We present a microscopic investigation of how the magnetic domain structure in ultrathin films changes after direct excitation by single ultrashort laser pulses. Using photoelectron emission microscopy in combination with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism in the resonant absorption of soft x rays, we find that individual laser pulses of $\approx 60\mathrm{fs}$ duration and a central wavelength of $800\mathrm{nm}$ lead to clear changes in the domain structure of a Co layer of three atomic monolayers thickness in an epitaxial Co/Cu/Ni trilayer on a Cu(001) single-crystal substrate. A relatively small enhancement of the sample base temperature by 40 K is sufficient to lower the threshold of laser fluence for domain wall motion by about a factor of two. Pump-probe measurements with a laser fluence just below this threshold indicate that the laser-induced demagnetization of the sample is far from complete in these experiments. Although the domain wall motion appears similar to thermal domain wall fluctuations, quantitatively it cannot be explained by pure thermal activation of domain wall motion by the transient rise of sample temperature after the laser pulse, but it is likely to be triggered by a laser-induced depinning of domain walls.

Symmetry and magnitude of spin-orbit torques (SOT), i.e., current-induced torques on the magnetization of systems lacking inversion symmetry, are investigated in a fully relativistic linear response framework based on the Kubo formalism. By applying all space-time symmetry operations contained in the magnetic point group of a solid to the relevant response coefficient, the torkance expressed as torque-current correlation function, restrictions to the shape of the direct and inverse response tensors are obtained. These are shown to apply to the corresponding thermal analogs as well, namely the direct and inverse thermal SOT in response to a temperature gradient or heat current. Using an implementation of the Kubo-Bastin formula for the torkance into a first-principles multiple-scattering Green function framework and accounting for disorder effects via the so-called coherent potential approximation, all contributions to the SOT in pure systems, dilute as well as concentrated alloys can be treated on equal footing. This way, material specific values for all torkance tensor elements in the fcc (111) trilayer alloy system $\text{Pt}|{\mathrm{Fe}}_x{\mathrm{Co}}_{1-x}|\mathrm{Cu}$ are obtained over a wide concentration range and discussed in comparison to results for electrical and spin conductivity, as well as to previous work—in particular concerning symmetry with respect to magnetization reversal and the nature of the various contributions.

In this work we consider the influence of potential impurities deposited on top of two-dimensional chiral superconductors. As discovered recently, magnetic impurity lattices on an $s$-wave superconductor may give rise to a rich topological phase diagram. We show that a similar mechanism takes place in chiral superconductors decorated by nonmagnetic impurities, thus avoiding the delicate issue of magnetic ordering of adatoms. We illustrate the method by presenting the theory of potential impurity lattices embedded on chiral $p$-wave superconductors. While a prerequisite for the topological state engineering is a chiral superconductor, the proposed procedure results in vistas of nontrivial descendant phases with different Chern numbers.

The thermal spin-transfer torque (TSTT) in magnetic tunneling junctions (MTJs) was systematically studied using electrical detection of ferromagnetic resonance (FMR). Evidence for the existence of TSTT in MTJs is observed. A temperature difference was applied across an MTJ acting as a TSTT on the free layer of the MTJ. The FMR of the free layer was then excited by a microwave current and electrically detected as a dc voltage. We found that the FMR line shape was changed by the TSTT, indicated by the ratio of dispersive and Lorentz components of the FMR spectra $\left(D/L\right)$. $D/L$ increases by increasing the temperature difference. In addition, we analyze the magnetization orientation dependence of TSTT and provide solid evidence that this dependence differs from the magnetization orientation dependence of spin-transfer torque driven by a dc bias.

