Effectively manipulating magnetism in ferromagnet (FM) thin-film nanostructures with an in-plane current has become feasible since the determination of a “giant” spin Hall effect (SHE) in certain heavy metal/FM systems. Recently, both theoretical and experimental reports indicate that metallic antiferromagnet materials can have both a large anomalous Hall effect and a strong SHE. Here we report a systematic study of the SHE in PtMn with several PtMn/FM systems. By using interface engineering to reduce the “spin memory loss” we obtain, in the best instance, a spin-torque efficiency ${\xi }_{\mathrm{DL}}^{\mathrm{PtMn}}\equiv T_{\mathrm{int}}{\theta }_{\mathrm{SH}}^{\mathrm{PtMn}}\simeq 0.24$, where $T_{\mathrm{int}}$ is the effective interface spin transparency. This is more than twice the previously reported spin-torque efficiency for PtMn. We also find that the apparent spin diffusion length in PtMn is surprisingly long, ${\lambda }_s^{\mathrm{PtMn}}\approx 2.3\mathrm{nm}$.

We show that a critical temperature $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ for spin-singlet two-dimensional superconductivity is enhanced by a cooperation between the Zeeman magnetic field and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling, where a superconductivity becomes topologically nontrivial below $T_{\mathrm{c}}$. The dynamical mean-field theory with the segment-based hybridization-expansion continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo impurity solver is used for accurately evaluating a critical temperature, without any fermion sign problem. A strong-coupling approach shows that spin-flip-driven local pair hopping leads to part of this enhancement, especially effects of the magnetic field. We propose physical settings suitable for verifying the present calculations, a one-atom-layer system on Si(111) and ionic-liquid-based electric double-layer transistors.

In this Rapid Communication we present scanning tunneling microscopy of a large ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_3$ crystal with superconducting PbBi islands deposited on the surface. Local density of states measurements are consistent with induced superconductivity in the topological surface state with a coherence length of order 540 nm. At energies above the gap the density of states exhibits oscillations due to scattering caused by a nonuniform order parameter. Strikingly, the spectra taken on islands also display similar oscillations along with traces of the Dirac cone, suggesting an inverse topological proximity effect.

Topological superconductors differ from topologically trivial ones due to the presence of topologically protected zero-energy modes. To date, experimental evidence of topological superconductivity in nanostructures has been mainly obtained by measuring the zero-bias conductance peak via tunneling spectroscopy. Here, we propose an alternative and complementary experimental recipe to detect topological phase transitions in these systems. We show in fact that, for a finite-sized system with broken time-reversal symmetry, discontinuities in the Josephson current-phase relation correspond to the presence of zero-energy modes and to a change in the fermion parity of the ground state. Such discontinuities can be experimentally revealed by a characteristic temperature dependence of the current, and can be related to a finite anomalous current at zero phase in systems with broken phase-inversion symmetry.

The effect of composition on the antiphase boundary (APB) energy of Ni-based $\mathrm{L}{1}_2$-ordered alloys is investigated by ab initio calculations employing the coherent potential approximation. The calculated APB energies for the {111} and {001} planes reproduce experimental values of the APB energy. The APB energies for the nonstoichiometric ${\gamma }^{\prime }$ phase increase with Al concentration and are in line with the experiment. The magnitude of the alloying effect on the APB energy correlates with the variation of the ordering energy of the alloy according to the alloying element's position in the $3d$ row. The elements from the left side of the $3d$ row increase the APB energy of the Ni-based $\mathrm{L}{1}_2$-ordered alloys, while the elements from the right side slightly affect it except Ni. The way to predict the effect of an addition on the {111} APB energy in a multicomponent alloy is discussed.

High-pressure polarized Raman spectra of vitreous silica are measured up to 8 GPa in a diamond-anvil cell at room temperature. The combined use of either a nonpenetrating pressurizing medium—argon—or a penetrating one—helium, allows one to separate density from stress effects on the Raman frequencies. In the framework of a simple central force model, the results emphasize the distinct role played by the shrinkage of the intertetrahedral angle Si-O-Si and the force-constant stiffening during the compression. The polarization analysis further reveals the existence of an additional isotropic component in the high-frequency wing of the boson peak. The pressure dependence of the genuine boson peak frequency is found to be much weaker than previously reported and even goes through a minimum around 2 GPa in remarkable coincidence with the anomalous compressibility maximum of silica.

