arXiv subjects

Helin Cao

Publications and source records attributed to Helin Cao.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

SWA-SOP: Spatially-aware Window Attention for Semantic Occupancy Prediction in Autonomous Driving

Perception systems in autonomous driving rely on sensors such as LiDAR and cameras to perceive the 3D environment. However, due to occlusions and data sparsity, these sensors often fail to capture complete information. Semantic Occupancy Prediction (SOP) addresses this challenge by inferring both occupancy and semantics of unobserved regions. Existing transformer-based SOP methods lack explicit modeling of spatial structure in attention computation, resulting in limited geometric awareness and poor performance in sparse or occluded areas. To this end, we propose Spatially-aware Window Attention (SWA), a novel mechanism that incorporates local spatial context into attention. SWA significantly improves scene completion and achieves state-of-the-art results on LiDAR-based SOP benchmarks. We further validate its generality by integrating SWA into a camera-based SOP pipeline, where it also yields consistent gains across modalities.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2025

OC-SOP: Enhancing Vision-Based 3D Semantic Occupancy Prediction by Object-Centric Awareness

Autonomous driving perception faces significant challenges due to occlusions and incomplete scene data in the environment. To overcome these issues, the task of semantic occupancy prediction (SOP) is proposed, which aims to jointly infer both the geometry and semantic labels of a scene from images. However, conventional camera-based methods typically treat all categories equally and primarily rely on local features, leading to suboptimal predictions, especially for dynamic foreground objects. To address this, we propose Object-Centric SOP (OC-SOP), a framework that integrates high-level object-centric cues extracted via a detection branch into the semantic occupancy prediction pipeline. This object-centric integration significantly enhances the prediction accuracy for foreground objects and achieves state-of-the-art performance among all categories on SemanticKITTI.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

DiffSSC: Semantic LiDAR Scan Completion using Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models

Perception systems play a crucial role in autonomous driving, incorporating multiple sensors and corresponding computer vision algorithms. 3D LiDAR sensors are widely used to capture sparse point clouds of the vehicle's surroundings. However, such systems struggle to perceive occluded areas and gaps in the scene due to the sparsity of these point clouds and their lack of semantics. To address these challenges, Semantic Scene Completion (SSC) jointly predicts unobserved geometry and semantics in the scene given raw LiDAR measurements, aiming for a more complete scene representation. Building on promising results of diffusion models in image generation and super-resolution tasks, we propose their extension to SSC by implementing the noising and denoising diffusion processes in the point and semantic spaces individually. To control the generation, we employ semantic LiDAR point clouds as conditional input and design local and global regularization losses to stabilize the denoising process. We evaluate our approach on autonomous driving datasets, and it achieves state-of-the-art performance for SSC, surpassing most existing methods.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

SLCF-Net: Sequential LiDAR-Camera Fusion for Semantic Scene Completion using a 3D Recurrent U-Net

We introduce SLCF-Net, a novel approach for the Semantic Scene Completion (SSC) task that sequentially fuses LiDAR and camera data. It jointly estimates missing geometry and semantics in a scene from sequences of RGB images and sparse LiDAR measurements. The images are semantically segmented by a pre-trained 2D U-Net and a dense depth prior is estimated from a depth-conditioned pipeline fueled by Depth Anything. To associate the 2D image features with the 3D scene volume, we introduce Gaussian-decay Depth-prior Projection (GDP). This module projects the 2D features into the 3D volume along the line of sight with a Gaussian-decay function, centered around the depth prior. Volumetric semantics is computed by a 3D U-Net. We propagate the hidden 3D U-Net state using the sensor motion and design a novel loss to ensure temporal consistency. We evaluate our approach on the SemanticKITTI dataset and compare it with leading SSC approaches. The SLCF-Net excels in all SSC metrics and shows great temporal consistency.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2015

