Moiré magnetism in CrBr multilayers emerging from differential strain.

Interfaces between twisted 2D materials host a wealth of physical phenomena originating from the long-scale periodicity associated with the resulting moiré structure. Besides twisting, an alternative route to create structures with comparably long-or even longer-periodicities is inducing a differential strain between adjacent layers in a van der Waals (vdW) material. Despite recent theoretical efforts analyzing its benefits, this route has not yet been implemented experimentally.

Retinal Microvascular Alterations in Hidradenitis Suppurativa Patients: A Pilot Study Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a relapsing-remitting inflammatory disease characterized by the progression of asymptomatic nodules to deep-seated lesions and fistula formation that leads to suppuration and scarring. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a new non-invasive imaging technique that carefully analyzes retinal microvasculature networks with high-resolution imaging. Recent studies have demonstrated that retinal vessel density and retinal perfusion reflect systemic inflammatory responses.

Magnetism-Induced Band-Edge Shift as the Mechanism for Magnetoconductance in CrPS Transistors.

Transistors realized on the 2D antiferromagnetic semiconductor CrPS exhibit large magnetoconductance due to magnetic-field-induced changes in the magnetic state. The microscopic mechanism coupling the conductance and magnetic state is not understood. We identify it by analyzing the evolution of the parameters determining the transistor behavior─carrier mobility and threshold voltage─with temperature and magnetic field.

Multiple antiferromagnetic phases and magnetic anisotropy in exfoliated CrBr multilayers.

In twisted two-dimensional (2D) magnets, the stacking dependence of the magnetic exchange interaction can lead to regions of ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic interlayer order, separated by non-collinear, skyrmion-like spin textures. Recent experimental searches for these textures have focused on CrI, known to exhibit either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic interlayer order, depending on layer stacking. However, the very strong uniaxial anisotropy of CrI disfavors smooth non-collinear phases in twisted bilayers.

Electronic Structure of Few-Layer Black Phosphorus from μ-ARPES.

Black phosphorus (BP) stands out among two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors because of its high mobility and thickness dependent direct band gap. However, the quasiparticle band structure of ultrathin BP has remained inaccessible to experiment thus far. Here we use a recently developed laser-based microfocus angle resolved photoemission (μ-ARPES) system to establish the electronic structure of 2-9 layer BP from experiment.

Expansion of the Materials Cloud 2D Database.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most promising candidates for beyond-silicon electronic, optoelectronic, and quantum computing applications. Recently, their recognized importance sparked a push to discover and characterize novel 2D materials. Within a few years, the number of experimentally exfoliated or synthesized 2D materials went from a few to more than a hundred, with the number of theoretically predicted compounds reaching a few thousand.

Accurate Prediction of Hall Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials through Gauge-Covariant Quadrupolar Contributions.

Despite considerable efforts, accurate computations of electron-phonon and carrier transport properties of low-dimensional materials from first principles have remained elusive. By building on recent advances in the description of long-range electrostatics, we develop a general approach to the calculation of electron-phonon couplings in two-dimensional materials. We show that the nonanalytic behavior of the electron-phonon matrix elements depends on the Wannier gauge, but that a missing Berry connection restores invariance to quadrupolar order.

Gate-Controlled Magnetotransport and Electrostatic Modulation of Magnetism in 2D Magnetic Semiconductor CrPS.

Using field-effect transistors (FETs) to explore atomically thin magnetic semiconductors with transport measurements is difficult, because the very narrow bands of most 2D magnetic semiconductors cause carrier localization, preventing transistor operation. Here, it is shown that exfoliated layers of CrPS -a 2D layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor whose bandwidth approaches 1 eV-allow the realization of FETs that operate properly down to cryogenic temperature. Using these devices, conductance measurements as a function of temperature and magnetic field are performed to determine the full magnetic phase diagram, which includes a spin-flop and a spin-flip phase.

Quenching the bandgap of two-dimensional semiconductors with a perpendicular electric field.

