arXiv subjects

Ady Stern

Publications and source records attributed to Ady Stern.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Nonlinear response of 2DEG in the quantum Hall regime

Breaking of inversion symmetry leads to nonlinear and nonreciprocal electron transport, in which the voltage response does not invert with the reversal of the current direction. Many systems have incorporated inversion symmetry breaking into their band or crystal structures. In this work, we demonstrate that a conventional two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) system with a back gate shows non-reciprocal behavior (with voltage proportional to current squared) in the quantum Hall regime, which depends on the out-of-plane magnetic field and contact configuration. The inversion symmetry is broken due to the presence of the back gate and magnetic field, and our phenomenological model provides a qualitative explanation of the experimental data. Our results suggest a universal mechanism that gives rise to non-reciprocal behavior in gated samples.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Superconductivity and fermionic dissipation in quantum Hall edges

Proximity-induced superconductivity in fractional quantum Hall edges is a prerequisite to proposed realizations of parafermion zero-modes. A recent experimental work [Gül et al., Phys. Rev. X 12, 021057 (2022)] provided evidence for such coupling, in the form of a crossed Andreev reflection signal, in which electrons enter a superconductor from one chiral mode and are reflected as holes to another, counter-propagating chiral mode. Remarkably, while the probability for crossed Andreev reflection was small, it was stronger for $ν=1/3$ fractional quantum Hall edges than for integer ones. We theoretically explain these findings, including the relative strengths of the signals in the two cases and their qualitatively different temperature dependencies. An essential part of our model is the coupling of the edge modes to normal states in the cores of Abrikosov vortices induced by the magnetic field, which provide a fermionic bath. We find that the stronger crossed Andreev reflection in the fractional case originates from the suppression of electronic tunneling between the fermionic bath and the fractional quantum Hall edges. Our theory shows that the mere observation of crossed Andreev reflection signal does not necessarily imply the presence of localized parafermion zero-modes, and suggests ways to identify their presence from the behavior of this signal in the low temperature regime.

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arXiv2023

Symmetries as the guiding principle for flattening bands of Dirac fermions

Since the discovery of magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (TBG), flat bands in Dirac materials have become a prominent platform for realizing strong correlation effects in electronic systems. Here we show that the symmetry group protecting the Dirac cone in such materials determines whether a Dirac band may be flattened by the tuning of a small number of parameters. We devise a criterion that, given a symmetry group, allows for the calculation of the number of parameters required to make the Dirac velocity vanish. This criterion is employed to study band flattening in twisted bilayer graphene and in surface states of 3D topological insulators. Following this discussion, we identify the symmetries under which the vanishing of the Dirac velocity implies the emergence of perfectly-flat bands. Our analysis allows us to construct additional model Hamiltonians that display perfectly-flat bands at certain points in the space of parameters: the first is a toy model of two coupled 3D TI surfaces, and the second is a quasi-crystalline generalization of the chiral model of TBG.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Aharonov-Bohm magnetism in open Fermi surfaces

Orbital diamagnetism requires closed orbits according to the Liftshiftz-Kosevich theory. Therefore, one might expect that open Fermi surfaces do not have a diamagnetic response. Contrary to this expectation, we show that open orbits in finite systems do contribute a magnetic response which oscillates between diamagnetism and paramagnetism. The oscillations are similar to the Aharonov-Bohm effect, because the oscillation phase is set by the number of flux quanta through the area defined by the width of the sample and the distance between adjacent atomic layers. The magnetic response originates from the closed trajectories formed by counter-propagating open orbits coupled via specular boundary reflections. The phenomenon acts as a probe of the phase coherence of open electron trajectories.

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arXiv2023

Transport Signatures of Fractional Quantum Hall Binding Transitions

Certain fractional quantum Hall edges have been predicted to undergo quantum phase transitions which reduce the number of edge channels and at the same time bind electrons together. However, detailed studies of experimental signatures of such a ``binding transition'' remain lacking. Here, we propose quantum transport signatures with focus on the edge at filling $ν=9/5$. We demonstrate theoretically that in the regime of non-equilibrated edge transport, the bound and unbound edge phases have distinct conductance and noise characteristics. We also show that for a quantum point contact in the strong back-scattering regime, the bound phase produces a minimum Fano-factor $F_{SBS}=3$ corresponding to three-electron tunneling, whereas single electron tunneling is strongly suppressed at low energies. Together with recent experimental developments, our results will be useful for detecting binding transitions in the fractional quantum Hall regime.

