arXiv subjects

Hongming Weng

Publications and source records attributed to Hongming Weng.

212 records · Page 12Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Chern semi-metal and Quantized Anomalous Hall Effect in HgCr2Se4

In three dimensional (3D) momentum space of solid crystal, a topological phase boundary separating the Chern insulating layers from normal insulating layers may exist, where the gap must be closed, resulting in a "Chern semi-metal" state with topologically unavoidable band-crossings at fermi level. This state, if found to exist, is a condensed-matter realization of chiral fermions (or called Weyl fermions) in (3+1)D, and should exhibit remarkable features, like magnetic monopoles in the bulk and fermi arcs on the surface. Here we predict, based on first-principles calculations, that such novel quantum state can be realized in a known ferromagnetic compound HgCr2Se4, with a single pair of Weyl fermions separated in momentum space. The characteristic feature of this state in HgCr2Se4 is the presence of quantum Hall effect without external magnetic field in its quantum-well structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2011

Half-metallic Surface States and Topological Superconductivity in NaCoO$_2$ from first principles

Based on first-principles calculations, we predict a half-metallic surface state in layered bulk insulator NaCoO2, with tunable surface hole concentration. The half-metallic surface has a single Fermi surface with a helical spin texture, similar to the surface state of topological insulators, but with the key difference of time-reversal symmetry breaking in the present case. We propose the realization of topological superconductivity and Majorana fermions when the half-metallic surface states are in proximity contact with a conventional superconductor.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Topological Aspect and Quantum Magnetoresistance of $β$-Ag$_2$Te

To explain the unusual non-saturating linear magnetoresistance observed in silver chalcogenides, the quantum scenario has been proposed based on the assumption of gapless linear energy spectrum. Here we show, by first principles calculations, that $β$-Ag$_2$Te with distorted anti-fluorite structure is in fact a topological insulator with gapless Dirac-type surface states. The characteristic feature of this new binary topological insulator is the highly anisotropic Dirac cone, in contrast to known examples, such as Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and Bi$_2$Se$_3$. The Fermi velocity varies an order of magnitude by rotating the crystal axis.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Persistence of Topological Order and Formation of Quantum Well States in Topological Insulators Bi2(Se,Te)3 under Ambient Conditions

The topological insulators represent a unique state of matter where the bulk is insulating with an energy gap while the surface is metallic with a Dirac cone protected by the time reversal symmetry. These characteristics provide a venue to explore novel quantum phenomena in fundamental physics and show potential applications in spintronics and quantum computing. One critical issue directly related with the applications as well as the fundamental studies is how the topological surface state will behave under ambient conditions (1 atmosphere air and room temperature). In this paper, we report high resolution angle-resolved photoemission measurements on the surface state of the prototypical topological insulators, Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 and Bi2(Se0.4Te2.6), upon exposing to ambient conditions. We find that the topological order persists even when the surface is exposed to air at room temperature. However, the surface state is strongly modified after such an exposure. Particularly, we have observed the formation of two-dimensional quantum well states near the surface of the topological insulators after the exposure which depends sensitively on the original composition, x, in Bi2(Se3-xTex). These rich information are crucial in utilizing the surface state and in probing its physical properties under ambient conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2010

Robust Dirac Point in Honeycomb Structure Nanoribbons with Zigzag Edges

The zigzag edge graphene nanoribbon, which is an antiferromagnetic insulator, is found from the density-function theory calculation to display a robust Dirac point after N and B doping at the zigzag edge. More interestingly, we found that the robust Dirac point is a common feature of the honeycomb structure nanoribbon with appropriate edge sites. The zigzag edge honeycomb nanoribbon is therefore expected to provide a very useful platform for material design and development.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Dual Spin Filter Effect in a Zigzag Graphene Nanoribbon

By first principle calculations, a dual spin filter effect under finite bias voltages is demonstrated in an antiferromagnetic junction of symmetric zigzag graphene nanoribbon (ZGNR). Unlike conventional spin filter devices using half metallic materials, the up- and down-spin electrons are unidirectionally filtered in the counter direction of the bias voltage, making the junction a dual spin filter. On the contrary, asymmetric ZGNRs do not exhibit such a spin filter effect. By analyzing Wannier functions and a tight-binding model, we clarify that an interplay between the spin polarized band structure of $π$ and $π^*$ states near the Fermi level and decoupling of the interband hopping of the two states, arising from the symmetry of the wave functions, plays a crucial role in the effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2009