Perpendicular electric fields can tune the electronic band structure of atomically thin semiconductors. In bilayer graphene, which is an intrinsic zero-gap semiconductor, a perpendicular electric field opens a finite bandgap. So far, however, the same principle could not be applied to control the properties of a broader class of 2D materials because the required electric fields are beyond reach in current devices.

Quasi-1D Electronic Transport in a 2D Magnetic Semiconductor.

Electronic transport through exfoliated multilayers of CrSBr, a 2D semiconductor of interest because of its magnetic properties, is investigated. An extremely pronounced anisotropy manifesting itself in qualitative and quantitative differences of all quantities measured along the in-plane a and b crystallographic directions is found. In particular, a qualitatively different dependence of the conductivities σ and σ on temperature and gate voltage, accompanied by orders of magnitude differences in their values (σ /σ  ≈ 3 × 10  to 10 at low temperature and negative gate voltage) are observed, together with a different behavior of the longitudinal magnetoresistance in the two directions and the complete absence of the Hall effect in transverse resistance measurements.

Magnetization dependent tunneling conductance of ferromagnetic barriers.

Recent experiments on van der Waals antiferromagnets have shown that measuring the temperature (T) and magnetic field (H) dependence of the conductance allows their magnetic phase diagram to be mapped. Similarly, experiments on ferromagnetic CrBr barriers enabled the Curie temperature to be determined at H = 0, but a precise interpretation of the magnetoconductance data at H ≠ 0 is conceptually more complex, because at finite H there is no well-defined phase boundary. Here we perform systematic transport measurements on CrBr barriers and show that the tunneling magnetoconductance depends on H and T exclusively through the magnetization M(H, T) over the entire temperature range investigated.

Shear and Breathing Modes of Layered Materials.

Layered materials (LMs), such as graphite, hexagonal boron nitride, and transition-metal dichalcogenides, are at the center of an ever-increasing research effort, due to their scientific and technological relevance. Raman and infrared spectroscopies are accurate, non-destructive approaches to determine a wide range of properties, including the number of layers, , and the strength of the interlayer interactions. We present a general approach to predict the complete spectroscopic fan diagrams, , the relations between frequencies and for the optically active shear and layer-breathing modes of any multilayer comprising ≥ 2 identical layers.

Bulk and Surface Electronic Structure of the Dual-Topology Semimetal Pt_{2}HgSe_{3}.

We report high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on single crystals of Pt_{2}HgSe_{3} grown by high-pressure synthesis. Our data reveal a gapped Dirac nodal line whose (001) projection separates the surface Brillouin zone in topological and trivial areas. In the nontrivial k-space range, we find surface states with multiple saddle points in the dispersion, resulting in two van Hove singularities in the surface density of states.

Persistence of Magnetism in Atomically Thin MnPS Crystals.

The magnetic state of atomically thin semiconducting layered antiferromagnets such as CrI and CrCl can be probed by forming tunnel barriers and measuring their resistance as a function of magnetic field () and temperature (). This is possible because the spins within each individual layer are ferromagnetically aligned and the tunneling magnetoresistance depends on the relative orientation of the magnetization in adjacent layers. The situation is different for systems that are antiferromagnetic within the layers in which case it is unclear whether magnetoresistance measurements can provide information about the magnetic state.

Determining the phase diagram of atomically thin layered antiferromagnet CrCl.

Changes in the spin configuration of atomically thin, magnetic van der Waals multilayers can cause drastic modifications in their opto-electronic properties. Conversely, the opto-electronic response of these systems provides information about the magnetic state, which is very difficult to obtain otherwise. Here, we show that in CrCl multilayers, the dependence of the tunnelling conductance on applied magnetic field, temperature and number of layers tracks the evolution of the magnetic state, enabling the magnetic phase diagram to be determined experimentally.

Wannier90 as a community code: new features and applications.

