Search

Despite the chiral topological semimetal CoSi is known as bulk diamagnetic, it shows unusual surface ferromagnetism of debatable origin. The ferromagnetic ordering has been attributed to the distorted bonds, the superlattice of ordered vacancies, or even to topological surface textures due to the spin polarization in the neighboring Fermi arcs. We experimentally compare magnetization reversal curves for initially oxidized CoSi single crystals and cleaved samples with a fresh, oxide-free surface. While the oxidized CoSi samples do not show sizable ferromagnetism, the fresh CoSi surface gives a strong ferromagnetic response, which is accompanied by the pronounced modulation of the angle dependence of magnetization, as it can be expected for easy and hard axes in a ferromagnet. In addition to the first order reversal curves analysis, this observation allows us to distinguish between different mechanisms of the ferromagnetic ordering in CoSi single crystals. We conclude that the surface states-induced RKKY interaction between distorted bonds near the sample surface is responsible for the strong ferromagnetic multi-domain behavior for freshly cleaved samples.

We study conductivity of strongly disordered amorphous antimony films under high bias voltages. We observe non-linear current-voltage characteristic, where the conductivity value at zero bias is one of two distinct values, being determined by the sign of previously applied voltage. Relaxation curves demonstrate high stability of these conductivity values on a large timescale. Investigations of the antimony film structure allows to determine the percolation character of electron transport in strongly disordered films. We connect the memory effect in conductivity with modification of the percolation pattern due to recharging of some film regions at high bias voltages., Comment: final version

The concept of a polar metal suggests a new approach to current-induced polarization control for ferroelectrics. We fabricate SnSe/WTe2 heterostructure to experimentally investigate charge transport between two ferroelectric van der Waals materials with different polarization directions. WTe2 is a polar metal with out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization, while SnSe ferroelectric semiconductor is polarized in-plane, so one should expect complicated polarization structure at the SnSe/WTe2 interface. We study curves, which demonstrate sharp symmetric drop to zero differential conductance at some threshold bias voltages , which are nearly symmetric with respect to the bias sign. While the gate electric field is too small to noticeably affect the carrier concentration, the positive and negative threshold positions are sensitive to the gate voltage. Also, SnSe/WTe2 heterostructure shows re-entrant transition to the low-conductive state for abrupt change of the bias voltage even below the threshold values. This behavior cannot be observed for single SnSe or WTe2 flakes, so we interpret it as a result of the SnSe/WTe2 interface coupling. In this case, some threshold value of the electric field at the SnSe/WTe2 interface is enough to drive a 90° change of the initial SnSe in-plane polarization in the overlap region. The polarization mismatch leads to the significant interface resistance contribution, analogously to the scattering of the charge carriers on the domain walls. Thus, we demonstrate polarization state control by electron transport through the SnSe/WTe2 interface.

We experimentally investigate the magnetic field dependence of Andreev transport through a region of proximity-induced superconductivity in CoSi topological chiral semimetal. With increasing parallel to the CoSi surface magnetic field, the sharp subgap peaks, associated with Andreev bound states, move together to nearly-zero bias position, while there is only monotonous peaks suppression for normal to the surface fields. The zero-bias $dV/dI$ resistance value is perfectly stable with changing the in-plane magnetic field. As the effects are qualitatively similar for In and Nb superconducting leads, they reflect the properties of proximized CoSi surface. The Andreev states coalescence and stability of the zero-bias $dV/dI$ value with increasing in-plane magnetic field are interpreted as the joined effect of the strong SOC and the Zeeman interaction, known for proximized semiconductor nanowires. We associate the observed magnetic field anisotropy with the recently predicted in-plane polarized spin texture of the Fermi arcs surface states., final version

CoSi single crystal is a known realization of a chiral topological semimetal with simultaneously broken mirror and inversion symmetries. In addition to the symmetry-induced spin–orbit coupling, surface ferromagnetism is known in nominally diamagnetic CoSi structures, which appears due to the distorted bonds and ordered vacancies near the surface. We experimentally investigate electron transport through a thin CoSi flake at high current density. Surprisingly, we demonstrate d V / d I ( I ) curves which are qualitatively similar to ones for ferromagnetic multilayers with characteristic d V / d I magnon peaks and unconventional magnetic field evolution of the peaks’ positions. We understand these observations as a result of current-induced spin polarization due to the significant spin–orbit coupling in CoSi. Scattering of non-equilibrium spin-polarized carriers within the surface ferromagnetic layer is responsible for the precessing spin-wave excitations, so the observed magnon modes are the joint effect of surface ferromagnetism and spin–orbit coupling in a CoSi chiral topological semimetal. Thus, thin CoSi flakes behave as magnetic conductors with broken inversion symmetry, which is important for different spintronic phenomena.