We report magnetic force microscopy (MFM) measurements on underdoped ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2\left({\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{P}}_x{)}_2 \right(x=0.26)$ that show enhanced superconductivity along stripes parallel to twin boundaries. These stripes of enhanced diamagnetic response repel superconducting vortices and act as barriers for them to cross. The width of the stripes is hundreds of nanometers, on the scale of the penetration depth, well within the inherent spatial resolution of MFM and implying that the width is set by the interaction of the superconductor with the MFM's magnetic tip. Unlike similar stripes observed previously by scanning SQUID in the electron doped $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Co}}_x{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$, the stripes in the isovalently doped ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{P}}_x{)}_2$ disappear gradually when we warm the sample towards the superconducting transition temperature. Moreover, we find that the stripes move well below the reported structural transition temperature in ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{P}}_x{)}_2$ and that they can be much denser than in the $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Co}}_x{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$ study. When we cool in finite magnetic field we find that some vortices appear in the middle of stripes, suggesting that the stripes may have an inner structure, which we cannot resolve. Finally, we use both vortex decoration at higher magnetic field and deliberate vortex dragging by the MFM magnetic tip to obtain bounds on the strength of the interaction between the stripes and vortices. We find that this interaction is strong enough to play a significant role in determining the critical current in underdoped ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{P}}_x{)}_2$.

Ultrafast laser measurements probe the nonequilibrium dynamics of excited electrons in metals with increasing temporal resolution. Electronic structure calculations can provide a detailed microscopic understanding of hot electron dynamics, but a parameter-free description of pump-probe measurements has not yet been possible, despite intensive research, because of the phenomenological treatment of electron-phonon interactions. We present ab initio predictions of the electron-temperature dependent heat capacities and electron-phonon coupling coefficients of plasmonic metals. We find substantial differences from free-electron and semiempirical estimates, especially in noble metals above transient electron temperatures of 2000 K, because of the previously neglected strong dependence of electron-phonon matrix elements on electron energy. We also present first-principles calculations of the electron-temperature dependent dielectric response of hot electrons in plasmonic metals, including direct interband and phonon-assisted intraband transitions, facilitating complete theoretical predictions of the time-resolved optical probe signatures in ultrafast laser experiments.

Quantum coherence is a fundamental common trait of quantum phenomena, from the interference of matter waves to quantum degeneracy of identical particles. Despite its importance, estimating and measuring quantum coherence in generic, mixed many-body quantum states remains a formidable challenge, with fundamental implications in areas as broad as quantum condensed matter, quantum information, quantum metrology, and quantum biology. Here, we provide a quantitative definition of the variance of quantum coherent fluctuations (the quantum variance) of any observable on generic quantum states. The quantum variance generalizes the concept of thermal de Broglie wavelength (for the position of a free quantum particle) to the space of eigenvalues of any observable, quantifying the degree of coherent delocalization in that space. The quantum variance is generically measurable and computable as the difference between the static fluctuations and the static susceptibility of the observable; despite its simplicity, it is found to provide a tight lower bound to most widely accepted estimators of “quantumness” of observables (both as a feature as well as a resource), such as the Wigner-Yanase skew information and the quantum Fisher information. When considering bipartite fluctuations in an extended quantum system, the quantum variance expresses genuine quantum correlations among the two parts. In the case of many-body systems, it is found to obey an area law at finite temperature, extending therefore area laws of entanglement and quantum fluctuations of pure states to the mixed-state context. Hence the quantum variance paves the way to the measurement of macroscopic quantum coherence and quantum correlations in most complex quantum systems.

It is generally accepted that unfilled skutterudites process high lattice thermal conductivity ${\kappa }_l$ that can be efficiently reduced upon filling. Here by using first-principles Boltzmann-Peierls transport calculations, we find pure skutterudite of ${\mathrm{FeSb}}_3$ with no filler in fact has an intrinsic ultralow ${\kappa }_l$ smaller than that of ${\mathrm{CoSb}}_3$ by one order of magnitude. The value is even smaller than those of most of the fully filled skutterudites. This finding means that with ${\mathrm{FeSb}}_3$ as a reference, filling does not necessarily lower ${\kappa }_l$. The ultralow ${\kappa }_l$ of ${\mathrm{FeSb}}_3$ is a consequence of the overall softening of phonon spectrum, especially the lowering in frequency of optical phonon branches associated with the weakly bonded ${\mathrm{Sb}}_4$ rings. They overlap more with heat-carrying acoustic phonons and significantly increase the phase space for three-phonon anharmonic scattering processes. This provides an alternative non-filling-related mechanism for lowering the ${\kappa }_l$ of skutterudites.

