arXiv subjects

A. O. Sboychakov

Publications and source records attributed to A. O. Sboychakov.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Competition of spatially inhomogeneous states in antiferromagnetic Hubbard model

In this work we study zero-temperature phases of the anisotropic Hubbard model on a three-dimensional cubic lattice in a weak coupling regime. It is known that, at half-filling, the ground state of this model is antiferromagnetic (commensurate spin-density wave). For non-zero doping, various types of spatially inhomogeneous phases, such as phase-separated states and the state with domain walls ("soliton lattice"), can emerge. Using the mean-field theory, we evaluate the free energies of these phases to determine which of them could become the true ground state in the limit of small doping. Our study demonstrates that the free energies of all discussed states are very close to each other. Smallness of these energy differences suggests that, for a real material, numerous factors, unaccounted by the model, may arbitrary shift the relative stability of the competing phases. This further implies that purely theoretical prediction of the true ground state in a particular many-fermion system is unreliable.

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arXiv2020

Dynamical spin susceptibility of spin-valley half-metal

A few years ago we predicted theoretically that in systems with nesting of the Fermi surface the spin-valley half-metal has lower energy than the spin density wave state. In this paper we suggest a possible way to distinguish these phases experimentally. We calculate dynamical spin susceptibility tensor for both states in the framework of the Kubo formalism. Discussed phases have different numbers of the bands: four bands in the spin-valley half-metal and only two bands in the spin density wave. Therefore, their susceptibilities, as functions of frequency, have different number of peaks. Besides, the spin-valley half-metal does not have rotational symmetry, thus, in general the off-diagonal components of susceptibility tensor are non-zero. The spin density wave obeys robust rotational symmetry and off-diagonal components of the susceptibility tensor are zero. These characteristic features can be observed in experiments with inelastic neutron scattering.

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arXiv2019

Many-body effects in twisted bilayer graphene at low twist angles

We study the zero-temperature many-body properties of twisted bilayer graphene with a twist angle equal to the so-called `first magic angle'. The system low-energy single-electron spectrum consists of four (eight, if spin label is accounted) weakly-dispersing partially degenerate bands, each band accommodating one electron per Moir{é} cell per spin projection. This weak dispersion makes electrons particularly susceptible to the effects of interactions. Introducing several excitonic order parameters with spin-density-wave-like structure, we demonstrate that (i)~the band degeneracy is partially lifted by the interaction, and (ii)~the details of the low-energy spectrum becomes doping-dependent. For example, at or near the undoped state, interactions separate the eight bands into two quartets (one quartet is almost filled, the other is almost empty), while for two electrons per Moiré cell, the quartets are pulled apart, and doublets emerge. When the doping is equal to one or three electrons per cell, the doublets split into singlets. Hole doping produces similar effects. As a result, electronic properties (e.g., the density of states at the Fermi energy) demonstrate oscillating dependence on the doping concentration. This allows us to reproduce qualitatively the behavior of the conductance observed recently in experiments [Cao et al., Nature {\bf 556}, 80 (2018)]. Near half-filling, the electronic spectrum loses hexagonal symmetry indicating the appearance of a many-body nematic state.

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arXiv2018

Spin-valley half-metal in systems with Fermi surface nesting

Half-metals have fully spin polarized charge carriers at the Fermi surface. Such polarization usually occurs due to strong electron--electron correlations. Recently [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf{119}}, 107601 (2017)], we have demonstrated theoretically that adding (or removing) electrons to systems with Fermi surface nesting also stabilizes the half-metallic states even in the weak-coupling regime. In the absence of doping, the ground state of the system is a spin or charge density wave, formed by four nested bands. Each of these bands is characterized by charge (electron/hole) and spin (up/down) labels. Only two of these bands accumulate charge carriers introduced by doping, forming a half-metallic two-valley Fermi surface. Analysis demonstrates that two types of such half-metallicity can be stabilized. The first type corresponds to the full spin polarization of the electrons and holes at the Fermi surface. The second type, with antiparallel spins in electron-like and hole-like valleys, is referred to as a "spin-valley half-metal" and corresponds to the complete polarization with respect to the spin-valley operator. We analyze spin and spin-valley currents and possible superconductivity in these systems. We show that spin or spin-valley currents can flow in both half-metallic phases.