Wannier90 is an open-source computer program for calculating maximally-localised Wannier functions (MLWFs) from a set of Bloch states. It is interfaced to many widely used electronic-structure codes thanks to its independence from the basis sets representing these Bloch states. In the past few years the development of Wannier90 has transitioned to a community-driven model; this has resulted in a number of new developments that have been recently released in Wannier90 v3.

Relative Abundance of [Formula: see text] Topological Order in Exfoliable Two-Dimensional Insulators.

Quantum spin Hall insulators make up a class of two-dimensional materials with a finite electronic band gap in the bulk and gapless helical edge states. In the presence of time-reversal symmetry, [Formula: see text] topological order distinguishes the topological phase from the ordinary insulating one. Some of the phenomena that can be hosted in these materials, from one-dimensional low-dissipation electronic transport to spin filtering, could be promising for many technological applications in the fields of electronics, spintronics, and topological quantum computing.

Graphene Materials Strengthen Aqueous Polyurethane Adhesives.

Carboxyl-functionalized graphene platelets (GP) and graphene oxide (GO) sheets were added to a commercial aqueous adhesive dispersion of thermoplastic polyurethane (TP) (Idrotex 200 from FacGB s.r.l.

Valley-Engineering Mobilities in Two-Dimensional Materials.

Two-dimensional materials are emerging as a promising platform for ultrathin channels in field-effect transistors. To this aim, novel high-mobility semiconductors need to be found or engineered. Although extrinsic mechanisms can in general be minimized by improving fabrication processes, the suppression of intrinsic scattering (driven, for example, by electron-phonon interactions) requires modification of the electronic or vibrational properties of the material.

Magnetic 2D materials and heterostructures.

The family of two-dimensional (2D) materials grows day by day, hugely expanding the scope of possible phenomena to be explored in two dimensions, as well as the possible van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures that one can create. Such 2D materials currently cover a vast range of properties. Until recently, this family has been missing one crucial member: 2D magnets.

Probing magnetism in 2D materials at the nanoscale with single-spin microscopy.

The discovery of ferromagnetism in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) crystals has generated widespread interest. Making further progress in this area requires quantitative knowledge of the magnetic properties of vdW magnets at the nanoscale. We used scanning single-spin magnetometry based on diamond nitrogen-vacancy centers to image the magnetization, localized defects, and magnetic domains of atomically thin crystals of the vdW magnet chromium(III) iodide (CrI).

Microfocus Laser-Angle-Resolved Photoemission on Encapsulated Mono-, Bi-, and Few-Layer 1T'-WTe.

Two-dimensional crystals of semi-metallic van der Waals materials hold much potential for the realization of novel phases, as exemplified by the recent discoveries of a polar metal in few-layer 1T'-WTe and of a quantum spin Hall state in monolayers of the same material. Understanding these phases is particularly challenging because little is known from experiments about the momentum space electronic structure of ultrathin crystals. Here, we report direct electronic structure measurements of exfoliated mono-, bi-, and few-layer 1T'-WTe by laser-based microfocus angle-resolved photoemission.

Very large tunneling magnetoresistance in layered magnetic semiconductor CrI.

Magnetic layered van der Waals crystals are an emerging class of materials giving access to new physical phenomena, as illustrated by the recent observation of 2D ferromagnetism in CrGeTe and CrI. Of particular interest in semiconductors is the interplay between magnetism and transport, which has remained unexplored. Here we report magneto-transport measurements on exfoliated CrI crystals.

Prediction of a Large-Gap and Switchable Kane-Mele Quantum Spin Hall Insulator.

Fundamental research and technological applications of topological insulators are hindered by the rarity of materials exhibiting a robust topologically nontrivial phase, especially in two dimensions. Here, by means of extensive first-principles calculations, we propose a novel quantum spin Hall insulator with a sizable band gap of ∼0.5  eV that is a monolayer of jacutingaite, a naturally occurring layered mineral first discovered in 2008 in Brazil and recently synthesized.