An approach to calculate fundamental band gaps, ionization energies, and electron affinities of periodic electron systems is explored. Starting from total energies obtained with the help of the adiabatic-connection fluctuation-dissipation (ACFD) theorem, these physical observables are calculated according to their basic definition by differences of the total energies of the $N$-, $(N-1)$-, and $(N+1)$-electron system. The response functions entering the ACFD theorem are approximated here by the direct random phase approximation (dRPA). For a set of prototypical semiconductors and insulators it is shown that even with this quite drastic approximation the resulting band gaps are very close to experiment and of a similar quality to those from the computationally more involved $GW$ approximation. By going beyond the dRPA in the future the accuracy of the calculated band gaps may be significantly improved further.

We study the real-space entanglement renormalization group flows of topological band insulators in (2+1) dimensions by using the continuum multiscale entanglement renormalization ansatz (cMERA). Given the ground state of a Chern insulator, we construct and study its cMERA by paying attention, in particular, to how the bulk holographic geometry and the Berry curvature depend on the topological properties of the ground state. It is found that each state defined at different energy scale of cMERA carries a nonzero Berry flux, which is emanated from the UV layer of cMERA, and flows towards the IR. Hence, a topologically nontrivial UV state flows under the renormalization group to an IR state, which is also topologically nontrivial. On the other hand, we found that there is an obstruction to construct the exact ground state of a topological insulator with a topologically trivial IR state. That is, if we try to construct a cMERA for the ground state of a Chern insulator by taking a topologically trivial IR state, the resulting cMERA does not faithfully reproduce the exact ground state at all length scales.

We report an experimental demonstration of a local amplification of the spin Hall voltage using an expanding depletion zone at a $p\text{−}n$ junction in GaAs/AlGaAs Hall-bar microdevices. It is demonstrated that the depletion zone can be spatially expanded by applying reverse bias by at least 10 $\mu \mathrm{m}$ at low temperature. In the depleted regime, the spin Hall signals reached more than one order of magnitude higher values than in the normal regime at the same electrical current flowing through the microdevice. It is shown that the $p\text{−}n$ bias has two distinct effects on the detected spin Hall signal. It controls the local drift field at the Hall cross which is highly nonlinear in the $p\text{−}n$ bias due to the shift of the depletion front. Simultaneously, it produces a change in the spin-transport parameters due to the nonlinear change in the carrier density at the Hall cross with the $p\text{−}n$ bias.

With increasing interest in nanotechnology, the question arises of how heat is exchanged between materials separated by only a few nanometers of vacuum. Here, we present calculations of the contribution of phonons to heat transfer mediated by van der Waals forces and compare the results to other mechanisms such as coupling through near field fluctuations. Our results show a more dramatic decay with separation than previous work.

Sub-Ångström focusing of megaelectronvolt (MeV) ions within axial channels was predicted over 10 years ago, but evidence proved elusive. We present experimental angular distributions of axially channeled MeV protons in a 55-nm-thick (001) silicon membrane through which multiple scattering is negligible. Fine angular structure is in excellent agreement with Monte Carlo simulations based on three interaction potentials, providing indirect evidence of the existence of the superfocusing effect with flux enhancement of around 800 within a focused beam width of $\sim 20\mathrm{pm}$.

