arXiv subjects

Gregory A. Fiete

Publications and source records attributed to Gregory A. Fiete.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Low-frequency and Moiré Floquet engineering: a review

We review recent work on low-frequency Floquet engineering and its application to quantum materials driven by light, emphasizing van der Waals systems hosting Moiré superlattices. These non-equilibrium systems combine the twist-angle sensitivity of the band structures with the flexibility of light drives. The frequency, amplitude, and polarization of light can be easily tuned in experimental setups, leading to platforms with on-demand properties. First, we review recent theoretical developments to derive effective Floquet Hamiltonians in different frequency regimes. We apply some of these theories to study twisted graphene and twisted transition metal dichalcogenide systems irradiated by light in free space and inside a waveguide. We study the changes induced in the quasienergies and steady-states, which can lead to topological transitions. Next, we consider van der Waals magnetic materials driven by low-frequency light pulses in resonance with the phonons. We discuss the phonon dynamics induced by the light and resulting magnetic transitions from a Floquet perspective. We finish by outlining new directions for Moiré-Floquet engineering in the low-frequency regime and their relevance for technological applications.

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arXiv2021

Floquet-engineering topological transitions in a twisted transition metal dichalcogenide homobilayer

Motivated by the recent experimental realization of twisted transition metal dichalcogenide bilayers, we study a simplified model driven by different forms of monochromatic light. As a concrete and representative example we use parameters that correspond to a twisted MoTe$_2$ homobilayer. First, we consider irradiation with circularly polarized light in free space and demonstrate that the corresponding Floquet Hamiltonian takes the same form as the static Hamiltonian, only with a constant overall shift in quasi-energy. This is in stark contrast to twisted bilayer graphene, where new terms are typically generated under an analagous drive. Longitudinal light, on the other hand, which can be generated from the transverse magnetic mode in a waveguide, has a much more dramatic effect--it renormalizes the tunneling strength between the layers, which effectively permits the tuning of the twist angle {\em in-situ}. We find that, by varying the frequency and amplitude of the drive, one can induce a topological transition that cannot be obtained with the traditional form of the Floquet drive in free space. Furthermore, we find that strong drives can have a profound effect on the layer pseudospin texture of the twisted system, which coincides with multiple simultaneous band gap closings in the infinite-frequency limit. Surprisingly, these bandgap closings are not associated with topological transitions. For high but finite drive frequencies near $0.7$eV, the infinite-frequency band crossings become band gap minima of the order of $10^{-6}$ eV or smaller.

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arXiv2021

Discovery of the soft electronic modes of the trimeron order in magnetite

The Verwey transition in magnetite (Fe$_3$O$_4$) is the first metal-insulator transition ever observed and involves a concomitant structural rearrangement and charge-orbital ordering. Due to the complex interplay of these intertwined degrees of freedom, a complete characterization of the low-temperature phase of magnetite and the mechanism driving the transition have long remained elusive. It was demonstrated in recent years that the fundamental building blocks of the charge-ordered structure are three-site small polarons called trimerons. However, electronic collective modes of this trimeron order have not been detected to date, and thus an understanding of the dynamics of the Verwey transition from an electronic point of view is still lacking. Here, we discover spectroscopic signatures of the low-energy electronic excitations of the trimeron network using terahertz light. By driving these modes coherently with an ultrashort laser pulse, we reveal their critical softening and hence demonstrate their direct involvement in the Verwey transition. These findings represent the first observation of soft modes in magnetite and shed new light on the cooperative mechanism at the origin of its exotic ground state.

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arXiv2020

Exact resummation of the Holstein-Primakoff expansion and differential equation approach to operator square-roots

Operator square-roots are ubiquitous in theoretical physics. They appear, for example, in the Holstein-Primakoff representation of spin operators and in the Klein-Gordon equation. Often the use of a perturbative expansion is the only recourse when dealing with them. In this work we show that under certain conditions differential equations can be derived which can be used to find perturbatively inaccessible approximations to operator square-roots. Specifically, for the number operator $\hat n=\hat a^†a$ we show that the square-root $\sqrt{\hat n}$ near $\hat n=0$ can be approximated by a polynomial in $\hat n$. This result is unexpected because a Taylor expansion fails. A polynomial expression in $\hat n$ is possible because $\hat n$ is an operator, and its constituents $a$ and $a^†$ have a non-trivial commutator $[a,a^†]=1$ and do not behave as scalars. We apply our approach to the zero mass Klein-Gordon Hamiltonian in a constant magnetic field, and as a main application, the Holstein-Primakoff representation of spin operators, where we are able to find new expressions that are polynomial in bosonic operators. We prove that these new expressions exactly reproduce spin operators. Our expressions are manifestly Hermitian, which offer an advantage over other methods, such as the Dyson-Maleev representation.

