Terminal-coupling induced critical eigenspectrum transition in closed non-Hermitian loops.

A hallmark feature of non-Hermitian (NH) systems is the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE), in which the eigenenergy spectra of the system under open boundary conditions (OBC) and periodic boundary conditions (PBC) differ markedly from each other. In particular, the critical NHSE occurs in systems consisting of multiple non-Hermitian chains coupled in parallel where even an infinitesimally small inter-chain coupling can cause the thermodynamic-limit eigenenergy spectrum of the system to deviate significantly from the OBC spectra of the individual component chains. We overturn the conventional wisdom that multiple chains are required for such critical transitions by showing that such a critical effect can also be induced in a single finite-length non-Hermitian chain where its two ends are connected together by a weak terminal coupling to form a closed loop.

Higher Chern number states in curved periodic nanowires.

The coupling between the spin and momentum degrees of freedom due to spin-orbit interactions (SOI) suggests that the strength of the latter can be modified by controlling the motion of the charge carriers. In this paper, we investigate how the effective SOI can be modulated by constraining the motion of charge carriers to curved waveguides thereby introducing real-space geometric curvature in their motion. The change in the SOI can in turn induce topological phase transitions in the system.

Giant anisotropic photocurrent modulated by strain in Weyl semimetal T-MoTe.

We built a Cu-MoTe-Cu device model and used first-principles density functional theory to study the transport properties of the T-MoTe heterojunction. We obtained the effect of strain on the energy band structure of the bulk T-MoTe, the transport properties, and photocurrent of the Cu-MoTe-Cu device. The strain-induced photocurrent shows an anisotropy that reflects the modulation of the energy bands, including the Weyl point, by strain.

Effective Hamiltonian for silicene under arbitrary strain from multi-orbital basis.

A tight-binding (TB) Hamiltonian is derived for strained silicene from a multi-orbital basis. The derivation is based on the Slater-Koster coupling parameters between different orbitals across the silicene lattice and takes into account arbitrary distortion of the lattice under strain, as well as the first and second-order spin-orbit interactions (SOI). The breaking of the lattice symmetry reveals additional SOI terms which were previously neglected.

Controllable p-n junctions in three-dimensional Dirac semimetal CdAs nanowires.

We demonstrate a controllable p-n junction in a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal (DSM) CdAs nanowire with two recessed bottom gates. The device exhibits four different conductance regimes with gate voltages, the unipolar (n-n and p-p) and bipolar (n-p and n-p) regimes, where p-n junctions are formed. The conductance in the p-n junction regimes decreases drastically when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the nanowire.

Group delay time and Hartman effect in strained Weyl semimetals.

The group delay time was theoretically studied in Weyl semimetals (WSMs) in the presence of strain. The Hartman effect, where the delay time for tunneling through a barrier tends to a constant for large barrier thickness, can be observed in WSMs when the incident angles [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text], and the unidirectional strain tensor u and shear strain tensor u , are larger than some critical values. We show that the Hartman effect is strongly dependent on the strength of the unidirectional strain tensor u and the ratio of the shear strain tensor [Formula: see text].

Electrically tunable valley polarization in Weyl semimetals with tilted energy dispersion.

Tunneling transport across electrical potential barriers in Weyl semimetals with tilted energy dispersion is investigated. We report that the electrons around different valleys experience opposite direction refractions at the barrier interface when the energy dispersion is tilted along one of the transverse directions. Chirality dependent refractions at the barrier interface polarize the Weyl fermions in angle-space according to their valley index.

Anomalous Photothermoelectric Transport Due to Anisotropic Energy Dispersion in WTe.

Band structures are vital in determining the electronic properties of materials. Recently, the two-dimensional (2D) semimetallic transition metal tellurides (WTe and MoTe) have sparked broad research interest because of their elliptical or open Fermi surface, making distinct from the conventional 2D materials. In this study, we demonstrate a centrosymmetric photothermoelectric voltage distribution in WTe nanoflakes, which has not been observed in common 2D materials such as graphene and MoS.

Curvature induced quantum phase transitions in an electron-hole system.

