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

Abstract: Antiferromagnets have large potential for ultrafast coherent switching of magnetic order with minimum heat dissipation. In novel materials such as Mn$_2$Au and CuMnAs, electric rather than magnetic fields may control antiferromagnetic order by N\'eel spin-orbit torques (NSOTs), which have, however, not been observed on ultrafast time scales yet. Here, we excite Mn$_2$Au thin films with phase-locked single-cycle terahertz electromagnetic pulses and monitor the spin response with femtosecond magneto-optic probes. We observe signals whose symmetry, dynamics, terahertz-field scaling and dependence on sample structure are fully consistent with a uniform in-plane antiferromagnetic magnon driven by field-like terahertz NSOTs with a torkance of (150$\pm$50) cm$^2$/A s. At incident terahertz electric fields above 500 kV/cm, we find pronounced nonlinear dynamics with massive N\'eel-vector deflections by as much as 30{\deg}. Our data are in excellent agreement with a micromagnetic model which indicates that fully coherent N\'eel-vector switching by 90{\deg} within 1 ps is within close reach.

Abstract: Two-dimensional arrays of magnetically coupled nanomagnets provide a mesoscopic platform for exploring collective phenomena as well as realizing a broad range of spintronic devices. In particular, the magnetic coupling plays a critical role in determining the nature of the cooperative behaviour and providing new functionalities in nanomagnet-based devices. Here, we create coupled Ising-like nanomagnets in which the coupling between adjacent nanomagnetic regions can be reversibly converted between parallel and antiparallel through solid-state ionic gating. This is achieved with the voltage-control of magnetic anisotropies in a nanosized region where the symmetric exchange interaction favours parallel alignment and the antisymmetric exchange interaction, namely the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, favours antiparallel alignment. Applying this concept to a two-dimensional lattice, we demonstrate a voltage-controlled phase transition in artificial spin ices. Furthermore, we achieve an addressable control of the individual couplings and realize an electrically programmable Ising network, which opens up new avenues to design nanomagnet-based logic devices and neuromorphic computers

Abstract: Van der Waals heterostructures show fascinating physics including trapped moire exciton states, anomalous moire exciton transport, generalized Wigner crystals, etc. Bilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are characterized by long-lived spatially separated interlayer excitons. Provided a strong interlayer tunneling, hybrid exciton states consisting of interlayer and intralayer excitons can be formed. Here, electrons and/or holes are in a superposition of both layers. Although crucial for optics, dynamics, and transport, hybrid excitons are usually optically inactive and have therefore not been directly observed yet. Based on a microscopic and material-specific theory, we show that time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (tr-ARPES) is the ideal technique to directly visualize these hybrid excitons. Concretely, we predict a characteristic double-peak ARPES signal arising from the hybridized hole in the MoS$_2$ homobilayer. The relative intensity is proportional to the quantum mixture of the two hybrid valence bands at the $\Gamma$ point. Due to the strong hybridization, the peak separation of more than 0.5 eV can be resolved in ARPES experiments. Our study provides a concrete recipe of how to directly visualize hybrid excitons and how to distinguish them from the usually observed regular excitonic signatures.

Abstract: The formation of angulon, stemming from the rotor (molecule or impurity) rotating in the quantum many-body field, adds a new member in the quasiparticle's family and has aroused intensively interests in multiple research fields. However, the analysis of the coupling strength between the rotor and its hosting environment remains a challenging task both in theory and experiment. Here, we develop the all-coupling theory of the angulon by introducing an unitary transformation, where the renormalization of the rotational constants for different molecules in the helium nanodroplets are reproduced, getting excellent agreement with the collected experimental data during the past decades. Moreover, the strength of molecule-helium coupling and the effective radius of the solvation shell corotating along with the molecular rotor could be estimated qualitatively. This model not only provides the significant enlightenment for analyzing the rotational spectroscopy of molecules in the phononic environment, but also provides a new method to study the transfer of the phonon angular momentum in angulon frame.

Abstract: Pauli blockade is a fundamental quantum phenomenon that also serves as a powerful tool for qubit manipulation and read-out. While most systems exhibit a simple even-odd pattern of double-dot Pauli spin blockade due to the preferred singlet pairing of spins, the additional valley degree of freedom offered by bilayer graphene greatly alters this pattern. Inspecting bias-triangle measurements at double-dot charge degeneracies with up to four electrons in each dot reveals a much richer double-dot Pauli blockade catalogue with both spin and/or valley blockade. In addition, we use single-dot Kondo effect measurements to substantiate our understanding of the three- and four-particle state spectra by analyzing their magnetic field dependence. With high controllability and reported long valley- and spin-relaxation times, bilayer graphene is a rising platform for hosting semiconductor quantum dot qubits. A thorough understanding of state spectra is crucial for qubit design and manipulation, and the rich Pauli blockade catalogue provides an abundance of novel qubit operational possibilities and opportunities to explore intriguing spin and valley physics.