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arXiv2022

Anyon statistics through conductance measurements of time-domain interferometry

We propose a method to extract the mutual exchange statistics of the anyonic excitations of a general Abelian fractional quantum Hall state, by comparing the tunneling characteristics of a quantum point contact in two different experimental conditions. In the first, the tunneling current between two edges at different chemical potentials is measured. In the second, one of these edges is strongly diluted by an earlier point contact. We describe the case of the dilute beam in terms of a time-domain interferometer between the anyons flowing along the edge and quasiparticle-quasihole excitations created at the tunneling quantum point contact. In both cases, temperature is kept large, such that the measured current is given to linear response. Remarkably, our proposal does not require the measurement of current correlations, and allows us to carefully separate effects of the fractional charge and statistics from effects of intra- and inter-edge interactions.

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arXiv2022

Spread and erase -- How electron hydrodynamics can eliminate the Landauer-Sharvin resistance

It has long been realized that even a perfectly clean electronic system harbors a Landauer-Sharvin resistance, inversely proportional to the number of its conduction channels. This resistance is usually associated with voltage drops on the system's contacts to an external circuit. Recent theories have shown that hydrodynamic effects can reduce this resistance, raising the question of the lower bound of resistance of hydrodynamic electrons. Here we show that by a proper choice of device geometry, it is possible to spread the Landauer-Sharvin resistance throughout the bulk of the system, allowing its complete elimination by electron hydrodynamics. We trace the effect to the dynamics of electrons flowing in channels that terminate within the sample. For ballistic systems this termination leads to back-reflection of the electrons and creates resistance. Hydrodynamically, the scattering of these electrons off other electrons allows them to transfer to transmitted channels and avoid the resistance. Counter-intuitively, we find that in contrast to the ohmic regime, for hydrodynamic electrons the resistance of a device with a given width can decrease with its length, suggesting that a long enough device may have an arbitrarily small total resistance.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

The Quantum Twisting Microscope

The invention of scanning probe microscopy has revolutionized the way electronic phenomena are visualized. While present-day probes can access a variety of electronic properties at a single location in space, a scanning microscope that can directly probe the quantum mechanical existence of an electron at multiple locations would provide direct access to key quantum properties of electronic systems, so far unreachable. Here, we demonstrate a conceptually new type of scanning probe microscope - the Quantum Twisting Microscope (QTM) - capable of performing local interference experiments at its tip. The QTM is based on a unique van-der-Waals tip, allowing the creation of pristine 2D junctions, which provide a multitude of coherently-interfering paths for an electron to tunnel into a sample. With the addition of a continuously scanned twist angle between the tip and sample, this microscope probes electrons in momentum space similar to the way a scanning tunneling microscope probes electrons in real space. Through a series of experiments, we demonstrate room temperature quantum coherence at the tip, study the twist angle evolution of twisted bilayer graphene, directly image the energy bands of monolayer and twisted bilayer graphene, and finally, apply large local pressures while visualizing the evolution of the flat energy bands of the latter. The QTM opens the way for novel classes of experiments on quantum materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Robust two-qubit trapped ions gates using spin-dependent squeezing

Entangling gates are an essential component of quantum computers. However, generating high-fidelity gates, in a scalable manner, remains a major challenge in all quantum information processing platforms. Accordingly, improving the fidelity and robustness of these gates has been a research focus in recent years. In trapped ions quantum computers, entangling gates are performed by driving the normal modes of motion of the ion chain, generating a spin-dependent force. Even though there has been significant progress in increasing the robustness and modularity of these gates, they are still sensitive to noise in the intensity of the driving field. Here we supplement the conventional spin-dependent displacement with spin-dependent squeezing, which enables a gate that is robust to deviations in the amplitude of the driving field. We solve the general Hamiltonian and engineer its spectrum analytically. We also endow our gate with other, more conventional, robustness properties, making it resilient to many practical sources of noise and inaccuracies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

One-dimensional topological superconductivity based entirely on phase control

Topological superconductivity in one dimension requires time-reversal symmetry breaking, but at the same time it is hindered by external magnetic fields. We offer a general prescription for inducing topological superconductivity in planar superconductor-normal-superconductor-normal-superconductor (SNSNS) Josephson junctions without applying any magnetic fields on the junctions. Our platform relies on two key ingredients: the three parallel superconductors form two SNS junctions with phase winding, and the Fermi velocities for the two spin branches transverse to the junction must be different from one another. The two phase differences between the three superconductors define a parameter plane which includes large topological regions. We analytically derive the critical curves where the topological phase transitions occur, and corroborate the result with a numerical calculation based on a tight-binding model. We further propose material platforms with unequal Fermi velocities, establishing the experimental feasibility of our approach.

