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X-ray diffraction experiments reveal that spatial charge ordering occurs in the pseudogap state of YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.67 . Moreover, this charge ordered state competes with high-temperature superconductivity, and their relative strengths can be tuned using a magnetic field. Superconductivity often emerges in the proximity of, or in competition with, symmetry-breaking ground states such as antiferromagnetism or charge density waves 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 (CDW). A number of materials in the cuprate family, which includes the high transition-temperature (high- T c ) superconductors, show spin and charge density wave order 5 , 6 , 7 . Thus a fundamental question is to what extent do these ordered states exist for compositions close to optimal for superconductivity. Here we use high-energy X-ray diffraction to show that a CDW develops at zero field in the normal state of superconducting YBa 2 Cu 3 O 6.67 ( T c  = 67 K). This sample has a hole doping of 0.12 per copper and a well-ordered oxygen chain superstructure 8 . Below T c , the application of a magnetic field suppresses superconductivity and enhances the CDW. Hence, the CDW and superconductivity in this typical high- T c material are competing orders with similar energy scales, and the high- T c superconductivity forms from a pre-existing CDW environment. Our results provide a mechanism for the formation of small Fermi surface pockets 9 , which explain the negative Hall and Seebeck effects 10 , 11 and the ‘ T c plateau’ 12 in this material when underdoped.

A Weyl semimetal possesses spin-polarized band-crossings, called Weyl nodes, connected by topological surface arcs. The low-energy excitations near the crossing points behave the same as massless Weyl fermions, leading to exotic properties like chiral anomaly. To have the transport properties dominated by Weyl fermions, Weyl nodes need to locate nearly at the chemical potential and enclosed by pairs of individual Fermi surfaces with non-zero Fermi Chern numbers. Combining angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles calculation, here we show that TaP is a Weyl semimetal with only a single type of Weyl fermions, topologically distinguished from TaAs where two types of Weyl fermions contribute to the low-energy physical properties. The simple Weyl fermions in TaP are not only of fundamental interests but also of great potential for future applications. Fermi arcs on the Ta-terminated surface are observed, which appear in a different pattern from that on the As-termination in TaAs and NbAs. Weyl semimetals exhibit exotic properties owing to the presence of Weyl fermions. Here, Xu et al . show that tantalum phosphide is an ideal platform for studying the transport properties of these particles because its low-energy properties are dominated by a single type of Weyl fermion.

The transition from a polaronic to a metallic state as the carrier density increases in strontium titanate overlaps with the onset and peak of the bulk superconducting behaviour. Surfaces and interfaces offer new possibilities for tailoring the many-body interactions that dominate the electrical and thermal properties of transition metal oxides 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . Here, we use the prototypical two-dimensional electron liquid (2DEL) at the SrTiO 3 (001) surface 5 , 6 , 7 to reveal a remarkably complex evolution of electron–phonon coupling with the tunable carrier density of this system. At low density, where superconductivity is found in the analogous 2DEL at the LaAlO 3 /SrTiO 3 interface 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , our angle-resolved photoemission data show replica bands separated by 100 meV from the main bands. This is a hallmark of a coherent polaronic liquid and implies long-range coupling to a single longitudinal optical phonon branch. In the overdoped regime the preferential coupling to this branch decreases and the 2DEL undergoes a crossover to a more conventional metallic state with weaker short-range electron–phonon interaction. These results place constraints on the theoretical description of superconductivity and allow a unified understanding of the transport properties in SrTiO 3 -based 2DELs.

Experiments show that TaAs is a three-dimensional topological Weyl semimetal. In 1929, H. Weyl proposed that the massless solution of the Dirac equation represents a pair of a new type of particles, the so-called Weyl fermions 1 . However, their existence in particle physics remains elusive after more than eight decades. Recently, significant advances in both topological insulators and topological semimetals have provided an alternative way to realize Weyl fermions in condensed matter, as an emergent phenomenon: when two non-degenerate bands in the three-dimensional momentum space cross in the vicinity of the Fermi energy (called Weyl nodes), the low-energy excitations behave exactly as Weyl fermions. Here we report the direct observation in TaAs of the long-sought-after Weyl nodes by performing bulk-sensitive soft X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements. The projected locations at the nodes on the (001) surface match well to the Fermi arcs, providing undisputable experimental evidence for the existence of Weyl fermionic quasiparticles in TaAs.