Low-temperature magnetometry, ac susceptibility, and calorimetry have been employed to study Co-based single-chain magnets (SCMs) organized through halogen bonding. Magnetic hysteresis and maxima in the dc and ac susceptibilities, respectively, confirm the SCM behavior of the system. Several characteristic magnetic relaxation regimes are observed at different temperatures, which can be associated with both intra- and interchain exchange interactions. Remarkably, tweaking the rate at which an external magnetic field is swept along the axis of the chains enables a controlled transition between the one- and three-dimensional dynamics. Experiments on an isostructural Co-based SCM system crystallized with different halogens do not show three-dimensional dynamics, illustrating the importance of halogen bonding on the control of interchain interactions.

The Rashba-Edelstein effect stems from the interaction between the electron's spin and its momentum induced by spin-orbit interaction at an interface or a surface. It was shown that the inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect can be used to convert a spin current into a charge current. Here, we demonstrate the reverse process of a charge- to spin-current conversion at a Bi/Ag Rashba interface. We show that this interface-driven spin current can drive an adjacent ferromagnet to resonance. We employ a spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance excitation/detection scheme which was developed originally for a bulk spin-orbital effect, the spin Hall effect. In our experiment, the direct Rashba-Edelstein effect generates an oscillating spin current from an alternating charge current driving the magnetization precession in a neighboring permalloy (Py, ${\mathrm{Ni}}_{80}{\mathrm{Fe}}_{20}$) layer. Electrical detection of the magnetization dynamics is achieved by a rectification mechanism of the time dependent multilayer resistance arising from the anisotropic magnetoresistance.

We show the emergence of a new type of dispersion relation for neutral atoms with an interesting similarity to the spectrum of two-dimensional electrons in an applied perpendicular constant magnetic field. These neutral atoms can be confined in toroidal optical traps and give quasi-Landau spectra. In strong contrast to the equidistant infinitely degenerate Landau levels for charged particles, the spectral gap for such two-dimensional neutral particles increases in particular electric-field configurations. The idea in the paper is motivated by the development in cold atom experiments and builds on the seminal paper of Aharonov and Casher [Phys. Rev. Lett. 53, 319 (1984)].

Rotated graphene bilayers form an exotic class of nanomaterials with fascinating electronic properties governed by the rotation angle $\theta$. For large rotation angles, the electron eigenstates are restricted to one layer and the bilayer behaves like two decoupled graphene layers. At intermediate angles, Dirac cones are preserved but with a lower velocity and van Hove singularities are induced at energies where the two Dirac cones intersect. At very small angles, eigenstates become localized in peculiar moiré zones. We analyze here the effect of an asymmetric doping for a series of commensurate rotated bilayers on the basis of tight-binding calculations of their band dispersions, density of states, participation ratio, and diffusive properties. While a small doping level preserves the $\theta$ dependence of the rotated bilayer electronic structure, larger doping induces a further reduction of the band velocity in the same way as a further reduction of the rotation angle.

A matrix formalism is used to derive the analytical Green's functions describing correlations between any two atomic sites on a zigzag (ZZ) graphene nanoribbon, incorporating modified electronic hopping values between edge sites that may be distinct from the hopping between interior sites. An analysis of the poles of our Green's functions shows two distinct types of localized edge modes in the electronic spectrum. The first of these, the “zero” mode, is a topologically induced mode arising from the bipartite honeycomb lattice structure of graphene and is always present along ZZ edges. The second type of localized edge mode is present at edges when the edge-to-bulk hopping ratio deviates significantly from unity. The correlations between edge sites are found to exhibit strikingly different features when mediated by the zero edge mode compared with mediation by the “modified” edge mode. In particular, the zero-mode spectral intensity for correlations between two atomic sites along opposite edges can be comparable in strength with that between two sites on the same edge of a finite-width ribbon, before it eventually tends to zero as the ribbon width tends to infinity. This remarkable behavior shows a strong dependence on the sublattice labels of the sites and is in contrast with properties of the modified hopping edge modes. The explicit form of our analytical expressions for the electronic spectrum enables us to predict the zero-mode properties (including frequency, spatial attenuation, and intensity) when the hopping values along ZZ edges are modified.

