arXiv subjects

D. Bercioux

Publications and source records attributed to D. Bercioux.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

Parallel spin transport and holonomy in non-Euclidean curved circuits on a spherical two-dimensional electron gas

The quantum conductance of one-dimensional (1D) circuits built on flat (Euclidean) two-dimensional electron gases (2DEGs) is known to display a symmetric response to the inversion of Rashba spin-orbit coupling fields in Aharonov-Casher (AC) interference patterns. Here, we show that this symmetry breaks down in curved (non-Euclidean) 1D circuits defined on spherical 2DEGs. We demonstrate that this is a consequence of parallel transport and holonomy of the electronic spin on the surface of the sphere, and that a symmetric response can be recovered when considering the parallel transport condition as an offset shifting the AC pattern. We discuss 1D triangular circuits defined along geodesic arcs on the sphere as a case study, and generalize it to regular polygons and parallel curves of given latitude.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Wannier center spectroscopy to identify boundary-obstructed topological insulators

The hallmark of topological crystalline insulators is the emergence of a robust electronic state in a bandgap localized at the boundary of the material. However, end, edge, and surface states can also have a nontopological origin. Unfortunately, topological invariants such as the winding number and Zak phase are often not directly experimentally accessible for solids. In addition to topological invariants, the position of the Wannier centers provides a fingerprint for the topological character of a material. Here, we demonstrate a method to experimentally determine the location of Wannier centers in artificial lattices made of Cs/InAs(111)A by integrating the density of states. We determine the locations of the Wannier centers for various 1D chains, topological and trivial, and corroborate our findings with tight-binding simulations.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Topological properties of a non-Hermitian quasi-1D chain with a flat band

The spectral properties of a non-Hermitian quasi-1D lattice in two of the possible dimerization configurations are investigated. Specifically, it focuses on a non-Hermitian diamond chain that presents a zero-energy flat band. The flat band originates from wave interference and results in eigenstates with a finite contribution only on two sites of the unit cell. To achieve the non-Hermitian characteristics, the system under study presents non-reciprocal hopping terms in the chain. This leads to the accumulation of eigenstates on the boundary of the system, known as the non-Hermitian skin effect. Despite this accumulation of eigenstates, for one of the two considered configurations, it is possible to characterize the presence of non-trivial edge states at zero energy by a real-space topological invariant known as the biorthogonal polarization. This work shows that this invariant, evaluated using the destructive interference method, characterizes the non-trivial phase of the non-Hermitian diamond chain. For the second non-Hermitian configuration, there is a finite quantum metric associated with the flat band. Additionally, the system presents the skin effect despite the system having a purely real or imaginary spectrum. The two non-Hermitian diamond chains can be mapped into two models of the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chains, either non-Hermitian, and Hermitian, both in the presence of a flat band. This mapping allows to draw valuable insights into the behavior and properties of these systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Robust Spin Polarization of Yu-Shiba-Rusinov States in Superconductor/Ferromagnetic Insulator Heterostructures

Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states arise as sub-gap excitations of a magnetic impurity in a superconducting host. Taking into account the quantum nature of the impurity spin in a single-site approximation, we study the spectral properties of the YSR excitations of a system of magnetic impurity in a spin-split superconductor, i.e. a superconductor in proximity to a ferromagnetic insulator at zero external magnetic fields. The YSR excitations of this system exhibit a robust spin-polarization that is protected from fluctuations and environmental noise by the exchange field of the ferromagnetic insulator, which can be as large as a few Tesla. We compare the results of this quantum approach to the classical approach, which conventionally predicts fully polarized YSR excitations even in the absence of exchange and external magnetic field. Turning on a small magnetic field, we show the latter splits the YSR excitations in the regime where the impurity is strongly coupled to the superconductor, whilst the classical approach predicts no such splitting. The studied system can potentially be realized in a tunnel junction connected to a quantum dot in proximity to a spin-split superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Tunable Dirac points in a two-dimensional non-symmorphic wallpaper group lattice

