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Jia-Wei Mei

Publications and source records attributed to Jia-Wei Mei.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Effective Hamiltonian for superconducting Ni oxides Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$

We derive the effective single-band Hamiltonian in the flat NiO$_2$ planes for nickelate compounds Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$. We first implement the first-principles calculation to study electronic structures of nickelates using the Heyd-Scuseria-Ernzerhof hybrid density functional and derive a three-band Hubbard model for Ni-O $pdσ$ bands of Ni$^+$ $3d_{x^2-y^2}$ and O$^{2-}$ $2p_{x/y}$ orbitals in the NiO$_2$ planes. To obtain the effective one-band $t$-$t'$-$J$ model Hamiltonian, we perform the exact diagonalization of the three-band Hubbard model for the Ni$_5$O$_{16}$ cluster and map the low-energy spectra onto the effective one-band models. We find that the undoped NiO$_2$ plane is a Hubbard Mott insulator, and the doped holes primarily locate on Ni sites. The physics of the NiO$_2$ plane is a doped Mott insulator, described by the one-band $t$-$t'$-$J$ model with $t=265$~meV, $t'=-21$~meV and $J=28.6$~meV. We also discuss the electronic structure for the "self-doping" effect and heavy fermion behavior of electron pockets of Nd$^{3+}$ $5d$ character in Nd$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$NiO$_2$.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

In-plane antiferromagnetic moments in axion topological insulator candidate EuIn$_2$As$_2$

Topological insulator with antiferromagnetic order can serve as an ideal platform for the realization of axion electrodynamics. In this paper, we report a systematic study of the axion topological insulator candidate EuIn$_2$As$_2$. A linear energy dispersion across the Fermi level confirms the existence of the proposed hole-type Fermi pocket. Spin-flop transitions occur with magnetic fields applied within the $ab$-plane while are absent for fields parallel to the $c$-axis. Anisotropic magnetic phase diagrams are observed and the orientation of the ground magnetic moment is found to be within the $ab$-plane. The magnetoresistivity for EuIn$_2$As$_2$ behaves non-monotonic as a function of field strength. It exhibits angular dependent evolving due to field-driven and temperature-driven magnetic states. These results indicate that the magnetic states of EuIn$_2$As$_2$ strongly affect the transport properties as well as the topological nature.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Magnetic Raman continuum in single crystalline H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$

Recently H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ has been reported as a spin-orbital entangled quantum spin liquid (QSL) [K. Kitagawa et al., Nature {\bf 554}, 341 (2018)], albeit its connection to Kitaev QSL has not been yet identified. To unveil the related Kitaev physics, we perform the first Raman spectroscopy studies on single crystalline H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$ samples. We implement a soft chemical replacement of Li$^+$ with H$^+$ from $α$-Li$_2$IrO$_3$ single crystals to synthesize the single crystal samples of the iridate second generation H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$. The Raman spectroscopy can be used to diagnose the QSL state since the magnetic Raman continuum arises from a process involving pairs of fractionalized Majorana fermionic excitation in a pure Kitaev model. We observe a broad dome-shaped magnetic continuum in H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$, in line with theoretical expectations for the two-spin process in the Kitaev QSL. Our results establish the close connection to the Kitaev QSL physics in H$_3$LiIr$_2$O$_6$.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Topological superconducting phase in high-Tc superconductor MgB2 with Dirac-nodal-line fermions

Topological superconductors are an intriguing and elusive quantum phase, characterized by topologically protected gapless surface/edge states residing in a bulk superconducting gap, which hosts Majorana fermions. Unfortunately, all currently known topological superconductors have a very low transition temperature, limiting experimental measurements of Majorana fermions. Here we discover the existence of a topological Dirac-nodal-line state in a well-known conventional high-temperature superconductor, MgB2. First-principles calculations show that the Dirac-nodal-line structure exhibits a unique one-dimensional dispersive Dirac-nodal line, protected by both spatial-inversion and time-reversal symmetry, which connects the electron and hole Dirac states. Most importantly, we show that the topological superconducting phase can be realized with a conventional s-wave superconducting gap, evidenced by the topological edge mode of the MgB2 thin films showing chiral edge states. Our discovery may enable the experimental measurement of Majorana fermions at high temperature.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Antiferromagnetism in kagome $α$-Cu$_{3}$Mg(OH)$_6$Br$_2$

