arXiv subjects

Kenji Watanabe

Publications and source records attributed to Kenji Watanabe.

At least 883 records · Page 49Linked to original sources

arXiv2024

Single Electron Quantum Dot in Two-Dimensional Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

Spin-valley properties in two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC) has attracted significant interest due to the possible applications in quantum computing. Spin-valley properties can be exploited in TMDC quantum dot (QD) with well-resolved energy levels. This requires smaller QDs, especially in material systems with heavy carrier effective mass e.g. TMDCs and silicon. Device architectures employed for TMDC QDs so far have difficulty achieving smaller QDs. Therefore, an alternative approach in the device architecture is needed. Here, we propose a multilayer device architecture to achieve a gate-defined QD in TMDC with a relatively large energy splitting on the QD. We provide a range of device dimensions and dielectric thicknesses and its correlation with the QD energy splitting. The device architecture is modeled realistically. Moreover, we show that all the device parameters used in modeling are experimentally achievable. These studies lay the foundation for future work toward spin-valley qubits in TMDCs. The successful implementation of these device architectures will drive the technological development of 2D materials-based quantum technologies.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Quantum transport signature of strain-induced scalar and pseudo-vector potentials in a crenellated hBN-graphene heterostructure

The sharp Dirac cone of the electronic dispersion confers to graphene a remarkable sensitivity to strain. It is usually encoded in scalar and pseudo-vector potentials, induced by the modification of hopping parameters, which have given rise to new phenomena at the nanoscale such as giant pseudomagnetic fields and valley polarization. Here, we unveil the effect of these potentials on the quantum transport across a succession of strain-induced barriers. We use high-mobility, hBN-encapsulated graphene, transferred over a large (10x10 $μ$m$^{2}$) crenellated hBN substrate. We show the emergence of a broad resistance ancillary peak at positive energy that arises from Klein tunneling barriers induced by the tensile strain at the trench edges. Our theoretical study, in quantitative agreement with experiment, highlights the balanced contributions of strain-induced scalar and pseudo-vector potentials on ballistic transport. Our results establish crenellated van der Waals heterostructures as a promising platform for strain engineering in view of applications and basic physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Second-order temporal coherence of polariton lasers based on an atomically thin crystal in a microcavity

Bosonic condensation and lasing of exciton-polaritons in microcavities is a fascinating solid-state phenomenon. It provides a versatile platform to study out-of-equilibrium many-body physics and has recently appeared at the forefront of quantum technologies. Here, we study the photon statistics via the second-order temporal correlation function of polariton lasing emerging from an optical microcavity integrated with an atomically thin MoSe2 crystal. Furthermore, we investigate the macroscopic polariton phase transition for varying excitation powers and temperatures. The lower-polariton exhibits photon bunching below the threshold, implying a dominant thermal distribution of the emission, while above the threshold, the second-order correlation transits towards unity, which evidences the formation of a coherent state. Our findings are in agreement with a microscopic numerical model, which explicitly includes scattering with phonons on the quantum level.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Nanoscale electrostatic control in ultra clean van der Waals heterostructures by local anodic oxidation of graphite gates

In an all-van der Waals heterostructure, the active layer, gate dielectrics and gate electrodes are assembled from two-dimensional crystals that have a low density of atomic defects. This design allows two-dimensional electron systems with very low disorder to be created, particularly in heterostructures where the active layer also has intrinsically low disorder, such as crystalline graphene layers or metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers. A key missing ingredient has been nanoscale electrostatic control, with existing methods for fabricated local gates typically introducing unwanted contamination. Here we describe a resist-free local anodic oxidation process for patterning sub 100nm features in graphite gates, and their subsequent integration into an all-van der Waals heterostructure. We define a quantum point contact in the fractional quantum Hall regime as a benchmark device and observe signatures of chiral Luttinger liquid behaviour, indicating an absence of extrinsic scattering centres in the vicinity of the point contact. In the integer quantum Hall regime, we demonstrate in situ control of the edge confinement potential, a key requirement for the precision control of chiral edge states. This technique may enable the fabrication of devices capable of single anyon control and coherent edge-state interferometry in the fractional quantum Hall regime.

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arXiv2024

Giant Tunability of Intersubband Transitions and Quantum Hall Quartets in Few-Layer InSe Quantum Wells

A two-dimensional (2D) quantum electron system is characterized by the quantized energy levels, or subbands, in the out-of-plane direction. Populating higher subbands and controlling the inter-subband transitions have wide technological applications such as optical modulators and quantum cascade lasers. In conventional materials, however, the tunability of intersubband spacing is limited. Here we demonstrate electrostatic population and characterization of the second subband in few-layer InSe quantum wells, with giant tunability of its energy, population, and spin-orbit coupling strength, via the control of not only layer thickness but also out-of-plane displacement field. A modulation of as much as 350% or over 250 meV is achievable, underscoring the promise of InSe for tunable infrared and THz sources, detectors and modulators.

