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We present results of investigations into the underlying mechanisms that drive the long observed phenomenon of contact electrification. Our experiments indicate identical single-crystal insulators are able to exchange charge at magnitudes comparable to charge transfer between dissimilar materials. Any complete theory of contact electrification must be held accountable to these observations, leading to significant constraints on possible underlying mechanisms of charge transfer between insulators. This self-charging behavior does not appear random when repeated contacts are made, suggesting the possibility of a nucleation-type event developing from seed charges. The confirmation of such a mechanism would require a probe capable of monitoring the charge distribution on the materials' surfaces without affecting the charge distribution. This effect could be direct (e.g. via polar interactions between the tip and sample or by encouraging discharges to the probe) or requiring substantial time to collect data between charging contacts, which could allow for charge redistribution or neutralization, obscuring information on the growth of charge patches.To this end, we demonstrate a novel non-destructive in-situ method of probing the charge distribution, including bipolar charging, on the surfaces of the contacting materials. This method also allows for determination of discharges and charge re-distribution during the experiment. This unprecedented understanding of charge carrier behavior immediately before and after contact provides key clues to the nature of the charge carriers in contact electrification and the underlying mechanism. These results provide constraints on both electron-dominant and ion-dominant theories of charge transfer and significantly narrows the field of possible mechanisms. Another significant aspect of this work is that it provides an explanation as to why a subject studied with so much interest for such a substantial period of time has failed to provide a definitive understanding of the topic. We find charge transfer is highly variable, even in the situation of like materials, and provides insight as to why the results of contact electrification experiments can have such high variation between runs or even individual contacts. We have found that the nature of the contact between two insulating materials, in terms of alignment and amount of rub, have dramatic effects on the charging behavior.

We discuss the charge and the spin tunneling currents between two Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer (BCS) superconductors, where one density of states is spin-split by the proximity of a ferromagnetic insulator. In the presence of a large temperature bias across the junction, we predict the generation of a spin-polarized thermoelectric current. This thermospin effect is the result of a spontaneous particle-hole symmetry breaking in the absence of any polarizing tunnel barrier. The two spin components, which move in opposite directions, generate a spin current larger than the purely polarized case when the thermoactive component dominates over the dissipative one.

We report the observation of a non-trivial spin texture in Dirac node arcs, novel topological objects formed when Dirac cones of massless particles extend along an open one-dimensional line in momentum space. We find that such states are present in all the compounds of the tetradymite M$_2$Te$_2$X family (M$=$Ti, Zr or Hf and X$=$P or As), regardless of the weak or strong character of the topological invariant. The Dirac node arcs in tetradymites are thus the simplest possible, textbook example, of a type-I Dirac system with a single spin-polarized node arc., Main Text + Supplementary Information, 12 pages, 11 figures

Recent experiments with strong THz fields in both conventional and unconventional superconductors have clearly evidenced a marked third-harmonic generation below the superconducting temperature $T_c$. Its interpretation challenged substantial theoretical work aimed at establishing the relative efficiency of quasiparticle excitations and collective modes in triggering such a resonant response. Here we compute the non-linear current by implementing a time-dependent Bogoljubov de-Gennes approach, with the twofold aim to account non-perturbatively for the effect of local disorder, and to include the contribution of all collective modes, i.e. superconducting amplitude (Higgs) and phase fluctuations, and charge fluctuations. We show that, in agreement with previous work, already at small disorder the quasiparticle response is dominated by paramagnetic effects. We further demonstrate that paramagnetic processes mediate also the response of all collective modes, with a substantial contribution of charge/phase fluctuations. These processes, which have been overlooked so far, turn out to dominate the third-order current at strong disorder. In addition, we show that disorder strongly influences the polarization dependence of the non-linear response, with a marked difference between the clean and the disordered case. Our results are particularly relevant for recent experiments in cuprates, whose band structure is in a first approximation reproduced by our lattice model.

Recently, the twist angle between adjacent sheets of stacked van der Waals materials emerged as a new knob to engineer correlated states of matter in two-dimensional heterostructures in a controlled manner, giving rise to emergent phenomena such as superconductivity or correlated insulating states. Here, we use an ab initio based approach to characterize the electronic properties of twisted bilayer MoS2. We report that, in marked contrast to twisted bilayer graphene, slightly hole-doped MoS2 realizes a strongly asymmetric px-py Hubbard model on the honeycomb lattice, with two almost entirely dispersionless bands emerging due to destructive interference. The origin of these dispersionless bands, is similar to that of the flat bands in the prototypical Lieb or Kagome lattices and co-exists with the general band flattening at small twist angle due to the moiré interference. We study the collective behavior of twisted bilayer MoS2 in the presence of interactions, and characterize an array of different magnetic and orbitally-ordered correlated phases, which may be susceptible to quantum fluctuations giving rise to exotic, purely quantum, states of matter., Twisted van der Waals systems are known to host flat electronic bands, originating from moire potential. Here, the authors predict from purely geometric considerations a new type of nearly dispersionless bands in twisted bilayer MoS2, resulting from destructive interference between effective lattice hopping matrix elements.