We experimentally investigate second-harmonic transverse voltage response to ac electrical current for a magnetic nodal-line semimetal Fe3GeTe2 (FGT). For zero magnetic field, the observed second-harmonic voltage behaves as a square of the longitudinal current, as it should be expected for nonlinear Hall effect. The magnetic field behavior is found to be sophisticated: while the first-harmonic response shows the known anomalous Hall hysteresis in FGT, the second-harmonic Hall voltage is characterized by the pronounced high-field hysteresis and flat (B-independent) region with curves touching at low fields. The high-field hysteresis strongly depends on the magnetic field sweep rate, so it reflects some slow relaxation process. For the lowest rates, it is also accomplished by multiple crossing points. Similar shape of the second-harmonic hysteresis is known for skyrmion spin textures in nonlinear optics. Since skyrmions have been demonstrated for FGT by direct visualization techniques, we can connect the observed high-field relaxation with deformation of the skyrmion lattice. Thus, the second-harmonic Hall voltage response can be regarded as a tool to detect spin textures in transport experiments.

We experimentally investigate thermoelectric response of a 100-nm-thick SnSe single crystal flake under the current-induced dc electric field. Thermoelectric response appears as a second-harmonic transverse voltage ${V}_{xy}^{2\ensuremath{\omega}}$, which reflects temperature gradient across the sample due to the Joule heating by harmonic ac excitation current ${I}_{\mathrm{ac}}$. In addition to strongly nonmonotonous dependence ${V}_{xy}^{2\ensuremath{\omega}}$, we observe that dc field direction controls the sign of the temperature gradient in the SnSe flake. We provide arguments, that electrocaloric effect is the mostly probable reason for the results obtained. Thus, our experiment can be understood as demonstration of the possibility to induce electrocaloric effect by in-plane electric field in conducting ferroelectric crystals and to detect it by thermoelectric response.

We investigate electron transport along the surface of WTe2 three-dimensional single crystals, which are characterized by the coexistence of the conductivity and ferroelectricity of a Weyl semimetal at room temperature. We find that a nonlinear behavior of the differential resistance $$dV{\text{/}}dI(I)$$ of WTe2 is accompanied by a slow relaxation process, which appears as the $$dV{\text{/}}dI(I)$$ dependence on the sign of the current change. This observation is confirmed by direct investigation of time-dependent relaxation curves. While strongly nonlinear differential resistance should be expected for zero-gap WTe2, the slow relaxation in transport is very unusual for well-conducting semimetals at room temperature. We establish that a nonmonotonic dependence of the amplitude of the effect on the driving current $$dV{\text{/}}dI(I)$$ well corresponds to the known Sawyer–Tower’s ferroelectric hysteresis loop. The possibility to induce polarization current by source-drain field variation is unique for WTe2, since it is a direct consequence of the coexistence of ferroelectricity and metallic conduction. This conclusion is also confirmed by gate voltage dependencies, so our results can be understood as a direct demonstration of the ferroelectric behavior of WTe2 in charge transport experiment.

We experimentally investigate longitudinal and transverse second-harmonic voltage response to ac electrical current for a magnetic Weyl semimetal Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$. In contrast to the previously observed Berry-curvature induced non-linear Hall effect for non-magnetic Weyl and Dirac semimetals, the second-harmonic transverse voltage demonstrates sophisticated interplay of different effects for Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$. In high magnetic fields, it is of Seebeck-like square-B law, while the low-field behavior is found to be linear and sensitive to the direction of sample magnetization. The latter can be expected both for the non-linear Hall effect and for the surface state contribution to the Seebeck effect in Weyl semimetals. Thus, thermoelectric effects are significant in Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$, unlike non-magnetic Weyl and Dirac materials.

