arXiv subjects

Dipankar Jana

Publications and source records attributed to Dipankar Jana.

11 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Manipulation of localized excitons in CrPS$_4$ by temperature and magnetic field

Layered van der Waals magnetic semiconductors provide a versatile platform for exploring excitonic phenomena intertwined with spin and lattice degrees of freedom, enabling excitons to act as sensitive probes of magnetic order. CrPS$_4$ is a layered antiferromagnetic semiconductor that hosts rich excitonic features whose microscopic origin and connection to magnetic ordering remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigate the electronic and excitonic properties of bulk CrPS$_4$ using a combination of many-body perturbation theory, dynamical mean-field theory, and photoluminescence-based experiments. Our calculations establish CrPS$_4$ as a direct-gap semiconductor with a bandgap of 2.48~eV in the antiferromagnetic phase. Several sub-bandgap excitonic transitions are predicted by theory, comprising multiple spin-allowed excitons and an additional spin-flip excitation, predominantly localized on the Cr$^{3+}$ ions. Temperature- and magnetic-field-dependent optical measurements reveal thermally driven exciton redistribution among localized states and identify characteristic energy shifts that provide clear optical signatures of magnetic phase transitions in CrPS$_4$. These results provide new insights into the excitonic transitions of antiferromagnets and suggest potential routes for all-optical sensing and light-driven control of their magnetic order.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2026

Spin-flip optical excitations in van der Waals antiferromagnet CrPS$_4$

We investigate the near-infrared optical response of the semiconducting van der Waals antiferromagnet CrPS$_4$ and identify previously unreported spin-entangled optical resonances. The strong and anisotropic magnetic-field dependence of these resonances reflects the underlying magnetic order and confirms the biaxial antiferromagnetic nature of CrPS$_4$. From the magnetic field evolution of the optical transition, we extract key magnetic parameters, including the spin-flop ($\approx0.9$~T) and spin-saturation ($\approx8$~T) fields. These results demonstrate a potential pathway for all-optical probing of spin states in van der Waals antiferromagnets, with relevance for spin-sensitive optoelectronic and magneto-optical devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Deconstruction of the anisotropic magnetic interactions from spin-entangled optical excitations in van der Waals antiferromagnets

Magneto-optical excitations in antiferromagnetic d systems can originate from a multiplicity of light-spin and spin-spin interactions, as the light and spin degrees of freedom can be entangled. This is exemplified in van der Waals systems with attendant strong anisotropy between in-plane and out-of-plane directions, such as MnPS3 and NiPS3 films studied here. The rich interplay between the magnetic ordering and sub-bandgap optical transitions poses a challenge to resolve the mechanisms driving spin-entangled optical transitions, as well as the single-particle bandgap itself. Here we employ a high-fidelity ab initio theory to find a realistic estimation of the bandgap by elucidating the atom- and orbital-resolved contributions to the fundamental sub-bands. We further demonstrate that the spin-entangled excitations, observable as photoluminescence and absorption resonances, originate from an on-site spin-flip transition confined to a magnetic atom (Mn or Ni). The evolution of the spin-flip transition

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Extremely high excitonic $g$-factors in 2D crystals by alloy-induced admixing of band states

Monolayers (MLs) of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (\mbox{S-TMDs}) emit light very efficiently and display rich spin-valley physics, with gyromagnetic ($g$-) factors of about -4. Here, we investigate how these properties can be tailored by alloying. Magneto-optical spectroscopy is used to reveal the peculiar properties of excitonic complexes in Mo$_{x}$W$_{1-x}$Se$_2$ MLs with different Mo and W concentrations. We show that the alloys feature extremely high $g$-factors for neutral excitons, that change gradually with the composition up to reaching values of the order of -10 for $x \approx 0.2$. First-principles calculations corroborate the experimental findings and provide evidence that alloying in S-TMDs results in a non-trivial band structure engineering, being at the origin of the high $g$-factors. The theoretical framework also suggests a higher strain sensitivity of the alloys, making them promising candidates for tailor-made optoelectronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Two-dimensional materials as a multiproperty sensing platform

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have disrupted materials science due to the development of van der Waals technology. It enables the stacking of ultrathin layers of materials characterized by vastly different electronic structures to create man-made heterostructures and devices with rationally tailored properties, circumventing limitations of matching crystal structures, lattice constants, and geometry of constituent materials and supporting substrates. 2D materials exhibit extraordinary mechanical flexibility, strong light-matter interactions driven by their excitonic response, single photon emission from atomic centers, stable ferromagnetism in sub-nm thin films, fractional quantum Hall effect in high-quality devices, and chemoselectivity at ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio. Consequently, van der Waals heterostructures with atomically flat interfaces demonstrate an unprecedented degree of intertwined mechanical, chemical, optoelectronic, and magnetic properties. This constitutes a foundation for multiproperty sensing, based on complex intra- and intermaterial interactions, and a robust response to external stimuli originating from the environment. Here, we review recent progress in the development of sensing applications with 2D materials, highlighting the areas where van der Waals heterostructures offer the highest sensitivity, simultaneous responses to multiple distinct externalities due to their atomic thickness in conjunction with unique material combinations, and conceptually new sensing methodology.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Strong and selective magnon-phonon coupling in van der Waals antiferromagnet CoPS$_3$