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arXiv2020

Group theory study of the vibrational modes and magnetic order in the topological antiferromagnet MnBi$_2$Te$_4$

We employ group theory to study the properties of the lattice vibrations and magnetic order in the antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$, both in bulk and few-layer form. In the paramagnetic phase, we obtain the degeneracies, the selection rules, and real-space displacements for the lattice vibrational modes for different stacking configurations. We discuss how magnetism influences these results. As a representative example, we consider a double septuple layer system and obtain the form of the magnetic order allowed by the symmetries of the crystal. We derive the allowed coupling terms that describe the paramagnetic to antiferromagnetic transition. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results for Raman scattering and other optical measurements. Our work sets the stage for a deeper understanding of the interplay of lattice modes, band topology, and magnetic order in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and other symmetry-related materials.

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arXiv2020

Phonon-mediated dimensional crossover in bilayer CrI3

In bilayer CrI3, experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the magnetic order is closely related to the layer staking configuration. In this work, we study the effect of dynamical lattice distortions, induced by non-linear phonon coupling, in the magnetic order of the bilayer system. We use density functional theory to determine the phonon properties and group theory to obtain the allowed phonon-phonon interactions. We find that the bilayer structure possesses low-frequency Raman modes that can be non-linearly activated upon the coherent photo-excitation of a suitable infrared phonon mode. This transient lattice modification, in turn, inverts the sign of the interlayer spin interaction for parameters accessible in experiments, indicating a low-frequency light-induced antiferromagnet-to-ferromagnet transition.

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arXiv2020

Floquet engineering of twisted double bilayer graphene

Motivated by the recent experimental realization of twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG) samples we study, both analytically and numerically, the effects of circularly polarized light propagating in free space and confined into a waveguide on the band structure and topological properties of these systems. These two complementary Floquet protocols allow us to selectively tune different parameters of the system by varying the intensity and the frequency of the light. For the drive protocol in free space, in the high-frequency regime, we find that in TDBG with AB/BA stacking, we can selectively close the zone-center quasienergy gaps around one valley while increasing the gaps near the opposite valley by tuning the parameters of the drive. In TDBG with AB/AB stacking, a similar effect can be obtained upon the application of a perpendicular static electric field. Furthermore, we study the topological properties of the driven system in different settings, provide accurate effective Floquet Hamiltonians, and show that relatively strong drives can generate flat bands. On the other hand, longitudinal light confined into a waveguide couples to the components of the interlayer hopping that are perpendicular to the TDBG sheet, allowing for selective engineering of the bandwidth of Floquet zone center quasienergy bands without breaking the symmetries of the static system.

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arXiv2020

Effective Floquet Hamiltonians for periodically-driven twisted bilayer graphene

We derive effective Floquet Hamiltonians for twisted bilayer graphene driven by circularly polarized light in two different regimes beyond the weak-drive, high frequency regime. First, we consider a driving protocol relevant for experiments with frequencies smaller than the bandwidth and weak amplitudes and derive an effective Hamiltonian, which through a symmetry analysis, provides analytical insight into the rich effects of the drive. We find that circularly polarized light at low frequencies can selectively decrease the strength of AA-type interlayer hopping while leaving the AB-type unaffected. Then, we consider the intermediate frequency, and intermediate-strength drive regime. We provide a compact and accurate effective Hamiltonian which we compare with the Van Vleck expansion and demonstrate that it provides a significantly improved representation of the exact quasienergies. Finally, we discuss the effect of the drive on the symmetries, Fermi velocity and the gap of the Floquet flat bands.

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arXiv2020

Floquet engineering of interlayer couplings: Tuning the magic angle of twisted bilayer graphene at the exit of a waveguide

We introduce a new approach that allows one complete control over the modulation of the effective twist angle change in few-layer van der Waals heterostructures by irradiating them with longitudinal waves of light at the end of a waveguide. As a specific application, we consider twisted bilayer graphene and show that one can tune the magic angles to be either larger or smaller, allowing in-situ experimental control of the phase diagram of this and other related materials. A waveguide allows one to circumvent the free-space constraints on the absence of longitudinal electric field components of light. We propose to place twisted bilayer graphene at a specific location at the exit of a waveguide, such that it is subjected to purely longitudinal components of a transverse magnetic modes (TM) wave.