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arXiv2022

Quantum simulations of interacting systems with broken time-reversal symmetry

Many-body systems of quantum interacting particles in which time-reversal symmetry is broken give rise to a variety of rich collective behaviors, and are therefore a major target of research in modern physics. Quantum simulators can potentially be used to explore and understand such systems, which are often beyond the computational reach of classical simulation. Of these, platforms with universal quantum control can experimentally access a wide range of physical properties. However, simultaneously achieving strong programmable interactions, strong time-reversal symmetry breaking, and high fidelity quantum control in a scalable manner is challenging. Here we realized quantum simulations of interacting, time-reversal broken quantum systems in a universal trapped-ion quantum processor. Using a scalable scheme that was recently proposed we implemented time-reversal breaking synthetic gauge fields, shown for the first time in a trapped ion chain, along with unique coupling geometries, potentially extendable to simulation of multi dimensional systems. Our high fidelity single-site resolution in control and measurement, along with highly programmable interactions, allow us to perform full state tomography of a ground state showcasing persistent current, and to observe dynamics of a time-reversal broken system with nontrivial interactions. Our results open a path towards simulation of time-reversal broken many-body systems with a wide range of features and coupling geometries.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Local and Nonlocal Transport Spectroscopy in Planar Josephson Junctions

We report simultaneously acquired local and nonlocal transport spectroscopy in a phase-biased planar Josephson junction based on an epitaxial InAs/Al hybrid two-dimensional heterostructure. Quantum point contacts at the junction ends allow measurement of the 2 x 2 matrix of local and nonlocal tunneling conductances as a function of magnetic field along the junction, phase difference across the junction, and carrier density. A closing and reopening of a gap was observed in both the local and nonlocal tunneling spectra as a function of magnetic field. For particular tunings of junction density, gap reopenings were accompanied by zero-bias conductance peaks (ZBCPs) in local conductances. End-to-end correlation of gap reopening was strong, while correlation of local ZBCPs was weak. A simple, disorder-free model of the device shows comparable conductance matrix behavior associated with a topological phase transition. Phase dependence helps distinguish possible origins of the ZBCPs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Imaging Chern mosaic and Berry-curvature magnetism in magic-angle graphene

Charge carriers in magic angle graphene come in eight flavors described by a combination of their spin, valley, and sublattice polarizations. When the inversion and time reversal symmetries are broken by the substrate or by strong interactions, the degeneracy of the flavors can be lifted and their corresponding bands can be filled sequentially. Due to their non-trivial band topology and Berry curvature, each of the bands is classified by a topological Chern number, leading to the quantum anomalous Hall and Chern insulator states at integer fillings $ν$ of the bands. It has been recently predicted, however, that depending on the local atomic-scale arrangements of the graphene and the encapsulating hBN lattices, rather than being a global topological invariant, the Chern number C may become position dependent, altering transport and magnetic properties of the itinerant electrons. Using a SQUID-on-tip, we directly image the nanoscale Berry-curvature-induced equilibrium orbital magnetism, the polarity of which is governed by the local Chern number, and detect its two constituent components associated with the drift and the self-rotation of the electronic wave packets. At $ν=1$, we observe local zero-field valley-polarized Chern insulators forming a mosaic of microscopic patches of C=-1, 0, or 1, governed by the local sublattice polarization, consistent with predictions. Upon further filling, we find a first-order phase transition due to recondensation of electrons from valley K to K', which leads to irreversible flips of the local Chern number and the magnetization, and to the formation of valley domain walls giving rise to hysteretic global anomalous Hall resistance. The findings shed new light on the structure and dynamics of topological phases and call for exploration of the controllable formation of flavor domain walls and their utilization in twistronic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Gapping fragile topological bands by interactions

