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Juntao Song

Publications and source records attributed to Juntao Song.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Magnetic Breakdown Reshapes Quantum Oscillations in Kagome Metals

Recent quantum-oscillation experiments on kagome metals have revealed markedly different phase offsets even among systems with nearly identical band structures and Fermi-surface geometries. Using a tight-binding model, we show that weak orbital hybridization can slightly modify the hybridization gaps. Small variations in these gaps can substantially alter the measured oscillation phase, despite leaving the overall electronic structure nearly unchanged. This phase shift originates from magnetic breakdown, which reconstructs cyclotron trajectories and can mask the nontrivial phase of an isolated orbit, yielding a trivial phase offset. Moreover, uniaxial strain can tune the relevant hybridization gaps and thereby weaken magnetic breakdown. This restores the nontrivial phase offset that magnetic breakdown otherwise masks, providing an experimentally accessible knob for controlling the oscillation phase. These results identify magnetic breakdown as the key mechanism controlling the phase shift and provide a plausible explanation for recent experimental phase discrepancies in kagome metals.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Effect of Spin-Orbit Coupling on Anomalous Quantum Oscillations in InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells

We theoretically study the effect of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) on anomalous quantum oscillations in InAs/GaSb quantum wells. By comparing different cases, we show that SOC induces two opposing effects on anomalous quantum oscillations: it suppresses the oscillations in the clean case, while enhancing them in the disordered case. Using an effective model, we analyze in detail the origins of anomalous oscillations in both clean and disordered cases. Based on these origins, we explain why SOC suppresses or enhances the anomalous oscillations in different cases, thereby extending the understanding of the conventional theory. Moreover, in the disordered case, SOC can induce a phase shift of the anomalous oscillations. We further identify a parameter window where the anomalous oscillations are significantly enhanced in the presence of both disorder and SOC. These results provide a theoretical basis for understanding the role of SOC in anomalous quantum oscillations.

cond-mat.mes-hall

SDW driven "magnetic breakdown" in a d-wave altermagnet KV$_2$Se$_2$O

Altermagnets, combining zero net magnetization with intrinsic spin splitting, demonstrate unique quantum phenomena crucial for spintronic applications. KV$_2$Se$_2$O is proven to be a d-wave altermagnet with phase transition from a checkerboard-type (C-type) antiferromagnetic (AFM) state to a spin density wave (SDW) state as the temperature decreases. After phase transition, the apparent paradox emerges where angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) reveals negligible Fermi surface modifications, while physical property measurement system (PPMS) measurements uncover substantial changes in transport properties. Our study explores the microscopic mechanisms governing phase-dependent transport properties of KV$_2$Se$_2$O base on first-principles calculations. The spin canting driven by periodic spin modulation in the SDW phase reduces the magnetic symmetry of KV$_2$Se$_2$O. The resultant band degeneracy lifting and Fermi surface reconstruction induce the ``magnetic breakdown" phenomenon, which alters carrier trajectories, modifies carrier concentration, strengthens electron-hole compensation, and ultimately accounts for the contrasting magnetic-field-dependent Hall resistivity relative to the C-type AFM state. Our work proposes an innovative method for identifying the electronic structure evolution across phase transitions from transport signatures, providing a novel paradigm for altermagnets research.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

One-Dimensional Potassium Chains on Silicon Nanoribbons

Silicon nanoribbons (SiNRs), characterized by a pentagonal structure composed of silicon atoms, host one-dimensional (1D) Dirac Fermions and serve as a minimalist atomic template for adsorbing various heteroatoms. Alkali-metal (AM) atoms, such as Na and K, with electronic structures comparable to those of hydrogen are of particular interest for such adsorption studies. However, the adsorption of AM atoms on SiNRs and its tunation on the properties of SiNRs have not yet been fully explored. In this study, we examined the adsorption of K atoms on high-aspect-ratio SiNRs and the resultant electronic properties using a combination of scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory calculations. K atoms prefer to adsorb on double- and multi-stranded SiNRs owing to the low adsorption energies at these sites. Each K atom and its three nearest Si atoms exhibit a triangular morphology resulting from charge transfer between K and Si atoms, as verified by theoretical calculations. As the K coverage of the SiNRs increased, the K atoms organize into 1D zigzag chains on the SiNRs. Moreover, K adsorption on the SiNRs was determined to be reversible. The deposition of K atoms on the SiNRs was achieved using a voltage pulse of the STM tip, without damaging the SiNRs structure. In addition, K adsorption effectively modulates the Dirac cone position of the SiNRs relative to the Fermi level. This study unveils the adsorption mechanism of AM atoms on SiNRs, providing a useful approach for heteroatom adsorption on other nanoribbons.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Edge supercurrent in Josephson junctions based on topological materials