The antiferromagnetism in $α$-Cu$_3$Mg(OH)$_6$Br$_2$ was studied by magnetic-susceptibility, specific-heat and neutron-diffraction measurements. The crystal structure consists of Cu$^{2+}$ kagome layers with Mg$^{2+}$ ions occupying the centers of the hexagons, separated by Br$^{1-}$ ions. The magnetic system orders antiferromagnetically at 5.4 K with the magnetic moments aligned ferromagnetically within the kagome planes. The ordered moment is 0.94 $μ_B$, suggesting little quantum and geometrical fluctuations. By comparing the magnetic and specific-heat properties with those of the haydeeite, we suggest that $α$-Cu$_3$Mg(OH)$_6$Br$_2$ may be described by the two-dimensional spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg kagome model and is in the region of the ferromagnetic-order side of the phase diagram.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Interfacial superconductivity induced by single-quintuple-layer Bi$_2$Te$_3$ on top of FeTe forming van-der-Waals heterostructure

We report the first clear observation of interfacial superconductivity on top of FeTe(FT) covered by one quintuple-layer Bi$_2$Te$_3$(BT) forming van-der-Waals heterojunction. Both transport and scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements confirm the occurrence of superconductivity at a transition temperature T$_c$ = 13~K, when a single-quintuple-layer BT is deposited on the non-superconducting FT surface. The superconductivity gap decays exponentially with the thickness of BT, suggesting it occurs at the BT-FT interface and the proximity length is above 5-6~nm. We also measure the work function's dependence on the thickness of BT, implying a charge transfer may occur at the BT/FT interface to introduce hole doping into the FT layer, which may serve as a possible candidate for the superconducting mechanism. Our BT/FT heterojunction provides a clean system to study the unconventional interfacial superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

Topological Hall effect in bulk ferromagnet Cr$_2$Te$_3$ embedded with black-phosphorus-like bismuth nanosheets

We implement the molecular beam epitaxy method to embed the black-phosphorus-like bismuth nanosheets into the bulk ferromagnet Cr$_2$Te$_3$. As a typical surfactant, bismuth lowers the surface tensions and mediates the layer-by-layer growth of Cr$_2$Te$_3$. Meanwhile, the bismuth atoms precipitate into black-phosphorus-like nanosheets with the lateral size of several tens of nanometers. In Cr$_2$Te$_3$ embedded with Bi-nanosheets, we observe simultaneously a large topological Hall effect together with the magnetic susceptibility plateau and magnetoresistivity anomaly. As a control experiment, none of these signals is observed in the pristine Cr$_2$Te$_3$ samples. Therefore, the Bi-nanosheets serve as seeds of topological Hall effect induced by non-coplanar magnetic textures planted into Cr$_2$Te$_3$. Our experiments demonstrate a new method to generates a large topological Hall effect by planting strong spin-orbit couplings into the traditional ferromagnet, which may have potential applications in spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Influences of spin-orbit coupling on Fermi surfaces and Dirac cones in ferroelectric-like polar metals

Based on first-principles calculations and k .p effective models, we report physical properties of ferroelectric-like hexagonal polar metals with P63mc symmetry, which are distinct from those of conventional metals with spatial inversion symmetry. Spin textures exist on the Fermi surface of polar metals (e.g. ternary LiGaGe and elemental polar metal of Bi) and spin-momentum locking exist on accidental Dirac cones on the sixfold rotational axis, due to the spin-orbit coupling and lack of inversion symmetry in polar space group. This effect has potential applications in spin-orbitronics. Dirac points are also predicted in LiGaGe.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Effect of Zn doping on the antiferromagnetism in kagome Cu$_{4-x}$Zn$_x$(OH)$_6$FBr

Barlowite Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FBr shows three-dimensional (3D) long-range antiferromagnetism, which is fully suppressed in Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FBr with a kagome quantum spin liquid ground state. Here we report systematic studies on the evolution of magnetism in the Cu$_{4-x}$Zn$_x$(OH)$_{6}$FBr system as a function of $x$ to bridge the two limits of Cu$_4$(OH)$_6$FBr ($x$=0) and Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FBr ($x$=1). Neutron-diffraction measurements reveal a hexagonal-to-orthorhombic structural change with decreasing temperature in the $x$ = 0 sample. While confirming the 3D antiferromagnetic nature of low-temperature magnetism, the magnetic moments on some Cu$^{2+}$ sites on the kagome planes are found to be vanishingly small, suggesting strong frustration already exists in barlowite. Substitution of interlayer Cu$^{2+}$ with Zn$^{2+}$ with gradually increasing $x$ completely suppresses the bulk magnetic order at around $x$ = 0.4, but leaves a local secondary magnetic order up to $x\sim 0.8$ with a slight decrease in its transition temperature. The high-temperature magnetic susceptibility and specific heat measurements further suggest that the intrinsic magnetic properties of kagome spin liquid planes may already appear from $x>0.3$ samples. Our results reveal that the Cu$_{4-x}$Zn$_x$(OH)$_6$FBr may be the long-thought experimental playground for the systematic investigations of the quantum phase transition from a long-range antiferromagnet to a topologically ordered quantum spin liquid.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Raman evidence for dimerization and Mott collapse in $α$-RuCl$_3$ under pressures

