Year: 2010
Type: review
Abstract: 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. Classical nematics generally occur in liquids of rod-like molecules; given that electrons are point like, the initial theoretical motivation for contemplating electron nematics came from thinking of the electron fluid as a quantum melted electron crystal, rather than a strongly interacting descendent of a Fermi gas. Dramatic transport experiments in ultra-clean quantum Hall systems in 1999 and in Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 in a strong magnetic field in 2007 established that such phases exist in nature. In this article, we briefly review the theoretical considerations governing nematic order, summarize the quantum Hall and Sr 3 Ru 2 O 7 experiments that unambiguously establish the existence of this phase, and survey some of the current evidence for such a phase in the cuprate and Fe-based high temperature superconductors.
Authors: Eduardo Fradkin, Steven A. Kivelson, Michael J. Lawler, James P. Eisenstein, Andrew P. Mackenzie
Language: English
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, California Institute of Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Office of Science, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Division of Materials Research, Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Awards: QUANTUM MATERIALS AT THE NANOSCALE, G3107624328, QUANTUM MATERIALS AT THE NANOSCALE, Physics of Strongly Correlated Two Dimensional Electron Systems, G5905734738, Theory of Highly Correlated Electronic Systems, Sr3Ru2O7: Quantum Nematic Fluid, Vector Magnetic Field Tuning and Spectroscopic Imaging Scanning Tunneling Microscopy, Applications of Field Theory to Condensed Matter Physics, Novel Electronic Phases in Two Dimensions
OpenAlex ID: W2131084469