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Sliding bilayers are systems that exploit the possibility of relatively translating two monolayers along a specific direction in real space, such that different stackings could be implemented in the process. This simple approach allows for manipulating the electronic properties of layered materials similarly as in twisted multilayers. In this work, the sliding of bilayers, composed of one type of monolayer with spatial symmetry described by space group P$\bar{3}1m$ is studied. Using a minimal tight-binding model along with symmetry analysis, we propose two effects that arise in a specific sliding direction. First, the sliding-induced control of the band gap magnitude, which produces a metal-insulator transition, is demonstrated. In addition, the potential to achieve a topological adiabatic charge pump for cyclic sliding is discussed. For each effect, we also present material implementations using first-principles calculations. Bilayer GaS is selected for the metal-insulator transition and bilayer transition metal dichalcogenide ZrS$_2$ is found to display the topological pump effect. Both realizations show good agreement with the predictions of the model., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures + Supplementary information

Fragile topology, akin to twisted bilayer graphene and the exotic phases therein, is a notable topological class with intriguing properties. However, due to its unique nature and the lack of bulk-edge correspondence, the experimental signature of fragile topology has been under debated since its birth. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that fragile topological phases with filling anomaly can be probed via screw dislocations, despite that they do not support gapless edge states. Using a designer hexagonal phononic crystal with a fragile topological band gap, we find that 1D gapless bound modes can emerge at a screw dislocation due to the bulk fragile topology. We then establish a connection between our system and the twisted boundary condition via the gauge invariance principle and illustrate that such an emergent phenomenon is an intrinsic property of fragile topological phases with filling anomaly. We observe experimentally the 1D topological bound states using the pump-probe measurements of their dispersion and wavefunctions, which unveils a novel bulk-defect correspondence of fragile topology and a powerful tool for probing fragile topological phases and materials., Comment: Submitted to Science Bulletin

Hybrid quantum devices enable novel functionalities by combining the benefits of different subsystems. Particularly, point defects in nanomechanical resonators made of diamond or silicon carbide (SiC) have been proposed for precise magnetic field sensing and as versatile quantum transducers. However, the realization of a hybrid system may involve tradeoffs in the performance of the constituent subsystems. In a spin-mechanical system, the mechanical properties of the resonator may suffer from the presence of engineered defects in the crystal lattice. This may severely restrict the performance of the resulting device and needs to be carefully explored. Here, we focus on the impact of defects on high Q nanomechanical string resonators made of pre-stressed 3C-SiC grown on Si(111). We use helium ion implantation to create point defects and study their accumulated effect on the mechanical performance. Using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, we present a method to determine Young's modulus and the pre-stress of the strings. We find that Young's modulus is not modified by implantation. Under implantation doses relevant for single defect or defect ensemble generation, both tensile stress and damping rate also remain unaltered. For higher implantation dose, both exhibit a characteristic change.

Spin waves, the fundamental excitations in magnetic materials, are promising candidates for realizing low-dissipation information processing in spintronics. The ability to visualize and manipulate coherent spin-wave transport is crucial for the development of spin wave-based devices. We use a recently discovered method utilizing nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers, point defects in the diamond lattice, to measure spin waves in thin film magnetic insulators by detecting their magnetic stray field. We experimentally demonstrate enhanced contrast in the detected wavefront amplitudes by imaging spin waves underneath a reference stripline and phenomenologically model the results. By extracting the spin wave dispersion and comparing NV center based spin wave measurements to spin wave imaging conducted through the well-established time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect, we discuss the advantages and limitations of employing NV centers as spin wave sensors., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

Planar germanium quantum wells have recently been shown to host a hard-gapped superconductor-semiconductor interface. Additionally, quantum dot spin qubits in germanium are well-suited for quantum information processing, with isotopic purification to a nuclear spin-free material expected to yield long coherence times. Therefore, as one of the few group IV materials with the potential to host superconductor-semiconductor hybrid devices, proximitized quantum dots in germanium are a crucial ingredient towards topological superconductivity and novel qubit modalities. Here we demonstrate a quantum dot (QD) in a Ge/SiGe heterostructure proximitized by a platinum germanosilicide (PtGeSi) superconducting lead (SC), forming a SC-QD-SC junction. We show tunability of the QD-SC coupling strength, as well as gate control of the ratio of charging energy and the induced gap. We further exploit this tunability by exhibiting control of the ground state of the system between even and odd parity. Furthermore, we characterize the critical magnetic field strengths, finding a robust critical out-of-plane field of 0.91(5) T. Finally we explore sub-gap spin splitting in the device, observing rich physics in the resulting spectra, that we model using a zero-bandwidth model in the Yu-Shiba-Rusinov limit. The demonstration of controllable proximitization at the nanoscale of a germanium quantum dot opens up the physics of novel spin and superconducting qubits, and Josephson junction arrays in a group IV material., Comment: Main text : 9 pages, 4 figures Supplement : 8 pages, 5 figures

Controlling the dynamics of topologically protected spin objects by all optical means promises enormous potential for future spintronic applications. Excitation of bubbles and skyrmions in ferrimagnetic [Fe(0.35 nm)/Gd(0.40 nm)]$_{160}$ multilayers by ultrashort laser pulses leads to a periodic modulation of the core diameter of these spin objects, the so-called breathing mode. We demonstrate versatile amplitude and phase control of this breathing using a double excitation scheme, where the observed dynamics is controlled by the excitation delay. We gain insight into both the time scale on which the breathing mode is launched and the role of the spin object size on the dynamics. Our results demonstrate that ultrafast optical excitation allows for precise tuning of the spin dynamics of trivial and non-trivial spin objects, showing a possible control strategy in device applications., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures

We predict giant susceptibility of spin-bifurcating polariton condensates to externally applied permanent magnetic field. In the presence of spin-anisotropic polariton-polariton interactions, the condensate spontaneously takes an elliptically polarised state, {whose perturbation dynamics can be interpreted in terms of the presence of strong effective magnetic field} significantly surpassing the external one. Surprisingly, this behaviour of the addressed strongly out-of-equilibrium system in the vicinity of a critical point exhibits intriguing analogy with the second-order phase transition. The predicted field-enhancement effect can be utilized for creation of topologically nontrivial states of Bogoliubov's excitations existing on top of the polariton condensate., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We propose a theoretical framework for generating gapless topological superconductivity (GTSC) hosting Majorana flat edge modes (MFEMs) in the presence of a two-dimensional (2D) array of magnetic adatoms with noncollinear spin texture deposited on top of a unconventional superconductor. Our observations reveal two distinct topological phase transitions within the emergent Shiba band depending on the exchange coupling strength ($J$) between magnetic adatom spins and superconducting electrons: the first one designates transition from gapless non-topological to gapless topological phase at lower $J$, while the second one denotes transition from gapless topological to a trivial gapped superconducting phase at higher $J$. The gapless topological superconducting phase survives at intermediate values of $J$, hosting MFEMs. Further, we investigate the nature of the bulk effective pairings which indicate that GTSC appears due to the interplay between pseudo "$s$-wave" and pseudo "$p_{x}+p_y$" types of pairing. Consequently, our study opens a promising avenue for the experimental realization of GTSC in 2D Shiba lattice based on $d$-wave superconductors as a high-temperature platform., Comment: Invited article for APL Special Collection: Topological and Chiral Matter - Physics and Applications. This is the Published Version

Many-body electron-hole complexes in a semiconductor are important both from a fundamental physics point of view and for practical device applications. A three-body system of electrons (e) and holes (h) (2e1h, or 1e2h) in a two-band semiconductor is commonly believed to be associated with two spectral peaks for the exciton and trion (or charged exciton), respectively. But both the validity of this understanding and the physical meaning of a trion or charged exciton have not been thoroughly examined. From the physics point of view, there are two different configurations, (e)(eh) or (eeh), which could be considered charged exciton and trion, respectively. Here (...) represents an irreducible cluster with respect to Coulomb interactions. In this paper, we consider these issues related to the 2e1h three-body problem theoretically and experimentally using monolayer MoTe2 as an example. Our theoretical tools involve the three-body Bethe-Salpeter Equation (BSE) and the cluster expansion technique, especially their correspondence. Experimentally, we measure the photoluminescence spectrum on a gate-controlled monolayer MoTe2. We found two spectral peaks that are 21 and 4 meV, respectively, below the exciton peak, in contrast to the single "trion" peak from the conventional understanding. We show that, while the three-body BSE in a two-band model can reproduce all spectral features, the cluster-expansion technique shows that the two peaks correspond to the charged exciton (e)(eh) and trion (eeh), respectively. In other words, there is a spectral splitting due to the two different many-body configurations. Furthermore, we find that the trion only exists in the intervalley case, while the charged exciton exists both for the intervalley and intravalley cases.

Studying antiferromagnetic domains is essential for fundamental physics and potential spintronics applications. Despite its importance, few systematic studies have been performed on van der Waals (vdW) antiferromagnets (AFMs) domains with high spatial resolutions, and direct probing of the N\`eel vectors remains challenging. In this work, we found a multidomain in vdW AFM NiPS3, a material extensively investigated for its exotic magnetic exciton. We employed photoemission electron microscopy combined with the X-ray magnetic linear dichroism (XMLD-PEEM) to image the NiPS3's magnetic structure. The nanometer-spatial resolution of XMLD-PEEM allows us to determine local N\`eel vector orientations and discover thermally fluctuating N\'eel vectors that are independent of the crystal symmetry even at 65 K, well below TN of 155 K. We demonstrate a Ni ions' small in-plane orbital moment anisotropy is responsible for the weak magneto-crystalline anisotropy. The observed multidomain's thermal fluctuations may explain the broadening of magnetic exciton peaks at higher temperatures.

Magnetic hopfions are localized magnetic solitons with a nonzero 3D topological charge (Hopf index). Herein, an analytical calculation of the magnetic hopfion gyrovector is presented and it is shown that it does not vanish even in an infinite sample. The calculation method is based on the concept of the emergent magnetic field. The particular case of the simplest nontrivial toroidal hopfion with the Hopf index $\|Q_H\|=1$ in the cylindrical magnetic dot is considered and dependencies of the gyrovector components on the dot sizes are calculated. Nonzero hopfion gyrovector is important in any description of the hopfion dynamics within the collective coordinate Thieles approach., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We theoretically demonstrate that the hallmarks of correlation and fermionization in a one-dimensional exciton-polaritons gas can be observed with state-of-the-art technology. Our system consists of a chain of excitonic quantum dots coupled to a photonic waveguide, with a low filling of polaritons. We analytically identify the Tonks-Girardeau, Tavis-Cummings and mean-field limits and relate them to different regimes of the excitonic anharmonicity and photonic bandwidth. Using matrix-product states, we numerically calculate the ground-state energies, correlation functions and dynamic structure factor of the system. In particular, the latter has a finite weight in the Lieb-Liniger hole branch, and the density-density correlator displays Friedel-like oscillations for realistic parameters, which reveal the onset of fermionization close to the Tonks-Girardeau regime. Our work encourages future experiments aimed at observing, for the first time and in spite of the moderate excitonic anharmonicity, strongly correlated exciton-polariton physics., Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, supplemental material: 2 pages, 4 figures