The induction of unconventional superconductivity by twisting two layers of graphene a small angle was groundbreaking1, and since then has attracted widespread attention to novel phenomena caused by lattice or angle mismatch between two-dimensional (2D) materials2. While many studies address the influence of angle mismatch between layered 2D materials3-5 , the impact of the absorption alignment on the physical properties of planar molecules on 2D substrates has not been studied in detail. Using scanning probe microscopy (SPM) we show that individual cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules adsorbed on the layered superconductor 2H-NbSe2 change drastically their charge and spin state when the symmetry axes of the molecule and the substrate are twisted with respect to each other. The CoPc changes from an effective spin-1/2 as found in gas-phase6 to a molecule with non-magnetic ground-state. On the latter we observe a singlet-triplet transition originating from an antiferromagnetic interaction between the central-ion spin and a distributed magnetic moment on the molecular ligands. Because the Ising superconductor 2H-NbSe2 lacks inversion symmetry and has large spin-orbit coupling7 this intramolecular magnetic exchange has significant non-collinear Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya (DM)8, 9 contribution., 4 figures

In recent years, the notion of Quantum Materials has emerged as a powerful unifying concept across diverse fields of science and engineering, from condensed-matter and cold atom physics to materials science and quantum computing. Beyond traditional quantum materials such as unconventional superconductors, heavy fermions, and multiferroics, the field has significantly expanded to encompass topological quantum matter, two-dimensional materials and their van der Waals heterostructures, Moire materials, Floquet time crystals, as well as materials and devices for quantum computation with Majorana fermions. In this Roadmap collection we aim to capture a snapshot of the most recent developments in the field, and to identify outstanding challenges and emerging opportunities. The format of the Roadmap, whereby experts in each discipline share their viewpoint and articulate their vision for quantum materials, reflects the dynamic and multifaceted nature of this research area, and is meant to encourage exchanges and discussions across traditional disciplinary boundaries. It is our hope that this collective vision will contribute to sparking new fascinating questions and activities at the intersection of materials science, condensed matter physics, device engineering, and quantum information, and to shaping a clearer landscape of quantum materials science as a new frontier of interdisciplinary scientific inquiry., Comment: 93 pages, 27 figures

The Mott metal-insulator transition in the Hubbard model is studied by constructing a dynamical slave-boson mean-field theory in the limit of large lattice coordination number $z$ that incorporates the binding between doubly occupied (doublon) and empty (holon) sites. On the Mott insulating side where all doublons and holons bond in real space into excitonic pairs leading to the charge gap, the theory simplifies considerably to leading order in $1/\sqrt{z}$, and becomes exact on the infinite-$z$ Bethe lattice. An asymptotic solution is obtained for a continuous Mott transition associated with the closing of the charge gap at a critical value of the Hubbard $U_c$ and the corresponding doublon density $n_d^c$, hopping $\chi_d^c$ and doublon-holon pairing $\Delta_d^c$ amplitudes. We find $U_c=U_{\rm BR} [1 -2n_d^c -\sqrt{z} (\chi_d^c +\Delta_d^c))] \simeq0.8U_{\rm BR}$, where $U_{\rm BR}$ is the critical value for the Brinkman-Rice transition in the Gutzwiller approximation captured in the static mean-field solution of the slave-boson formulation of Kotliar and Ruckenstein. Thus, the Mott transition can be viewed as the quantum correction to the Brinkman-Rice transition due to doublon-holon binding. Quantitative comparisons are made to the results of the dynamical mean-field theory, showing good agreement. In the absence of magnetic order, the Mott insulator is a $U(1)$ quantum spin liquid with nonzero intersite spinon hopping that survives the large-$z$ limit and lifts the $2^N$-fold degeneracy of the local moments. We show that the spinons are coupled to the doublons/holons by a dissipative compact $U(1)$ gauge field in the deconfined phase, realizing the spin-charge separated gapless spin liquid Mott insulator., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1605.03597