Abstract: We study the optical and theoretical properties of (In,Ga)(As,Sb)/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) embedded in a GaP (100) matrix, which are overgrown by a thin GaSb capping layer with variable thickness. QD samples are studied by temperature-dependent photoluminescence, and the results analyzed with the help of theoretical simulations by eight-band~\textbf{k$\cdot$p}, with multiparticle corrections using the configuration interaction. We reveal a type-I to type-II band alignment switching when QDs are overgrown by a GaSb layer with a thickness larger than one monolayer. Moreover, we observe a temperature driven blueshift of the quantum dot luminescence, which is explained by decomposing the spectra into sum of Gaussians. Our analysis reveals that the GaSb overlayer causes switching of the intensity between $\Gamma$- and L-transitions, making the ${\bf k}$-indirect electron-hole transition in type-II regime to be optically more radiant than the $\Gamma$-direct one. Finally, we provide theoretical expectations for the storage time for (In,Ga)(As,Sb)/GaAs/GaP QDs overgrown by the GaSb layer with an AlP barrier underneath, to be embedded in a nanomemory device. We find that by increasing the thickness of the GaSb layer from 0 to 1.5~monolayers (MLs) leads to an increase in the storage time of four orders of magnitude, from 1 hour to up almost a year, rendering such QDs very promising candidates as storage units for nanomemory devices.

Abstract: We studied the exciton properties in double layers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with a dielectric spacer between the layers. We developed a method based on an expansion of Chebyshev polynomials to solve the Wannier equation for the exciton. Corrections to the quasiparticle bandgap due to the dielectric environment were also included via the exchange self-energy calculated within a continuum model. We systematically investigated hetero double-layer systems for TMDs with chemical compounds MX2, showing the dependence of the inter- and intralayer excitons binding energies as a function of the spacer width and the dielectric constant. Moreover, we discussed how the exciton energy and its wave function, which includes the effects of the changing bandgap, depend on the geometric system setup.

Abstract: In this paper, we show the direct correlation between suppression of polaronic oxygen vacancy defect (Vo) density and gas sensor response of 1 at% Mo doped $V_2O_5$ (MVONW) nanowires. Doping 1 at% $Mo^{5+}$ leads to substitution at the $V^{5+}$ site in $V_2O_5$ nanowires (VONW) and thereby reduction in Vo defects. This in turn affects the charge carrier hopping sites and subsequently enhances the sensor response at lower temperatures ($<320^oC$). The $Mo^{5+}$ dopants lead to the lowering of Fermi energy (EF) towards valence band maxima due to reduced $V_o$ donor density. The polaron suppression is confirmed with activation energy of polaron hopping, increasing from 195 meV to 385 meV in VONW and MVONW respectively. As a result, the response to ethanol gas enhanced as the depletion width is widened for the given cross-section of the nanowires. This may lead to large depletion controlled cross-sectional area and thereby better sensitivity. At about $350^oC$ VONW show change in slope of resistance vs temperature (MIT) which is not observed in case of MVONW. This is attributed to presence of enhanced non-stoichiometry of V ion resulting in metallic behaviour and accompanied with sudden rise in sensor response at this temperature. Moreover, the absence of MIT may be attributed to lack of such sudden rise in response in MVONW.

Abstract: We study trilayer graphene arranged in a staircase stacking configuration with equal consecutive twist angle. On top of the moir\'e cristalline pattern, a supermoir\'e long-wavelength modulation emerges that we treat adiabatically. For each valley, we find that the two central bands are topological with Chern numbers $C=\pm 1$ forming a Chern mosaic at the supermoir\'e scale. The Chern domains are centered around the high-symmetry stacking points ABA or BAB and they are separated by gapless lines connecting the AAA points, where the spectrum is fully connected. In the chiral limit and at a magic angle of $\theta \sim 1.69^\circ$, we prove that the central bands are exactly flat with ideal quantum curvature at ABA and BAB. Furthermore, we decompose them analytically as a superposition of an intrinsic color-entangled state with $\pm 2$ and a Landau level state with Chern number $\mp 1$. To connect with experimental configurations, we also explore the non-chiral limit with finite corrugation and find that the topological Chern mosaic pattern is indeed robust and the central bands are still well separated from remote bands.