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arXiv2018

Spin-density wave state in simple hexagonal graphite

Simple hexagonal graphite, also known as AA graphite, is a metastable configuration of graphite. Using tight-binding approximation it is easy to demonstrate that AA graphite is a metal with well-defined Fermi surface. The Fermi surface consists of two sheets, each shaped like a rugby ball. One sheet corresponds to electron states, another corresponds to hole states. The Fermi surface demonstrates good nesting: a suitable translation in the reciprocal space superposes one sheet onto another. In the presence of the electron-electron repulsion a nested Fermi surface is unstable with respect to spin-density wave ordering. This instability is studied using the mean-field theory at zero temperature, and the spin-density wave order parameter is evaluated.

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arXiv2017

Externally controlled band gap in twisted bilayer graphene

We theoretically study the effects of electron-electron interaction in twisted bilayer graphene in applied transverse dc electric field. When the twist angle is not very small, the electronic spectrum of the bilayer consists of four Dirac cones inherited from each graphene layer. Applied bias voltage leads to the appearance of two hole-like and two electron-like Fermi surface sheets with perfect nesting among electron and hole components. Such a band structure is unstable with respect to exciton band gap opening due to the screened Coulomb interaction. The exciton order parameter is accompanied by the spin-density-wave order. The value of the gap depends on the twist angle. More importantly, it can be controlled by applied bias voltage which opens new directions in manufacturing of different nanoscale devices.

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arXiv2017

Spin-valley half-metal as a prospective material for spin-valley-tronics

Half-metallicity (full spin polarization of the Fermi surface) usually occurs in strongly correlated electron systems. We demonstrate that doping a spin-density wave insulator in the weak-coupling regime may also stabilize half-metallic states. The undoped spin-density wave is formed by four nested bands [i.e., each band is characterized by charge (electron/hole) and spin (up/down) labels]. Of these four bands only two accumulate the doped carriers, forming a half-metallic two-valley Fermi surface. Depending on parameters, the spin polarizations of the electron-like and hole-like valleys may be (i) parallel or (ii) antiparallel. The Fermi surface of (i) is fully spin-polarized (similar to usual half-metals). Case (ii), referred to as "a spin-valley half-metal", corresponds to complete polarization with respect to the spin-valley operator. The properties of these states are discussed.

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arXiv2017

Magnetic field effects in electron systems with imperfect nesting

We analyze the effects of an applied magnetic field on the phase diagram of a weakly-correlated electron system with imperfect nesting. The Hamiltonian under study describes two bands: electron and hole ones. Both bands have spherical Fermi surfaces, whose radii are slightly mismatched due to doping. These types of models are often used in the analysis of magnetic states in chromium and its alloys, superconducting iron pnictides, AA-type bilayer graphene, borides, etc. At zero magnetic field, the uniform ground state of the system turns out to be unstable against electronic phase separation. The applied magnetic field affects the phase diagram in several ways. In particular, the Zeeman term stabilizes new antiferromagnetic phases. It also significantly shifts the boundaries of inhomogeneous (phase-separated) states. At sufficiently high fields, the Landau quantization gives rise to oscillations of the order parameters and of the Néel temperature as a function of the magnetic field.

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arXiv2017

Single-electron gap in the spectrum of twisted bilayer graphene

We investigate the gap in the single-electron spectrum of twisted bilayer graphene. In a perfect infinite lattice of a twisted bilayer, the gap varies exponentially in response to weak changes of the twist angle. Such a large sensitivity makes theoretical predictions of the gap nearly impossible, since experimentally the twist angle is always known with finite accuracy. To address this issue, we numerically study finite clusters of twisted bilayer graphene. For finite systems, changing the twist angle causes a gradual crossover between gapless and gapped regimes. The crossover occurs when the finite-size quantization energy becomes comparable to the matrix elements responsible for the generation of the gap. We further argue that disorder scattering can induce similar crossover, in which the mean-free path plays the same role as the system size for the finite clusters. It is demonstrated that, to observe the gap experimentally, it is necessary to have a sample of suitable purity, and to possess the ability to tune the twist angle accurately.