Experimental advances in the fabrication and characterization of few-layer materials stacked at a relative twist of small angle have recently shown the emergence of flat energy bands. As a consequence electron interactions become relevant, providing inroads into the physics of strongly correlated two-dimensional systems. Here, we demonstrate by combining large scale ab initio simulations with numerically exact strong correlation approaches that an effective one-dimensional system emerges upon stacking two twisted sheets of GeSe, in marked contrast to all moiré systems studied so far. This not only allows to study the necessarily collective nature of excitations in one dimension, but can also serve as a promising platform to scrutinize the crossover from two to one dimension in a controlled setup by varying the twist angle, which provides an intriguing benchmark with respect to theory. We thus establish twisted bilayer GeSe as an intriguing inroad into the strongly correlated physics of lowdimensional systems., This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC-2015-AdG694097) and Grupos Consolidados (IT578-13). The Flatiron Institute is a division of the Simons Foundation. L.X. acknowledges the European Unions Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 709382 (MODHET). M.C. is supported by the Flatiron Institute, a division of the Simons Foundation. D.M.K. acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy-Cluster of Excellence Matter and Light for Quantum Computing (ML4Q) EXC 2004/1-390534769. Gefördert durch die Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft(DFG) im Rahmen der Exzellenzstrategie des Bundes und der Länder-Exzellenzcluster Materie und Licht für Quanteninformation (ML4Q) EXC 2004/1-390534769. D.M.K. acknowledges funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under RTG 1995. We acknowledge support by the Max Planck Institute-New York City Center for Non-Equilibrium Quantum Phenomena. D.M.R.G. calculations were performed with computing resources granted by RWTH Aachen University under projects prep0010. We acknowledge computing resources from Columbia University’s Shared Research Computing Facility project, which is supported by NIH Research Facility Improvement Grant 1G20RR030893-01, and associated funds from the New York State Empire State Development, Division of Science Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) Contract C090171, both awarded April 15, 2010.

The stationary behavior of a quantum system is determined by its Hamiltonian and its boundary conditions. All quantum phase transitions (QPT) reported previously were induced by changing the Hamiltonian. In a circular spin model with Heisenberg XY interactions and no magnetic field, we observe an anomaly in quantum phases caused by a qualitative change of the boundary condition. The unexpected anomaly features an infinite number of single-particle levels, in the same pattern as the single-photon-triggered quantum phase transition in the Rabi model. We thank Dr. Z.-M. Wang for his early participation. We acknowledge grant support from the Basque Government (grant IT472-10), the Spanish MICINN (No. FIS2012-36673-C03-03), LightCone Interactive LLC, the National Science Foundation of China (Grants Nos. 11974311 and U1801661), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 2018QNA3004), and Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant No. LD18A040001.

We explore the effect of inhomogeneity on electronic properties of the two-dimensional Hubbard model on a square lattice using dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT). The inhomogeneity is introduced via modulated lattice hopping such that in the extreme inhomogeneous limit the resulting geometry is a Lieb lattice, which exhibits a flat-band dispersion. The crossover can be observed in the uniform sublattice magnetization which is zero in the homogeneous case and increases with the inhomogeneity. Studying the spatially resolved frequency-dependent local self-energy, we find a crossover from Fermi-liquid to non-Fermi-liquid behavior happening at a moderate value of the inhomogeneity. This emergence of a non-Fermi liquid is concomitant of a quasi-flat band. For finite doping the system with small inhomogeneity displays $d$-wave superconductivity coexisting with incommensurate spin-density order, inferred from the presence of oscillatory DMFT solutions. The $d$-wave superconductivity gets suppressed for moderate to large inhomogeneity for any finite doping while the incommensurate spin-density order still exists., 12 Pages, 10 figures

The intrinsic nonlinearities of the spin dynamics in condensed matter systems give rise to a rich phenomenology that can be strongly affected by topology. Here, we study formation of magnonic solitons in the topologically nontrivial band gap of a spin lattice realization of the Haldane model, in both static and dynamic (Floquet) regimes. We consider nonlinearities caused by magnetic crystalline anisotropy and magnon-magnon interactions. We find soliton formation power thresholds as a function of anisotropy coefficient and interaction strength. We predict different classes of topological solitons for the same topological class of the underlying lattice and explain it in terms of a transition from a topologically nontrivial mass to a trivial one. Our findings imply that a soliton can phase separate, containing boundaries between topologically trivial and nontrivial phases, which is associated with a vanishing spin-wave gap.

Electron-electron interactions play an important role in graphene and related systems and can induce exotic quantum states, especially in a stacked bilayer with a small twist angle(1-7). For bilayer graphene where the two layers are twisted by the 'magic angle', flat band and strong many-body effects lead to correlated insulating states and superconductivity(4-7). In contrast to monolayer graphene, the band structure of untwisted bilayer graphene can be further tuned by a displacement field(8-10), providing an extra degree of freedom to control the flat band that should appear when two bilayers are stacked on top of each other. Here, we report the discovery and characterization of displacement field-tunable electronic phases in twisted double bilayer graphene. We observe insulating states at a half-filled conduction band in an intermediate range of displacement fields. Furthermore, the resistance gap in the correlated insulator increases with respect to the in-plane magnetic fields and we find that the g factor, according to the spin Zeeman effect, is 2, indicating spin polarization at half-filling. These results establish twisted double bilayer graphene as an easily tunable platform for exploring quantum many-body states., Placing two Bernal-stacked graphene bilayers on top of each other with a small twist angle gives correlated states. As the band structure can be tuned by an electric field, this platform is a more varied setting to study correlated electrons.