The resistivity of two-dimensional (2D) metals generally exhibits insensitivity to electron-electron scattering. However, it's worth noting that Galilean invariance may not hold true in systems characterized by a spectrum containing multiple electronic branches or in scenarios involving electron-hole plasma. In the context of our study, we focus on 2D electrons confined within a triple quantum well (TQW) based on HgTe. This system displays a coexistence of energy bands featuring both linear and parabolic-like spectra at low energy and, therefore, lacks the Galilean invariance. This research employs a combined theoretical and experimental approach to investigate the transport properties of this two-component system across various regimes. By manipulating carrier density and temperature, we tune our system from a fully degenerate regime, where resistance follows a temperature-dependent behavior proportional to $T^2$, to a regime where both types of electrons adhere to Boltzmann statistics. In the non-degenerate regime, electron interactions lead to resistance that is weakly dependent on temperature. Notably, our experimental observations closely align with the theoretical predictions derived in this study. This work establishes the HgTe-based TQW as a promising platform for exploring different interaction dominant scenarios for the massless-massive Dirac system.9 pages, 8 figures, Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures

Intercalation of epitaxial graphene on SiC(0001) with Sn results in a well-ordered 2D metallic Sn phase with a $(1\times1)$ structure at the interface between SiC substrate and quasi-freestanding graphene. The 2D\,Sn phase exhibits exotic electronic properties with Dirac-like and flat bands coexisting close to the Fermi level that exhibit both Zeeman- and Rashba-type spin splittings. Possible inter-layer interactions between the 2D\,Sn layer and graphene that may result in emerging electronic properties remain unexplored. We use time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to reveal a surprisingly short-lived non-equilibrium carrier distribution inside the Dirac cone of graphene. Further, we find that the graphene $\pi$-band exhibits a transient down-shift that we attribute to charging of the graphene layer with holes. We interpret our results with support from density functional theory calculations of the graphene - 2D\,Sn heterostructure that reveal a substantial hybridization between graphene $\pi$-band and Sn $p_z$-states that opens up a $\sim230$\,meV band gap inside the Dirac cone and delocalizes the charge carriers over both the graphene and 2D\,Sn layers. Our results have important implications for the design of future ultrafast optoelectronic devices that may find applications in the fields of light harvesting and detection, as supercapacitors, or in novel quantum computing technologies., Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures

The quantum dynamics of a dense and dipole-dipole coupled ensemble of two-level emitters interacting via their environmental thermostat is investigated. The static dipole-dipole interaction strengths are being considered strong enough but smaller than the transition frequency. Therefore, the established thermal equilibrium of ensemble's quantum dynamics is described with respect to the dipole-dipole coupling strengths. We have demonstrated the quantum nature of the spontaneously scattered light field in this process for weaker thermal baths as well as non-negligible dipole-dipole couplings compared to the emitter's transition frequency. Furthermore, the collectively emitted photon intensity suppresses or enhances depending on the environmental thermal baths intensities., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

Coherent coupling between distant qubits is needed for any scalable quantum computing scheme. In quantum dot systems, one proposal for long-distance coupling is to coherently transfer electron spins across a chip in a moving potential. Here, we use simulations to study challenges for spin shuttling in Si/SiGe heterostructures caused by the valley degree of freedom. We show that for devices with valley splitting dominated by alloy disorder, one can expect to encounter pockets of low valley splitting, given a long-enough shuttling path. At such locations, inter-valley tunneling leads to dephasing of the spin wavefunction, substantially reducing the shuttling fidelity. We show how to mitigate this problem by modifying the heterostructure composition, or by varying the vertical electric field, the shuttling velocity, the shape and size of the dot, or the shuttling path. We further show that combinations of these strategies can reduce the shuttling infidelity by several orders of magnitude, putting shuttling fidelities sufficient for error correction within reach., Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures

In the search of fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) effects, the conventional wisdom is to start from a flat Chern band isolated from the rest of the Hilbert space by bandgap, so that many-body interaction can be projected to a landscape that mimics a Landau level. Here we report the finding of FQAH in a 2D semimetal. Described by a 2{\pi}-flux dice lattice, the model features a flat band in touching with a dispersive lower band, where the band touching is symmetry-protected from being gapped by electron interaction. At 1/3 and 2/3 filling of the gapless flat band, FQAH phases are found using density matrix renormalisation group calculations taking into accounts all bands. Symmetry breaking to gap the band touching can turn the semimetal into a Chern insulator while keeping the Chern band nearly flat, but counter-intuitively this suppresses the FQAH, as the gap opening introduces strong inhomogeneity to the quantum geometry. We show an optical scheme to realize the 2{\pi}-flux dice lattice for cold atoms. Our finding uncovers a new arena for the exploration of fractional quantum Hall physics in addition to the Landau levels and Chern insulators.

An analytical theory is developed for predicting the nonlinear susceptibility of ionic polarization to continuous electromagnetic waves in both bulk and strained thin film ferroelectrics. Using a perturbation method for solving the nonlinear equation of motion for ionic polarization within the framework of Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire theory, the full second-order nonlinear susceptibility tensor is derived as a function of frequency, temperature, and strain. The theory predicts the coexistence of a significantly enhanced second-order dielectric susceptibility and a relatively low dielectric loss in BaTiO3 films with a strain-stabilized monoclinic ferroelectric phase and in a strained SrTiO3 film near its temperature-driven second-order ferroelectric-to-paraelectric phase transition. This work establishes a theoretical framework for predicting and exploiting nonlinear interactions between THz waves and ferroelectric materials, and more generally, suggests exciting opportunities to strain-engineer nonlinear dynamical properties of ferroelectrics beyond the static and quasi-static limits.