Photo-Nernst current in graphene

Photocurrent measurements provide a powerful means of studying the spatially resolved optoelectronic and electrical properties of a material or device. Generally speaking there are two classes of mechanism for photocurrent generation: those involving separation of electrons and holes, and thermoelectric effects driven by electron temperature gradients. Here we introduce a new member in the latter class: the photo-Nernst effect. In graphene devices in a perpendicular magnetic field we observe photocurrent generated uniformly along the free edges, with opposite sign at opposite edges. The signal is antisymmetric in field, shows a peak versus gate voltage at the neutrality point flanked by wings of opposite sign at low fields, and exhibits quantum oscillations at higher fields. These features are all explained by the Nernst effect associated with laser-induced electron heating. This photo-Nernst current provides a simple and clear demonstration of the Shockley-Ramo nature of long-range photocurrent generation in a gapless material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Controlling and distinguishing electronic transport of topological and trivial surface states in a topological insulator

Topological insulators (TI), with characteristic Dirac-fermion topological surface states (TSS), have emerged as a new class of electronic materials with rich potentials for both novel physics and device applications. However, a major challenge with realistic TI materials is to access, distinguish and manipulate the electronic transport of TSS often obscured by other possible parallel conduction channels that include the bulk as well as a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) formed near the surface due to bending of the bulk bands. Such a (Schrodinger-fermion) 2DEG represents topologically-trivial surface states, whose coexistence with the TSS has been revealed by angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Here we show that simple manipulations of surface conditions can be used to access and control both types of surface states and their coexistence in bulk-insulating Bi2Te2Se, whose surface conduction is prominently manifested in temperature dependent resistance and nonlocal transport. The trivial 2DEG and TSS can both exhibit clear Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in magnetoresistance, with different Berry phases ~0 and ~pi that distinguish their different topological characters. We also report a deviation from the typical weak antilocalization behavior, possibly due to high mobility TSS. Our study enables distinguishing, controlling and harnessing electronic transport of TI surface carriers with different topological natures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2014

Topological insulator based spin valve devices: evidence for spin polarized transport of spin-momentum-locked topological surface states

Spin-momentum helical locking is one of the most important properties of the nontrivial topological surface states (TSS) in 3D topological insulators (TI). It underlies the iconic topological protection (suppressing elastic backscattering) of TSS and is foundational to many exotic physics (eg., majorana fermions) and device applications (eg., spintronics) predicted for TIs. Based on this spin-momentum locking, a current flowing on the surface of a TI would be spin-polarized in a characteristic in-plane direction perpendicular to the current, and the spin-polarization would reverse when the current direction reverses. Observing such a spin-helical current in transport measurements is a major goal in TI research and applications. We report spin-dependent transport measurements in spin valve devices fabricated from exfoliated thin flakes of Bi2Se3 (a prototype 3D TI) with ferromagnetic (FM) Ni contacts. Applying an in-plane magnetic (B) field to polarize the Ni contacts along their easy axis, we observe an asymmetry in the hysteretic magnetoresistance (MR) between opposite B field directions. The polarity of the asymmetry in MR can be reversed by reversing the direction of the DC current. The observed asymmetric MR can be understood as a spin-valve effect between the current-induced spin polarization on the TI surface (due to spin-momentum-locking of TSS) and the spin-polarized ferromagnetic contacts. Our results provide a direct transport evidence for the spin helical current in TSS.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Quantum and Classical Magnetoresistance in Ambipolar Topological Insulator Transistors with Gate-tunable Bulk and Surface Conduction

Weak antilocalization (WAL) and linear magnetoresistance (LMR) are two most commonly observed magnetoresistance (MR) phenomena in topological insulators (TIs) and often attributed to the Dirac topological surface states (TSS). However, ambiguities exist because these phenomena could also come from bulk states (often carrying significant conduction in many TIs) and are observable even in non-TI materials. Here, we demonstrate back-gated ambipolar TI field-effect transistors in (Bi0.04Sb0.96)2Te3 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy on SrTiO3(111), exhibiting a large carrier density tunability (by nearly 2 orders of magnitude) and a metal-insulator transition in the bulk (allowing effectively switching off the bulk conduction). Tuning the Fermi level from bulk band to TSS strongly enhances both the WAL (increasing the number of quantum coherent channels from one to peak around two) and LMR (increasing its slope by up to 10 times). The SS-enhanced LMR is accompanied by a strongly nonlinear Hall effect, suggesting important roles of charge inhomogeneity (and a related classical LMR), although existing models of LMR cannot capture all aspects of our data. Our systematic gate and temperature dependent magnetotransport studies provide deeper insights into the nature of both MR phenomena and reveal differences between bulk and TSS transport in TI related materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Quantum Hall Effects in Monolayer-Bilayer Graphene Planar Junctions

