arXiv subjects

Hai-Ping Cheng

Publications and source records attributed to Hai-Ping Cheng.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Using near-flat-band electrons for read-out of molecular spin qubit entangled states

While molecular spin qubits (MSQs) are a promising platform for quantum computing, read-out has been largely limited to electron paramagnetic resonance which is often slow and requires a global system drive. Moreover, because one prerequisite for the Elzerman and Pauli spin blockade readout mechanisms typical of semiconductor spin qubits is tunneling of electrons between sites, these read-out modalities are unavailable in MSQs. Here, we theoretically demonstrate electrical read-out of entangled MSQs via driven many-electron spin unpolarized currents. In particular, using a time-dependent density matrix renormalization group approach we simulate a maximally entangled MSQ pair between two electronic leads. Driving itinerant electrons between the two leads, we find that the conductance is greater when the MSQs are in the entangled singlet state as compared to the entangled triplet state. This contrast in conductance is enhanced when the electronic density of states at the Fermi energy is large and for narrow bandwidth. Our results are readily applicable to molecules supramolecularly functionalizing semiconductors with relatively flat bands such as single-wall carbon nanotubes under a magnetic field.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2026

Simulating decoherence of two coupled spins using the generalized cluster correlation expansion

We simulate the coherence of two coupled electron spins interacting with a bath of nuclei using the generalized cluster correlation expansion (gCCE) method. An exchange interaction between the electrons facilitates a family of entangling gates that can be spoiled by nuclear-induced dephasing. Consequently, we study the dephasing of the coherent two-electron system by characterizing the $T_2$ and $T_2^*$ of the two-electron reduced density matrix for various system parameters in the range mimicking magnetic molecules, including magnetic field strength and orientation, exchange interaction strength, distance between the two spins, minimum distance between electron and nuclei and between nuclei, and nuclei density. We find the optimal regime for each parameter in which the coherence time is maximized and provide a physical understanding of it.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Generation of Ultrahigh Anomalous Hall Conductivities via Optimally Prepared Topological Floquet States

Ultrafast quantum matter experiments have validated predictions from Floquet theory - notably, the dynamical modification of the electronic band structure and the light-induced anomalous Hall effect, via monotonic modulation of the driving amplitude. Here, we demonstrate how new physics is uncovered by leveraging quantum optimal control techniques to design Floquet amplitude modulation profiles. We discover a fundamentally different regime of topological transport, whereby the optimal oscillatory preparation protocol functions as a non-adiabatic topological pump: as a result, ultrahigh time-averaged anomalous Hall conductivities emerge, that reach up to around seventy times the values one would expect from the Chern number of the targeted Floquet state. The optimal protocols achieve >99% fidelity at the topological energy gap closing point - a twenty-fold improvement over standard monotonic approaches in as little as ten Floquet cycles - while unexpectedly generating the predicted ultrahigh conductivities. Our findings demonstrate that optimally prepared non-equilibrium quantum states can access transport regimes not achievable in the corresponding equilibrium system or even by applying conventional Floquet approaches, opening new avenues for ultrafast quantum technologies and topological device applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Floquet Engineering Clock Transitions in Magnetic Molecules

We theoretically study Floquet engineering of magnetic molecules via a time-periodic magnetic field that couples to the emergent total electronic spin of the metal center. By focusing on the low-lying energy levels using an $S = 1$ spin Hamiltonian containing the zero-field and Zeeman terms, we demonstrate their continuous tunability under the Floquet field. Remarkably, under the action of linearly polarized Floquet controls, the energy levels of a clock transition qubit retain their stability against variations in an external static magnetic field. This property is closely linked to having a net-zero total Zeeman shift, which results from both static and effective dynamical contributions. Further, using second-order Van Vleck degenerate perturbation theory, we derived analytically an effective Hamiltonian, which explicitly shows the dependence of the renormalized zero-field tensor on the driving field. Based on our theoretical predictions, experimentalists will be able to dynamically tune qubit energy gaps to values that are useful in their specific laboratory settings, while retaining the spin decoherence suppressing effect of maintaining a clock transition.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dominant spin-spin relaxation mechanism at clock transition of the $Ho_{x}Y_{1-x}W_{10}$ complex at different concentrations