Chirality of materials in nature appears when there are asymmetries in their lattice structures or interactions in a certain environment. Recent development of quantum simulation technology has enabled the manipulation of qubits. Accordingly, chirality can be realized intentionally rather than passively observed. Here we theoretically provide simple methods to create a chiral spin state in a spin-1/2 qubit system on a square lattice. First, we show that switching on and off the Heisenberg and $XY$ interactions produces the chiral interaction directly in the effective Hamiltonian without controlling local fields. Moreover, when initial states of spin qubits are appropriately prepared, we prove that the chirality with desirable phase is dynamically obtained. Finally, even for the case where switching on and off the interactions is infeasible and the interactions are always on, we show that, by preparing an asymmetric initial qubit state, the chirality whose phase is $\pi /2$ is dynamically generated.

We have revisited the valence band electronic structure of NiO by means of hard x-ray photoemission spectroscopy (HAXPES) together with theoretical calculations using both the GW method and the local density approximation + dynamical mean-field theory (LDA+DMFT) approaches. The effective impurity problem in DMFT is solved through the exact diagonalization (ED) method. We show that the LDA+DMFT method in conjunction with the standard fully localized limit (FLL) and around mean field (AMF) double-counting alone cannot explain all the observed structures in the HAXPES spectra. GW corrections are required for the O bands and Ni-$s$ and $p$ derived states to properly position their binding energies. Our results establish that a combination of the GW and DMFT methods is necessary for correctly describing the electronic structure of NiO in a proper ab initio framework. We also demonstrate that the inclusion of photoionization cross section is crucial to interpret the HAXPES spectra of NiO. We argue that our conclusions are general and that the here suggested approach is appropriate for any complex transition metal oxide.

Crystallization is one of the most familiar, but hardest to analyze, phase transitions. The principal reason is that crystallization typically occurs via a strongly first-order phase transition, and thus rigorous treatment would require comparing energies of an infinite number of possible crystalline states with the energy of liquid. A great simplification occurs when crystallization transition happens to be weakly first order. In this case, weak crystallization theory, based on unbiased Ginzburg-Landau expansion, can be applied. Even beyond its strict range of validity, it has been a useful qualitative tool for understanding crystallization. In its standard form, however, weak crystallization theory cannot explain the existence of a majority of observed crystalline and quasicrystalline states. Here we extend the weak crystallization theory to the case of metallic alloys. We identify a singular effect of itinerant electrons on the form of weak crystallization free energy. It is geometric in nature, generating strong dependence of free energy on the angles between ordering wave vectors of ionic density. That leads to stabilization of fcc, rhombohedral, and icosahedral quasicrystalline (iQC) phases, which are absent in the generic theory with only local interactions. As an application, we find the condition for stability of iQC that is consistent with the Hume-Rothery rules known empirically for the majority of stable iQC; namely, the length of the primary Bragg-peak wave vector is approximately equal to the diameter of the Fermi sphere.

In this work, we have performed an ab initio theoretical investigation of substitutional cobalt atoms in the graphene bilayer supported on the Cu(111) surface (Co/GBL/Cu). Initially, we examined the separated systems, namely, graphene bilayer adsorbed on Cu(111) (GBL/Cu) and a free standing Co-doped GBL (Co/GBL). In the former system, the GBL becomes $n$-type doped, where we map the net electronic charge density distribution along the GBL–Cu(111) interface. The substitutional Co atom in Co/GBL lies between the graphene layers, and present a net magnetic moment mostly due to the unpaired Co-$3d_{{\mathrm{z}}^2}$ electrons. In Co/GBL/Cu, we found that the Cu(111) substrate rules (i) the energetic stability, and (ii) the magnetic properties of substitutional Co atoms in the graphene bilayer. In (i), the substitutional Co atom becomes energetically more stable lying on the GBL surface, and in (ii), the magnetic moment of Co/GBL has been quenched due to the Cu(111) $\to$ Co/GBL electronic charge transfer. We verify that such a charge transfer can be tuned upon the application of an external electric field, and thus mediated by a suitable change on the electronic occupation of the Co-$d_{{\mathrm{z}}^2}$ orbitals, we found a way to switch-on and -off the magnetization of the Co-doped GBL adsorbed on the Cu(111) surface.