We experimentally investigate charge transport through the interface between a gold electrode and a black phosphorus single crystal. The experimental $dI/dV(V)$ curves are characterized by well developed zero-bias conductance peak and two strongly different branches. We find that two branches of asymmetric $dI/dV(V)$ curves correspond to different band gap limits, which is consistent with the theoretically predicted band gap reconstruction at the surface of black phosphorus under electric field. This conclusion is confirmed by experimental comparison with the symmetric curves for narrow-gap (WTe$_2$) and wide-gap (GaSe) metal-semiconductor structures. In addition, we demonstrate p-type dopants redistribution at high bias voltages of different sign, which opens a way to use the interface structures with black phosphorus in resistive memory applications., final version

We investigate charge transport through the junction between a niobium superconductor and the edge of a two-dimensional electron-hole bilayer, realized in an InAs/GaSb double quantum well. For the transparent interface with a superconductor, we demonstrate that the junction resistance is determined by the interlayer charge transfer near the interface. From an analysis of experimental $I-V$ curves we conclude that the proximity induced superconductivity efficiently couples electron and hole layers at low currents. The critical current demonstrates periodic dependence on the in-plane magnetic field, while it is monotonous for the field which is normal to the bilayer plane., Comment: 5 pages

We experimentally study lateral electron transport between two $5\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$-spaced superconducting indium leads on a top of magnetic Weyl semimetal ${\mathrm{Co}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{2}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$. For the disordered magnetic state of ${\mathrm{Co}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{2}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ crystal, we observe only the Andreev reflection in the proximity of each of the leads, which is indicative of highly transparent In-${\mathrm{Co}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{2}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$ interfaces. If the sample is homogeneously magnetized, it demonstrates a well-developed anomalous Hall effect state. In this regime we find the Josephson current that takes place even for $5\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$-long junctions and show the unusual magnetic field and temperature dependencies. As a possible reason for the results obtained, we discuss the contribution to the proximity-induced spin-triplet Josephson current from the topologically protected Fermi-arc states on the surface of ${\mathrm{Co}}_{3}{\mathrm{Sn}}_{2}{\mathrm{S}}_{2}$.

Being encouraged by the interplay between topology, superconductivity and magnetism, we experimentally investigate charge transport through the interface between the Nb superconductor and the time-reversal symmetry breaking Weyl semimetal Co3Sn2S2. In addition to the proximity-induced superconducting gap, we observe prominent subgap zero-bias anomaly. The anomaly demonstrates an unusual robustness to external magnetic fields: its width is absolutely stable up to the critical field of Nb, while its amplitude exhibits a weak non-monotonous variation. As the promising scenario of emergence of the zero-bias anomaly in transport characteristics, we consider the proximity-induced zero-energy Andreev bound states interfaced with the half-metallic Co3Sn2S2 and influenced by the strong spin-orbit coupling and large Zeeman splitting.

We experimentally compare two types of interface structures with magnetic and non-magnetic Weyl semimetals. They are the junctions between a gold normal layer and magnetic Weyl semimetal Ti$_2$MnAl, and a ferromagnetic nickel layer and non-magnetic Weyl semimetal WTe$_2$, respectively. Due to the ferromagnetic side of the junction, we investigate spin-polarized transport through the Weyl semimetal surface. For both structures, we demonstrate similar current-voltage characteristics, with hysteresis at low currents and sharp peaks in differential resistance at high ones. Despite this behavior resembles the known current-induced magnetization dynamics in ferromagnetic structures, evolution of the resistance peaks with magnetic field is unusual. We connect the observed effects with current-induced spin dynamics in Weyl topological surface states., Comment: final version

We experimentally investigate transport properties of a hybrid structure, which consists of a thin single crystal SnSe flake on a top of 5~$\mu$m spaced Au leads. The structure initially is in highly-conductive state, while it can be switched to low-conductive one at high currents due to the Joule heating of the sample, which should be identified as phase transition to the symmetric $\beta$-$Cmcm$ phase in SnSe. For highly-conductive state, there is significant hysteresis in $dI/dV(V)$ curves at low biases, so the sample conductance depends on the sign of the applied bias change. This hysteretic behavior reflects slow relaxation due to additional polarization current in the ferroelectric SnSe phase, which we confirm by direct measurement of time-dependent relaxation curves. In contrast, we observe no noticeable relaxation or low-bias hysteresis for the quenched low-conductive phase. Thus, ferroelectric behavior can be switched on or off in transport through hybrid SnSe structure by controllable phase transition to the symmetric $\beta$-$Cmcm$ phase. This result can also be important for nonvolatile memory development, e.g. phase change memory for neuromorphic computations or other applications in artificial intelligence and modern electronics.