Spin decoherence poses a significant challenge in molecular magnets, with the nuclear spin bath serving as a prominent source. Intriguingly, spin qubits at the clock transition exhibit remarkable insensitivity to the surrounding nuclear spins. Recent experimental studies have unveiled a correlation between the decoherence time and the density of spin qubits, prompting our investigation into the contribution of the qubit bath to spin decoherence. In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical analysis of a few S=1 spin qubits, focusing on their interaction at the clock transition. Employing the exact diagonalization and the cluster correlation expansion (CCE) method, we simulate the dynamics of spin decoherence while varying the density of the qubit bath. To ensure the realism of our simulations, we incorporate structural and energetic parameters derived from previous studies on the HoW10 crystal. Our findings indicate that when the energy mismatch between the energy splittings of two qubits exceeds their interaction strength, they can become effectively insensitive to each other, offering an explanation for the absence of observed changes in the T2 time during experiments with lower qubit densities. Understanding the role of qubit bath density in spin decoherence at the clock transition not only advances our knowledge of decoherence mechanisms but also provides insights for the development of strategies to protect coherence in molecular magnets and other quantum systems. By optimizing the density of spin qubits, we can enhance the coherence properties and pave the way for improved performance of quantum devices. Overall, this study offers valuable insights into the relationship between qubit bath density and spin decoherence at the clock transition, contributing to the broader understanding and control of quantum systems in molecular magnets.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2025

Accurate crystal field Hamiltonians of single-ion magnets at mean-field cost

The effective crystal field Hamiltonian provides the key description of the electronic properties of single-ion magnets, but obtaining its parameters from ab initio computation is challenging. We introduce a simple approach to derive the effective crystal field Hamiltonian through density functional calculations of randomly rotated mean-field states within the low-energy manifold. In benchmarks on five lanthanide-based complexes, we find that we compute with mean-field cost an effective crystal field Hamiltonian that matches the state-of-the-art from much more expensive multi-configurational quantum chemistry methods. In addition, we are able to reproduce the experimental low-energy spectrum and magnetic properties with an accuracy exceeding prior attempts. Due to its low cost, our approach provides a crucial ingredient in the computational design of single-ion magnets with tailored physical properties and low-energy spectra.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Tuning the Magnetic Anisotropy Energy of MoS$_2$-supported Mn$_{12}$ complexes by Electric Field: A First-Principles Study

In this work, we examine low-energy adsorption configurations of four dodecanuclear manganese single-molecule magnets [Mn$_{12}$O$_{12}$(O$_2$CR)$_{16}$(H$_2$O)$_4$] (Mn$_{12}$), where the ligand R being H, CH$_3$, CHCl$_2$ or C$_6$H$_5$, on a molybdenum disulfide (MoS$_2$) monolayer using force field and density functional theory calculations. The van der Waals interaction is shown to be crucial for determining the adsorption energy. Some electrons transfer from the substrate to the molecules upon surface adsorption, resulting in a reduction of the magnetic anisotropy energy of Mn$_{12}$. Since the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of Mn$_{12}$ is close to the valence band of MoS$_2$, a negative electric field is more effective in modulating charge transfer and energy band alignment, and thus altering the magnetic anisotropy energy, compared with a positive electric field. A significant increase in the magnetic anisotropy energy of Mn$_{12}$ with the ligand R=CHCl$_2$ or R=C$_6$H$_5$ under a sufficiently high electric field has been predicted. Our calculations show that the molecules remain intact on the surface both before and after the electric field is applied. Finally, a two-level system formed by different adsorption configurations is evaluated, and the tunability of its energy barrier under an electric field is demonstrated. Our study sheds light on tuning the properties of single-molecule magnets using an electric field, when the molecules are supported on a surface.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Machine Learning Assisted Modeling of Amorphous TiO$_2$-Doped GeO$_2$ for Advanced LIGO Mirror Coatings

The mechanical loss angle of amorphous TiO$_2$-doped GeO$_2$ can be lower than 10$^{-4}$, making it a candidate for Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) mirror coatings. Amorphous oxides have complex atomic structures that are influenced by various factors, including doping concentration, preparation, and thermal history, resulting in different mass densities and physical properties. Modeling at atomistic level enables capturing these effects by generating atomic structure models according to experimental conditions. In order to obtain reliable and physical amorphous models at an affordable cost, we develop classical and machine-learning potentials (MLP) to speed up simulations. First-principles calculations are used to train and validate MLP as well as validating structure models. To better reproduce properties such as elastic modulus, radial distribution function (RDF) and the variations in mass density of doped amorphous oxides, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are used to optimize the final models. We find that the mass densities of amorphous systems are correlated with the total void volume. The experimental mass density matches the models with the most symmetric potential energy wells under volume change. The elastic response of the metal-oxygen network is also studied. The 27\% TiO$_2$ doped GeO$_2$ system shows the least number of large atom-atom distance changes, while for 44\% TiO$_2$ doped GeO$_2$, a majority of Ti-O distances are significantly changed. In response to strains, the metal-oxygen network at low mass densities prefers to adjust bond angles, while at high mass densities, the adjustment is mainly done by changing atom-atom distance.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Discovery of Spin-Crossover Candidates with Equivariant Graph Neural Networks and Relevance-Based Classification

