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Research
Strontium-Ruthenate and Strontium-Rhodium Compounds
Initially, strontium-ruthenate compounds were thought relatable to
the high-Tc superconductors—both kinds of material
are highly two-dimensional (2D), and the crystal structure of Sr2RuO4 is
almost identical to that of the (La, Sr)2CuO4 superconductors.
Furthermore, both materials are oxides with conduction occurring
in partially filled d-bands (of the strontium or copper ions) that
are strongly hybridized with the oxygen ions' p orbitals. Yet, in
Sr2RuO4, superconductivity appears only at
low temperatures (1.5K), in samples with very low residual resistivity,
and out of a normal state that is a well-formed Landau-Fermi liquid
putting them in a different regime than high-Tc superconductors.
ARPES investigations concentrated on providing evidence for the prototypical
Fermi liquid nature of the strontium-ruthenate compounds, and mapping
the rich band structure in this complex material, in remarkable agreement
with de Haas-van Alphen quantum oscillation measurements. Strontium-Rhodium
compounds also allow a clean mapping of the band structure and exhibit
strong Fermi-liquid behavior, a great testing ground for theory.