The interplay between novel topological states and superconductivity has garnered substantial interest due to its potential for topological quantum computing. The Josephson effect serves as a useful probe for edge superconductivity in these hybrid topological materials. In Josephson junctions based on topological materials, supercurrents exhibit unique quantum interference patterns, including the conventional Fraunhofer oscillations, the $Φ_0$-periodic oscillation, and the $2Φ_0$-periodic oscillation in response to the external magnetic field ($Φ_0 = h/2e$ is the flux quantum, $h$ the Planck constant, and $e$ the electron charge). These interference patterns stem from varied Andreev reflection mechanisms and the associated current density profiles. This review seeks to comprehensively examine the theoretical and experimental advancements in understanding the quantum interference patterns of edge supercurrents in Josephson junctions based on quantum spin Hall, quantum Hall, and quantum anomalous Hall systems.

cond-mat.supr-con

Intravalley Andreev reflection in the multi-terminal device with Y-shaped Kekulé graphene superlattices

Using the tight-binding model, a multi-terminal superconductor(S) device is proposed, where the structures of the center region are primitive grpahene(G) and Y-shaped Kekulé graphene superlattice(GS), respectively. The intravalley Andreev reflection is studied in this model through the utilization of the non-equilibrium Green's function method. In the G/S device, due to the time-reverse symmetry the dominant process of Andreev reflection is intervalley reflection. In a three-terminal GS/S device, it has been observed that the coefficient of intravalley Andreev reflection can surpass that of intervalley reflection in crossed Andreev reflection. This is attributed to the coupling between valleys K and -K within the first Brillouin zone, resulting in enhanced intervalley scattering. The valley-dependent transport of Andreev reflection can be influenced by the phase difference between superconductor terminals. The valley polarization of the local Andreev reflection and the crossed Andreev reflection could be controlled by adjusting the structure of the central region.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Unveiling nontrivial fusion rule of Majorana zero mode using a fermionic mode

Fusing Majorana zero modes leads to multiple outcomes, a property being unique to non-Abelian anyons. Successful demonstration of this nontrivial fusion rule would be a hallmark for the development of topological quantum computation.Here we show that this can be done by simply attaching a fermionic mode to a single Majorana zero mode. Through modulation of the energy level of this fermionic mode as well as its coupling with the Majorana mode in different sequences, we show that a zero or integer charge pumping can be realized when different fusion loops are chosen. Such fusion loops are intimately related with the nontrivial fusion rule of Majorana modes and are solely determined by the crossings at zero energy in the parameter space. Finally we demonstrate our proposal in a nanowire-based topological superconductor coupled to a quantum dot. We show that the charge pumping is robust for MZMs in the real system irrespective of the initial condition of FM state, contrary to the case for trivial Andreev bound states. This provides a feasible way to distinguish Majorana modes from trivial Andreev bound states.

cond-mat.mes-hall

The transport properties of Kekulé-ordered graphene $p$-$n$ junctions

The transport properties of electrons in graphene $p$-$n$ junction with uniform Kekulé lattice distortion have been studied using the tight-binding model and the Landauer-Büttiker formalism combined with the nonequilibrium Green's function method. In the Kekulé-ordered graphene, the original $K$ and $K^{\prime}$ valleys of the pristine graphene are folded together due to the $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ enlargement of the primitive cell. When the valley coupling breaks the chiral symmetry, special transport properties of Dirac electrons exist in the Kekulé lattice. In the O-shaped Kekulé graphene $p$-$n$ junction, Klein tunneling is suppressed, and only resonance tunneling occurs. In the Y-shaped Kekulé graphene $p$-$n$ junction, the transport of electrons is dominated by Klein tunneling. When the on-site energy modification is introduced into the Y-shaped Kekulé structure, both Klein tunneling and resonance tunneling occur, and the electron tunneling is enhanced. In the presence of a strong magnetic field, the conductance of O-shaped and on-site energy-modified Y-shaped Kekulé graphene $p$-$n$ junctions is non-zero due to the occurrence of resonance tunneling. It is also found that the disorder can enhance conductance, with conductance plateaus forming in the appropriate range of disorder strength. The ideal plateau value is found only in the Kekulé-Y system.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Finite size effects on hinge states in three-dimensional second-order topological insulators