Swift discovery of spin-crossover materials for their potential application in quantum information devices requires techniques which enable efficient identification of suitably bistable candidates. To this end, we screened the Cambridge Structural Database to develop a specialized database of 1,439 materials and computed spin-switching energies from density functional theory for each material. The database was used to train an equivariant graph convolutional neural network to predict the magnitude of the spin-conversion energy. A test mean absolute error was 360 meV. For candidate identification, we equipped the system with a relevance-based classifier. This approach leads to a nearly four-fold improvement in identifying potential spin-crossover systems of interest as compared to conventional high-throughput screening.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗

arXiv2024

RASCBEC: RAman Spectroscopy Calculation via Born Effective Charge

We advance the algorithm for ab initio calculations of Raman spectra for large systems via applying external electric field, and complement it by a code implementation we name RASCBEC. With the RASCBEC code, we have successfully benchmark crystalline materials and compute Raman spectra of large molecules, and amorphous oxides. Our results demonstrate a remarkable level of agreement with the results from other commonly used codes as well as the experimental data. The electric field approach for Raman spectra calculation is designed to overcome the computational challenges associated with the conventional approach, which requires the calculation of the macroscopic dielectric tensor at numerous molecular geometries. The key innovation in our approach lies in obtaining the first-order derivatives with respect to the external electric field directly from VASP (the Vienna Ab Initio Simulation Package), as the Born Effective Charge (BEC). The RASCBEC code not only significantly reduces computational time, up to a factor of $N/8$, compared to the conventional approach, where $N$ is the total count of atoms within the simulation box. But also maintains the same level of accuracy, employing first-order numerical derivatives that avoid the numerical noise associated with algorithms requiring second-order derivatives, as seen in other electric field-based methods. This advantage makes RASCBEC particularly beneficial for large molecules and expansive amorphous systems.

physics.comp-ph↗

arXiv2022

All-Electron APW+${lo}$ calculation of magnetic molecules with the SIRIUS domain-specific package

We report APW+${lo}$ (augmented plane wave plus local orbital) density functional theory (DFT) calculations of molecule systems using the domain specific SIRIUS multi-functional DFT package. Compared to other packages the additional APW and FLAPW task and data parallelism and the additional eigensystem solver provided by the SIRIUS package can be exploited for performance gains in in the ground state Kohn-Sham calculation. This is in contrast with the use of SIRIUS as a library backend to some other APW+${lo}$ or FLAPW (full-potential linearized AWP) code. We benchmark the code and demonstrate performance on several magnetic molecule and metal organic framework systems. We show that the SIRIUS package in itself is capable of handling systems as large as a few hundreds of atoms in the unit cell without losing the accuracy needed for magnetic systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Demonstration of electron-nuclear decoupling at a spin clock transition

The ability to design quantum systems that decouple from environmental noise sources is highly desirable for development of quantum technologies with optimal coherence. The chemical tunability of electronic states in magnetic molecules combined with advanced electron spin resonance techniques provides excellent opportunities to address this problem. Indeed, so-called clock transitions (CTs) have been shown to protect molecular spin qubits from magnetic noise, giving rise to significantly enhanced coherence. Here we conduct a spectroscopic and computational investigation of this physics, focusing on the role of the nuclear bath. Away from the CT, linear coupling to the nuclear degrees of freedom causes a modulation and decay of electronic coherence, as quantified via electron spin echo signals generated experimentally and $\textit{in silico}$. Meanwhile, the effective hyperfine interaction vanishes at the CT, resulting in electron-nuclear decoupling and an absence of quantum information leakage to the nuclear bath, providing opportunities to characterize other decoherence sources.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

Scattering solution of interacting Hamiltonian for electronic control of molecular spin qubits

We theoretically study how a scattered electron can entangle molecular spin qubits (MSQs). This requires solving the inelastic transport of a single electron through a scattering region described by a tight-binding interacting Hamiltonian. We accomplish this using a Green's function solution. We can model realistic physical implementations of MSQs by parameterizing the tight-binding Hamiltonian with first-principles descriptions of magnetic anisotropy and exchange interactions. We find that for two-MSQ systems with inversion symmetry, the spin degree of freedom of the scattered electron offers probabilistic control of the degree of entanglement between the MSQs.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2022

cRPA calculation of on-site and nearest neighbor Coulomb interaction of $LaNiO_2$

