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László Oroszlány

Publications and source records attributed to László Oroszlány.

33 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

Competition of trivial and topological phases in patterned graphene based heterostructures

We explore the effect of mechanical strain on the electronic spectrum of patterned graphene based heterostructures. We focus on the competition of Kekulé-O type distortion favoring a trivial phase and commensurate Kane-Mele type spin-orbit coupling generating a topological phase. We derive a simple low-energy Dirac Hamiltonian incorporating the two gap promoting mechanisms and include terms corresponding to uniaxial strain. The derived effective model explains previous ab initio results through a simple physical picture. We show that while the trivial gap is sensitive to mechanical distortions, the topological gap stays resilient.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Kooplex: collaborative data analytics portal for advancing sciences

Research collaborations are continuously emerging catalyzed by online platforms, where people can share their codes, calculations, data and results. These virtual research platforms are innovative, community oriented, flexible and secure as required by modern scientific approaches. A wide range of open source and commercial solutions are available in this field emphasizing the relevant aspects of such a platform differently. In this paper we present our open source and modular platform, KOOPLEX, which combines the key concepts of dynamic collaboration, customizable research environment, data sharing, access to datahubs, reproducible research and reporting. It is easily deployable and scalable to serve more users or access large computational resources.

cs.SE↗

Topological Phase Diagram of BiTeX--Graphene Hybrid Structures

Combining graphene with other novel layered materials is a possible way for engineering the band structure of charge carriers. Strong spin-orbit coupling in BiTeX compounds and the recent fabrication of a single layer of BiTeI points towards a feasible experimental realization of a Kane--Mele phase in graphene-based heterostructures. Here, we theoretically demonstrate the tunability of the topological phase of hybrid systems built from graphene and BiTeX (X = I, Br, Cl) layers by uniaxial in-plane tensile and out-of plane compressive strain. We show that structural stress inherently present in fabricated samples could induce a topological phase transition, thus turning the sample in a novel experimental realization of a time reversal invariant topological insulator.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

Poor man's topological quantum gate based on the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model

Topological properties of quantum systems could provide protection of information against environmental noise, and thereby drastically advance their potential in quantum information processing. Most proposals for topologically protected quantum gates are based on many-body systems, e.g., fractional quantum Hall states, exotic superconductors, or ensembles of interacting spins, bearing an inherent conceptual complexity. Here, we propose and study a topologically protected quantum gate, based on a one-dimensional single-particle tight-binding model, known as the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain. The proposed $Y$ gate acts in the two-dimensional zero-energy subspace of a Y junction assembled from three chains, and is based on the spatial exchange of the defects supporting the zero-energy modes. With numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the gate is robust against hopping disorder but is corrupted by disorder in the on-site energy. Then we show that this robustness is topological protection, and that it arises as a joint consequence of chiral symmetry, time-reversal symmetry and the spatial separation of the zero-energy modes bound to the defects. This setup will most likely not lead to a practical quantum computer, nevertheless it does provide valuable insight to aspects of topological quantum computing as an elementary minimal model. Since this model is non-interacting and non-superconducting, its dynamics can be studied experimentally, e.g., using coupled optical waveguides.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Uniaxial Strain Induced Topological Phase Transition in Bismuth-Tellurohalide-Graphene Heterostructures

We explore the electronic structure and topological phase diagram of heterostructures formed of graphene and ternary bismuth tellurohalide layers. We show that mechanical strain inherently present in fabricated samples could induce a topological phase transition in single-sided heterostructures, turning the sample into a novel experimental realisation of a time reversal invariant topological insulator. We construct an effective tight binding description for low energy excitations and fit the model's parameters to ab initio band structures. We propose a simple approach for predicting phase boundaries as a function of mechanical distortions and hence gain a deeper understanding on how the topological phase in the considered system may be engineered.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Exchange interactions from a nonorthogonal basis set: from bulk ferromagnets to the magnetism in low-dimensional graphene systems

We present a computational method to determine the exchange constants in isotropic spin models. The method uses the Hamiltonian and overlap matrices computed from density functional schemes that are based on nonorthogonal basis sets. We demonstrate that the new method as implemented in the SIESTA code reproduces the Heisenberg interactions of simple metallic bulk ferromagnets as obtained from former well--established computational approaches. Then we address $sp$ magnetism in graphene nanostructures. For fluorinated graphene we obtain exchange interactions in fairly good agreement with previous calculations using maximally localized Wannier functions and we confirm the theoretical prediction of a 120$^\circ$ Néel state. Associated with the magnetic edge-states of a zigzag graphene nanoribbon we find rapidly decaying exchange interactions, however, with an unconventional distance dependence of $\exp(-\sqrt{r/δ})$. We show that the stiffness constant derived from the exchange interactions is consistent with previous estimate based on total energy differences of twisted spin configurations. We highlight that our method is an efficient tool for the analysis of novel hybrid nano-structures where metallic and organic components are integrated to form exotic magnetic patterns.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Topological and trivial magnetic oscillations in nodal loop semimetals

Nodal loop semimetals are close descendants of Weyl semimetals and possess a topologically dressed band structure. We argue by combining the conventional theory of magnetic oscillation with topological arguments that nodal loop semimetals host coexisting topological and trivial magnetic oscillations. These originate from mapping the topological properties of the extremal Fermi surface cross sections onto the physics of two dimensional semi Dirac systems, stemming from merging two massless Dirac cones. By tuning the chemical potential and the direction of magnetic field, a sharp transition is identified separating purely trivial oscillations, arising from the Landau levels of a normal two dimensional (2D) electron gas, to a phase where oscillations of topological and trivial origin coexist, originating from 2D massless Dirac and semi Dirac points, respectively. These could in principle be directly identified in current experiments.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Exfoliation of single layer BiTeI flakes