Investigations of topological insulators, which are two- and three-dimensional systems with a gap in the bulk spectrum and topologically protected gapless edge states, are of considerable fundamental interest at present. The experiments confirming the presence of the edge states in two-dimensional systems with inverted bands and problems of determining the nature of such states in these experiments are reviewed. Special attention is focused on spin-sensitive experiments since the topological edge states have a nontrivial spin structure.

We experimentally investigate spin-polarized electron transport between a permalloy ferromagnet and the edge of a two-dimensional electron system with band inversion, realized in a narrow, 8 nm wide, HgTe quantum well. In zero magnetic field, we observe strong asymmetry of the edge potential distribution with respect to the ferromagnetic ground lead. This result indicates that the helical edge channel, specific for the structures with band inversion even at the conductive bulk, is strongly coupled to the ferromagnetic side contact, possibly due to the effects of proximity magnetization. This allows selective and spin-sensitive contacting of helical edge states.

We experimentally investigate a non-linear Hall effect for three-dimensional WTe$_2$ and Cd$_3$As$_2$ single crystals, representing Weyl and Dirac semimetals, respectively. We observe finite second-harmonic Hall voltage, which depends quadratically on the longitudinal current in zero magnetic field. Despite this observation well corresponds to the theoretical predictions, only magnetic field dependence allows to distinguish the non-linear Hall effect from a thermoelectric response. We demonstrate that second-harmonic Hall voltage shows odd-type dependence on the direction of the magnetic field, which is a strong argument in favor of current-magnetization effects. In contrast, one order of magnitude higher thermopower signal is independent of the magnetic field direction., Comment: minor text correction

We experimentally investigate electron transport in kagome-lattice ferromagnet Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$, which is regarded as a time-reversal symmetry broken Weyl semimetal candidate. We demonstrate $dV/dI(I)$ curves with pronounced asymmetric $dV/dI$ spikes, similar to those attributed to current-induced spin-wave excitations in ferromagnetic multilayers. In contrast to multilayers, we observe several $dV/dI$ spikes' sequences at low, $\approx$10$^4$ A/cm$^2$, current densities for a thick single-crystal Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ flake in the regime of fully spin-polarized bulk. The spikes at low current densities can be attributed to novel magnon branches in magnetic Weyl semimetals, which are predicted due to the coupling between two magnetic moments mediated by Weyl fermions. Presence of spin-transfer effects at low current densities in Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ makes the material attractive for applications in spintronics., Comment: final version

We experimentally investigate spin-polarized electron transport between two ferromagnetic contacts, placed at the edge of a two-dimensional electron system with band inversion. The system is realized in a narrow (8 nm) HgTe quantum well, the ferromagnetic side contacts are formed from a premagnetized permalloy film. In zero magnetic field, we find a significant edge current contribution to the transport between two ferromagnetic contacts. We experimentally demonstrate that this transport is sensitive to the mutual orientation of the magnetization directions of two 200 µm-spaced ferromagnetic leads. This is a direct experimental evidence on the spin-coherent edge transport over the macroscopic distances. Thus, the spin is extremely robust at the edge of a two-dimensional electron system with band inversion, confirming the helical spin-resolved nature of edge currents.

We experimentally study electron transport between two superconducting indium leads, coupled to the WTe2 crystal surface. WTe2 is characterized by presence of Fermi arc surface states, as a predicted type-II Weyl semimetal candidate. We demonstrate Josephson current in unprecedentedly long 5 µm In–WTe2–In junctions, which is confirmed by I–V curves evolution with temperature and magnetic field. The Josephson current is mostly carried by the topological surface states, which we demonstrate in a double-slit superconducting quantum interference device geometry, realized by coupling the opposite WTe2 crystal surfaces.