Non-symmorphic symmetries protect Dirac nodal lines and cones in lattice systems. Here, we investigate the spectral properties of a two-dimensional lattice belonging to a non-symmorphic group. Specifically, we look at the herringbone lattice, characterised by two sets of glide symmetries applied in two orthogonal directions. We describe the system using a nearest-neighbour tight-binding model containing horizontal and vertical hopping terms. We find two non-equivalent Dirac cones inside the first Brillouin zone along a high-symmetry path. We tune these Dirac cones' positions by breaking the lattice symmetries using onsite potentials. These Dirac cones can merge into a semi-Dirac cone or unfold along a high-symmetry path. Finally, we perturb the system by applying a dimerization of the hopping terms. We report a flow of Dirac cones inside the first Brillouin zone describing quasi-hyperbolic curves. We present an implementation in terms of CO atoms placed on the top of a Cu(111) surface.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Superconducting proximity effect in $d$-wave cuprate/ graphene heterostructures

Superconducting proximity effects in graphene have received a great deal of attention for over a decade now. This has unveiled a plethora of exotic effects linked to the specificities of graphene's electronic properties. The vast majority of the related studies are based on conventional, low-temperature superconducting metals with isotropic $s$-wave pairing. Here we review recent advances made on the less studied case of unconventional high-temperature superconducting cuprates. These are characterized by an anisotropic $d$-wave pairing, whose interplay with Dirac electrons yields very rich physics and novel proximity behaviours. We provide a theoretical analysis and summarize the experiments reported so far. These unveil hints of proximity-induced unconventional pairing and demonstrate the gate-tunable, long-range propagation of high-temperature superconducting correlations in graphene. Finally, the fundamental and technological opportunities brought by the theoretical and experimental advances are discussed, together with the interest in extending similar studies to other Dirac materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Energy density as a probe of band representations in photonic crystals

Topological Quantum Chemistry (TQC) has recently emerged as a instrumental tool to characterize the topological nature of both fermionic and bosonic band structures. TQC is based on the study of band representations and the localization of maximally localized Wannier functions. In this article, we study various two-dimensional photonic crystal structures analyzing their topological character through a combined study of TQC, their Wilson-loop spectra and the electromagnetic energy density. Our study demonstrates that the analysis of the spatial localization of the energy density complements the study of the topological properties in terms of the spectrum of the Wilson-loop operator and TQC.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2022

Corner modes of the breathing kagome lattice: origin and robustness

We study the non-trivial phase of the two-dimensional breathing kagome lattice, displaying both edge and corner modes. The corner localized modes of a two-dimensional flake were initially identified as a signature of a higher-order topological phase but later shown to be trivial for perturbations that were thought to protect them. Using various theoretical and simulation techniques, we confirm that it does not display higher-order topology: the corner modes are of trivial nature. Nevertheless, they might be protected. First, we show a set of perturbations within a tight-binding model that can move the corner modes away from zero energy, also repeat some perturbations that were used to show that the modes are trivial. In addition, we analyze the protection of the corner modes in more detail and find that only perturbations respecting the sublattice or generalized chiral and crystalline symmetries, and the lattice connectivity, pin the corner modes to zero energy robustly. A destructive interference model corroborates the results. Finally, we analyze a muffin-tin model for the bulk breathing kagome lattice. Using topological and symmetry markers, such as Wilson loops and Topological Quantum Chemistry, we identify the two breathing phases as adiabatically disconnected different obstructed atomic limits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Metallic Carbon Nanotube Quantum Dots with Broken Symmetries as a Platform for Tunable Terahertz Detection