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arXiv2016

Electronic properties of graphene-based bilayer systems

This article reviews the theoretical and experimental work related to the electronic properties of bilayer graphene systems. Three types of bilayer stackings are discussed: the AA, AB, and twisted bilayer graphene. This review covers single-electron properties, effects of static electric and magnetic fields, bilayer-based mesoscopic systems, spin-orbit coupling, dc transport and optical response, as well as spontaneous symmetry violation and other interaction effects. The selection of the material aims to introduce the reader to the most commonly studied topics of theoretical and experimental research in bilayer graphene.

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arXiv2015

Role of local geometry in spin and orbital structure of transition metal compounds

We analyze the role of local geometry in the spin and orbital interaction in transition metal compounds with orbital degeneracy. We stress that the tendency observed for the most studied case (transition metals in O$_6$ octahedra with one common oxygen -- common corner of neighboring octahedra and with $\sim 180^{\circ}$ metal--oxygen--metal bonds), that ferro-orbital ordering renders antiferro-spin coupling, and, {\it vice versa}, antiferro-orbitals give ferro-spin ordering, is not valid in general case, in particular for octahedra with common edge and with $\sim 90^{\circ}$ M--O--M bonds. Special attention is paid to the ``third case'', neighboring octahedra with common face (three common oxygens) -- the case practically not considered until now, although there are many real systems with this geometry. Interestingly enough, the spin--orbital exchange in this case turns out to be to be simpler and more symmetric than in the first two cases. We also consider, which form the effective exchange takes for different geometries in case of strong spin--orbit coupling.

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arXiv2015

Spin--orbital interaction for face-sharing octahedra: Realization of a highly symmetric SU(4) model

Specific features of orbital and spin structure of transition metal compounds in the case of the face-sharing MO$_6$ octahedra are analyzed. In this geometry, we consider the form of the spin--orbital Hamiltonian for transition metal ions with double ($e_g^σ$) or triple ($t_{2g}$) orbital degeneracy. Trigonal distortions typical of the structures with face-sharing octahedra lead to splitting of $t_{2g}$ orbitals into an $a_{1g}$ singlet and $e_g^π$ doublet. For both doublets ($e_g^σ$ and $e_g^π$), in the case of one electron or hole per site, we arrive at a symmetric model with the orbital and spin interaction of the Heisenberg type and the Hamiltonian of unexpectedly high symmetry: SU(4). Thus, many real materials with this geometry can serve as a testing ground for checking the prediction of this interesting theoretical model. We also compare general trends in spin--orbital ("Kugel--Khomskii") exchange interaction for three typical situations: those of MO$_6$ octahedra with common corner, common edge, and the present case of common face, which has not been considered yet.

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arXiv2015

Electronic spectrum of twisted bilayer graphene

We study the electronic properties of twisted bilayers graphene in the tight-binding approximation. The interlayer hopping amplitude is modeled by a function, which depends not only on the distance between two carbon atoms, but also on the positions of neighboring atoms as well. Using the Lanczos algorithm for the numerical evaluation of eigenvalues of large sparse matrices, we calculate the bilayer single-electron spectrum for commensurate twist angles in the range $1^{\circ}\lesssimθ\lesssim30^{\circ}$. We show that at certain angles $θ$ greater than $θ_{c}\approx1.89^{\circ}$ the electronic spectrum acquires a finite gap, whose value could be as large as $80$ meV. However, in an infinitely large and perfectly clean sample the gap as a function of $θ$ behaves non-monotonously, demonstrating exponentially-large jumps for very small variations of $θ$. This sensitivity to the angle makes it impossible to predict the gap value for a given sample, since in experiment $θ$ is always known with certain error. To establish the connection with experiments, we demonstrate that for a system of finite size $\tilde L$ the gap becomes a smooth function of the twist angle. If the sample is infinite, but disorder is present, we expect that the electron mean-free path plays the same role as $\tilde L$. In the regime of small angles $θ<θ_c$, the system is a metal with a well-defined Fermi surface which is reduced to Fermi points for some values of $θ$. The density of states in the metallic phase varies smoothly with $θ$.