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arXiv2020

Perspective: Strongly correlated and topological states in [111] grown transition metal oxide thin films and heterostructures

We highlight recent advances in the theory, materials fabrication, and experimental characterization of strongly correlated and topological states in [111] oriented transition metal oxide thin films and heterostructures, which are notoriously difficult to realize compared to their [001] oriented counterparts. We focus on two classes of complex oxides, with the chemical formula ABO3 and A2B2O7, where the B sites are occupied by an open-shell transition metal ion with a local moment, and the A sites are typically a rare earth. The [111] oriented quasi-two-dimensional lattices derived from these parent compound lattices can exhibit peculiar geometries and symmetries, namely, a buckled honeycomb lattice, as well as kagome and triangular lattices. These lattice motifs form the basis for emergent strongly correlated and topological states expressed in exotic magnetism, various forms of orbital ordering, topological insulators, topological semimetals, quantum anomalous Hall insulators, and quantum spin liquids. For transition metal ions with high atomic number, spin-orbit coupling plays a significant role and may give rise to additional topological features in the electronic band structure and in the spectrum of magnetic excitations. We conclude the Perspective by articulating open challenges and opportunities in this actively developing field.

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arXiv2019

Longitudinal Spin Seebeck effect in Pyrochlore Iridates with Bulk and Interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

The longitudinal spin-Seebeck effect (SSE) in magnetic insulator$|$non-magnetic metal heterostructures has been theoretically studied primarily with the assumption of an isotropic interfacial exchange coupling. Here, we present a general theory of the SSE in the case of an antisymmetric Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) at the interface, in addition to the usual Heisenberg form. We numerically evaluate the dependence of the spin current on the temperature and bulk DMI using a pyrochlore iridate as a model insulator with all-in all-out (AIAO) ground state configuration. We also compare the results of different crystalline surfaces arising from different crystalline orientations and conclude that the relative angles between the interfacial moments and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya vectors play a significant role in the spin transfer. Our work extends the theory of the SSE by including the anisotropic nature of the interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction in magnetic insulator$|$non-magnetic metal heterostructures and can suggest possible materials to optimize the interfacial spin transfer in spintronic devices.

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arXiv2019

Effective Floquet Hamiltonian in the low-frequency regime

We develop a theory to derive effective Floquet Hamiltonians in the weak drive and low-frequency regime. We construct the theory in analogy with band theory for electrons in a spatially-periodic and weak potential, such as occurs in some crystalline materials. As a prototypical example, we apply this theory to graphene driven by circularly polarized light of low intensity. We find an analytic expression for the effective Floquet Hamiltonian in the low-frequency regime which accurately predicts the quasienergy spectrum and the Floquet states. Furthermore, we identify self-consistency as the crucial feature effective Hamiltonians in this regime need to satisfy to achieve a high accuracy. The method is useful in providing a realistic description of off-resonant drives for multi-band solid state systems where light-induced topological band structure changes are sought.

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arXiv2019

Momentum-space entanglement after a quench in one-dimensional disordered fermionic systems

We numerically investigate the momentum-space entanglement entropy and entanglement spectrum of the random-dimer model and its generalizations, which circumvent Anderson localization, after a quench in the Hamiltonian parameters. The type of dynamics that occurs depends on whether or not the Fermi level of the initial state is near the energy of the delocalized states present in these models. If the Fermi level of the initial state is near the energy of the delocalized states, we observe an interesting slow logarithmic-like growth of the momentum-space entanglement entropy followed by an eventual saturation. Otherwise, the momentum-space entanglement entropy is found to rapidly saturate. We also find that the momentum-space entanglement spectrum reveals the presence of delocalized states in these models for long times after the quench and the many-body entanglement gap decays logarithmically in time when the Fermi level is near the energy of the delocalized states.

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arXiv2019

Analogue of Hamilton-Jacobi theory for the time-evolution operator

In this paper we develop an analogue of Hamilton-Jacobi theory for the time-evolution operator of a quantum many-particle system. The theory offers a useful approach to develop approximations to the time-evolution operator, and also provides a unified framework and starting point for many well-known approximations to the time-evolution operator. In the important special case of periodically driven systems at stroboscopic times, we find relatively simple equations for the coupling constants of the Floquet Hamiltonian, where a straightforward truncation of the couplings leads to a powerful class of approximations. Using our theory, we construct a flow chart that illustrates the connection between various common approximations, which also highlights some missing connections and associated approximation schemes. These missing connections turn out to imply an analytically accessible approximation that is the "inverse" of a rotating frame approximation and thus has a range of validity complementary to it. We numerically test the various methods on the one-dimensional Ising model to confirm the ranges of validity that one would expect from the approximations used. The theory provides a map of the relations between the growing number of approximations for the time-evolution operator. We describe these relations in a table showing the limitations and advantages of many common approximations, as well as the new approximations introduced in this paper.