The Raman scattering response of the biaxial antiferromagnet CoPS$_3$ has been investigated as a function of both magnetic field and temperature. The peaks observed in the low-frequency spectral range (90--200~cm$^{-1}$) have been identified as hybrid magnon--phonon excitations. The energies of the bare magnon and phonon modes, as well as the effective coupling strengths between different excitation pairs, have been determined. The strong and selective magnon--phonon interaction largely accounts for the pronounced splitting of two phonon-like modes observed at 152~cm$^{-1}$ and 158~cm$^{-1}$ in the antiferromagnetic phase of CoPS$_3$. Based on the identification of bare magnon excitations and their magnetic-field dependence, we propose an updated set of parameters for the effective exchange ($J_{\mathrm{eff}} = 9.9$~meV) and biaxial magnetic anisotropy ($D = 4.3$~meV and $E = -0.7$~meV) and advocate for an apparent anisotropic $g$-factor ($g_x = g_y = 2$, $g_z = 4$) in the CoPS$_3$ antiferromagnet.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Magnon gap excitations in van der Waals antiferromagnet MnPSe$_3$

Magneto-spectroscopy methods have been employed to study the zero-wavevector magnon excitations in MnPSe$_3$. Experiments carried out as a function of temperature and the applied magnetic field show that two low-energy magnon branches of MnPSe$_3$ in its antiferromagnetic phase are gapped. The observation of two low-energy magnon gaps (at 14 and 0.7 cm$^{-1}$) implies that MnPSe$_3$ is a biaxial antiferromagnet. A relatively strong out-of-plane anisotropy imposes the spin alignment to be in-plane whereas the spin directionality within the plane is governed by a factor of 2.5 $\times$ 10$^{-3}$ weaker in-plane anisotropy.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

In-plane magnetocrystalline anisotropy in the van der Waals antiferromagnet FePSe$_3$ probed by magneto-Raman scattering

Magnon gap excitations selectively coupled to phonon modes have been studied in FePSe$_3$ layered antiferromagnet with magneto-Raman scattering experiments performed at different temperatures. The bare magnon excitation in this material has been found to be split (by $\approx~1.2$ cm$^{-1}$) into two components each being selectively coupled to one of the two degenerated, nearby phonon modes. Lifting the degeneracy of the fundamental magnon mode points out toward the biaxial character of the FePS$_3$ antiferromagnet, with an additional in-plane anisotropy complementing much stronger, out-of-plane anisotropy. Moreover, the tunability, with temperature, of the phonon- versus the magnon-like character of the observed coupled modes has been demonstrated.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Magnon gap excitations and spin-entangled optical transition in van der Waals antiferromagnet NiPS3

Optical magneto-spectroscopy methods (Raman scattering, far-infrared transmission, and photoluminescence) have been applied to investigate the properties of the NiPS3 semiconducting antiferromagnet. The fundamental magnon gap excitation in this van der Waals material has been found to be split into two components, in support of the biaxial character of the NiPS3 antiferromagnet. Photoluminescence measurements in the near-infrared spectral range show that the intriguing 1.475 eV-excitation unique to the NiPS3 antiferromagnetic phase splits upon the application of the in-plane magnetic field. The observed splitting patterns are correlated with properties of magnon excitations and reproduced with the simple model proposed. Possible routes toward a firm identification of the spin-entangled 1.475 eV-optical excitation in NiPS3, which can hardly be recognized as a coherent Zhang-Rice exciton, are discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Excitons and trions in WSSe monolayers

The possibility of almost linear tuning of the band gap and of the electrical and optical properties in monolayers (MLs) of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenide (S-TMD) alloys opens up the way to fabricate materials with on-demand characteristics. By making use of photoluminescence spectroscopy, we investigate optical properties of WSSe MLs with a S/Se ratio of 57/43 deposited on SiO$_2$/Si substrate and encapsulated in hexagonal BN flakes. Similarly to the $"parent"$ WS$_2$ and WSe$_2$ MLs, we assign the WSSe MLs to the ML family with the dark ground exciton state. We find that, in addition to the neutral bright A exciton line, three observed emission lines are associated with negatively charged excitons. The application of in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic fields allows us to assign undeniably the bright and dark (spin- and momentum-forbidden) negative trions as well as the phonon replica of the dark spin-forbidden complex. Furthermore, the existence of the single photon emitters in the WSSe ML is also demonstrated, thus prompting the opportunity to enlarge the wavelength range for potential future quantum applications of S-TMDs.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Scaling nanowire-supported GaN quantum dots to the sub-10-nm limit, yielding complete suppression of the giant built-in potential

The nanowire-supported quantum dot (NWQD) of GaN is an unconventional nanostructure, which is extremely promising for realization of UV photonics in general, and room-temperature single photon generation, in particular. While GaN-NWQDs have several promising attributes, the crucial challenge in exploiting their full potential, is to reduce the lateral dimensions of the QDs, to the order of the exciton Bohr-radius in GaN. Also critical is to suppress the built-in electric field due to spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization, which adversely affects the radiative recombination lifetime. We report here the innovation of a simple yet powerful single-step epitaxial growth technique, to achieve both of these targets. By combining controlled and on-demand thermal decomposition of GaN nanowires, with our previously-developed strategy of inhibiting the same via AlN-capping, we demonstrate that the NWQD-diameter can indeed be reduced to the truly strong-quantum-confinement limit. In these ultra-scaled GaN QDs, we show that the built-in electric fields are almost completely suppressed. The NWQD fabrication-strategy developed in this work may pave the way for fabrication of highly efficient classical and quantum UV-emitters based on GaN.

physics.app-ph↗