In this work, we study the effect of introducing a periodic curvature on nanostructures, and demonstrate that the curvature can lead to a transition from a topologically trivial state to a non-trivial state. We first present the Hamiltonian for an arbitrarily curved nanostructure, and introduce a numerical scheme for calculating the bandstructure of a periodically curved nanostructure. Using this scheme, we calculate the bandstructure for a sinusoidally curved two-dimensional electron gas.

Newton's second law in spin-orbit torque.

Spin-orbit torque (SOT) refers to the excitation of magnetization dynamics via spin-orbit coupling (SOC) under the application of a charged current. In this work, we introduce a simple and intuitive description of the SOT in terms of spin force. In Rashba SOC system, the damping-like SOT can be expressed as [Formula: see text], in analogy to the classical torque-force relation, where R is the effective radius characterizing the Rashba splitting in the momentum space.

Inherent orbital spin textures in Rashba effect and their implications in spin-orbitronics.

The Rashba effect gives rise to the key feature of chiral spin texture. Recently it was demonstrated that the orbital angular momentum (OAM) texture forms the underlying basis for Rashba spin texture. Here we solve a model Hamiltonian of a generic p-orbital system in the presence of crystal field, internal spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and inversion symmetry breaking (ISB), and demonstrate, in addition to OAM and spin texture, the existence of orbital projection (OP) of the spin texture in a general Rashba system.

Quantum Dots Formed in Three-dimensional Dirac Semimetal CdAs Nanowires.

We demonstrate quantum dot (QD) formation in three-dimensional Dirac semimetal CdAs nanowires using two electrostatically tuned p-n junctions with a gate and magnetic fields. The linear conductance measured as a function of gate voltage under high magnetic fields is strongly suppressed at the Dirac point close to zero conductance, showing strong conductance oscillations. Remarkably, in this regime, the CdAs nanowire device exhibits Coulomb diamond features, indicating that a clean single QD forms in the Dirac semimetal nanowire.

Influence of Fermi arc states and double Weyl node on tunneling in a Dirac semimetal.

Most theoretical studies of tunneling in Dirac and the closely related Weyl semimetals have modeled these materials as single Weyl nodes described by the three-dimensional Dirac equation [Formula: see text]. The influence of scattering between the different valleys centered around different Weyl nodes, and the Fermi arc states which connect these nodes are hence not evident from these studies. In this work we study the tunneling in a thin film system of the Dirac semimetal NaBi consisting of a central segment with a gate potential, sandwiched between identical semi-infinite source and drain segments.

Effect of surface state hybridization on current-induced spin-orbit torque in thin topological insulator films.

We investigate the thickness optimization for maximum current-induced spin-orbit torque (SOT) generated by topological surface states (TSS's) in a bilayer system comprising of a ferromagnetic layer coupled to a thin topological insulator (TI) film. We show that by reducing the TI thickness, two competing effects on the SOT are induced: (i) the torque strength is stronger as the bulk contribution is decreased; (ii) on the other hand, the torque strength becomes suppressed due to increasing hybridization of the surface states. The latter is attributed to the opposite helicities of the coupled TSS's.

Quantum Capacitance of a Topological Insulator-Ferromagnet Interface.

We study the quantum capacitance in a topological insulator thin film system magnetized in the in-plane direction in the presence of an out-of-plane magnetic field and hexagonal warping. To first order, the modification in quantum capacitance due to hexagonal warping compared to the clean case, where both the in-plane magnetization and hexagonal warping are absent, is always negative, and increases in magnitude monotonically with the energy difference from the charge neutrality point. In contrast, the change in the quantum capacitance due to in-plane magnetization oscillates with the energy in general, except when a certain relation between the inter-surface coupling, out of plane Zeeman energy splitting and magnetic field strength is satisfied.

Klein tunneling in Weyl semimetals under the influence of magnetic field.

Klein tunneling refers to the absence of normal backscattering of electrons even under the case of high potential barriers. At the barrier interface, the perfect matching of electron and hole wavefunctions enables a unit transmission probability for normally incident electrons. It is theoretically and experimentally well understood in two-dimensional relativistic materials such as graphene.

Dirac semimetal thin films in in-plane magnetic fields.