Topological Kondo insulators have been proposed as a new class of topological insulators in which non-trivial surface states reside in the bulk Kondo band gap at low temperature due to strong spin–orbit coupling. In contrast to other three-dimensional topological insulators, a topological Kondo insulator is truly bulk insulating. Furthermore, strong electron correlations are present in the system, which may interact with the novel topological phase. By applying spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, here we show that the surface states of SmB 6 are spin polarized. The spin is locked to the crystal momentum, fulfilling time reversal and crystal symmetries. Our results provide strong evidence that SmB 6 can host topological surface states in a bulk insulating gap stemming from the Kondo effect, which can serve as an ideal platform for investigating of the interplay between novel topological quantum states with emergent effects and competing orders induced by strongly correlated electrons. The study and application of the conductive surface states of topological insulators are often restricted by the presence of bulk conduction states. Here, Xu et al. present evidence for such topological surface states with true bulk insulation in the strongly correlated Kondo insulator SmB 6 .

Unlike the widely studied Re FeAsO series, the newly discovered iron-based superconductor ThFeAsN exhibits a remarkably high critical temperature of 30 K, without chemical doping or external pressure. Here we investigate in detail its magnetic and superconducting properties via muon-spin rotation/relaxation and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and show that ThFeAsN exhibits strong magnetic fluctuations, suppressed below ~35 K, but no magnetic order. This contrasts strongly with the Re FeAsO series, where stoichiometric parent materials order antiferromagnetically and superconductivity appears only upon doping. The ThFeAsN case indicates that Fermi-surface modifications due to structural distortions and correlation effects are as important as doping in inducing superconductivity. The direct competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity, which in ThFeAsN (as in LiFeAs) occurs at already zero doping, may indicate a significant deviation of the s -wave superconducting gap in this compound from the standard s ± scenario.

Unlike the widely studied Re FeAsO series, the newly discovered iron-based superconductor ThFeAsN exhibits a remarkably high critical temperature of 30 K, without chemical doping or external pressure. Here we investigate in detail its magnetic and superconducting properties via muon-spin rotation/relaxation and nuclear magnetic resonance techniques and show that ThFeAsN exhibits strong magnetic fluctuations, suppressed below ~35 K, but no magnetic order. This contrasts strongly with the Re FeAsO series, where stoichiometric parent materials order antiferromagnetically and superconductivity appears only upon doping. The ThFeAsN case indicates that Fermi-surface modifications due to structural distortions and correlation effects are as important as doping in inducing superconductivity. The direct competition between antiferromagnetism and superconductivity, which in ThFeAsN (as in LiFeAs) occurs at already zero doping, may indicate a significant deviation of the s -wave superconducting gap in this compound from the standard s ± scenario. Exploring the interplay between the superconducting gap and the antiferromagnetic phase in Fe-based superconductors remains an open issue. Here, the authors show that Fermi-surface modifications by means of structural distortions and correlation effects are as important as doping in inducing superconductivity in undoped ThFeAsN.

High-temperature superconductivity emerges from an un-conventional metallic state. This has stimulated strong efforts to understand exactly how Fermi liquids breakdown and evolve into an un-conventional metal. A fundamental question is how Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations break down in momentum space. Here we show, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, that the Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations of the overdoped superconducting cuprate La 1.77 Sr 0.23 CuO 4 is highly anisotropic in momentum space. The quasiparticle scattering and residue behave differently along the Fermi surface and hence the Kadowaki–Wood's relation is not obeyed. This kind of Fermi liquid breakdown may apply to a wide range of strongly correlated metal systems where spin fluctuations are present. An outstanding question regarding cuprate superconductors is how the Fermi liquid behaviour of their normal state breaks down. Chang et al . conduct a systematic ARPES study of how the Fermi liquid quasiparticle excitations break down in momentum space, and find it to be highly anisotropic in La 2− x Sr x CuO 4 .

We have developed and implemented series of new original clamp high-pressure cells for neutron diffraction and inelastic neutron scattering at low temperatures. The cells design allows one to place them in the standard cryostats or cryomagnets used on neutron sources. Some results obtained for ZnCr2Se4 are demonstrated as an example.

Magnetization and ac-susceptibility measurements are used to characterize the mixed phase of the high-temperature cuprate superconductor La2-xSrxCuO4 over a large range of doping (0.075 \\(~x\\) 0.20). The first order vortex lattice phase transition line HFOT(T), the upper critical field Hc2(T) and the second peak Hsp(T) have been investigated up to high magnetic fields (8 Tesla applied perpendicular to the CuO2 planes). Our results reveal a strong doping dependence of the magnetic phase diagram, which can mainly be explained by the increasing anisotropy with underdoping. Within our interpretation, the first order vortex lattice phase transition is due to the sublimation (rather than melting) of the vortex lattice into a gas of pancake vortices, whereas the second peak is related to the transition to a more disordered vortex glass state.