Maximally localized Wannier function within linear combination of pseudo-atomic orbital method: Implementation and applications to transition-metal-benzene complex

Construction of maximally localized Wannier functions (MLWFs) has been implemented within the linear combination of pseudo-atomic orbital (LCPAO) method. Detailed analysis using MLWFs is applied to three closely related materials, single benzene (Bz) molecule, organometallic Vanadium-Bz infinite chain, and V$_2$Bz$_{3}$ sandwich cluster. Two important results come out from the present analysis: 1) for the infinite chain, the validity of the basic assumption in the mechanism of Kanamori and Terakura for the ferromagnetic (FM) state stability is confirmed; 2) for V$_2$Bz$_3$, an important role played by the difference in the orbital energy between the edge Bzs and the middle Bz is newly revealed: the on-site energy of p$δ$ states of edge Bzs is higher than that of middle Bz, which further reduces the FM stability of V$_2$Bz$_3$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2008

Spin-orbit interaction in Au structures of various dimensionalities

Variation of the geometrical and electronic properties of the gold materials in different dimensions has been investigated by $ab$ $initio$ method, taking into account the spin-orbit (SO) interaction. It is found that SO effects in different dimensional Au materials depend greatly on fundamental symmetry and dimensionality. For single walled gold nanotubes (SWGNTs), SO interaction decreases significantly the conducting channel number of achiral SWGNT (4, 0), and leads to spin splitting at Fermi level of chiral SWGNT, indicating that quasi-1D SWGNT can be a good candidate for the spin-electron devices. Furthermore, our results suggest that cage cluster might be synthesizable experimentally by taking gold tube structure as parent material.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2007

Theoretical analysis of magnetic coupling in sandwich clusters V_n(C_6H_6)_{n+1}

The mechanism of ferromagnetism stability in sandwich clusters V$_n$(C$_6$H$_6$)$_{n+1}$ has been studied by first-principles calculation and model analysis. It is found that each of the three types of bonds between V and benzene (Bz) plays different roles. V 3d$_{z^2}$ orbital, extending along the molecular axis, is weakly hybridized with Bz's HOMO-1 orbital to form the $σ$-bond. It is quite localized and singly occupied, which contributes 1$μ_B$ to the magnetic moment but little to the magnetic coupling of neighboring V magnetic moments. The in-plane d$_{x^2-y^2}$, d$_{xy}$ orbitals are hybridized with the LUMO of Bz and constitute the $δ$-bond. This hybridization is medium and crucial to the magnetic coupling though the $δ$ states have no net contribution to the total magnetic moment. d$_{xz}$, d$_{yz}$ and HOMO of Bz form a quite strong $π$-bond to hold the molecular structure but they are inactive in magnetism because their energy levels are far away from the Fermi level. Based on the results of first-principles calculation, we point out that the ferromagnetism stability is closely related with the mechanism proposed by Kanamori and Terakura [J. Kanamori and K. Terakura, J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 70, 1433 (2001)]. However, the presence of edge Bz's in the cluster introduces an important modification. A simple model is constructed to explain the essence of the physical picture.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Electronic structures and optical properties of layered perovskites Sr_2MO_4 (M=Ti, V, Cr, and Mn): An ab initio study

A series of layered perovskites Sr$_2$$M$O$_4$ ($M$=Ti, V, Cr, and Mn) is studied by $ab $ $initio$ calculations within generalized gradient approximation (GGA) and GGA+$U$ schemes. The total energies in different magnetic configurations, including the nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic, the layered antiferromagnetic with alternating ferromagnetic plane and the staggered in-plane antiferromagnetic (AFM-II) order, are calculated. It is found that Sr$_2$TiO$_4$ is always a nonmagnetic band insulator. For Sr$_2$MnO$_4$, both GGA and GGA+$U$ calculations show that the insulating AFM-II state has the lowest total energy among all the considered configurations. For $M$=V and Cr, the GGA is not enough to give out the insulating AFM-II states and including the on-site electron-electron correlation effect $U$ is necessary and efficient. The AFM-II state will have the lowest total energy in both cases when $U$ is larger than a critical value. Further, the optical conductivity spectra are calculated and compared with the experimental measurements to show how well the ground state is described within the GGA or GGA+$U$. The results indicate that $U$ is overestimated in Sr$_2$VO$_4$ and Sr$_2$CrO$_4$. To make up such a deficiency of GGA+$U$, the contributions from proper changes in the ligand field, acting cooperatively with $U$, are discussed and shown to be efficient in Sr$_2$CrO$_4$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2006

Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of the Co-doped Anatase TiO$_{2}$ Studied from First Principles

The Co-doped anatase TiO$_{2}$, a recently discovered room-temperature ferromagnetic insulator, has been studied by the first-principles calculations in the pseudo-potential plane-wave formalism within the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA), supplemented by the full-potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. Emphasis is placed on the dependence of its electronic structures and linear optical properties on the Co-doping concentration and oxygen vacancy in the system in order to pursue the origin of its ferromagnetism. In the case of substitutional doping of Co for Ti, our calculated results are well consistent with the experimental data, showing that Co is in its low spin state. Also, it is shown that the oxygen vacancy enhances the ferromagnetism and has larger effect on both the electronic structure and optical properties than the Co-doping concentration only.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

First principles investigation of transition-metal doped group-IV semiconductors: R${_x}$Y$_{1-x}$ (R=Cr, Mn, Fe; Y=Si, Ge)

A number of transition-metal (TM) doped group-IV semiconductors, R$_{x}$Y$_{1-x}$ (R=Cr, Mn and Fe; Y=Si, Ge), have been studied by the first principles calculations. The obtained results show that antiferromagnetic (AFM) order is energetically more favored than ferromagnetic (FM) order in Cr-doped Ge and Si with $x$=0.03125 and 0.0625. In 6.25% Fe-doped Ge, FM interaction dominates in all range of the R-R distances while for Fe-doped Ge at 3.125% and Fe-doped Si at both concentrations of 3.125% and 6.25%, only in a short R-R range can the FM states exist. In the Mn-doped case, the RKKY-like mechanism seems to be suitable for the Ge host matrix, while for the Mn-doped Si, the short-range AFM interaction competes with the long-range FM interaction. The different origin of the magnetic orders in these diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) makes the microscopic mechanism of the ferromagnetism in the DMSs more complex and attractive.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2006

Electronic Structure and Linear Optical Properties of Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$ Studied from the First Principles Calculation

First-principles calculations with the full-potential linearized augmented plane-wave (FP-LAPW) method have been performed to investigate detailed electronic and linear optical properties of Sr$_{2}$CuO$_{2}$Cl$_{2}$, which is a classical low-dimensional antiferromagnet (AFM) charge transfer ({\it CT}) insulator. Within the local-spin-density approximation (LSDA) plus the on-site Coulomb interaction $U$ (LADA+$U$) added on Cu 3d orbitals, our calculated band gap and spin moments are well consistent with the experimental and other theoretical values. The energy dispersion relation agrees well with the angle resolved photoemission measurements. Its linear optical properties are calculated within the electric-dipole approximation. The absorption spectrum is found to agree well with the experimental result.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2001

The band structure of MgB$_{2}$ with different lattice constants

We report a detailed study of the electronic structure of the MgB$_{2}$ with different lattice constants by using the full-potential linearized augmented plane wave(FPLAPW) method. It is found that the lattice parameters have great effect on the $σ$ band of Boron. Our results indicate that increasing lattice constant along the {\it c} axis will increase the density of states(DOS) at the Fermi level, making the $σ$ band upward shift, and increasing hole number in the $σ$ band. So, the superconducting transition temperature T$_{c}$ will be raised correspondingly. Changing the lattice constant along {\it a} axis has an opposite effect to that of along {\it c} axis. Our result is in agreement with experiment. A possible way of searching for higher T$_{c}$ superconductor has been indicated, i.e., making MgB$_{2}$ to have longer {\it c} axis and shorter {\it a, b} axis by doping.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