We perform Raman spectroscopy studies on $α$-RuCl$_3$ at room temperature to explore its phase transitions of magnetism and chemical bonding under pressures. The Raman measurements resolve two critical pressures, about $p_1=1.1$~GPa and $p_2=1.7$~GPa, involving very different intertwining behaviors between the structural and magnetic excitations. With increasing pressures, a stacking order phase transition of $α$-RuCl$_3$ layers develops at $p_1=1.1$~GPa, indicated by the new Raman phonon modes and the modest Raman magnetic susceptibility adjustment. The abnormal softening and splitting of the Ru in-plane Raman mode provide direct evidence of the in-plane dimerization of the Ru-Ru bonds at $p_2=1.7$~GPa. The Raman susceptibility is greatly enhanced with pressure increasing and sharply suppressed after the dimerization. We propose that the system undergoes Mott collapse at $p_2=1.7$~GPa and turns into a dimerized correlated band insulator. Our studies demonstrate competitions between Kitaev physics, magnetism, and chemical bondings in Kitaev compounds.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Spinon magnetic resonance of quantum spin liquids

We describe electron spin resonance in a quantum spin liquid with significant spin-orbit coupling. We find that the resonance directly probes spinon continuum which makes it an efficient and informative probe of exotic excitations of the spin liquid. Specifically, we consider spinon resonance of three different spinon mean-field Hamiltonians, obtained with the help of projective symmetry group analysis, which model a putative quantum spin liquid state of the triangular rare-earth antiferromagnet YbMgGaO4. The band of absorption is found to be very broad and exhibit strong van Hove singularities of single spinon spectrum as well as pronounced polarization dependence.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Tunable Bi-frustrated Electron Spin and Charge States in a Cu-Hexaaminobenzene Framework

A geometrically frustrated lattice may host frustrated electron spin or charge states that spawn exotic quantum phases. We show that a newly synthesized metal-organic framework of Cu-Hexaaminobenzene [Cu$_3$(HAB)$_2$] exhibits a multi spectra of unusual quantum phases long sought after in condensed matter physics. On one hand, the Cu$^{2+}$ ions form an ideal $S$-1/2 antiferromagnetic kagome lattice. On the other hand, the conjugated-electrons from the organic ligands give rise to completely dispersionless energy bands around the Fermi level, reproducing a frustrated $π_x$-$π_y$ hopping model on a honeycomb lattice. We propose to characterize the coexistence of frustrated local spins and conjugated electrons through scanning tunneling microscopy simulations. Most remarkably, their close energy proximity enables one to tune the system between the two frustrated states by doping up to one hole per HAB unit. Thus, Cu$_3$(HAB)$_2$ provides a unique exciting platform to investigate the interplay of frustrated spins and electrons in one single lattice, e.g. by gating experiments, which will undoubtedly raise interesting theoretical questions leading to possible new condensed-matter phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Electronic and spin dynamics in the insulating iron pnictide NaFe$_{0.5}$Cu$_{0.5}$As

NaFe$_{0.5}$Cu$_{0.5}$As represents a rare exception in the metallic iron pnictide family, in which a small insulating gap is opened. Based on first-principles study, we provide a comprehensive theoretical characterization of this insulating compound. The Fe$^{3+} $spin degree of freedom is quantified as a quasi-1D $S=\frac{5}{2}$ Heisenberg model. The itinerant As hole state is downfolded to a $p_{xy}$-orbital hopping model on a square lattice. A unique orbital-dependent Hund's coupling between the spin and the hole is revealed. Several important material properties are analyzed, including (a) factors affecting the small $p-d$ charge-transfer gap; (b) role of the extra interchain Fe; and (c) the quasi-1D spin excitation in the Fe chains. The experimental manifestations of these properties are discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Gapped spin-1/2 spinon excitations in a new kagome quantum spin liquid compound Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FBr

