Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)

Abstract: Crystal symmetries play an essential role in band structures of non-Hermitian Hamiltonian. In this letter, we propose a non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE) enforced by nonsymmorphic symmetries. We show that the nonsymmorphic-symmetry-enforced NHSE inevitably occurs if a two-dimensional non-Hermitian system satisfies certain conditions characterized by nonsymmorphic symmetries. This NHSE can occur even in the presence of time-reversal symmetry. The nonsymmorphic-symmetry-enforced NHSE always occurs simultaneously with the closing of the point gap at zero energy. We also show that such a NHSE can occur in specific three-dimensional space groups with nonsymmorphic symmetries.

Abstract: We report two non-degenerate magnon modes with opposite spin in antiferromagnetic insulators which arises from the symmetry-determined anisotropic exchange coupling. The giant spin splitting contributes to spin Seebeck and spin Nernst effects with a very efficient generation of longitudinal and transverse spin currents when the temperature gradient direction lies along and deviates from the main crystal axis, respectively, without any external magnetic field and Berry curvature. Based on first-principles calculations, we predict feasible material candidates holding robust altermagnetic spin configurations and room-temperature structural stability to realize spin thermal transport.

Abstract: Electronic devices that work in the quantum regime often employ hybrid nanostructures to bring about a nonlinear behaviour. The nonlinearity that these can provide has proven to be useful, in particular, for applications in quantum computation. Here we present a hybrid device that acts as a capacitor with a nonlinear charge-voltage relation. The device consists of a nanowire placed between the plates of a coplanar capacitor, with a co-parallel alignment. At low temperatures, due to the finite density of states on the nanowire, the charge distribution in the capacitor is uneven and energy-dependent, resulting in a charge-dependent effective capacitance. We study this system analytically and numerically, and show that the nonlinearity of the capacitance is significant enough to be utilized in circuit quantum electrodynamics. The resulting nonlinearity can be switched on, modulated and switched off by an external potential, thus making this capacitive device highly versatile for uses in quantum computation.

Abstract: The Berry curvature and quantum metric are the imaginary part and real part, respectively, of the quantum geometric tensor which characterizes the topology of quantum states. The former is known to generate a zoo of important discoveries such as quantum Hall effect and anomalous Hall effect (AHE), while the consequences of the quantum metric have rarely been probed by transport. In this work, we observed quantum metric induced nonlinear transport, including both nonlinear AHE and diode-like nonreciprocal longitudinal response, in thin films of a topological antiferromagnet, MnBi$_2$Te$_4$. Our observation reveals that the transverse and longitudinal nonlinear conductivities reverse signs when reversing the antiferromagnetic order, diminish above the N\'eel temperature, and are insensitive to disorder scattering, thus verifying their origin in the band structure topology. They also flip signs between electron and hole-doped regions, in agreement with theoretical calculations. Our work provides a pathway to probe the quantum metric through nonlinear transport and to design magnetic nonlinear devices.