An insulator differs from a metal because of a different organization of the electrons in their ground state. In recent years this feature has been probed by means of a geometrical property, the quantum metric tensor, which addresses the system as a whole, and is therefore limited to macroscopically homogenous samples. Here we show that an analogous approach leads to a localization marker, which can detect the metallic versus insulating character of a given sample region using as the sole ingredient the ground state electron distribution, even in the Anderson case (where the spectrum is gapless). When applied to an insulator with a nonzero Chern invariant, our marker is capable of discriminating the insulating nature of the bulk from the conducting nature of the boundary. Simulations (both model Hamiltonian and first principles) on several test cases validate our theory.

Two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystals have made major inroads into condensed-matter physics and give rise to fascinating phenomena due to quantum confinement. Here we report the first Raman scattering study on phonon-magnetic scattering coupling, proximate quantum spin liquid ground state and collective fractionalized excitations in exfoliated α-RuCl 3 atomic layers. Our results uncover that 2D α-RuCl 3 could harbour the unusual magnetic continuum, serving as a hallmark of the 2D proximate quantum spin liquid state and frustrated magnetic interactions. More importantly, our work demonstrates that the unusual magnetic scattering, as compared with bulk, is more obvious in 2D α-RuCl 3, indicating that the frustrated magnetic interactions are enhanced strongly. Such unusual enhancement of frustrated magnetic interactions may be responsible for the gigantic phonon-magnetic scattering coupling of 2D α-RuCl 3 and play a key role in stabilizing the 2D proximate quantum spin liquid state. Our work establishes a firm basis for exploring and understanding the 2D proximate quantum spin liquid and fractionalized excitations based on the atomically thin α-RuCl 3.

17 pags., 10 figs., 1 tab. -- Open Access funded by Creative Commons Atribution Licence 4.0, Topological photonic systems, with their ability to host states protected against disorder and perturbation, allow us to do with photons what topological insulators do with electrons. Topological photonics can refer to electronic systems coupled with light or purely photonic setups. By shrinking these systems to the nanoscale, we can harness the enhanced sensitivity observed in nanoscale structures and combine this with the protection of the topological photonic states, allowing us to design photonic local density of states and to push towards one of the ultimate goals of modern science: the precise control of photons at the nanoscale. This is paramount for both nanotechnological applications and fundamental research in light matter problems. For purely photonic systems, we work with bosonic rather than fermionic states, so the implementation of topology in these systems requires new paradigms. Trying to face these challenges has helped in the creation of the exciting new field of topological nanophotonics, with far-reaching applications. In this article, we review milestones in topological photonics and discuss how they can be built upon at the nanoscale., M.S.R. and S.J.P. would like to acknowledge their studentships from the Centre for Doctoral Training on Theory and Simulation of Materials at Imperial College London funded by EPSRC (Grant No. EP/L015579/1). S.R.P. acknowledges funding from EPSRC. X.X. is supported by a Lee family scholarship. P.A.H. acknowledges The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. V.G. acknowledges the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad for financial support through the grant NANOTOPO (No. FIS2017-91413-EXP) and also Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (INTRAMURALES No. 201750I039). V.G. acknowledges support from CSIC Research Platform on Quantum Technologies PTI-001.

Scanning tunneling microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and helium atom scattering show a transition to a dimerizationlike reconstruction in the one-dimensional atomic chains on Bi(114) at low temperatures. One-dimensional metals are generally unstable against such a Peierls-like distortion, but neither the shape nor the spin texture of the Bi(114) Fermi contour favors the transition: Although the Fermi contour is one dimensional and thus perfectly nested, the very short nesting vector $2{k}_{F}$ is inconsistent with the periodicity of the distortion. Moreover, the nesting occurs between two Fermi contour branches of opposite spin, which is also expected to prevent the formation of a Peierls phase. Indeed, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy does not reveal any change in the electronic structure near the Fermi energy around the phase transition. On the other hand, distinct changes at higher binding energies are found to accompany the structural phase transition. This suggests that the transition of a strong-coupling type and that it is driven by phonon entropy rather than electronic entropy. This picture is supported by the observed short correlation length of the pairing distortion, the second-order-like character of the phase transition, and pronounced differences between the surface phonon spectra of the high- and low-temperature phases.