We present first-principle calculation of the on-site and nearest neighbor Coulomb interaction strength of the Ni $d$ orbitals in bulk $LaNiO_{2}$, using the constrained Random Phase Approximation method. The nearest neighbor correlation within Ni-O plane turns out to be more significant when considering the frequency dependent $U(ω)$, which can be as strong as about 25\% of the on-site value at medium and high frequencies. The inter Ni-O plane nearest neighbor correlation is found to be the same strength as that within the Ni-O plane, indicating the material is non-locally correlated also between the Ni-O planes.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2022

Magnetic molecule tunnel heterojunctions

We characterize molecular magnet heterojunctions in which sublimated CoPc films as thin as 5 nm are sandwiched between transparent conducting bottom-layer indium tin oxide and top-layer soft-landing eutectic GaIn (EGaIn) electrodes. The roughness of the cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) films was determined by atomic force microscopy to be on the order of several nanometers, and crystalline ordering of lying-down planar molecules was confirmed by X-ray diffraction. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics reveal the onset of a superconducting gap at Tc = 6 K, which together with higher temperature fits to a modified Simmons' model, provide incontrovertible evidence for direct quantum mechanical tunneling processes through the magnetic molecules in our heterojunctions. The voltage dependent features in the differential conductance measurements relate to spin states of single molecules or aggregates of molecules and should prove to be important for quantum information device development.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Thickness-dependent spin bistable transitions in single-crystalline molecular 2D material

The advent of two-dimensional (2D) crystals has led to numerous scientific breakthroughs. Conventional 2D systems have in-plane covalent bonds and a weak out-of-plane van-der-Waals bond. Here we report a new type of 2D material composed of discrete magnetic molecules, where anisotropic van-der-Waals interactions bond the molecules into a 2D packing. Through mechanical exfoliation, we can obtain single-crystalline molecular monolayers, which can be readily integrated into other 2D systems. Optical spectroscopy suggests the few-layered molecules preserve the temperature-induced spin-crossover switching observed in the bulk form but show a drastic increase in thermal hysteresis unique to these thin 2D molecule assemblies. The trapping of spin bistability with decreasing layer number can arise from domain wall dynamics in reduced dimensions. Our results establish molecular solids with strong anisotropy of intermolecular interactions as precursors to a novel class of 2D materials, affording new possibilities to control functionalities through substrate and interlayer interactions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Using hyper-optimized tensor networks and first-principles electronic structure to simulate experimental properties of the giant {Mn84} torus

The single-molecule magnet {Mn84} is a challenge to theory due to its high nuclearity. Building on our prior work which characterized the structure of the spectrum of this magnet, we directly compute two experimentally accessible observables, the field-dependent magnetization up to 75 T and the temperature-dependent heat capacity, using parameter free theory. In particular, we use first principles calculations to derive short- and long-range exchange interactions, while we compute the exact partition function of the resulting classical Potts and Ising spin models for all 84 Mn $S=2$ spins to obtain the observables. The latter computation is possible because of a simulation methodology that uses hyper-optimized tensor network contraction, borrowing from recent techniques developed to simulate quantum supremacy circuits. We also synthesize the magnet and measure its heat capacity and field-dependent magnetization. We observe good qualitative agreement between theory and experiment, identifying an unusual peak in the heat capacity in both, as well as a plateau in the magnetization. Our work also identifies some limitations of current theoretical modeling in large magnets, such as the sensitivity to small, long-range, exchange couplings.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2022

Clar's goblet on graphene: field modulated charge transfer in a hydrocarbon heterostructure

In certain configurations, the aromatic properties of benzene ring structured molecules allow for unpaired, reactive valence electrons (known as radicals). Clar's goblets are such molecules. With an even number of unpaired radicals, these nanographenes are topologically frustrated hydrocarbons in which pi-bonding network and topology of edges give rise to the magnetism. Clar's goblets are therefore valued as prospective qubits provided they can be modulated between magnetic states. Using first principles DFT, we demonstrate the effects of adsorption on both molecule and substrate in a graphene-Clar's goblet heterostructure. We look at the energy difference bewteen FM and AFM states of the system and discuss underlying physical and chemical mechanisms in reference to the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and second HOMO (HOMO-1). We find that the HOMO of the molecule in the FM state is right at the Fermi surface, which leads to the hybridization between molecular state and the graphene state near the Dirac point. Furthermore, we investigate qualitative changes in charge realignment and magnetic state under variable electric field. Transitions from FM to AFM and back to FM states are observed.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