Memory or time-non-local effects in open quantum dynamics pose theoretical as well as practical challenges in the understanding and control of noisy quantum systems. While there has been a comprehensive and concerted effort towards developing diagnostics for non-Markovian dynamics, all existing measures rely on time-domain measurements which are typically slow and expensive as they require averaging several runs to resolve small transient features on a broad background, and scale unfavorably with system size and complexity. In this work, we propose a spectroscopic measure of non-Markovianity which can detect persistent non-Markovianity in the system steady state. In addition to being experimentally viable, the proposed measure has a direct information theoretic interpretation: a large value indicates the information loss per unit bandwidth of making the Markov approximation. In the same vein, we derive a frequency-domain quantum master equation (FD-QME) that goes beyond the standard Born-Redfield description and retains the full memory of the state of the reduced system. Using the FD-QME and the proposed measure, we are able to reliably diagnose and quantify non-Markovianity in several system-environment settings including those with environmental correlations and retardation effects., Comment: 15+ pages, 8 figures including 3 appendices

Artificial spin ice (ASI) represents a class of uniquely structured superlattices comprising geometrically arranged interacting nanomagnets. This arrangement facilitates the exploration of magnetic frustration phenomena and related spin wave dynamics, contributing to the field of magnonics. In this work, we present a compressive study of spin wave dynamics in square ASI lattices using micromagnetic simulations, explicitly focusing on ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and oscillation modes. We investigate how variations in the aspect ratio of nanomagnets dimensions influence magnetic excitations in both saturated and remanent states. We analyze the frequency variations of FMR peaks corresponding to edges and bulk oscillation modes in relation to both magnetic configuration and nanomagnets dimensions. We emphasize the remanent state of square ASI vertex configurations, particularly focusing on their characteristic energy states (Type I, Type II, Type III, and Type IV), while detailing how symmetries influence oscillation modes. We observe distinct FMR responses originating from vertices, exhibiting unique characteristics for each energy state. Our results offer a potential method of utilizing the FMR technique to identify energy states in ASI systems.

The critical point of a topological phase transition is described by a conformal field theory (CFT), where the finite-size corrections to the ground state energy are uniquely related to its central charge. We study the finite-size scaling of the energy of non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model with parity and time-reversal symmetry ($\mathcal{PT}$) symmetry. We find that under open boundary condition (OBC), the energy scaling $E(L)\sim c/L$ reveals a negative central charge $c=-2$ at the non-Hermitian critical point, indicative of a non-unitary CFT. Furthermore, we discover a universal scaling function capturing the flow of a system from Dirac CFT with $c=1$ to a non-unitary CFT with $c=-2$. The scaling function demonstrates distinct behaviors at topologically non-trivial and trivial sides of critical points. Notably, within the realm of topological criticality, the scaling function exhibits an universal rise-dip-rise pattern, manifesting a characteristic singularity inherent in the non-Hermitian topological critical points. The analytic expression of the scaling function has been derived and is in good agreement with the numerical results., Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures

The late-time equilibrium behavior of generic interacting models is determined by the coupled hydrodynamic equations associated with the globally conserved quantities. In the presence of an external time-dependent drive, non-integrable systems typically thermalize to an effectively infinite-temperature state, losing all memory of their initial states. However, in the presence of a large time-periodic Floquet drive, there exist special points in phase-space where the strongly interacting system develops approximate {\it emergent} conservation laws. Here we present results for an exactly solvable model of two coupled chaotic quantum dots with multiple orbitals interacting via random two and four-fermion interactions in the presence of a Floquet drive. We analyze the phenomenology of dynamically generated freezing using a combination of exact diagonalization, and field-theoretic analysis in the limit of a large number of electronic orbitals. The model displays universal freezing behavior irrespective of whether the theory is averaged over the disorder configurations or not. We present explicit computations for the growth of many-body chaos and entanglement entropy, which demonstrates the long-lived coherence associated with the interacting degrees of freedom even at late-times at the dynamically frozen points. We also compute the slow timescale that controls relaxation away from exact freezing in a high-frequency expansion., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures with supplement

We study the classical dynamics of a system of a pair of Kerr-Duffing nonlinear oscillators coupled by a nonlinear interaction and subject to a parametric drive. Within a rotating wave approximation (RWA), we analyze the steady-state solutions for the oscillation amplitude of the two oscillators. In the most relevant case of identical oscillators, we separately investigate configurations in which only one oscillator is parametrically driven, or both of them are simultaneously driven. In the latter regime, special attention is paid to the symmetric case where the parametric drives acting on the two oscillators are equal: for an increasing value of the detuning of the parametric drive, a transition to a multi-stable, symmetry-breaking regime is found, where the two oscillators display different oscillation amplitudes and phases.

High harmonic generation (HHG) is a striking phenomenon, which reflects the ultrafast dynamics of electrons. Recently, it has been demonstrated that HHG can be used to reconstruct not only the energy band structure but also the geometric structure characterized by the Berry curvature. Here, we numerically investigate HHG arising from electrons coupled with a topological spin texture in a spin scalar chiral state where time reversal symmetry is broken. In this system, a sign change in scalar chirality alters the sign of the Berry curvature while keeping the energy band structure unchanged, allowing us to discuss purely geometrical effects on HHG. Notably, we found that, when the optical frequency is significantly lower than the energy gap, the sign of scalar chirality largely affects the longitudinal response parallel to the optical field rather than the transverse response. Our analysis suggests that this can be attributed to interband currents induced by the recombination of electron-hole pairs whose real-space trajectories are modulated by the anomalous velocity term., Comment: 15 pages, 15 figures