Generating and detecting radiation in the technologically relevant range of the so-called terahertz gap ($0.1 - 10$ THz) is challenging because of a lack of efficient sources and detectors. Quantum dots in carbon nanotubes have shown great potential to build sensitive terahertz detectors usually based on photon-assisted tunnelling. A recently reported mechanism combining resonant quantum dot transitions and tunnelling barriers asymmetries results in a narrow linewidth photocurrent response with a large signal-to-noise ratio under weak THz radiation. That device was sensitive to one frequency, corresponding to transitions between equidistant quantized states. In this work we show, using numerical together with scanning tunnelling spectroscopy studies of a defect-induced metallic zigzag single-walled carbon nanotube quantum dot that simultaneously breaking various symmetries in metallic nanotube quantum dots of arbitrary chirality strongly relaxes the selection rules in the electric dipole approximation, and removes energy degeneracies. This leads to a richer set of allowed optical transitions spanning frequencies from 1 THz to several tens of THz, for a $\sim$10 nm quantum dot. Based on these findings, we propose a terahertz detector device based on a metallic single-walled carbon nanotube quantum dot defined by artificial defects. Depending on its length and contacts transparency, the operating regimes range from a high-resolution gate-tunable terahertz sensor to a broadband terahertz detector. Our calculations indicate that the device is largely unaffected by temperatures up to 100 K, making carbon nanotube quantum dots with broken symmetries a promising platform to design tunable terahertz detectors that could operate at liquid nitrogen temperatures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

A quantum-network approach to spin interferometry driven by Abelian and non-Abelian fields

We present a theory of conducting quantum networks that accounts for Abelian and non-Abelian fields acting on spin carriers. We apply this approach to model the conductance of mesoscopic spin interferometers of different geometry (such as squares and rings), reproducing recent experimental findings in nanostructured InAsGa quantum wells subject to Rashba spin-orbit and Zeeman fields (as, e.g., the manipulation of Aharonov-Casher interference patterns by geometric means). Moreover, by introducing an additional field-texture engineering, we manage to single out a previously unnoticed spin-phase suppression mechanism. We notice that our approach can also be used for the study of complex networks and the spectral properties of closed systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Optical Hall response of bilayer graphene: the manifestation of chiral hybridised states in broken mirror symmetry lattices

Understanding the mechanisms governing the optical activity of layered-stacked materials is crucial to the design of devices aimed at manipulating light at the nanoscale. Here, we show that both twisted and slid bilayer graphene are chiral systems that can deflect the polarization of linear polarized light. However, only twisted bilayer graphene supports circular dichroism. Our calculation scheme, which is based on the time-dependent Schrödinger equation, is particularly efficient for calculating the optical-conductivity tensor. Specifically, it allows us to show the chirality of hybridized states as the handedness-dependent bending of the trajectory of kicked Gaussian wave packets in bilayer lattices. We show that nonzero Hall conductivity is the result of the noncanceling manifestation of hybridized states in chiral lattices. We also demonstrate the continuous dependence of the conductivity tensor on the twist angle and the sliding vector.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Wave-particle duality of electrons with spin-momentum locking

We investigate the effects of spin-momentum locking on the interference and diffraction patterns due to a double- or single-slit in an electronic \emph{Gedankenexperiment}. We show that the inclusion of the spin-degree-of-freedom, when coupled to the motion direction of the carrier -- a typical situation that occurs in systems with spin-orbit interaction -- leads to a modification of the interference and diffraction patterns that depend on the geometrical parameters of the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Long-Range Propagation and Interference of $d$-wave Superconducting Pairs in Graphene

Recent experiments have shown that proximity with high-temperature superconductors induces unconventional superconducting correlations in graphene. Here we demonstrate that those correlations propagate hundreds of nanometer, allowing for the unique observation of $d$-wave Andreev pair interferences in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_7$-graphene devices that behave as a Fabry-Pérot cavity. The interferences show as a series of pronounced conductance oscillations analogous to those originally predicted by de Gennes--Saint-James for conventional metal-superconductor junctions. The present work is pivotal to the study of exotic directional effects expected for nodal superconductivity in Dirac materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Robust zero-energy modes in an electronic higher-order topological insulator: the dimerized Kagome lattice