We investigate the finite size effects of a three-dimensional second-order topological insulator with fourfold rotational symmetry and time-reversal symmetry. Starting from the effective Hamiltonian of the three-dimensional second-order topological insulator, we derive the effective Hamiltonian of four two-dimensional surface states with gaps derived by perturbative methods. Then, the sign alternation of the mass term of the effective Hamiltonian on the adjacent surface leads to the hinge state. In addition, we obtain the effective Hamiltonian and its wave function of one-dimensional gapless hinge states with semi-infinite boundary conditions based on the effective Hamiltonian of two-dimensional surface states. In particular, we find that the hinge states on the two sides of the same surface can couple to produce a finite energy gap.

cond-mat.mes-hall

A new alloy for Al-chalcogen system: AlSe surface alloy on Al (111)

Metal chalcogenide is a promising material for studying novel underlying physical phenomena and nanoelectronics applications. Here, we systematically investigate the crystal structure and electronic properties of the AlSe surface alloy on Al (111) using scanning tunneling microscopy, angle-resolved photoelectron spectrometer, and first-principle calculations. We reveal that the AlSe surface alloy possesses a hexagonal closed-packed structure. The AlSe surface alloy comprises two atomic sublayers (Se sublayer and Al sublayer) with 1.16 A along the z direction. The dispersion shows two hole-like bands for AlSe surface alloy located at about -2.2 eV, far below the Fermi level, which is sharply different from other metal chalcogenide and binary alloys. These two bands mainly derive from the in-plane orbital of AlSe (px and py). These results provide implications for related Al-chalcogen interface. Meanwhile, AlSe alloy have an advantage of large-scale atomic flatness and a wide band gap near the Fermi level in serving as an interface for two-dimensional materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Exploring Native Atomic Defects in NiTe2

Nickel ditelluride (NiTe2), a new discovered type-II Dirac semimetal whose Dirac node lies close to its Fermi level, is expected to exhibit exotic phenomena including Lifshitz transition and superconductivity. As we know, defects are inevitable for transition metal dichalcogenides and have significant impacts on the optical and electronic properties. However, the systematic study of defects in NiTe2 is still lack. Here, by using high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy combined with first-principles calculations, the point defects including the vacancy, intercalation and antisite defects in NiTe2 are systematically investigated. We identified five main types native defects and revealed that the growth condition could affect the type of native defects. By controlling the ratio of ingredient during synthesis, the types of point defects are expected to be manipulated, especially antisite defects. Additionally, we find native defects could slightly dope the topological surface states. Our results provide a facile way to manipulate defects for future optimizing the electronic properties of NiTe2 and other related materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Phase-dependent epitaxy for antimonene growth on silver substrate

Antimonene is a novel two-dimensional topological semiconductor material with strain driven tunable electronic structure for future electronic and spintronic devices, but the growth of clean antimonene is not fully understood. In this work, the growth process of antimonene on silver substrate has been studied in detail by using density functional theory and particle swarm optimization algorithms. The results show that, in addition to the experimental reported flat honeycomb and $β$-phase antimonene, $α$-phase antimonene was observed to be able to grow on thus substrates, and the phases of antimonene were deeply dependent on the reconstructed supercells and surface alloys. It has been demonstrated that the surface alloys on substrate play an active role in the growth of antimonene.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

The influence of anti-chiral edge states on Andreev reflection in graphene-superconductor junction

Using the tight binding model and the non-equilibrium Green function method, we study Andreev reflection in graphene-superconductor junction, where graphene has two nonequal Dirac Cones split in energy and therefore time reversal symmetry is broken. Due to the anti-chiral edge states of the current graphene model, an incident electron travelling along the edges makes distinct contribution to Andreev reflections. In a two-terminal device, because Andreev retro-reflection is not allowed for just the anti-chiral edges, in this case the mutual scattering between edge and bulk states is necessary, which leads that the coefficient of Andreev retro-reflection is always symmetrical about the incident energy. In a four-terminal junction, however, the edges are parallel to the interface of superconductor and graphene, so at the interface an incident electron travelling along the edges can be retro-reflected as a hole into bulk modes, or specularly reflected as a hole into anti-chiral edge states again. It is noted that, the coefficient of specular Andreev reflection keeps symmetric as to the incident energy of electron which is consistent with the reported results before, however the coefficient of Andreev retro-reflection shows an unexpected asymmetrical behavior due to the presence of anti-chiral edge states. Our results present some new ideas to study the anti-chiral edge modes and Andreev reflection for a graphene model with the broken time reversal symmetry.