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arXiv2019

Terahertz Faraday and Kerr rotation spectroscopy of Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ films in high magnetic fields up to 30 Tesla

We report results of terahertz Faraday and Kerr rotation spectroscopy measurements on thin films of $\text{Bi}_{1-x}\text{Sb}_{x}$, an alloy system that exhibits a semimetal-to-topological-insulator transition as the Sb composition $x$ increases. By using a single-shot time-domain terahertz spectroscopy setup combined with a table-top pulsed mini-coil magnet, we conducted measurements in magnetic fields up to 30~T, observing distinctly different behaviors between semimetallic ($x < 0.07$) and topological insulator ($x > 0.07$) samples. Faraday and Kerr rotation spectra for the semimetallic films showed a pronounced dip that blue-shifted with the magnetic field, whereas spectra for the topological insulator films were positive and featureless, increasing in amplitude with increasing magnetic field and eventually saturating at high fields ($>$20~T). Ellipticity spectra for the semimetallic films showed resonances, whereas the topological insulator films showed no detectable ellipticity. To explain these observations, we developed a theoretical model based on realistic band parameters and the Kubo formula for calculating the optical conductivity of Landau-quantized charge carriers. Our calculations quantitatively reproduced all experimental features, establishing that the Faraday and Kerr signals in the semimetallic films predominantly arise from bulk hole cyclotron resonances while the signals in the topological insulator films represent combined effects of surface carriers originating from multiple electron and hole pockets. These results demonstrate that the use of high magnetic fields in terahertz magnetopolarimetry, combined with detailed electronic structure and conductivity calculations, allows us to unambiguously identify and quantitatively determine unique contributions from different species of carriers of topological and nontopological nature in Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$.

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arXiv2019

Interfacial Spin Seebeck effect in noncollinear magnetic systems

The interplay between spin and heat currents at magnetic insulator|nonmagnetic metal interfaces has been a subject of much scrutiny because of both fundamental physics and the promise for technological applications. While ferrimagnetic and, more recently, antiferromagnetic systems have been extensively investigated, a theory generalizing the heat-to-spin interconversion in noncollinear magnets is still lacking. Here, we establish a general framework for thermally-driven spin transport at the interface between a noncollinear magnet and a normal metal. Modeling the interfacial coupling between localized and itinerant magnetic moments via an exchange Hamiltonian, we derive an expression for the spin current, driven by a temperature difference, for an arbitrary noncollinear magnetic order. Our theory reproduces previously obtained results for ferromagnetic and antiferromagnet systems.

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arXiv2019

A flow equation approach to periodically driven quantum systems

We present a theoretical method to generate a highly accurate {\em time-independent} Hamiltonian governing the finite-time behavior of a time-periodic system. The method exploits infinitesimal unitary transformation steps, from which renormalization group-like flow equations are derived to produce the effective Hamiltonian. Our tractable method has a range of validity reaching into frequency regimes that are usually inaccessible via high frequency $ω$ expansions in the parameter $h/ω$, where $h$ is the upper limit for the strength of local interactions. We demonstrate our approach on both interacting and non-interacting many-body Hamiltonians where it offers an improvement over the more well-known Magnus expansion and other high frequency expansions. For the interacting models, we compare our approximate results to those found via exact diagonalization. While the approximation generally performs better globally than other high frequency approximations, the improvement is especially pronounced in the regime of lower frequencies and strong external driving. This regime is of special interest because of its proximity to the resonant regime where the effect of a periodic drive is the most dramatic. Our results open a new route towards identifying novel non-equilibrium regimes and behaviors in driven quantum many-particle systems.

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arXiv2018

Mixing of $t_{2g}$-$e_g$ orbitals in 4d and 5d transition metal oxides

Using exact diagonalization, we study the spin-orbit coupling and interaction-induced mixing between $t_{2g}$ and $e_g$ $d$-orbital states in a cubic crystalline environment, as commonly occurs in transition metal oxides. We make a direct comparison with the widely used $t_{2g}$ only or $e_g$ only model, depending on electronic filling. We consider all electron fillings of the $d$-shell and compute the total magnetic moment, the spin, the occupancy of each orbital, and the effective spin-orbit coupling strength (renormalized through interaction effects) in terms of the bare interaction parameters, spin-orbit coupling, and crystal field splitting, focusing on the parameter ranges relevant to 4d and 5d transition metal oxides. In various limits we provide perturbative results consistent with our numerical calculations. We find that the $t_{2g}$-$e_g$ mixing can be large, with up to 20\% occupation of orbitals that are nominally "empty", which has experimental implications for the interpretation of the branching ratio in experiments, and can impact the effective local moment Hamiltonian used to study magnetic phases and magnetic excitations in transition metal oxides. Our results can aid the theoretical interpretation of experiments on these materials, which often fall in a regime of intermediate coupling with respect to electron-electron interactions.

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