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Kyle Kelley

Publications and source records attributed to Kyle Kelley.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2025

Probing the Nanoscale Excitonic Landscape and Quantum Confinement of Excitons in Gated Monolayer Semiconductors

Engineering and probing excitonic properties at the nanoscale remains a central challenge in quantum photonics and optoelectronics. While exciton confinement via electrical control and strain engineering has been demonstrated in 2D semiconductors, substantial nanoscale heterogeneity limits the scalability of 2D quantum photonic device architectures. In this work, we use cathodoluminescence spectroscopy to probe the excitonic landscape of monolayer $WS_2$ under electrostatic gating. Exploiting the high spatial resolution of the converged electron beam, we resolve a homojunction arising between gated and ungated regions. Moreover, we reveal an exciton confinement channel arising from an unconventional doping mechanism driven by the interplay between the electron beam and the applied gate fields. These findings offer new insights into the optoelectronic behavior of monolayer semiconductors under the combined influence of electron-beam excitation and electrostatic gating. Our approach provides a pathway for exciton manipulation at the nanoscale and opens opportunities for controlling quantum-confined exciton transport in two-dimensional materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2025

The $k$-Total Bondage Number of a Graph

Let $G=(V,E)$ be a connected, finite undirected graph. A set $S \subseteq V$ is said to be a total dominating set of $G$ if every vertex in $V$ is adjacent to some vertex in $S$. The total domination number, $\gamma_{t}(G)$, is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set in $G$. We define the $k$-total bondage of $G$ to be the minimum number of edges to remove from $G$ so that the resulting graph has a total domination number at least $k$ more than $\gamma_{t}(G)$. We establish general properties of $k$-total bondage and find exact values for certain graph classes including paths, cycles, wheels, complete and complete bipartite graphs.

math.CO↗
arXiv2025

Independence Polynomials of 2-step Nilpotent Lie Algebras

Motivated by the Dani-Mainkar construction, we extend the notion of independence polynomial of graphs to arbitrary 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras. After establishing efficiently computable upper and lower bounds for the independence number, we discuss a metric-dependent generalization motivated by a quantum mechanical interpretation of our construction. As an application, we derive elementary bounds for the dimension of abelian subalgebras of 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras.

math.RA↗
arXiv2024

Properties of Sub-Add Move Graphs

We introduce the notion of a move graph, that is, a directed graph whose vertex set is a $\mathbb Z$-module $\mathbb Z_n^m$, and whose arc set is uniquely determined by the action $M\!:\!\mathbb Z_n^m\to \mathbb Z_n^m$ where $M$ is an $m\times m$ matrix with integer entries. We study the manner in which properties of move graphs differ when one varies the choice of cyclic group $\mathbb Z_n$. Our principal focus is on a special family of such graphs, which we refer to as ``sub-add move graphs.''

math.CO↗
arXiv2022

Bayesian Active Learning for Scanning Probe Microscopy: from Gaussian Processes to Hypothesis Learning

Recent progress in machine learning methods, and the emerging availability of programmable interfaces for scanning probe microscopes (SPMs), have propelled automated and autonomous microscopies to the forefront of attention of the scientific community. However, enabling automated microscopy requires the development of task-specific machine learning methods, understanding the interplay between physics discovery and machine learning, and fully defined discovery workflows. This, in turn, requires balancing the physical intuition and prior knowledge of the domain scientist with rewards that define experimental goals and machine learning algorithms that can translate these to specific experimental protocols. Here, we discuss the basic principles of Bayesian active learning and illustrate its applications for SPM. We progress from the Gaussian Process as a simple data-driven method and Bayesian inference for physical models as an extension of physics-based functional fits to more complex deep kernel learning methods, structured Gaussian Processes, and hypothesis learning. These frameworks allow for the use of prior data, the discovery of specific functionalities as encoded in spectral data, and exploration of physical laws manifesting during the experiment. The discussed framework can be universally applied to all techniques combining imaging and spectroscopy, SPM methods, nanoindentation, electron microscopy and spectroscopy, and chemical imaging methods, and can be particularly impactful for destructive or irreversible measurements.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2022