We report a new kagome quantum spin liquid candidate Cu$_3$Zn(OH)$_6$FBr, which does not experience any phase transition down to 50 mK, more than three orders lower than the antiferromagnetic Curie-Weiss temperature ($\sim$ 200 K). A clear gap opening at low temperature is observed in the uniform spin susceptibility obtained from $^{19}$F nuclear magnetic resonance measurements. We observe the characteristic magnetic field dependence of the gap as expected for fractionalized spin-1/2 spinon excitations. Our experimental results provide firm evidence for spin fractionalization in a topologically ordered spin system, resembling charge fractionalization in the fractional quantum Hall state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Gapped spin liquid with $\mathbb{Z}_2$-topological order for kagome Heisenberg model

We apply symmetric tensor network state (TNS) to study the nearest neighbor spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model on Kagome lattice. Our method keeps track of the global and gauge symmetries in TNS update procedure and in tensor renormalization group (TRG) calculation. We also introduce a very sensitive probe for the gap of the ground state -- the modular matrices, which can also determine the topological order if the ground state is gapped. We find that the ground state of Heisenberg model on Kagome lattice is a gapped spin liquid with the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-topological order (or toric code type), which has a long correlation length $ξ\sim 10$ unit cell length. We justify that the TRG method can handle very large systems with over thousands of spins. Such a long $ξ$ explains the gapless behaviors observed in simulations on smaller systems with less than 300 spins or shorter than 10 unit cell length. We also discuss experimental implications of the topological excitations encoded in our symmetric tensors.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Spin Fluctuation Induced Linear Magnetoresistance in Ultrathin Superconducting FeSe Films

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in FeSe/STO has trigged great research interest to reveal a range of exotic physical phenomena in this novel material. Here we present a temperature dependent magnetotransport measurement for ultrathin FeSe/STO films with different thickness and protection layers. Remarkably, a surprising linear magnetoresistance (LMR) is observed around the superconducting transition temperatures but absent otherwise. The experimental LMR can be reproduced by magnetotransport calculations based on a model of magnetic field dependent disorder induced by spin fluctuation. Thus, the observed LMR in coexistence with superconductivity provides the first magnetotransport signature for spin fluctuation around the superconducting transition region in ultrathin FeSe/STO films.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Quantum Oscillation as Diagnostics of Pseudogap State in Underdoped Cuprates

The Fermi surface in underdoped cuprates is reconstructed by the charge density wave (CDW) order in the pseudogap phase. Theoretical proposals can be divided into two classes: one assumes the underlying Fermi surface without CDW as a conventional large surface; the other assumes small hole-like Fermi pockets. In both scenarios, we theoretically study the quantum oscillation and find three evenly spaced peaks in the oscillation spectra. The central dominant peak is induced by the CDW order. Its effective mass is strongly enhanced as the CDW vanishes in agreement with experiments. But the two scenarios have different understandings of the subdominant satellite peaks. In the large-surface scenario they are induced by the interlayer tunneling between the bilayer CuO$_{2}$ planes. Their effective masses are also enhanced with descreasing CDW. In the small-pocket scenario one of the subdominant peaks comes from the original small Fermi pockets of the pseudogap state. Its effective mass is nearly independent of the CDW strength and increases monotonically with the doping. We propose future quantum oscillation experiments to test these different predictions and thus to clarify the underlying Fermi surface structure of the pseudogap state.

cond-mat.str-el↗

First-principles study of an organometallic S=1/2 kagome compound

Cu(1,3-benzenedicarboxylate) [Cu(1,3-bdc)] contains structurally perfect kagomé planes formed by Cu$^{2+}$ ions without the presence of diamagnetic defects. This organometallic compound should have served as a precious platform to explore quantum frustrated magnetism, yet the experimental results so far are mysterious, leading to questions such as "Is Cu(1,3-bdc) just a trivial weak ferromagnet?". Using the the density functional theory, we have systematically studied the electronic and magnetic properties of Cu(1,3-bdc), putting forth a theoretical basis to clarify this novel material. We present numerical evidences of a dominating antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange between nearest-neighbor (NN) Cu$^{2+}$ as experimentally extracted from the high-temperature susceptibility data. We further show that beyond the NN AFM exchange, the additional interactions in Cu(1,3-bdc) have similar strength as those in the well-studied kagomé antiferromagnet, Herbertsmithite, by designing a comparative study. In the end, the origin of the phase transition and FM signals observed under low temperature is discussed based on the DFT results.

cond-mat.str-el↗