cond-mat.supr-con

Topological Anderson Insulator in electric circuits

Although topological Anderson insulator has been predicted in 2009, the lasting investigations of this disorder established nontrivial state results in only two experimental observations in cold atoms [Science, {\bf 362 },929 (2018)] and in photonic crystals [Nature, {\bf 560}, 461 (2018)] recently. In this paper, we study the topological Anderson transition in electric circuits. By arranging capacitor and inductor network, we construct a disordered Haldane model. Specially, the disorder is introduced by the grounding inductors with random inductance. Based on non-commutative geometry method and transport calculation, we confirm that the disorder in circuits can drive a transition from normal insulator to topological Anderson insulator. We also find the random inductance induced disorder possessing unique characters rather than Anderson disorder, therefore it leads to distinguishable features of topological Anderson transition in circuits. Different from other systems, the topological Anderson insulator in circuits can be detected by measuring the corresponding quantized transmission coefficient and edge state wavefunction due to mature microelectronic technology.

cond-mat.dis-nn

Doubled Shapiro Steps in a Topological Josephson Junction

We study the transport properties of a superconductor-quantum spin Hall insulator-superconductor (S-QSHI-S) hybrid system in the presence of a microwave radiation. Instead of adiabatic analysis or using the resistively shunted junction model, we start from the microscopic Hamiltonian and calculate the DC current directly with the help of the non-equilibrium Green's Functions method. The numerical results show that (i) the I-V curves of background current due to multiple Andreev reflections (MAR) exhibit a different structure with that in the conventional junctions, (ii) all Shapiro steps are visible and appear one by one at high frequency, while at low frequency, the steps evolve exactly as the Bessel functions and the odd steps are completely suppressed, implying a fractional Josephson effect.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Andreev reflection in a Y-shaped graphene-superconductor device

Using the non-equilibrium Green function method, we study the Andreev reflection in a Y-shaped graphene-superconductor device by tight-binding model. Considering both the zigzag and armchair terminals, we confirm that the zigzag terminals are the better choice for detecting the Andreev reflection without no external field. Due to scattering from the boundaries of the finite-size centre region, the difference between Andreev retroreflection and specular reflection is hard to be distinguished. Although adjusting the size of the device makes the difference visible, to distinguish them quantitatively is still impossible through the transport conductance. The problem is circumvented when applying a perpendicular magnetic field on the centre region, which makes the incident electrons and the reflected holes propagate along the edge or the interface. In this case, the retroreflected and specular reflected holes from the different bands have opposite effective masses, therefore the moving direction of one is opposite to the other. Which external terminal the reflected holes flow into depends entirely on the kind of the Andreev reflection. Therefore, the specular Andreev reflection can be clearly distinguished from the retroreflected one in the presence of strong magnetic field, even for the device with finite size.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Disorder Effects in Topological States -- Brief Review of the Recent Developments

Disorder inevitably exists in realistic samples, manifesting itself in various exotic properties for the topological states. In this paper, we summarize and briefly review work completed over the last few years, including our own, regarding recent developments in several topics about disorder effects in topological states. For weak disorder, the robustness of topological states is demonstrated, especially for both quantum spin Hall states with $Z_2=1$ and size induced nontrivial topological insulators with $Z_2=0$. For moderate disorder, by increasing the randomness of both the impurity distribution and the impurity induced potential, the topological insulator states can be created from normal metallic or insulating states. These phenomena and their mechanisms are summarized. For strong disorder, the disorder causes a metal-insulator transition. Due to their topological nature, the phase diagrams are much richer in topological state systems. Finally, the trends in these areas of disorder research are discussed.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Quantum interference in topological insulator Josephson junctions

Using non-equilibrium Green's functions, we studied numerically the transport properties of a Josephson junction, superconductor-topological insulator-superconductor hybrid system. Our numerical calculation shows first that proximity-induced superconductivity is indeed observed in the edge states of a topological insulator adjoining two superconducting leads and second that the special characteristics of topological insulators endow the edge states with an enhanced proximity effect with a superconductor but do not forbid the bulk states to do the same. In a size-dependent analysis of the local current, it was found that a few residual bulk states can lead to measurable resistance, whereas because these bulk states spread over the whole sample, their contribution to the interference pattern is insignificant when the sample size is in the micrometer range. Based on these numerical results, it is concluded that the apparent disappearance of residual bulk states in the superconducting interference process as described in Ref. [\onlinecite{HartNautrePhys2014f}] is just due to the effects of size: the contribution of the topological edge states outweighs that of the residual bulk states.

cond-mat.supr-con