We demonstrate that the spin orientation of an electron propagating in a one-dimensional nanostructure with Rashba spin-orbit (SO) coupling can be manipulated on demand by changing the geometry of the nanosystem. Shape deformations that result in a nonuniform curvature give rise to complex three-dimensional spin textures in space. We employ the paradigmatic example of an elliptically deformed quantum ring to unveil the way to get an all-geometrical and all-electrical control of the spin orientation. The resulting spin textures exhibit a tunable topological character with windings around the radial and the out-of-plane directions. We show that these topologically nontrivial spin patterns affect the spin interference effect in the deformed ring, thereby resulting in different geometry-driven ballistic electronic transport behaviors. Our results establish a deep connection between electronic spin textures, spin transport, and the nanoscale shape of the system.

We develop an $e_g$ orbital, $t\text{−}J$-like model of a single charge doped into a two-dimensional plane with ferromagnetic spin order and alternating orbital order, and present its solution by Green's functions in the variational approximation framework. The model is designed to represent the orbital physics within ferromagnetic $(a,b)$ planes of ${\mathrm{KCuF}}_3$ and ${\mathrm{K}}_2{\mathrm{CuF}}_4$. The variational approximation (VA) relies on the systematic generation of equations of motion for the Green's function, taking into account the real-space constraints coming from the exclusion of doubly occupied sites. This method is compared to the firmly established self-consistent Born approximation, and to the variational cluster approximation (VCA) which relies on the itinerant regime of the model. We find that the present variational approximation captures the essential aspects of the spectral weight distribution of the coherent quasiparticle state and gives a result similar to the VCA, while also reproducing well the momentum dependence of the spectral moments. In contrast, the spectral function obtained within the self-consistent Born approximation is more incoherent and its quasiparticle is heavier, at strong effective couplings, than observed with VCA and VA.

Photonic crystals composed of virtual pillars with magnetic walls are proposed. A virtual pillar with a magnetic wall can be created inside a parallel perfect electric conductor plate waveguide by introducing a circular perfect magnetic conductor patch in the upper perfect electric conductor plate of the waveguide. The virtual pillar mimics a perfect magnetic conductor pillar with a radius less than that of the circular patch because electromagnetic waves can slightly penetrate the wall. Furthermore, the photonic band structures of a triangular photonic crystal composed of virtual pillars for the transverse electromagnetic modes of the waveguide are investigated. They are very similar to those of a triangular photonic crystal composed of infinitely long perfect electric conductor cylinders for transverse magnetic modes. The similarity between the two different photonic crystals is well understood by the boundary conditions of perfect electric and magnetic conductor surfaces. A double Dirac cone at the center of the Brillouin zone is observed and thus the virtual pillar triangular photonic crystal can act a zero-refractive-index material at the Dirac point frequency.

The Mott insulating state of the Hubbard model at half filling could be depicted as a spin liquid of singly occupied sites with holon-doublon quantum fluctuations localized in pairs. In one dimension the behavior is captured by a finite value of the charge parity string correlator, which fails to remain finite when generalized to higher dimensions. We recover a definition of parity brane correlator which may remain nonvanishing in the presence of interchain coupling, by assigning an appropriate fractional phase to the parity breaking fluctuations. In the case of Hubbard ladders at half filling, we find that the charge parity brane is nonzero at any repulsive value of interaction. The spin-parity brane instead becomes nonvanishing in the even-leg case, in correspondence to the onset of the spin gapped D-Mott phase, which is absent in the odd-leg case. The behavior of the parity correlators is also analyzed by means of a numerical DMRG analysis of the one- and two-leg ladder.

We investigate dynamical many-body localization and delocalization in an integrable system of periodically-kicked, interacting linear rotors. The linear-in-momentum Hamiltonian makes the Floquet evolution operator analytically tractable for arbitrary interactions. One of the hallmarks of this model is that depending on certain parameters, it manifests both localization and delocalization in momentum space. We present a set of “emergent” integrals of motion, which can serve as a fundamental diagnostic of dynamical localization in the interacting case. We also propose an experimental scheme, involving voltage-biased Josephson junctions, to realize such many-body kicked models.