We identify an architecture for the observation of all-optical dynamical Casimir effect in realistic experimental conditions. We suggest that by integrating quantum wells in a three-dimensional (3D) photonic band-gap material made out of large-scale ($\sim 200-\mu \mathrm{m}$) germanium logs, it is possible to achieve ultrastrong light-matter coupling at terahertz frequencies for the cyclotron transition of a two-dimensional electron gas interacting with long-lived optical modes, in which vacuum Rabi splitting is comparable to the Landau level spacing. When a short, intense electromagnetic transient of duration $\sim 250\mathrm{fs}$ and carrying a peak magnetic field $\sim 5\mathrm{T}$ is applied to the structure, the cyclotron transition can be suddenly tuned on resonance with a desired photon mode, switching on the light-matter interaction and leading to a Casimir radiation emitted parallel to the quantum well plane. The radiation spectrum consists of sharp peaks with frequencies coinciding with engineered optical modes within the 3D photonic band gap, and its characteristics are extremely robust to the nonradiative damping which can be large in our system. Furthermore, the absence of continuum with associated low-energy excitations for both electromagnetic and electronic quantum states can prevent the rapid absorption of the photon flux which is likely to occur in other proposals for all-optical dynamical Casimir effect.

Experimental challenges in identifying various types of magnetic ordering in graphene quantum dots (QDs) pose a major hurdle in the application of these nanostructures for spintronic devices. Based upon phase diagrams obtained by employing the $\pi$-electron Pariser-Parr-Pople (PPP) model Hamiltonian, we demonstrate that the magnetic states undergo phase transition under the influence of an external electric field. Our calculations of the electroabsorption spectra of these QDs indicate that the spectrum in question carries strong signatures of their magnetic state (FM vs AFM), thus suggesting the possibility of an all-optical characterization of their magnetic nature. Further, the gaps for the up and the down spins are the same in the absence of an external electric field, both for the antiferromagnetic (AFM) and the ferromagnetic (FM) states of QDs. But, once the QDs are exposed to a suitably directed external electric field, gaps for different spins split and exhibit distinct variations with respect to the strength of the field. The nature of variation exhibited by the energy gaps corresponding to the up and down spins is different for the AFM and FM configurations of QDs. This selective manipulation of the spin-polarized gap splitting by an electric field in finite graphene nanostructures can open up new frontiers in the design of graphene-based spintronic devices.

We investigate the steady-state out-of-plane spin diffusion in $p$-type bilayer ${\mathrm{WSe}}_2$ in the presence of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling and Hartree-Fock effective magnetic field. The out-of-plane components of the Rashba spin-orbit coupling serve as the opposite Zeeman-like fields in the two valleys. Together with the identical Hartree-Fock effective magnetic fields, different total effective magnetic field strengths in the two valleys are obtained. It is further revealed that due to the valley-dependent total effective magnetic field strength, similar (different) spin-diffusion lengths in the two valleys are observed at small (large) spin injection. Nevertheless, it is shown that the intervalley hole-phonon scattering can suppress the difference in the spin-diffusion lengths at large spin injection due to the spin-conserving intervalley charge transfers with the opposite transfer directions between spin-up and spin-down holes. Moreover, with a fixed large pure spin injection, we predict the buildup of a steady-state valley polarization during the spin diffusion with the maximum along the diffusion direction being capable of exceeding $1\%$. It is revealed that the valley polarization arises from the induced quasi-hot-hole Fermi distributions with different effective hot-hole temperatures between spin-up and spin-down holes during the spin diffusion, leading to the different intervalley charge transfer rates in the opposite transfer directions. Additionally, it is also shown that by increasing the injected spin polarization, the hole density, or the impurity density, the larger valley polarization can be obtained.