Quantum simulators are an essential tool for understanding complex quantum materials. Platforms based on ultracold atoms in optical lattices and photonic devices led the field so far, but electronic quantum simulators are proving to be equally relevant. Simulating topological states of matter is one of the holy grails in the field. Here, we experimentally realize a higher-order electronic topological insulator (HOTI). Specifically, we create a dimerized Kagome lattice by manipulating carbon-monoxide (CO) molecules on a Cu(111) surface using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). We engineer alternating weak and strong bonds to show that a topological state emerges at the corner of the non-trivial configuration, while it is absent in the trivial one. Contrarily to conventional topological insulators (TIs), the topological state has two dimensions less than the bulk, denoting a HOTI. The corner mode is protected by a generalized chiral symmetry, which leads to a particular robustness against perturbations. Our versatile approach to quantum simulation with artificial lattices holds promises of revealing unexpected quantum phases of matter.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Time-evolution patterns of electrons in twisted bilayer graphene

We characterise the dynamics of electrons in twisted bilayer graphene by analysing the time-evolution of electron waves in the atomic lattice. We perform simulations based on a kernel polynomial technique using Chebyshev polynomial; this method does not requires any diagonalisation of the system Hamiltonian. Our simulations reveal that the inter-layer electronic coupling induces the exchange of waves between the two graphene layers. This wave transfer manifests as oscillations of the layer-integrated probability densities as a function of time. For the bilayer case, it also causes a difference in the wavefront dynamics compared to monolayer graphene. The intra-layer spreading of electron waves is irregular and progresses as a two-stage process. The first one characterised by a well-defined wavefront occurs in a short time | a wavefront forms instead during the second stage. The wavefront takes a hexagon-like shape with the vertices developing faster than the edges. Though the detail spreading form of waves depends on initial states, we observe localisation of waves in specific regions of the moiré zone. To characterise the electron dynamics, we also analyse the time auto-correlation functions. We show that these quantities shall exhibit the beating modulation when reducing the interlayer coupling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Quantum Transport Properties of an Exciton Insulator/Superconductor Hybrid Junction

We present a theoretical study of electronic transport in a hybrid junction consisting of an excitonic insulator sandwiched between a normal and a superconducting electrode. The normal region is described as a two-band semimetal and the superconducting lead as a two-band superconductor. In the excitonic insulator region, the coupling between carriers in the two bands leads to an excitonic condensate and a gap $Γ$ in the quasiparticle spectrum. We identify four different scattering processes at both interfaces. Two types of normal reflection, intra- and inter-band; and two different Andreev reflections, one retro-reflective within the same band and one specular-reflective between the two bands. We calculate the differential conductance of the structure and show the existence of a minimum at voltages of the order of the excitonic gap. Our findings are useful towards the detection of the excitonic condensate and provide a plausible explanation of recent transport experiments on HgTe quantum wells and InAs/GaSb bilayer systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Transport properties of an electron-hole bilayer/superconductor hybrid junction

We investigate the transport properties of a junction consisting of an electron-hole bilayer in contact with normal and superconducting leads. The electron-hole bilayer is considered as a semi-metal with two electronic bands. We assume that in the region between the contacts the system hosts an exciton condensate described by a BCS-like model with a gap $Γ$ in the quasiparticle density of states. We first discuss how the subgap electronic transport through the junction is mainly governed by the interplay between two kinds of reflection processes at the interfaces: The standard Andreev reflection at the interface between the superconductor and the exciton condensate, and a coherent crossed reflection at the semi-metal/exciton-condensate interface that converts electrons from one layer into the other. We show that the differential conductance of the junction shows a minimum at voltages of the order of $Γ/e$. Such a minimum can be seen as a direct hallmark of the existence of the gapped excitonic state.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

Solitons in one-dimensional lattices with a flat band

We investigate the spectral properties of a quasi-one-dimensional lattice in two possible dimerisation configurations. Both configurations are characterized by the same lattice topology and the identical spectra containing a flat band at zero energy. We find that one of the dimerised configuration has similar symmetry to a one-dimensional chain proposed by Su-Schrieffer-Heeger for studying solitons in conjugated polymers. Whereas, the other dimerised configuration only shows non-trivial topological properties in the presence of chiral-symmetry breaking adiabatic pumping.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