The Zeeman effect, which is usually considered to be detrimental to superconductivity, can surprisingly protect the superconducting states created by gating a layered transition metal dichalcogenide. This effective Zeeman field, which is originated from intrinsic spin orbit coupling induced by breaking in-plane inversion symmetry, can reach nearly a hundred Tesla in magnitude. It strongly pins the spin orientation of the electrons to the out-of-plane directions and protects the superconductivity from being destroyed by an in-plane external magnetic field. In magnetotransport experiments of ionic-gate MoS$_{2}$ transistors, where gating prepares individual superconducting state with different carrier doping, we indeed observe a spin- protected superconductivity by measuring an in-plane critical field $\textit{B}$$_{c2}$ far beyond the Pauli paramagnetic limit. The gating-enhanced $\textit{B}$$_{c2}$ is more than an order of magnitude larger compared to the bulk superconducting phases where the effective Zeeman field is weakened by interlayer coupling. Our study gives the first experimental evidence of an Ising superconductor, in which spins of the pairing electrons are strongly pinned by an effective Zeeman field.

Out of equilibrium phenomena are a major issue of modern physics. In particular, correlated materials such as Mott insulators experience fascinating long-lived exotic states under a strong electric field. Yet, the origin of their destabilization by the electric field is not elucidated. Here we present a comprehensive study of the electrical response of canonical Mott insulators GaM4Q8 (M=V, Nb, Ta, Mo; Q=S, Se) in the context of a microscopic theory of electrical breakdown where in-gap states allow for a description in terms of a two-temperature model. Our results show how the nonlinearities and the resistive transition originate from a massive creation of hot electrons under an electric field. These results give new insights for the control of the long-lived states reached under an electric field in these systems which has recently open the way to new functionalities used in neuromorphic applications. Fil: Diener, P.. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Janod, E.. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Corraze, B.. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Querré, M.. Universite de Rennes I. Institut Des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes.; Francia. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Adda, C.. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Guilloux Viry, M.. Universite de Rennes I. Institut Des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes.; Francia Fil: Cordier, S.. Universite de Rennes I. Institut Des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes.; Francia Fil: Camjayi, Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires; Argentina Fil: Rozenberg, Marcelo Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Université Paris Sud; Francia Fil: Besland, M. P.. Universite de Nantes; Francia Fil: Cario, L.. Universite de Nantes; Francia

We investigate magnon spin transport in epitaxial nickel ferrite (NiFe$_2$O$_4$, NFO) films grown on magnesium gallate spinel (MgGa$_2$O$_4$, MGO) substrates, which have a lattice mismatch with NFO as small as 0.78%, resulting in the reduction of antiphase boundary defects and thus in improved magnetic properties in the NFO films. In the nonlocal transport experiments, enhanced signals are observed for both electrically and thermally excited magnons, and the magnon relaxation length ($\lambda_m$) of NFO is found to be around 2.5 $\mu$m at room temperature. Moreover, at both room and low temperatures, we present distinct features from the nonlocal spin Seebeck signals which arise from magnon polaron formation. Our results demonstrate excellent magnon transport properties (magnon spin conductivity, $\lambda_m$ and spin mixing conductance at the interface between Pt) of NFO films grown on a lattice-matched substrate that are comparable with those of yttrium iron garnet., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

In this work we report observation of in-plane current induced out-of-plane magnetic field driven torque in spin valve structure. Since ferromagnet has high spin orbit coupling it is expected to be the source of spin-orbit-torque as it possesses anomalous-Hall-effect (AHE: equivalent to spin Hall effect in heavy metal). So we have carried out spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance (ST-FMR) experiment in a spin valve (consists of a fixed magnet and a free magnet which are separated by Cu spacer), passing in-plane radio frequency current and measuring DC voltage. Our experimental results eventually indicate that spin torque exerted on the free magnet is not caused due to the spin current injection by the fixed magnet owing to its AHE, but it is originated from in-plane current driven out-of plane effective magnetic field. This is new class of spin torque which is completely different from Slonczewski-spin transfer torque and Rashba like field like torque. The effective out-of plane magnetic field depends on the direction of current (in-plane) and magnetization (in-plane) of the pinned layer. One possible mechanism behind this unconventional torque could be intefacial spin-scattering which is also origin of current in-plane GMR effect. Most importantly this effective out-of plane torque can be useful to switch out-of plane magnetic bits in spintronic memory application.