The Hall resistance of a homogeneous electron system is well known to be anti-symmetric with respect to the magnetic field and the sign of charge carriers. We have observed that such symmetries no longer hold in planar hybrid structures consisting of partly single layer graphene (SLG) and partly bilayer graphene (BLG) in the quantum Hall (QH) regime. In particular, the Hall resistance (R12xy) across the SLG and BLG interface is observed to exhibit quantized plateaus that switch between those characteristic of SLG QH states and BLG QH states when either the sign of the charge carriers (controlled by a back gate) or the direction of the magnetic field is reversed. Simultaneously reversing both the carrier type and the magnetic field gives rise to the same quantized Hall resistances. The observed SLG-BLG interface QH states, with characteristic asymmetries with respect to the signs of carriers and magnetic field, are determined only by the chirality of the QH edge states and can be explained by a Landauer-Büttiker analysis applied to such graphene hybrid structures involving two regions of different Landau level (LL) structures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2013

Synthetic Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition on Copper Foils

The discovery of graphene, a single layer of covalently bonded carbon atoms, has attracted intense interests. Initial studies using mechanically exfoliated graphene unveiled its remarkable electronic, mechanical and thermal properties. There has been a growing need and rapid development in large-area deposition of graphene film and its applications. Chemical vapour deposition on copper has emerged as one of the most promising methods in obtaining large-scale graphene films with quality comparable to exfoliated graphene. In this chapter, we review the synthesis and characterizations of graphene grown on copper foil substrates by atmospheric pressure chemical vapour deposition. We also discuss potential applications of such large scale synthetic graphene.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Structural and electronic properties of highly doped topological insulator Bi2Se3 crystals

We present a study of the structural and electronic properties of highly doped topological insulator Bi2Se3 single crystals synthesized by the Bridgman method. Lattice structural characterizations by X-ray diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy confirmed the high quality of the as-grown single crystals. The topological surface states in the electronic band structure were directly re- vealed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Transport measurements showed that the conduction was dominated by the bulk carriers and confirmed a previously observed bulk quantum Hall effect in such highly doped Bi2Se3 samples. We briefly discuss several possible strategies of reducing bulk conductance.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Topological insulator Bi2Te3 films synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition

Topological insulator (TI) materials such as Bi2Te3 and Bi2Se3 have attracted strong recent interests. Large scale, high quality TI thin films are important for developing TI-based device applications. In this work, structural and electronic properties of Bi2Te3 thin films deposited by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) on GaAs (001) substrates were characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and electronic transport measurements. The characteristic topological surface states (SS) with a single Dirac cone have been clearly revealed in the electronic band structure measured by ARPES, confirming the TI nature of the MOCVD Bi2Te3 films. Resistivity and Hall effect measurements have demonstrated relatively high bulk carrier mobility of ~350 cm^2/Vs at 300K and ~7,400 cm^2/Vs at 15 K. We have also measured the Seebeck coefficient of the films. Our demonstration of high quality topological insulator films grown by a simple and scalable method is of interests for both fundamental research and practical applications of thermoelectric and TI materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2012

Graphene Induced Surface Reconstruction of Cu

An atomic-scale study utilizing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) is performed on large single crystalline graphene grains synthesized on Cu foil by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. After thermal annealing, we observe the presence of periodic surface depressions (stripe patterns) that exhibit long-range order formed in the area of Cu covered by graphene. We suggest that the observed stripe pattern is a Cu surface reconstruction formed by partial dislocations (which appeared to be stair-rod-like) resulting from the strain induced by the graphene overlayer. In addition, these graphene grains are shown to be more decoupled from the Cu substrate compared to previously studied grains that exhibited Moiré patterns.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2012

