Search Results
Chirality flip of Weyl nodes and its manifestation in strained MoTe2
Due to their topological charge, or chirality, the Weyl cones present in topological semimetals are considered robust against arbitrary perturbations. One well-understood exception to this robustness is the pairwise creation or annihilation of Weyl cones, which involves the overlap of two oppositely charged nodes in energy and momentum. Here we show that their topological charge can in fact change sign, in a process that involves the merging of not two, but three Weyl nodes. This is facilitated by the presence of rotation and time-reversal symmetries, which constrain the relative positions of Weyl cones in momentum space. We analyze the chirality flip process, showing that transport properties distinguish it from the conventional, double Weyl merging. Moreover, we predict that the chirality flip occurs in MoTe$_2$, where experimentally accessible strain leads to the merging of three Weyl cones close to the Fermi level. Our work sets the stage to further investigate and observe such chirality flipping processes in different topological materials.
Evidence for a percolative Mott insulator-metal transition in doped Sr2IrO4
Despite many efforts to rationalize the strongly correlated electronic ground states in doped Mott insulators, the nature of the doping-induced insulator-to-metal transition is still a subject under intensive investigation. Here, we probe the nanoscale electronic structure of the Mott insulator Sr2IrO4−δ with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and find an enhanced local density of states (LDOS) inside the Mott gap at the location of individual defects which we interpret as defects at apical oxygen sites. A chiral behavior in the topography for those defects has been observed. We also visualize the local enhanced conductance arising from the overlapping of defect states which induces finite LDOS inside of the Mott gap. By combining these findings with the typical spatial extension of isolated defects of about 2 nm, our results indicate that the insulator-to-metal transition in Sr2IrO4−δ could be percolative in nature.
Engineering spectral properties of non-interacting lattice Hamiltonians
We investigate the spectral properties of one-dimensional lattices with position-dependent hopping amplitudes and on-site potentials that are smooth bounded functions of the position. We find an exact integral form for the density of states (DOS) in the limit of an infinite number of sites, which we derive using a mixed Bloch-Wannier basis consisting of piecewise Wannier functions. Next, we provide an exact solution for the inverse problem of constructing the position-dependence of hopping in a lattice model yielding a given DOS. We confirm analytic results by comparing them to numerics obtained by exact diagonalization for various incarnations of position-dependent hoppings and on-site potentials. Finally, we generalize the DOS integral form to multi-orbital tight-binding models with longer-range hoppings and in higher dimensions.
Unraveling the Orbital Physics in a Canonical Orbital System KCuF3
We explore the existence of the collective orbital excitations, orbitons, in the canonical orbital system KCuF3 using the Cu L3-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering. We show that the nondispersive high-energy peaks result from the Cu2+ dd orbital excitations. These high-energy modes display good agreement with the ab initio quantum chemistry calculation, indicating that the dd excitations are highly localized. At the same time, the low-energy excitations present clear dispersion. They match extremely well with the two-spinon continuum following the comparison with Müller ansatz calculations. The localized dd excitations and the observation of the strongly dispersive magnetic excitations suggest that the orbiton dispersion is below the resolution detection limit. Our results can reconcile with the strong local Jahn-Teller effect in KCuF3, which predominantly drives orbital ordering.
Finite temperature fluctuation-induced order and responses in magnetic topological insulators
We derive an effective field theory model for magnetic topological insulators and predict that a magnetic electronic gap persists on the surface for temperatures above the ordering temperature of the bulk. Our analysis also applies to interfaces of heterostructures consisting of a ferromagnetic and a topological insulator. In order to make quantitative predictions for MnBi2Te4 and for EuS-Bi2Se3 heterostructures, we combine the effective field theory method with density functional theory and Monte Carlo simulations. For MnBi2Te4 we predict an upwards Néel temperature shift at the surface up to 15%, while the EuS-Bi2Se3 interface exhibits a smaller relative shift. The effective theory also predicts induced Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and a topological magnetoelectric effect, both of which feature a finite temperature and chemical potential dependence.
Axion Mie theory of electron energy loss spectroscopy in topological insulators
Electronic topological states of matter exhibit novel types of responses to electromagnetic fields. The response of strong topological insulators, for instance, is characterized by a so-called axion term in the electromagnetic Lagrangian which is ultimately due to the presence of topological surface states. Here we develop the axion Mie theory for the electromagnetic response of spherical particles including arbitrary sources of fields, i.e., charge and current distributions. We derive an axion induced mixing of transverse magnetic and transverse electric modes which are experimentally detectable through small induced rotations of the field vectors. Our results extend upon previous analyses of the problem. Our main focus is on the experimentally relevant problem of electron energy loss spectroscopy in topological insulators, a technique that has so far not yet been used to detect the axion electromagnetic response in these materials.
Anomalous and anisotropic nonlinear susceptibility in the proximate Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3
The leading order nonlinear (NL) susceptibility, χ3, in a paramagnet is negative and diverges as T → 0. This divergence is destroyed when spins correlate and the NL response provides unique insights into magnetic order. Dimensionality, exchange interaction, and preponderance of quantum effects all imprint their signatures in the NL magnetic response. Here, we study the NL susceptibilities in the proximate Kitaev magnet α-RuCl3, which differs from the expected antiferromagnetic behavior. For T < Tc = 7.5 K and field B in the ab-plane, we obtain contrasting NL responses in low (<2 T) and high field regions. For low fields, the NL behavior is dominated by a quadratic response (positive χ2), which shows a rapid rise below Tc. This large χ2 > 0 implies a broken sublattice symmetry of magnetic order at low temperatures. Classical Monte Carlo (CMC) simulations in the standard K − H − Γ model secure such a quadratic B dependence of M, only for T ≈ Tc with χ2 being zero as T → 0. It is also zero for all temperatures in exact diagonalization calculations. On the other hand, we find an exclusive cubic term (χ3) that describes the high field NL behavior well. χ3 is large and positive both below and above Tc crossing zero only for T > 50 K. In contrast, for B ∥ c-axis, no separate low/high field behaviors are measured and only a much smaller χ3 is apparent.
Sixfold fermion near the Fermi level in cubic PtBi2
We show that the cubic compound PtBi2, is a topological semimetal hosting a sixfold band touching point in close proximity to the Fermi level. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we map the bandstructure of the system, which is in good agreement with results from density functional theory. Further, by employing a low energy effective Hamiltonian valid close to the crossing point, we study the effect of a magnetic field on the sixfold fermion. The latter splits into a total of twenty Weyl cones for a Zeeman field oriented in the diagonal, [111] direction. Our results mark cubic PtBi2, as an ideal candidate to study the transport properties of gapless topological systems beyond Dirac and Weyl semimetals.