In this paper Chiral Magnetic Effect (CME) in Dirac semimetals is studied by means of lattice Monte Carlo simulation. We measure conductivity of Dirac semimetals as a function of external magnetic field in parallel $\sigma_{\parallel}$ and perpendicular $\sigma_{\perp}$ to the external field directions. The simulations are carried out in three regimes: semimetal phase, onset of the insulator phase and deep in the insulator phase. In the semimetal phase $\sigma_{\parallel}$ grows whereas $\sigma_{\perp}$ drops with magnetic field. Similar behaviour was observed in the onset of the insulator phase but conductivity is smaller and its dependence on magnetic field is weaker. Finally in the insulator phase conductivities $\sigma_{\parallel, \perp}$ are close to zero and do not depend on magnetic field. In other words, we observe manifestation of the CME current in the semimetal phase, weaker manifestation of the CME in the onset of the insulator phase. We do not observe signatures of CME in the insulator phase. We believe that the suppression of the CME current in the insulator phase is connected to chiral symmetry breaking and generation of dynamical fermion mass which take place in this phase., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

The nonlocal transport of thermally generated magnons not only unveils the underlying mechanism of the spin Seebeck effect, but also allows for the extraction of the magnon relaxation length ($\lambda_m$) in a magnetic material, the average distance over which thermal magnons can propagate. In this study, we experimentally explore in yttrium iron garnet (YIG)/platinum systems much further ranges compared with previous investigations. We observe that the nonlocal SSE signals at long distances ($d$) clearly deviate from a typical exponential decay. Instead, they can be dominated by the nonlocal generation of magnon accumulation as a result of the temperature gradient present away from the heater, and decay geometrically as $1/d^2$. We emphasize the importance of looking only into the exponential regime (i.e., the intermediate distance regime) to extract $\lambda_m$. With this principle, we study $\lambda_m$ as a function of temperature in two YIG films which are 2.7 and 50 $\mu$m in thickness, respectively. We find $\lambda_m$ to be around 15 $\mu$m at room temperature and it increases to 40 $\mu$m at $T=$ 3.5 K. Finite element modeling results agree with experimental studies qualitatively, showing also a geometrical decay beyond the exponential regime. Based on both experimental and modeling results we put forward a general guideline for extracting $\lambda_m$ from the nonlocal spin Seebeck effect., Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures

The spin Seebeck effect (SSE) is observed in magnetic insulator|heavy metal bilayers as an inverse spin Hall effect voltage under a temperature gradient. The SSE can be detected nonlocally as well, viz. in terms of the voltage in a second metallic contact (detector) on the magnetic film, spatially separated from the first contact that is used to apply the temperature bias (injector). Magnon-polarons are hybridized lattice and spin waves in magnetic materials, generated by the magnetoelastic interaction. Kikkawa et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. \textbf{117}, 207203 (2016)] interpreted a resonant enhancement of the local SSE in yttrium iron garnet (YIG) as a function of the magnetic field in terms of magnon-polaron formation. Here we report the observation of magnon-polarons in \emph{nonlocal} magnon spin injection/detection devices for various injector-detector spacings and sample temperatures. Unexpectedly, we find that the magnon-polaron resonances can suppress rather than enhance the nonlocal SSE. Using finite element modelling we explain our observations as a competition between the SSE and spin diffusion in YIG. These results give unprecedented insights into the magnon-phonon interaction in a key magnetic material., 5 pages, 6 figures

We formulate an analytical recursive method to generate the wave function of doped short-range resonating valence bond (RVB) states as a tool to efficiently estimate multisite entanglement as well as other physical quantities in doped quantum spin ladders. We prove that doped RVB ladder states are always genuine multipartite entangled. Importantly, our results show that within specific doping concentration and model parameter regimes, the doped RVB state essentially characterizes the trends of genuine multiparty entanglement in the exact ground states of the Hubbard model with large onsite interactions, in the limit which yields the $t$-$J$ Hamiltonian., Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, RevTex 4-1, accepted in Phys. Rev. B

High-throughput assays of three-dimensional interactions of chromosomes have shed considerable light on the structure of animal chromatin. Despite this progress, the precise physical nature of observed structures and the forces that govern their establishment remain poorly understood. Here we present high resolution Hi-C data from early Drosophila embryos. We demonstrate that boundaries between topological domains of various sizes map to DNA elements that resemble classical insulator elements: short genomic regions sensitive to DNase digestion that are strongly bound by known insulator proteins and are frequently located between divergent promoters. Further, we show a striking correspondence between these elements and the locations of mapped polytene interband regions. We believe it is likely this relationship between insulators, topological boundaries, and polytene interbands extends across the genome, and we therefore propose a model in which decompaction of boundary-insulator-interband regions drives the organization of interphase chromosomes by creating stable physical separation between adjacent domains., eLife digest The DNA inside a cell is packaged into threaded structures called chromosomes. Early studies of chromosomes using insect larvae revealed a pattern of dark- and light-colored bands on the chromosomes that was unique to every region. For decades, it remained unclear if the bands had a specific role. More advanced techniques have shown that chromosomes are organized into a series of compact domains that contain separate regions of genes. Each region can be turned on or off at different times, depending on the needs of different cells. This allows cells to specialize into different cell types and tissues. Until now, it was unclear how these different regions are formed and controlled, and how they relate to the chromosome bands. Here, Stadler, Haines and Eisen used a specific technique to map the structure of chromosomes in early fly embryos, by using a chemical trap to capture closely located DNA pieces. The results showed that the chromosome domains corresponded to the banding patterns seen in the early studies. This suggest that light bands represent extended DNA that act as spacers between the dark gene regions. This study adds to the view that the way the DNA is organized influences gene activity. Creating a high-resolution model of the chromosomes will help us to better understand how their structure can influence the activity of genes. In future, scientists may be able to identify diseases that are caused by errors in the chromosome organization.