Observation of Quantized Hall Effect and Shubnikov-de Hass Oscillations in Highly Doped Bi2Se3: Evidence for Layered Transport of Bulk Carriers

Bi2Se3 is an important semiconductor thermoelectric material and a prototype topological insulator. Here we report observation of Shubnikov-de Hass (SdH) oscillations accompanied by quantized Hall resistances (Rxy) in highly-doped n-type Bi2Se3 with bulk carrier concentrations of few 10^19 cm^-3. Measurements under tilted magnetic fields show that the magnetotransport is 2D-like, where only the c-axis component of the magnetic field controls the Landau level formation. The quantized step size in 1/Rxy is found to scale with the sample thickness, and average ~e2/h per quintuple layer (QL). We show that the observed magnetotransport features do not come from the sample surface, but arise from the bulk of the sample acting as many parallel 2D electron systems to give a multilayered quantum Hall effect. Besides revealing a new electronic property of Bi2Se3, our finding also has important implications for electronic transport studies of topological insulator materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2011

Direct Imaging of Graphene Edges: Atomic Structure and Electronic Scattering

We report an atomically-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) investigation of the edges of graphene grains synthesized on Cu foils by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Most of the edges are macroscopically parallel to the zigzag directions of graphene lattice. These edges have microscopic roughness that is found to also follow zigzag directions at atomic scale, displaying many ~120 degree turns. A prominent standing wave pattern with periodicity ~3a/4 (a being the graphene lattice constant) is observed near a rare-occurring armchair-oriented edge. Observed features of this wave pattern are consistent with the electronic intervalley backscattering predicted to occur at armchair edges but not at zigzag edges.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Control and Characterization of Individual Grains and Grain Boundaries in Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapor Deposition

The strong interest in graphene has motivated the scalable production of high quality graphene and graphene devices. Since large-scale graphene films synthesized to date are typically polycrystalline, it is important to characterize and control grain boundaries, generally believed to degrade graphene quality. Here we study single-crystal graphene grains synthesized by ambient CVD on polycrystalline Cu, and show how individual boundaries between coalescing grains affect graphene's electronic properties. The graphene grains show no definite epitaxial relationship with the Cu substrate, and can cross Cu grain boundaries. The edges of these grains are found to be predominantly parallel to zigzag directions. We show that grain boundaries give a significant Raman "D" peak, impede electrical transport, and induce prominent weak localization indicative of intervalley scattering in graphene. Finally, we demonstrate an approach using pre-patterned growth seeds to control graphene nucleation, opening a route towards scalable fabrication of single-crystal graphene devices without grain boundaries.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Ambipolar Graphene Field Effect Transistors by Local Metal Side Gates

We demonstrate ambipolar graphene field effect transistors individually controlled by local metal side gates. The side gated field effect can have on/off ratio comparable with that of the global back gate, and can be tuned in a large range by the back gate and/or a second side gate. We also find that the side gated field effect is significantly stronger by electrically floating the back gate compared to grounding the back gate, consistent with the finding from electrostatic simulation.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Electronic Transport in Chemical Vapor Deposited Graphene Synthesized on Cu: Quantum Hall Effect and Weak Localization

We report on electronic properties of graphene synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) on copper then transferred to SiO2/Si. Wafer-scale (up to 4 inches) graphene films have been synthesized, consisting dominantly of monolayer graphene as indicated by spectroscopic Raman mapping. Low temperature transport measurements are performed on micro devices fabricated from such CVD graphene, displaying ambipolar field effect (with on/off ratio ~5 and carrier mobilities up to ~3000 cm^2/Vs) and "half-integer" quantum Hall effect, a hall-mark of intrinsic electronic properties of monolayer graphene. We also observe weak localization and extract information about phase coherence and scattering of carriers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