD.c2.iopscience.cld.iop.org U6 - https://doi.org/10.1209/0295-5075/109/17006 SN - 1286-4854 VL - 109 IS - 1 SP - 17006 ER - TY - GEN A1 - Bovenzi, Nicolo A1 - Finocchiaro, Francesca A1 - Scopigno, Nicantro A1 - Bucheli, Daniel A1 - Caprara, Sergio A1 - Seibold, Götz A1 - Grilli, Marco T1 - Possible Mechanisms of Electronic Phase Separation in Oxide Interfaces T2 - Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism N2 - LaAlO 3/SrTiO 3 and LaTiO 3/SrTiO 3 (LXO / STO) interfaces are known to host a strongly inhomogeneous (nearly) two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG). In this work, we present three unconventional electronic mechanisms of electronic phase separation (EPS) in a 2DEG as a possible source of inhomogeneity in oxide interfaces. Common to all three mechanisms is the dependence of some (interaction) potential on the 2DEGs density. We first consider a mechanism resulting from a sizable density-dependent Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Next, we point out that an EPS may also occur in the case of a density-dependent superconducting pairing interaction. Finally, we show that the confinement of the 2DEG to the interface by a density-dependent, self-consistent electrostatic potential can by itself cause an EPS. KW - Oxide interfaces KW - Superconductivity KW - Electronic phase separation Y1 - 2015 UR - http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10948-014-2903-7 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10948-014-2903-7 SN - 1557-1939 SN - 1557-1947 VL - 28 IS - 4 SP - 1273 EP - 1277 ER -