We experimentally investigate spin-polarized transport between a ferromagnetic Ni electrode and a surface of Weyl semimetal, realized in a thick WTe$_2$ single crystal. For highly-transparent Ni-WTe$_2$ planar junctions, we observe non-Ohmic $dV/dI(I)$ behavior with an overall increase of differential resistance $dV/dI$ with current bias, which is accomplished by current-induced switchings. This behavior is inconsistent with trivial interface scattering, but it is well known for spin-polarized transport with magnon emission. Thus, we interpret the experimental results in terms of spin wave excitation in spin textures in the WTe$_2$ topological surface states, which is supported by the obtained magnetic field and temperature $dV/dI(I)$ dependencies.

We experimentally investigate charge transport through the interface between a niobium superconductor and a three-dimensional WTe$_2$ Weyl semimetal. In addition to classical Andreev reflection, we observe sharp non-periodic subgap resistance resonances. From an analysis of their positions, magnetic field and temperature dependencies, we can interpret them as an analog of Tomasch oscillations for transport along the topological surface state across the region of proximity-induced superconductivity at the Nb-WTe$_2$ interface. Observation of distinct geometrical resonances implies a specific transmission direction for carriers, which is a hallmark of the Fermi arc surface states., Comment: 5 pages, some misprints has been corrected

We experimentally investigate Andreev transport through the interface between an indium superconductor and the edge of the InAs/GaSb bilayer. To cover all possible regimes of InAs/GaSb spectrum, we study samples with 10 nm, 12 nm, and 14 nm thick InAs quantum wells. For the trivial case of a direct band insulator in 10~nm samples, differential resistance demonstrates standard Andreev reflection. For InAs/GaSb structures with band inversion (12~nm and 14 nm samples), we observe distinct low-energy structures, which we regard as direct evidence for the proximity-induced superconductivity within the current-carrying edge state. For 14~nm InAs well samples, we additionally observe mesoscopic-like resistance fluctuations, which are subjected to threshold suppression in low magnetic fields., Comment: final version

We experimentally study electron transport between two superconducting indium leads, coupled to a single WTe 2 crystal, which is a three-dimensional Weyl semimetal. We demonstrate Josephson current in 5 μ m long In-WTe 2 -In junctions, as confirmed by the observation of integer (1, 2, 3) and fractional (1/3, 1/2, 2/3) Shapiro steps under microwave irradiation. The demonstration of the fractional a.c. Josephson effect indicates the multivalued character of the current-phase relationship, which we connect with the Weyl topological surface states contribution to the Josephson current. In contrast to topological insulators and Dirac semimetals, we do not observe periodicity in the a.c. Josephson effect for WTe 2 at different frequencies and power, which might reflect the chiral character of the Fermi arc surface states in a Weyl semimetal.

We experimentally investigate transport through the side junction between a niobium superconductor and the mesa edge of a two-dimensional system, realized in an InAs/GaSb double quantum well with band inversion. We demonstrate, that different transport regimes can be achieved by variation of the mesa step. We observe anomalous behavior of Andreev reflection within a finite low-bias interval, which is invariant for both transport regimes. We connect this behavior with the transition from retro- (at low biases) to specular (at high ones) Andreev reflection channels in an InAs/GaSb double quantum well with band inversion., Comment: As accepted to JETP Letters, vol. 104, issue 1

We investigate electron transport through the interface between a niobium superconductor and the edge of a two-dimensional semimetal, realized in a 20~nm wide HgTe quantum well. Experimentally, we observe that typical behavior of a single Andreev contact is complicated by both a pronounced zero-bias resistance anomaly and shallow subgap resistance oscillations with $1/n$ periodicity. These results are demonstrated to be independent of the superconducting material and should be regarded as specific to a 2D semimetal in a proximity with a superconductor. We interpret these effects to originate from the Andreev-like correlated process at the edge of a two-dimensional semimetal., 5 pages

We experimentally investigate Andreev transport through a single junction between an s-wave indium superconductor and a thick film of a three-dimensional $Bi_2Te_3$ topological insulator. We study $Bi_2Te_3$ samples with different bulk and surface characteristics, where the presence of a topological surface state is confirmed by direct ARPES measurements. All the junctions demonstrate Andreev transport within the superconducting gap. For junctions with transparent $In-Bi_2Te_3$ interfaces we find a number of nearly periodic conductance oscillations, which are accompanied by zero-bias conductance anomaly. Both effects disappear above the superconducting transition or for resistive junctions. We propose a consistent interpretation of both effects as originating from proximity-induced superconducting correlations within the $Bi_2Te_3$ topological surface state.