For nearly 90 years, precession and relaxation processes have been thought to dominate magnetization dynamics. Only recently has it been considered that, on short time scales, an inertia-driven magnetization dynamics should become relevant, leading to additional nutation of the magnetization vector. Here, we trigger magnetic nutation via a sudden excitation of a thin Ni80Fe20 (Permalloy) film with an ultrashort optical pulse, that leads to an abrupt tilting of the effective field acting on the magnetic moments, separating the dynamics of the magnetization from that of its angular momentum. We investigate the resulting magnetization dynamics in the inertial regime experimentally by the time-resolved magneto optical Kerr effect. We find a characteristic oscillation in the Kerr signal in the range of about 0.1 THz superimposed on the precessional oscillations with GHz frequencies. By comparison with atomistic spin dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that this observation cannot be explained by the well-known Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation of motion but can be attributed to inertial contributions leading to nutation of the magnetization vector around its angular momentum. Hence, an optical and non-resonant excitation of inertial magnetization dynamics can trigger and control different magnetic processes, ranging from demagnetization via nutation to precession in a single device. These findings will have profound implications for the understanding of ultrafast spin dynamics and magnetization switching.

Surface diffusion and surface electromigration may lead to a morphological instability of thin solid films and nanowires. In this paper two nonlinear analyzes of a morphological instability are developed for a single-crystal cylindrical nanowire that is subjected to the axial current. These treatments extend the conventional linear stability analyzes without surface electromigration, that manifest a Rayleigh-Plateau instability. A weakly nonlinear analysis is done slightly above the Rayleigh-Plateau (longwave) instability threshold. It results in a one-dimensional Sivashinsky amplitude equation that describes a blow-up of a surface perturbation amplitude in a finite time. This is a signature of a formation of an axisymmetric spike singularity of a cylinder radius, which leads to a wire pinch-off and separation into a disjoint segments. The scaling analysis of the amplitude spike singularity is performed, and the time-and-electric field-dependent dimensions of the spike are characterized. A weakly nonlinear multi-scale analysis is done at the arbitrary distance above a longwave or a shortwave instability threshold. The time-and-electric field-dependent Fourier amplitudes of the major instability modes are derived and characterized.

We demonstrate reliable machine-learned tuning of quantum-dot-based artificial Kitaev chains to Majorana sweet spots, using the covariance matrix adaptation algorithm. We show that a loss function based on local tunnelling-spectroscopy features of a chain with two additional sensor dots added at its ends provides a reliable metric to navigate parameter space and find points where crossed Andreev reflection and elastic cotunneling between neighbouring sites balance in such a way to yield near-zero-energy modes with very high Majorana quality. We simulate tuning of two- and three-site Kitaev chains, where the loss function is found from calculating the low-energy spectrum of a model Hamiltonian that includes Coulomb interactions and finite Zeeman splitting. In both cases, the algorithm consistently converges towards high-quality sweet spots. Since tunnelling spectroscopy provides one global metric for tuning all on-site potentials simultaneously, this presents a promising way towards tuning longer Kitaev chains, which are required for achieving topological protection of the Majorana modes.

Superconducting quantum processors are a compelling platform for analog quantum simulation due to the precision control, fast operation, and site-resolved readout inherent to the hardware. Arrays of coupled superconducting qubits natively emulate the dynamics of interacting particles according to the Bose-Hubbard model. However, many interesting condensed-matter phenomena emerge only in the presence of electromagnetic fields. Here, we emulate the dynamics of charged particles in an electromagnetic field using a superconducting quantum simulator. We realize a broadly adjustable synthetic magnetic vector potential by applying continuous modulation tones to all qubits. We verify that the synthetic vector potential obeys requisite properties of electromagnetism: a spatially-varying vector potential breaks time-reversal symmetry and generates a gauge-invariant synthetic magnetic field, and a temporally-varying vector potential produces a synthetic electric field. We demonstrate that the Hall effect--the transverse deflection of a charged particle propagating in an electromagnetic field--exists in the presence of the synthetic electromagnetic field., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, and Supplementary Information

A spin-wave theory that includes the antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interactions and long-range dipole-dipole interactions is presented for finite-length ferromagnetic spin chains. It is found that three different physical situations arise, depending on the direction chosen in this geometry for the axial vector of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions. In some cases this leads to a tilting of the equilibrium orientations near the ends of the chain due to interfacial effects and with consequential effects on the spectrum of discrete dipole-exchange spin waves. When variations are introduced for the dominant bilinear exchange interactions at the ends of the spin chain, it is shown that localized spin waves with spatial decay characteristics may occur.

Random defects do not constitute the unique source of electron localization in two dimensions. Lattice quasidisorder generated from two inplane superimposed rotated, main and secondary, square lattices, namely monolayers where moir\'e patterns are formed, leads to a sharp localized to delocalized single-particle transition. This is demostrated here for both, discrete and continuum models of moir\'e patterns that arise as the twisting angle $\theta$ between main and secondary lattices is varied in the interval $[0, \pi/4]$. Localized to delocalized transition is recognized as the moir\'e patterns depart from being perfect square crystals to non-crystalline structures. Extended single-particle states were found for rotation angles associated with Pythagorean triples that produce perfectly periodic structures. Conversely, angles not arising from such Pythagorean triples lead to non-commensurate or quasidisordered structures, thus originating localized states. These conclusions are drawn from a stationary analysis where the standard IPR parameter measuring localization allowed us to detect the transition. While both, ground state and excited states were analyzed for the discrete model, where the secondary lattice was considered as a perturbation of the main one, the sharp transition was tracked back for the fundamental state in the continuous scenario where the secondary lattice is not a perturbation any more., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures

Using molecular simulation and continuum dielectric theory, we consider how electrochemical kinetics are modulated as a function of twist angle in bilayer graphene electrodes. By establishing an effective connection between twist angle and the screening length of charge carriers within the electrode, we investigate how tunable metallicity can result in modified statistics of the electron transfer energy gap. Constant potential molecular simulations show that the activation free energy for electron transfer is an increasing function of the screening length, or decreasing function the density of states at the Fermi energy in the electrode, and subsequently a non-monotonic function of twist angle. We find the twist angle alters the density of states, which tunes the number of thermally-accessible channels for electron transfer, as well as the reorganization energy by altering the stability of the vertically excited state through attenuated image charge interactions. Understanding these effects allows us to cast the Marcus rate of interfacial electron transfer as a function of twist angle, in a manner consistent with a growing body of experimental observations.