Temperature-assisted Piezoresponse Force Microscopy: Probing Local Temperature-Induced Phase Transitions in Ferroics

Combination of local heating and biasing at the tip-surface junction in temperature-assisted piezoresponse force microscopy (tPFM) opens the pathway for probing local temperature induced phase transitions in ferroics, exploring the temperature dependence of polarization dynamics in ferroelectrics, and potentially discovering coupled phenomena driven by strong temperature- and electric field gradients. Here, we analyze the signal formation mechanism in tPFM and explore the interplay between thermal- and bias-induced switching in model ferroelectric materials. We further explore the contributions of the flexoelectric and thermopolarization effects to the local electromechanical response, and demonstrate that the latter can be significant for "soft" ferroelectrics. These results establish the framework for quantitative interpretation of tPFM observations, predict the emergence the non-trivial switching and relaxation phenomena driven by non-local thermal gradient-induced polarization switching, and open a pathway for exploring the physics of thermopolarization effects in various non-centrosymmetric and centrosymmetric materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2021

Autonomous Experiments in Scanning Probe Microscopy and Spectroscopy: Choosing Where to Explore Polarization Dynamics in Ferroelectrics

Polarization dynamics in ferroelectric materials are explored via the automated experiment in Piezoresponse Force Spectroscopy. A Bayesian Optimization framework for imaging is developed and its performance for a variety of acquisition and pathfinding functions is explored using previously acquired data. The optimized algorithm is then deployed on an operational scanning probe microscope (SPM) for finding areas of large electromechanical response in a thin film of PbTiO3, with metrics showing gains of ~3x in the sampling efficiency. This approach opens the pathway to perform more complex spectroscopies in SPM that were previously not possible due to time constraints and sample stability, tip wear, and/or stochastic sample damage that occurs at specific, a priori unknown spatial positions. Potential improvements to the framework to enable the incorporation of more prior information and improve efficiency further are discussed.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2021

Decoding the shift-invariant data: applications for band-excitation scanning probe microscopy

A shift-invariant variational autoencoder (shift-VAE) is developed as an unsupervised method for the analysis of spectral data in the presence of shifts along the parameter axis, disentangling the physically-relevant shifts from other latent variables. Using synthetic data sets, we show that the shift-VAE latent variables closely match the ground truth parameters. The shift VAE is extended towards the analysis of band-excitation piezoresponse force microscopy (BE-PFM) data, disentangling the resonance frequency shifts from the peak shape parameters in a model-free unsupervised manner. The extensions of this approach towards denoising of data and model-free dimensionality reduction in imaging and spectroscopic data are further demonstrated. This approach is universal and can also be extended to analysis of X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, Raman spectra, and other data sets.

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2021

Toward Decoding the Relationship between Domain Structure and Functionality in Ferroelectrics via Hidden Latent Variables

Polarization switching mechanisms in ferroelectric materials are fundamentally linked to local domain structure and presence of the structural defects, which both can act as nucleation and pinning centers and create local electrostatic and mechanical depolarization fields affecting wall dynamics. However, the general correlative mechanisms between domain structure and polarization dynamics are only weakly explored, precluding insight into the associated physical mechanisms. Here, the correlation between local domain structures and switching behavior in ferroelectric materials is explored using the convolutional encoder-decoder networks, enabling the image to spectral (im2spec) and spectral to image (spec2im) translations via encoding latent variables. The latter reflects the assumption that the relationship between domain structure and polarization switching is parsimonious, i.e. is based upon a small number of local mechanisms. The analysis of latent variables distributions and their real space representations provides insight into the predictability of the local switching behavior, and hence associated physical mechanisms. We further pose that the regions where these correlative relationships are violated, i.e. predictability of the polarization dynamics from domain structure is reduced, represent the obvious target for detailed studies, e.g. in the context of automated experiments. This approach provides a workflow to establish the presence of correlation between local spectral responses and local structure and can be universally applied to spectral imaging techniques such as PFM, scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and spectroscopy, and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM).