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arXiv2014

Intrinsic arrested nanoscale phase separation near a topological Lifshitz transition in strongly correlated two-band metals

The arrested nanoscale phase separation in a two-band Hubbard model for strongly correlated charge carriers is shown to occur in a particular range in vicinity of the topological Lifshitz transition, where the Fermi energy crosses the bottom of the narrow band and a new sheet of the Fermi surface related to the charge carriers of the second band comes into play. We determine the phase separation diagram of this two-band Hubbard model as a function of two variables, the charge carrier density and the energy shift between the chemical potential and the bottom of the second band. In this phase diagram, we first determine a line of quantum critical points for the Lifshitz transition and find criteria for the electronic phase separation resulting in an inhomogeneous charge distribution. Finally, we identify the critical point in presence of a variable long-range Coulomb interaction where the scale invariance of the coexisting phases with different charge densities appears. We argue that this point is relevant for the regime of scale invariance of the nanoscale phase separation in cuprates like it was first observed in La$_2$CuO$_{4.1}$.

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arXiv2014

AA-stacked bilayer graphene in an applied electric field: Tunable antiferromagnetism and coexisting exciton order parameter

We study the electronic properties of AA-stacked bilayer graphene in a transverse electric field. The strong on-site Coulomb repulsion stabilizes the antiferromagnetic order in such a system. The antiferromagnetic order is suppressed by the transverse bias voltage, at least partially. The inter-plane Coulomb repulsion and non-zero voltage stabilize an exciton order parameter. The exciton order parameter coexists with the antiferromagnetism and can be as large as several tens of meV for realistic values of the bias voltage and interaction constants. The application of a transverse bias voltage can be used to control the transport properties of the bilayer.

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arXiv2014

Localized electron states near the armchair edge of graphene

It is known that zigzag graphene edge is able to support edge states: there is a non-dispersive single-electron band localized near the zigzag edge. However, it is generally believed that no edge states exist near the armchair edge. In this paper we re-examine this notion. It is demonstrated that while, indeed, the pristine armchair edge does not support any localized states, they do appear if the edge is subjected to suitable modifications (e.g. chemical functionalization). We explicitly present two types of the edge modification which support the localized states. Unlike zigzag edge states, which have zero energy and show no dispersion, properties of the armchair localized states depend sensitively on the type of edge modification. Under suitable conditions they demonstrate pronounced dispersion. While the zigzag edge state wavefunction decays monotonously when we move away from the edge, the armchair edge state wavefunction shows non-monotonous decay. Such states may be observed in scanning tunneling spectroscopy experimentally.

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arXiv2013

Electronic phase separation in iron pnictides

A mechanism for electronic phase separation in iron pnictides is proposed. It is based on the competition between commensurate and incommensurate spin-density-wave phases in a system with an imperfect doping-dependent nesting of a multi-sheeted Fermi surface. We model the Fermi surface by two elliptical electron pockets and three circular hole pockets. The interaction between a charge carrier in a hole band and a carrier in an electron band leads to the formation of spin-density-wave order. The commensurate spin density wave in the parent compound transforms to the incommensurate phase when doping is introduced. We show that, for certain parameter values, the uniform state is unstable with respect to phase separation. The resulting inhomogeneous state consists of regions of commensurate and incommensurate spin-density-wave phases. Our results are in qualitative agreement with recent observations of incommensurate spin density waves and electronic inhomogeneity in iron pnictides.

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arXiv2013

Antiferromagnetic states and phase separation in doped AA-stacked graphene bilayers

We study electronic properties of AA-stacked graphene bilayers. In the single-particle approximation such a system has one electron band and one hole band crossing the Fermi level. If the bilayer is undoped, the Fermi surfaces of these bands coincide. Such a band structure is unstable with respect to a set of spontaneous symmetry violations. Specifically, strong on-site Coulomb repulsion stabilizes antiferromagnetic order. At small doping and low temperatures, the homogeneous phase is unstable, and experiences phase separation into an undoped antiferromagnetic insulator and a metal. The metallic phase can be either antiferromagnetic (commensurate or incommensurate) or paramagnetic depending on the system parameters. We derive the phase diagram of the system on the doping-temperature plane and find that, under certain conditions, the transition from paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic phase may demonstrate re-entrance. When disorder is present, phase separation could manifest itself as a percolative insulator-metal transition driven by doping.

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