Graphene is a promising candidate for optoelectronic applications. In this report, a double gated bilayer graphene FET has been made using a combination of electrostatic and electrolytic gating in order to form an abrupt p-n junction. The presence of two Dirac peaks in the gating curve of the fabricated device confirms the formation of a p-n junction. At low temperatures, when the electrolyte is frozen intentionally, the photovoltage exhibits a six-fold pattern indicative of the hot electron induced photothermoelectric effect that has also been seen in graphene p-n junctions made using metallic gates. We have observed that the photovoltage increases with decreasing temperature indicating a dominant role of supercollision scattering. Our technique can also be extended to other 2D materials and to finer features that will lead to p-n junctions which span a large area, like a superlattice, that can generate a larger photoresponse. Our work creating abrupt p-n junctions is distinct from previous works that use a source–drain bias voltage with a single ionic gate creating a spatially graded p-n junction.

The competition between the length scales associated with the periodicity of a lattice potential and the cyclotron radius of a uniform magnetic field is known to have dramatic effects on the single-particle properties of a quantum particle, e.g., the fractal spectrum is known as the Hofstadter butterfly. Having this intricate competition in mind, we consider a two-component Fermi gas on a square optical lattice with opposite synthetic magnetic fields for the components, and study its effects on the many-body BCS-pairing phenomenon. By a careful addressing of the distinct superfluid transitions from the semi-metal, quantum spin-Hall insulator or normal phases, we explore the low-temperature phase diagrams of the model, displaying lobe structures that are reminiscent of the well-known Mott-insulator transitions of the Bose-Hubbard model., Comment: 5 pages with 4 figures in the Main text, and 3 additional figures Online. To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett

This study reports the fabrication of polymer field-effect transistors operating under a bias of |1 V| in which the insulator and semiconductor are gravure-printed on plastic at the high speed of 0.7 m s−1. Remarkably, the process does not necessitate any surface modification and relies solely on the careful selection and optimization of formulations based on solvent blends. In addition to demonstrating high-throughput fabrication, this study fulfills another requirement for organic electronics and achieves low-voltage operation in ambient air by using a polyelectrolyte insulator, poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSH). PSSH is a proton conductor that forms electrical double layers at the interfaces with the gate electrode and the semiconductor channel upon application of a small gate voltage (≤ |1 V|). Printed PSSH exhibits a high capacitance of 10 µF cm−2, leading to a printed poly(3-hexylthiophene) hole mobility above 0.1 cm2 V−1 s−1 in a bottom-gate, top-contact configuration.

The spin-charge coupled dynamics in a thin, magnetized metallic system are investigated. The effective driving force acting on the charge carriers is generated by a dynamical magnetic texture, which can be induced, e.g., by a magnetic material in contact with a normal-metal system. We consider a general inversion-asymmetric substrate/normal-metal/magnet structure, which, by specifying the precise nature of each layer, can mimick various experimentally employed setups. Inversion symmetry breaking gives rise to an effective Rashba spin-orbit interaction. We derive general spin-charge kinetic equations which show that such spin-orbit interaction, together with anisotropic Elliott-Yafet spin relaxation, yields significant corrections to the magnetization-induced dynamics. In particular, we present a consistent treatment of the spin density and spin current contributions to the equations of motion, inter alia identifying a novel term in the effective force which appears due to a spin current polarized parallel to the magnetization. This "inverse spin filter" contribution depends markedly on the parameter which describes the anisotropy in spin relaxation. To further highlight the physical meaning of the different contributions, the spin pumping configuration of typical experimental setups is analyzed in detail. In the two-dimensional limit the build-up of a DC voltage is dominated by the spin galvanic (inverse Edelstein) effect. A measuring scheme that could isolate this contribution is discussed., 12 pages, 5 figures

Electrons with a linear energy/momentum dispersion are called massless Dirac electrons and represent the low-energy excitations in exotic materials such as graphene and topological insulators. Dirac electrons are characterized by notable properties such as a high mobility, a tunable density and, in topological insulators, a protection against backscattering through the spin–momentum locking mechanism. All those properties make graphene and topological insulators appealing for plasmonics applications. However, Dirac electrons are expected to present also a strong nonlinear optical behaviour. This should mirror in phenomena such as electromagnetic-induced transparency and harmonic generation. Here we demonstrate that in Bi2Se3 topological insulator, an electromagnetic-induced transparency is achieved under the application of a strong terahertz electric field. This effect, concomitantly determined by harmonic generation and charge-mobility reduction, is exclusively related to the presence of Dirac electron at the surface of Bi2Se3, and opens the road towards tunable terahertz nonlinear optical devices based on topological insulator materials., The terahertz response of topological insulator surface states, in which relativistic electrons are protected from backscattering, possesses potential optic and plasmonic applications. Here, the authors demonstrate a nonlinear absorption response of Bi2Se3 to terahertz electric fields.