cond-mat.dis-nn↗
arXiv2021

Super-R BiFeO$_3$: Epitaxial stabilization of a low-symmetry phase with giant electromechanical response

Piezoelectrics interconvert mechanical energy and electric charge and are widely used in actuators and sensors. The best performing materials are ferroelectrics at a morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), where several phases can intimately coexist. Switching between these phases by electric field produces a large electromechanical response. In the ferroelectric BiFeO$_3$, strain can be used to create an MPB-like phase mixture and thus to generate large electric field dependent strains. However, this enhanced response occurs at localized, randomly positioned regions of the film, which potentially complicates nanodevice design. Here, we use epitaxial strain and orientation engineering in tandem - anisotropic epitaxy - to craft a hitherto unavailable low-symmetry phase of BiFeO$_3$ which acts as a structural bridge between the rhombohedral-like and tetragonal-like polymorphs. Interferometric displacement sensor measurements and first-principle calculations reveal that under external electric bias, this phase undergoes a transition to the tetragonal-like polymorph, generating a piezoelectric response enhanced by over 200%, and associated giant field-induced reversible strain. These results offer a new route to engineer giant electromechanical properties in thin films, with broader perspectives for other functional oxide systems.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2020

Phenomenological description of bright domain walls in ferroelectric-antiferroelectric layered chalcogenides

Recently, a layered ferroelectric CuInP2Se6 was shown to exhibit domain walls with locally enhanced piezoresponse - a striking departure from the observations of nominally zero piezoresponse in most ferroelectrics. Although it was proposed that such "bright" domain walls are phase-boundaries between ferri- and antiferroelectrically ordered regions of the materials, the physical mechanisms behind the existence and response of these boundaries remain to be understood. Here, using Landau-Ginzburg-Devonshire phenomenology combined with four sub-lattices model, we describe quantitatively the bright-contrast and dark-contrast domain boundaries between the antiferroelectric, ferroelectric or ferrielectric long-range ordered phases in a layered ferroelectric-antiferroelectric ferroics, such as CuInP2(S1-ySey)6

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2019

High-harmonic generation from an epsilon-near-zero material

High-harmonic generation (HHG) from a compact, solid-state medium is highly desirable for applications such as coherent attosecond pulse generation and extreme ultra-violet (EUV) spectroscopy, yet the typically weak conversion of pump light to HHG can largely hinder its applications. Here, we use a material operating in its epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) region, where the real part of its permittivity vanishes, to greatly boost the efficiency of the HHG process at the microscopic level. In experiments, we report high-harmonic emission up to the 9th order directly from a low-loss, solid-state ENZ medium: indium-doped cadmium oxide, with an excitation intensity at the GW cm-2 level. Furthermore, the observed HHG signal exhibits a pronounced spectral red-shift as well as linewidth broadening, resulting from the photo-induced electron heating and the consequent time-dependent resonant frequency of the ENZ film. Our results provide a novel nanophotonic platform for strong field physics, reveal new degrees of freedom for spectral and temporal control of HHG, and open up possibilities of compact solid-state attosecond light sources.

physics.app-ph↗
arXiv2017

Viscoelastic optical nonlocality of low-loss epsilon-near-zero nanofilms

Optical nonlocalities are elusive and hardly observable in traditional plasmonic materials like noble and alkali metals. Here we report experimental observation of viscoelastic nonlocalities in the infrared optical response of doped cadmium-oxide, epsilon-near-zero nanofilms. The nonlocality is detectable thanks to the low damping rate of conduction electrons and the virtual absence of interband transitions at infrared wavelengths. We describe the motion of conduction electrons using a hydrodynamic model for a viscoelastic fluid, and find excellent agreement with experimental results. The electrons elasticity blue-shifts the infrared plasmonic resonance associated with the main epsilon-near-zero mode, and triggers the onset of higher-order resonances due to the excitation of electron-pressure modes above the bulk plasma frequency. We also provide evidence of the existence of nonlocal damping, i.e., viscosity, in the motion of optically-excited conduction electrons using a combination of spectroscopic ellipsometry data and predictions based on the viscoelastic hydrodynamic model.

physics.optics↗