Second-order topological insulators can be characterized by their bulk polarization, which is believed to be intrinsically connected to the center of the Wannier function. In this study, we demonstrate the existence of second-order topological insulators that feature a pair of partially degenerate photonic bands. These arise from the nonsymmorphic glide symmetry in an all-dielectric photonic crystal. The center of the maximally localized Wannier function (MLWF) is consistently located at the origin but is not equivalent with respect to the sum of constituent polarizations. As a result, topological corner modes can be identified by the distinctly hybridized MLWFs that truncate at the sample boundary. Through full-wave numerical simulations paired with microwave experiments, the second-order topology is clearly confirmed and characterized. These topological corner states exhibit notably unique modal symmetries, which are made possible by the inversion of the Wannier bands. Our results provide an alternative approach to explore higher-order topological physics with significant potential for applications in integrated and quantum photonics.

Cylindrical magnetic nanowires have been proposed as a means of storing and processing information in a 3D medium, based on the motion of domain walls~(DWs). Introducing short chemical modulations in such wires would allow for reliable digital control of DWs. Here, we outline the intricate physics of the interaction of domain walls with modulations to control their motion, combining micromagnetic simulations and experimental evidence. This interaction combines a long-range moderate magnetostatic repulsion with a local energy well. The latter depends on the respective circulation sense of magnetization in the domain wall and modulation. We also show that a modulation has the ability to switch the internal circulation of a DW upon its propagation, thereby acting as a polarizing component and opening the possibility to exploit not only the position of walls, but also their internal structure.

Despite many reports of valley-related phenomena in graphene and its multilayers, current transport experiments cannot probe valley phenomena without the application of external fields. Here we propose a gate-defined valley splitter as a direct transport probe for valley phenomenon in graphene multilayers. First, we show how the device works, its magnetotransport response, and its robustness against fabrication errors. Secondly, we present two applications for valley splitters: (i) resonant tunneling of quantum dots probed by a valley splitter shows the valley polarization of dot levels; (ii) a combination of two valley splitters resolves the nature of order parameters in mesoscopic samples., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures

Line graph (LG) lattices are well known to host flat bands (FBs) with isotropic hoppings in $s$-orbital models. Yet, higher-angular-momentum orbitals with spin-orbit coupling (SOC), which are more common in real materials, lack a general approach for their inclusion in LG to achieve FBs. Here, we introduce a non-Abelian LG theory to construct FBs in realistic systems, which incorporates internal degrees of freedom and goes beyond real-valued isotropic hoppings. The lattice edges and sites in the LG are modified to be associated with arbitrary Hermitian matrices, refereed to as multiple LG. A crucial step is to map the multiple LG Hamiltonian to a tight-binding (TB) model that respects the lattice symmetry through appropriate local non-Abelian transformations in the internal space. We find the general conditions to determine the local transformation. Based on this mechanism, we discuss the realization of $d$-orbital FBs in the Kagome lattice, which may serve as a minimal model for understanding the high-orbital FBs with SOC in Kagome materials. Our approach bridges the known FBs in pure lattice models and the realization in multi-orbital systems., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

Bulk-boundary correspondence is a fundamental principle in topological physics. In recent years, there have been considerable efforts in extending the idea of geometry and topology to classical stochastic systems far from equilibrium. However, it has been unknown whether or not the bulk-boundary correspondence can be extended to the steady states of stochastic processes accompanied by additional constraints such as the conservation of probability. The present study reveals the general form of bulk-boundary correspondence in classical stochastic processes. Specifically, we prove a correspondence between the winding number and the number of localized steady states in both ergodic and nonergodic systems. Furthermore, we extend the argument of the bulk-boundary correspondence to a many-body stochastic model called the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP). These results would provide a guiding principle for exploring topological origin of localization in various stochastic processes including biological systems., Comment: 6+17 pages, 4+7 figures

We study spontaneous photon decay into multiple photons triggered by strong non-linearities in a superconducting quantum simulator of the boundary sine-Gordon impurity model. Previously, spectroscopic signatures of photon-conversion were reported and evidenced as resonances in the many-body spectrum of these systems. Here, we report on the observation of multi-mode fluorescence of a small Josephson junction embedded in a high impedance superconducting transmission line. Measurement of the down-converted photons is achieved using state-of-the-art broadband parametric amplifiers. Photon triplet emission is explicitly demonstrated at a given frequency as the counterpart of inelastic photon decay at three-times the emission frequency. These results open exciting prospects for the burgeoning field of many-body quantum optics and offer a direct signature of the ultra-strong light-matter coupling., Comment: 16 pages including supplementary material, 8 figures

We calculate the thermal conductivity of various moir\'e bilayer systems using a continuum approach and the semiclassical transport theory. When the twist angle is close to 0, we observe a significant reduction of thermal conductivity in a particular low-temperature regime. This reduction is attributed to a moir\'e-induced reconstruction of acoustic phonon bands and associated decrease of the group velocity. Conversely, in the zero temperature limit, the thermal conductivity is enhanced by moir\'e effect, surpassing the original values in non-moir\'e counterparts. These changes result in a characteristic temperature dependence which deviates from the quadratic behavior in intrinsic two-dimensional systems., Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures

In sufficiently clean materials where electron-electron interactions are strong compared to momentum-relaxing scattering processes, electron transport resembles the flow of a viscous fluid. We study hydrodynamic electron transport across density interfaces (n-n junctions) in a 2DEG in the Corbino geometry. From numerical simulations in COMSOL using realistic parameters, we show that we can produce tunable viscous layers at the density interface by varying the density ratio of charge carriers. We quantitatively explain this observation with simple analytic expressions together with boundary conditions at the interface. We also show signatures of these viscous layers in the magnetoresistance. Breaking down viscous and ohmic contributions, we find that when outer radial region of the Corbino has higher charge density compared to the inner region, the viscous layers at the interface serve to suppress the magneto-resistance produced by momentum-relaxing scattering. Conversely, the magneto-resistance is enhanced when the inner region has higher density than the outer. Our results add to the repertoire of techniques for engineering viscous electron flows, which hold a promise for applications in future electronic devices.

The planar Hall effect in 3D systems is an effective probe for their Berry curvature, topology, and electronic properties. However, the Berry curvature-induced conventional planar Hall effect is forbidden in 2D systems as the out-of-plane Berry curvature cannot couple to the band velocity of the electrons moving in the 2D plane. Here, we demonstrate a unique 2D planar Hall effect (2DPHE) originating from the hidden planar components of the Berry curvature and orbital magnetic moment in quasi-2D materials. We identify all planar band geometric contributions to 2DPHE and classify their crystalline symmetry restrictions. Using gated bilayer graphene as an example, we show that in addition to capturing the hidden band geometric effects, 2DPHE is also sensitive to the Lifshitz transitions. Our work motivates further exploration of hidden planar band geometry-induced 2DPHE and related transport phenomena for innovative applications., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 1 table, Comments are welcome

Magnon dynamics in skyrmion lattices have garnered significant interest due to their potential applications in topological magnonics. Existing theories often follow a single-momentum approach, assuming significant Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya Interaction (DMI) to minimize the skyrmion's dimensions, which can lead to oversimplification in describing magnon behavior. This study introduces a multi-momentum operator theory for magnons in large 2D skyrmions, where each skyrmion encompasses several thousand spins. The proposed theory fully transforms the magnon Hamiltonian into momentum space, incorporating off-diagonal terms to capture umklapp scattering caused by the skyrmion wave vectors. Our results reveal deviations from single-momentum theories, demonstrating that flat bands are not universal features of the skyrmionic magnon spectrum. Additionally, we find that manipulating the skyrmion size with an external magnetic field induces multiple topological phase transitions. At high magnetic fields, the low-energy magnon spectrum becomes densely packed and entirely topological, resembling a topological band continuum., Comment: Supplementary notes will be made available with the published version

Like electrons, Cooper pairs can carry a monopole charge if the pairing electrons come from two or more Fermi surfaces with different Chern numbers. In such an instance, a superconductor is necessarily nodal due to an inherent topological pairing obstruction. In this work, we show that a similar obstruction is also possible when there is only one Fermi surface involved in the pairing process. By developing a Chern-vorticity theorem, we have identified a class of Fermi surfaces with a quantized dipolar Berry flux pattern, where all intra-Fermi-surface Cooper pairings are ``dipole-obstructed" and nodal. As a real-world application, we find that the dipole obstruction plays a crucial role in stabilizing the superconducting nodal structure for $j=3/2$ half-Heusler compounds., Comment: 6+9 pages, 3+5 figures

Utilizing a series of Bott indices formulated through polynomials of position operators, we establish a comprehensive framework for characterizing topological zero-energy corner states in systems with chiral symmetry. Our framework covers systems with arbitrary shape, including topological phases that are not characterizable by previously proposed invariants such as multipole moments or multipole chiral numbers. A key feature of our framework is its ability to capture the real-space pattern of zero-energy corner states. We provide a rigorous analytical proof of its higher-order correspondence. To demonstrate the effectiveness of our theory, we examine several model systems with representative patterns of zero-energy corner states that previous frameworks fail to classify., Comment: 16 pages, 3 figures

Quantum networks require quantum nodes with coherent optical interfaces and multiple stationary qubits. In terms of optical properties, semiconductor quantum dots are highly compelling, but their adoption as quantum nodes has been impaired by the lack of auxiliary qubits. Here, we demonstrate a functional quantum register in a semiconductor quantum dot leveraging the dense, always-present nuclear spin ensemble. We prepare 13,000 host nuclear spins into a single many-body dark state to operate as the register logic state $|0\rangle$. The logic state $|1\rangle$ is defined as a single nuclear magnon excitation, enabling controlled quantum-state transfer between the electron spin qubit and the nuclear magnonic register. Using 130-ns SWAP gates, we implement a full write-store-retrieve-readout protocol with 68.6(4)% raw overall fidelity and a storage time of 130(16) $\mu$s in the absence of dynamical decoupling. Our work establishes how many-body physics can add step-change functionality to quantum devices, in this case transforming quantum dots into multi-qubit quantum nodes with deterministic registers.