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arXiv2024

Dominant 1/3-filling Correlated Insulator States and Orbital Geometric Frustration in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

Geometric frustration is a phenomenon in a lattice system where not all interactions can be satisfied, the simplest example being antiferromagnetically coupled spins on a triangular lattice. Frustrated systems are characterized by their many nearly degenerate ground states, leading to non-trivial phases such as spin ice and spin liquids. To date most studies are on geometric frustration of spins; much less explored is orbital geometric frustration. For electrons in twisted bilayer graphene (tBLG) at denominator 3 fractional filling, Coulomb interactions and the Wannier orbital shapes are predicted to strongly constrain spatial charge ordering, leading to geometrically frustrated ground states that produce a new class of correlated insulators (CIs). Here we report the observation of dominant denominator 3 fractional filling insulating states in large angle tBLG; these states persist in magnetic fields and display magnetic ordering signatures and tripled unit cell reconstruction. These results are in agreement with a strong-coupling theory of symmetry-breaking of geometrically frustrated fractional states.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Cryo-Near-Field Photovoltage Microscopy of Heavy-Fermion Twisted Symmetric Trilayer Graphene

Ever since the initial experimental observation of correlated insulators and superconductivity in the flat Dirac bands of magic angle twisted bilayer graphene, a search for the microscopic description that explains its strong electronic interactions has begun. While the seemingly disagreeing electronic transport and scanning tunneling microscopy experiments suggest a dichotomy between local and extended electronic orbitals, definitive experimental evidence merging the two patterns together has been much sought after. Here, we report on the local photothermoelectric measurements in the flat electronic bands of twisted symmetric trilayer graphene (TSTG). We use a cryogenic scanning near-field optical microscope with an oscillating atomic force microscopy (AFM) tip irradiated by the infrared photons to create a nanoscopic hot spot in the planar samples, which generates a photocurrent that we probe globally. We observe a breakdown of the non-interacting Mott formalism at low temperatures (10K), signaling the importance of the electronic interactions. Our measurements reveal an overall negative offset of the Seebeck coefficient and significant peaks of the local photovoltage values at all positive integer fillings of the TSTG's moiré superlattice, further indicating a substantial deviation from the classical two-band semiconductor Seebeck response. We explain these observations using the interacting topological heavy-fermion model. In addition, our data reveal a spatial variation of the relative interaction strength dependent on the measured local twist angle (1.2° - 1.6°). Our findings provide experimental evidence of heavy fermion behaviour in the topological flat bands of moiré graphene and epitomize an avenue to apply local thermoelectric measurements to other strongly correlated materials in the disorder-free limit.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Stark Effects of Rydberg Excitons in a Monolayer WSe2 P-N Junction

The enhanced Coulomb interaction in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors leads to the tightly bound electron-hole pairs known as excitons. The large binding energy of excitons enables the formation of Rydberg excitons with high principal quantum numbers (n), analogous to Rydberg atoms. Rydberg excitons possess strong interactions among themselves, as well as sensitive responses to external stimuli. Here, we probe Rydberg exciton resonances through photocurrent spectroscopy in a monolayer WSe2 p-n junction formed by a split-gate geometry. We show that an external in-plane electric field not only induces a large Stark shift of Rydberg excitons up to quantum principal number n=3 but also mixes different orbitals and brightens otherwise dark states such as 3p and 3d. Our study provides an exciting platform for engineering Rydberg excitons for new quantum states and quantum sensing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Evidence of heavy fermion physics in the thermoelectric transport of magic angle twisted bilayer graphene

It has been recently postulated, that the strongly correlated flat bands of magicangle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG) can host coexisting heavy and light carriers. While transport and spectroscopic measurements have shown hints of this behavior, a more direct experimental proof is still lacking. Here, we explore the thermoelectric response of MATBG through the photo-thermoelectric (PTE) effect in gate-defined MATBG pn-junctions. At low temperatures, we observe sign-preserving, fillingdependent oscillations of the Seebeck coefficient at non-zero integer fillings of the moiré lattice, which suggest the preponderance of one carrier type despite tuning the Fermi level from hole to electron doping of the correlated insulator. Furthermore, at higher temperatures, the thermoelectric response provides distinct evidence of the strong electron correlations in the unordered, normal state. We show that our observations are naturally accounted for by the interplay of light and long-lived and heavy and short-lived electron bands near the Fermi level at non-zero integer fillings. Our observations firmly establish the electron and hole asymmetry of the correlated gaps in MATBG, and shows excellent qualitative agreement with the recently developed topological heavy fermion model (THF).