In this work we study the effects of in-plane magnetic fields on thin films of the Dirac Semimetal (DSM) NaBi where one of the in-plane directions is perpendicular to the k-separation between the two Weyl nodes that exist for each spin orientation. We show numerically that the states localized near the surfaces of these thin films are related to the Fermi arc states in semi-infinite slabs. Due to the anisotropy between the two in-plane directions, the application of a magnetic field along these directions have differing effects.

Gauge Physics of Spin Hall Effect.

Spin Hall effect (SHE) has been discussed in the context of Kubo formulation, geometric physics, spin orbit force, and numerous semi-classical treatments. It can be confusing if the different pictures have partial or overlapping claims of contribution to the SHE. In this article, we present a gauge-theoretic, time-momentum elucidation, which provides a general SHE equation of motion, that unifies under one theoretical framework, all contributions of SHE conductivity due to the kinetic, the spin orbit force (Yang-Mills), and the geometric (Murakami-Fujita) effects.

The effect of magnetic field on chiral transmission in p-n-p graphene junctions.

We investigate Klein tunneling in graphene heterojunctions under the influence of a perpendicular magnetic field via the non-equilibrium Green's function method. We find that the angular dependence of electron transmission is deflected sideways, resulting in the suppression of normally incident electrons and overall decrease in conductance. The off-normal symmetry axis of the transmission profile was analytically derived.

Contact effects in thin 3D-topological insulators: how does the current flow?

The effect of different contact configurations (semi-infinite extended-channel, normal metal and ferromagnetic metal) on quantum transport through thin Bi2Se3 three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) slab (channel) has been investigated through Non-Equilibrium Green Function. The issue of contact dependent current flow and distribution across quintuple layers of 3D-TI has been addressed in this work and applied to expound the explanation for recent experimental work on electrical detection of spin-momentum locking on topological surface for long channel device. A theoretical model is propounded to develop a microscopic understanding of transport in 3D-TI in which contact type and magnetization concur with helical surface states of the TI channel to manifest seemingly counter-intuitive current distribution across layers.

Evaluation of mobility in thin Bi2Se3 topological insulator for prospects of local electrical interconnects.

Three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) has been conjectured as an emerging material to replace copper (Cu) as an interconnect material because of the suppression of elastic scattering from doping and charge impurities for carrier transport on TI surface. We, therefore via full real-space simulation, examine the feasibility of using thin 3D-TI (Bi2Se3) wire for the local electrical interconnects in the presence of edge roughness, vacancies, acoustic phonons and charge impurities across temperature and Fermi-level by simulating quantum transport through Non-Equilibrium Green Function algorithm. We found that because of the scattering induced by the acoustic phonons, the mobility reduces considerably at the room temperature which complemented with the low density of states near Dirac-point does not position Bi2Se3 3D-TI as a promising material to replace Cu for local interconnects.

Effect of band-alignment operation on carrier transport in Bi2Se3 topological insulator.

Band-alignment induced current modulation in Bi2Se3 three-dimensional topological insulator slab has been investigated by quantum transport simulations for three different device designs, one for purely lateral transport and other two with vertical transport. Non-Equilibrium Green Function formalism has been deployed to understand the transport mechanism in band-alignment devices to appraise the possibility of a 3D-TI based resonant device. A resonance condition is observed when the Dirac-points (bands) are aligned.

Robustness of topological Hall effect of nontrivial spin textures.

We analyze the topological Hall conductivity (THC) of topologically nontrivial spin textures like magnetic vortices and skyrmions and investigate its possible application in the readback for magnetic memory based on those spin textures. Under adiabatic conditions, such spin textures would theoretically yield quantized THC values, which are related to topological invariants such as the winding number and polarity, and as such are insensitive to fluctuations and smooth deformations. However, in a practical setting, the finite size of spin texture elements and the influence of edges may cause them to deviate from their ideal configurations.

Chiral tunneling modulated by a time-periodic potential on the surface states of a topological insulator.

Time-periodic perturbation can be used to modify the transport properties of the surface states of topological insulators, specifically their chiral tunneling property. Using the scattering matrix method, we study the tunneling transmission of the surface states of a topological insulator under the influence of a time-dependent potential and finite gate bias voltage. It is found that perfect transmission is obtained for electrons which are injected normally into the time-periodic potential region in the absence of any bias voltage.