The irradiation of solids with high energy laser or particle beams has led to a deeper understanding of the relaxation processes inside the target material. However, a lot of open questions remain. In the present paper, we will examine the irradiation of the model system Xe23+ @ 93 MeV → SrTiO3 within the framework of the two-temperature-model and study the electron-phonon-coupling g and the electron diffusivity De as well as the lattice diffusivity Dp. These are crucial parameters for which no experimental data is available. Experimentally, g is very difficult to measure and therefore theoretical predictions are of great importance. With the approach presented here it is possible to determine the coupling-constant by one order of magnitude.

We study the quasiadiabatic dynamics of a one-dimensional system of ultracold bosonic atoms loaded in an optical superlattice. Focusing on a slow linear variation in time of the superlattice potential, the system is driven from a conventional Mott insulator phase to a superlattice-induced Mott insulator, crossing in between a gapless critical superfluid region. Due to the presence of a gapless region, a number of defects depending on the velocity of the quench appear. Our findings suggest a power-law dependence similar to the Kibble-Zurek mechanism for intermediate values of the quench rate. For the temporal ranges of the quench dynamics that we considered, the scaling of defects depends nontrivially on the width of the superfluid region., 6 Pages, 4 Figures

We study the effect of a magnetic field on the current-phase relation of a topological Josephson junction formed by connecting two superconductors through the helical edge states of a quantum spin-Hall insulator. We predict that the Zeeman effect along the spin quantization axis of the helical edges results in an anomalous Josephson relation that allows for a supercurrent to flow in the absence of superconducting phase bias. We relate the associated field-tunable phase shift $\phi_0$ in the Josephson relation of such a $\phi_0$-junction to the existence of a so-called helical superconductivity, which may result from the interplay of the Zeeman effect and spin-orbit coupling. We analyze the dependence of the magneto-supercurrent on the junction length and discuss its observability in suitably designed hybrid structures subject to an in-plane magnetic field., Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, Appendix and references added

Quantum wires with spin-orbit coupling provide a unique opportunity to simultaneously control the coupling strength and the screened Coulomb interactions where new exotic phases of matter can be explored. Here we report on the observation of an exotic spin-orbit density wave in Pb-atomic wires on Si(557) surfaces by mapping out the evolution of the modulated spin-texture at various conditions with spin-and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. The results are independently quantified by surface transport measurements. The spin polarization, coherence length, spin dephasing rate and the associated quasiparticle gap decrease simultaneously as the screened Coulomb interaction decreases with increasing excess coverage, providing a new mechanism for generating and manipulating a spin-orbit entanglement effect via electronic interaction. Despite clear evidence of spontaneous spin-rotation symmetry breaking and modulation of spin-momentum structure as a function of excess coverage, the average spin polarization over the Brillouin zone vanishes, indicating that time-reversal symmetry is intact as theoretically predicted. DFG/FOR/1700 Swiss National Science Foundation

One view of the cuprate high-transition temperature (high-Tc) superconductors is that they are conventional superconductors where the pairing occurs between weakly interacting quasiparticles, which stand in one-to-one correspondence with the electrons in ordinary metals - although the theory has to be pushed to its limit. An alternative view is that the electrons organize into collective textures (e.g. charge and spin stripes) which cannot be mapped onto the electrons in ordinary metals. The phase diagram, a complex function of various parameters (temperature, doping and magnetic field), should then be approached using quantum field theories of objects such as textures and strings, rather than point-like electrons. In an external magnetic field, magnetic flux penetrates type-II superconductors via vortices, each carrying one flux quantum. The vortices form lattices of resistive material embedded in the non-resistive superconductor and can reveal the nature of the ground state - e.g. a conventional metal or an ordered, striped phase - which would have appeared had superconductivity not intervened. Knowledge of this ground state clearly provides the most appropriate starting point for a pairing theory. Here we report that for one high-Tc superconductor, the applied field which imposes the vortex lattice, also induces antiferromagnetic order. Ordinary quasiparticle pictures cannot account for the nearly field-independent antiferromagnetic transition temperature revealed by our measurements.