A central spin qubit interacting coherently with an ensemble of proximal spins can be used to engineer entangled collective states or a multi-qubit register. Making full use of this many-body platform requires tuning the interaction between the central spin and its spin register. GaAs quantum dots offer a model realization of the central spin system where an electron qubit interacts with multiple ensembles of $\sim 10^{4}$ nuclear spins. In this work, we demonstrate tuning of the interaction between the electron qubit and the nuclear many-body system in a GaAs quantum dot. The homogeneity of the GaAs system allows us to perform high-precision and isotopically selective nuclear sideband spectroscopy, which reveals the single-nucleus electronic Knight field. Together with time-resolved spectroscopy of the nuclear field, this fully characterizes the electron-nuclear interaction for a priori control. An algorithmic feedback sequence selects the nuclear polarization precisely, which adjusts the electron-nuclear exchange interaction in situ via the electronic g-factor anisotropy. This allows us to tune directly the activation rate of a collective nuclear excitation (magnon) and the coherence time of the electron qubit. Our method is applicable to similar central-spin systems and enables the programmable tuning of coherent interactions in the many-body regime., Comment: 9 pages, 5 figures, and Supplementary Materials

Trigonal PtBi$_2$ is a layered semimetal without inversion symmetry, featuring 12 Weyl points in the vicinity of the Fermi energy. Its topological Fermi arcs were recently shown to superconduct at low temperatures where bulk superconductivity is absent. Here, we perform first-principles calculations to investigate in detail the bulk and surface electronic structure of PtBi$_2$, and obtain the spin texture as well as the momentum-dependent localization of the arcs. Motivated by the experimentally observed recovery of inversion symmetry under pressure or upon doping, we interpolate between the two structures and determine the energy and momentum dependence of the Weyl nodes. For deeper insights into the surface superconductivity of PtBi$_2$, we construct a symmetry-adapted effective four-band model that accurately reproduces the Weyl points of PtBi$_2$. We supplement this model with an analysis of the symmetry-allowed pairings between the Fermi arcs, which naturally mix spin-singlet and spin-triplet channels. Moreover, the presence of surface-only superconductivity facilitates an intrinsic superconductor-semimetal-superconductor Josephson junction, with the semimetallic phase sandwiched between the two superconducting surfaces. For a phase difference of $\pi$, zero-energy Andreev bound states develop between the two terminations., Comment: 14 pages, 13 figures

The direct, ultrafast excitation of polar phonons with electromagnetic radiation is a potent strategy for controlling the properties of a wide range of materials, particularly in the context of influencing their magnetic behavior. Here, we show that, contrary to common perception, the origin of phonon-induced magnetic activity does not stem from the motion of ions themselves; instead, it arises from the effect their motion exerts on the electron subsystem. Through the mechanism of electron-phonon coupling, a coherent state of circularly polarized phonons generates substantial non-Maxwellian fields that disrupt time reversal symmetry, effectively emulating the behavior of authentic magnetic fields. Notably, the effective field can reach magnitudes as high as 100 T, surpassing by several orders of magnitude the Maxwellian field resulting from the circular motion of the ions. Because the light-induced non-reciprocal fields depend on the square of the phonon displacements, the chirality the photons transferred to the ions plays no role in magnetophononics.

In this paper we study the topology of the bands of a polaritonic crystal composed of graphene and of a metallic grating. We first derive a Kronig--Penney type of equation for the polaritonic bands as function of the Bloch wavevector and discuss the propagation of the surface plasmon polaritons on the polaritonic crystal using a transfer-matrix approach. Secondly, we reformulate the problem as a tight-binding model that resembles the Su--Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) Hamiltonian, one difference being that the hopping amplitudes are, in this case, energy dependent. In possession of the tight-binding equations it is a simple task to determine the topology of the bands. Similarly to the SSH model, we show that there is a tunable parameter that induces topological phase transitions from trivial to non-trivial. In our case, it is the distance $d$ between the graphene sheet and the metallic grating. We note that $d$ is a parameter that can be easily tuned experimentally simply by controlling the thickness of the spacer between the grating and the graphene sheet. It is then experimentally feasible to engineer devices with the required topological properties., Comment: 14 pages

Polymorphism contributes to the diversity of nature, so that even materials having identical chemical compositions exhibit variations in properties because of different lattice symmetries. Thus, if stacked together into multilayers, polymorphs may work as an alternative approach to the sequential deposition of layers with different chemical compositions. However, selective polymorph crystallization during conventional thin film synthesis is not trivial; e.g. opting for step-like changes of temperature and/or pressure correlated with switching from one polymorph to another during synthesis is tricky, since it may cause degradation of the structural quality. In the present work, applying the disorder-induced ordering approach we fabricated such multilayered polymorph structures using ion beams. We show that during ion irradiation of gallium oxide, the dynamic annealing of disorder may be tuned towards self-assembling of several polymorph interfaces, consistently with theoretical modelling. Specifically, we demonstrated multilayers with two polymorph interface repetitions obtained in one ion beam assisted fabrication step. Importantly, single crystal structure of the polymorphs was maintained in between interfaces exhibiting repeatable crystallographic relationships, correlating with optical cross-sectional maps. This data paves the way for enhancing functionalities in materials with not previously thought capabilities of ion beam technology., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure, under review, private communication for supplementary notes

Nano-engineering crystalline materials can be used to tailor their thermal properties. By adding new nanoscale phonon scattering centers and controlling their size, one can effectively decrease the phonon mean free path and hence the thermal conductivity of a fully crystalline material. In this letter, we use the 3$\omega$ method in the temperature range of 100-300 K to experimentally report on the more than threefold reduction of the thermal conductivity of an epitaxially-grown crystalline germanium thin film with embedded polydispersed crystalline \ch{Ge3Mn5} nano-inclusions with diameters ranging from 5 to 25~nm. A detailed analysis of the structure of the thin film coupled with Monte Carlo simulations of phonon transport highlight the role of the nano-inclusions volume fraction in the reduction of the phononic contribution to the thermal conductivity, in particular its temperature dependence, leading to a phonon mean free path that is set by geometrical constraints., Comment: Applied Physics Letters, In press