We consider the stability of fragile topological bands protected by space-time inversion symmetry in the presence of strong electron-electron interactions. At the single-particle level, the topological nature of the bands prevents the opening of a gap between them. In contrast, we show that when the fragile bands are half filled, interactions can open a gap in the many-body spectrum without breaking any symmetry or mixing degrees of freedom from remote bands. Furthermore, the resulting ground state is not topologically ordered. Thus, a fragile topological band structure does not present an obstruction to forming a "featureless insulator" ground state. Our construction relies on the formation of fermionic bound states of two electrons and one hole, known as "trions". The trions form a band whose coupling to the electronic band enables the gap opening. This result may be relevant to the gapped state indicated by recent experiments in magic angle twisted bilayer graphene at charge neutrality.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Signatures of a topological phase transition in a planar Josephson junction

A growing body of work suggests that planar Josephson junctions fabricated using superconducting hybrid materials provide a highly controllable route toward one-dimensional topological superconductivity. Among the experimental controls are in-plane magnetic field, phase difference across the junction, and carrier density set by electrostatic gate voltages. Here, we investigate planar Josephson junctions with an improved design based on an epitaxial InAs/Al heterostructure, embedded in a superconducting loop, probed with integrated quantum point contacts (QPCs) at both ends of the junction. For particular ranges of in-plane field and gate voltages, a closing and reopening of the superconducting gap is observed, along with a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) that appears upon reopening of the gap. Consistency with a simple theoretical model supports the interpretation of a topological phase transition. While gap closings and reopenings generally occurred together at the two ends of the junction, the height, shape, and even presence of ZBCPs typically differed between the ends, presumably due to disorder and variation of couplings to local probes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Identifying the $ν=\frac{5}{2}$ topological order through charge transport measurements

We propose an experiment to identify the topological order of the $ν=\frac{5}{2}$ state through a measurement of the electric conductance of a mesoscopic device. Our setup is based on interfacing $ν=2, \ \frac{5}{2}$ and $3$ in the same device. Its conductance can unambiguously establish or rule out the particle-hole symmetric Pfaffian topological order, which is supported by recent thermal measurements. Additionally, it distinguishes between the Moore-Read and Anti-Pfaffian topological orders, which are favored by numerical calculations.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

In-plane orbital magnetization as a probe for symmetry breaking in strained twisted bilayer graphene

Three symmetries prevent a twisted bilayer of graphene from developing an in-plane spontaneous magnetization in the absence of a magnetic field - time reversal symmetry, $C_2$ symmetry to $π$ rotation and $C_3$ symmetry to $2π/3$ rotation. In contrast, there are experimental and theoretical indications that, at certain electron densities, time reversal and $C_2$ symmetries are broken spontaneously, while the $C_3$ symmetry is often broken due to strain. We show that in-plane orbital magnetization is a very sensitive probe to the simultaneous breaking of these three symmetries, exhibiting surprisingly large values (of the order of one Bohr magneton per moiré unit cell) for valley polarized states at rather small values of heterostrain. We attribute these large values to the large magnitude of the characteristic magnetization of individual Bloch states, which we find to reflect the fast Dirac velocity of single layer graphene, rather than the slow velocity of the twisted bilayer. These large values are forced to mutually cancel in valley-symmetric states, but the cancellation does not occur in valley-polarized states. Our analysis is carried out both for non-interacting electrons and within a simplified Hartree-Fock framework.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2021

Theory of correlated insulators and superconductivity in twisted bilayer graphene

We introduce and analyze a model that sheds light on the interplay between correlated insulating states, superconductivity, and flavor-symmetry breaking in magic angle twisted bilayer graphene. Using a variational mean-field theory, we determine the normal-state phase diagram of our model as a function of the band filling. The model features robust insulators at even integer fillings, occasional weaker insulators at odd integer fillings, and a pattern of flavor-symmetry breaking at non-integer fillings. Adding a phonon-mediated inter-valley retarded attractive interaction, we obtain strong-coupling superconducting domes, whose structure is in qualitative agreement with experiments. Our model elucidates how the intricate form of the interactions and the particle-hole asymmetry of the electronic structure determine the phase diagram. It also explains how subtle differences between devices may lead to the different behaviors observed experimentally. A similar model can be applied with minor modifications to other moiré systems, such as twisted trilayer graphene.

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