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Aharonov-Bohm interference and the evolution of phase jumps in fractional quantum Hall Fabry-Perot interferometers based on bi-layer graphene

Quasi-particles in fractional quantum Hall states are collective excitations that carry fractional charge and anyonic statistics. While the fractional charge affects semi-classical characteristics such as shot noise and charging energies, the anyonic statistics is most notable in quantum interference phenomena. In this study, we utilize a versatile bilayer graphene-based Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) that facilitates the study of a broad spectrum of operating regimes, from Coulomb-dominated to Aharonov-Bohm, for both integer and fractional quantum Hall states. Focusing on the $ν$=$1 \over 3$ fractional quantum Hall state, we study the Aharonov-Bohm interference of quasi-particles when the magnetic flux through an interference loop and the charge density within the loop are independently varied. When their combined variation is such that the Landau filling remains $1 \over 3$ we observe pristine Aharonov-Bohm oscillations with a period of three flux quanta, as is expected from the interference of quasi-particles of one-third of the electron charge. When the combined variation is such that it leads to quasi-particles addition or removal from the loop, phase jumps emerge, and alter the phase evolution. Notably, across all cases, the average phase consistently increases by 2$π$ with each addition of one electron to the loop.

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arXiv2024

Field-induced hybridization of moiré excitons in MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ heterobilayers

We study experimentally and theoretically the hybridization among intralayer and interlayer moiré excitons in a MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ heterostructure with antiparallel alignment. Using a dual-gate device and cryogenic white light reflectance and narrow-band laser modulation spectroscopy, we subject the moiré excitons in the MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$ heterostack to a perpendicular electric field, monitor the field-induced dispersion and hybridization of intralayer and interlayer moiré exciton states, and induce a cross-over from type I to type II band alignment. Moreover, we employ perpendicular magnetic fields to map out the dependence of the corresponding exciton Landé $g$-factors on the electric field. Finally, we develop an effective theoretical model combining resonant and non-resonant contributions to moiré potentials to explain the observed phenomenology, and highlight the relevance of interlayer coupling for structures with close energetic band alignment as in MoSe$_2$/WS$_2$.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Controlling Umklapp scattering in bilayer graphene moir'e superlattice

In this Letter, we present experimental findings on electron-electron scattering in a two-dimensional moir'e heterostructure with tunable Fermi wave vector, reciprocal lattice vector, and band gap. We achieve this in high-mobility aligned heterostructures of bilayer graphene (BLG) and hBN. Around half-filling, the primary contribution to the resistance of BLG/hBN aligned superlattices arises from electron-electron Umklapp (Uee) scattering, making the resistance of graphene/hBN moir'e devices significantly larger than that of non-aligned devices (where Uee is forbidden). We quantify the strength of the Uee scattering and find that it follows a universal scaling with Fermi energy and has a non-monotonic dependence on the charge carrier density. The Uee scattering is strongly electric field tunable and affected by layer-polarization of BLG. It has a strong particle-hole asymmetry - the resistance when the chemical potential is in the conduction band is significantly lesser than when it is in the valence band, making the electron-doped regime more practical for potential applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Elementary excitations of single-photon emitters in hexagonal Boron Nitride

Single-photon emitters serve as building blocks for many emerging concepts in quantum photonics. The recent identification of bright, tunable, and stable emitters in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) has opened the door to quantum platforms operating across the infrared to ultraviolet spectrum. While it is widely acknowledged that defects are responsible for single-photon emitters in hBN, crucial details regarding their origin, electronic levels, and orbital involvement remain unknown. Here, we employ a combination of resonant inelastic X-ray scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopy in defective hBN unveiling an elementary excitation at 285 meV that gives rise to a plethora of harmonics correlated with single-photon emitters. We discuss the importance of N $π^*$ antibonding orbitals in shaping the electronic states of the emitters. The discovery of the elementary excitations of hBN provides new fundamental insights into quantum emission in low-dimensional materials, paving the way for future investigations in other platforms.

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arXiv2024

Magnetic-field-free nonreciprocal transport in graphene multi-terminal Josephson junctions

Nonreciprocal superconducting devices have attracted growing interest in recent years as they potentially enable directional charge transport for applications in superconducting quantum circuits. Specifically, the superconducting diode effect has been explored in two-terminal devices that exhibit superconducting transport in one current direction while showing dissipative transport in the opposite direction. Here, we exploit multi-terminal Josephson junctions (MTJJs) to engineer magnetic-field-free nonreciprocity in multi-port networks. We show that when treated as a two-port electrical network, a three-terminal Josephson junction (JJ) with an asymmetric graphene region exhibits reconfigurable two-port nonreciprocity. We observe nonreciprocal (reciprocal) transport between superconducting terminals with broken (preserved) spatial mirror symmetry. We explain our observations by considering a circuit-network of JJs with different critical currents.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Observation of the fractional quantum spin Hall effect in moiré MoTe2

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are two-dimensional electronic materials that have a bulk band gap like an ordinary insulator but have topologically protected pairs of edge modes of opposite chiralities. To date, experimental studies have found only integer QSH insulators with counter-propagating up-spins and down-spins at each edge leading to a quantized conductance G0=e^2/h. Here we report transport evidence of a fractional QSH insulator in 2.1-degree-twisted bilayer MoTe2, which supports spin-Sz conservation and flat spin-contrasting Chern bands. At filling factor v = 3 of the moiré valence bands, each edge contributes a conductance 3/2 G0 with zero anomalous Hall conductivity. The state is likely a time-reversal pair of the even-denominator 3/2-fractional Chern insulators. Further, at v = 2, 4 and 6, we observe a single, double and triple QSH insulator with each edge contributing a conductance G0, 2G0 and 3G0, respectively. Our results open up the possibility of realizing time reversal symmetric non-abelian anyons and other unexpected topological phases in highly tunable moiré materials.

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arXiv2024

Twisted cuprate van der Waals heterostructures with controlled Josephson coupling

Twisted van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures offer a unique platform for engineering the efficient Josephson coupling between cuprate thin crystals harboring the nodal superconducting order parameter. Preparing vdW heterostructures-based Josephson junction comprising stacked cuprates requires maintaining an ordered interface with preserved surface superconductivity. Here, we report the preparation of the Josephson junction out of the stacked Bi2Sr2CuCa2O8+d crystals using the cryogenic dry transfer technique and encapsulating the junction with an insulating layer, that protects the interface during the electrical contacts evaporation at the 10-6 mbar base pressure. We find that the Josephson critical current Ic has a maximum at low twist angles, comparable to that of the bulk intrinsic Josephson junctions, and is reduced by two orders of magnitude at twist angles close to 45°. The reduction of Ic occurs due to a mismatch between superconducting d-wave order parameters, which suppresses the direct Cooper pair tunneling.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Quantum Melting of a Disordered Wigner Solid

The behavior of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in extreme coupling limits are reasonably well-understood, but our understanding of intermediate region remains limited. Strongly interacting electrons crystalize into a solid phase known as the Wigner crystal at very low densities, and these evolve to a Fermi liquid at high densities. At intermediate densities, however, where the Wigner crystal melts into a strongly correlated electron fluid that is poorly understood partly due to a lack of microscopic probes for delicate quantum phases. Here we report the first imaging of a disordered Wigner solid and its quantum densification and quantum melting behavior in a bilayer MoSe2 using a non-invasive scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) technique. We observe a Wigner solid with nanocrystalline domains pinned by local disorder at low hole densities. With slightly increasing electrostatic gate voltages, the holes are added quantum mechanically during the densification of the disordered Wigner solid. As the hole density is increased above a threshold (p ~ 5.7 * 10e12 (cm-2)), the Wigner solid is observed to melt locally and create a mixed phase where solid and liquid regions coexist. With increasing density, the liquid regions gradually expand and form an apparent percolation network. Local solid domains appear to be pinned and stabilized by local disorder over a range of densities. Our observations are consistent with a microemulsion picture of Wigner solid quantum melting where solid and liquid domains emerge spontaneously and solid domains are pinned by local disorder.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2024

Observation of the double quantum spin Hall phase in moiré WSe2

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are a topologically protected phase of matter in two dimensions that can support non-dissipative spin transport. A hallmark of the phase is a pair of helical edge states surrounding an insulating bulk. A higher (even) number of helical edge state pairs is usually not possible in real materials because spin mixing would gap out the edge states. Multiple pairs of helical edge states have been proposed in materials with spin conservation symmetry and high spin Chern bands, but remained experimentally elusive. Here, we demonstrate a QSH phase with one and two pairs of helical edge states in twisted bilayer WSe2 at moiré hole filling factor ν= 2 and 4, respectively. We observe nearly quantized conductance or resistance plateaus of h/(νe^2 ) at ν = 2 and 4 while the bulk is insulating. The conductance is nearly independent of out-of-plane magnetic field and decreases under an in-plane magnetic field. We also observe nonlocal transport, which is sensitive only to the in-plane magnetic field. The results agree with quantum transport of helical edge states protected by Ising spin conservation symmetry and open a promising platform for low-power spintronics.

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