Spin orbit interaction can be strongly boosted when a heavy element is embedded into an inversion asymmetric crystal field. A simple structure to realize this concept in a 2D crystal contains three atomic layers, a middle one built up from heavy elements generating strong atomic spin-orbit interaction and two neighboring atomic layers with different electron negativity. BiTeI is a promising candidate for such a 2D crystal, since it contains heavy Bi layer between Te and I layers. Recently the bulk form of BiTeI attracted considerable attention due to its giant Rashba interaction, however, 2D form of this crystal was not yet created. In this work we report the first exfoliation of single layer BiTeI using a recently developed exfoliation technique on stripped gold. Our combined scanning probe studies and first principles calculations show that SL BiTeI flakes with sizes of 100 $μ$m were achieved which are stable at ambient conditions. The giant Rashba splitting and spin-momentum locking of this new member of 2D crystals open the way towards novel spintronic applications and synthetic topological heterostructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Precursor configurations and post-rupture evolution of Ag-CO-Ag single-molecule junctions

Experimental correlation analysis and first-principles theory are used to probe the structure and evolution of Ag-CO-Ag single-molecule junctions, both before the formation, and after the rupture of the junctions. Two dimensional correlation histograms and conditional histograms demonstrate that prior to the single-molecule bridge configuration the CO molecule is already bound parallel to the Ag single-atom contact. This molecular precursor configuration is accompanied by the opening of additional conductance channels compared to the single-channel transport in pure Ag monoatomic junctions. To investigate the post-rupture evolution of the junction we introduce a cross-correlation analysis between the opening and the subsequent closing conductance traces. This analysis implies that the molecule is bound rigidly to the apex of one electrode, and so the same single-molecule configuration is re-established as the junction is closed. The experimental results are confirmed by ab initio simulations of the evolution of contact geometries, transmission eigenvalues and scattering wavefunctions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

A Short Course on Topological Insulators: Band-structure topology and edge states in one and two dimensions

This course-based primer provides newcomers to the field with a concise introduction to some of the core topics in the emerging field of topological band insulators in one and two dimensions. The aim is to provide a basic understanding of edge states, bulk topological invariants, and of the bulk--boundary correspondence with as simple mathematical tools as possible. We use noninteracting lattice models of topological insulators, building gradually on these to arrive from the simplest one-dimensional case (the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model for polyacetylene) to two-dimensional time-reversal invariant topological insulators (the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model for HgTe). In each case the model is introduced first and then its properties are discussed and subsequently generalized. The only prerequisite for the reader is a working knowledge in quantum mechanics, the relevant solid state physics background is provided as part of this self-contained text, which is complemented by end-of-chapter problems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Magnetism of gadolinium: a first-principles perspective

By calculating the spectral density of states in the ferromagnetic (FM) ground state and in the high temperature paramagnetic (PM) phase we provide the first concise study of finite temperature effects on the electronic structure of the bulk and the surface of gadolinium metal. The variation of calculated spectral properties of the Fermi surface and the density of states in the bulk and at the surface are in good agreement with recent photoemission experiments performed in both ferromagnetic and paramagnetic phases. In the paramagnetic state we find vanishing spin splitting of the conduction band, but finite local spin moments both in bulk and at the surface. We clearly demonstrate that the formation of these local spin moments in the conduction band is due to the asymmetry of the density of states in the two spin channels, suggesting a complex, non-Stoner behavior. We, therefore, suggest that the vanishing or nearly vanishing spin splitting of spectral features cannot be used as an indicator for Stoner-like magnetism.

cond-mat.str-el↗

Diverging dc conductivity due to a flat band in disordered pseudospin-1 Dirac-Weyl fermions

Several lattices, such as the dice or the Lieb lattice, possess Dirac cones and a flat band crossing the Dirac point, whose effective model is the pseudospin-1 Dirac-Weyl equation. We investigate the fate of the flat band in the presence of disorder by focusing on the density of states (DOS) and dc conductivity. While the central hub-site does not reveal the presence of the flat band, the sublattice resolved DOS on the non-central sites exhibits a narrow peak with height ~ 1/\sqrt{g} with g the dimensionless disorder variance. Although the group velocity is zero on the flat band, the dc conductivity diverges as ln(1/g) with decreasing disorder due to interband transitions around the band touching point between the propagating and the flat band. Generalizations to higher pseudospin are given.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Intraband electron focusing in bilayer graphene

We propose an implementation of a valley selective electronic Veselago lens in bilayer graphene. We demonstrate that in the presence of an appropriately oriented potential step, low-energy electrons radiating from a point source can be re-focused coherently within the same band. The phenomenon is due to the trigonal warping of the band structure that leads to a negative refraction index. We show that the interference pattern can be controlled by an external mechanical strain.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

Effect of the band structure topology on the minimal conductivity for bilayer graphene with symmetry breaking

Using the Kubo formula we develop a general and simple expression for the minimal conductivity in systems described by a two by two Hamiltonian. As an application we derive an analytical expression for the minimal conductivity tensor of bilayer graphene as a function of a complex parameter $w$ related to recently proposed symmetry breaking mechanisms resulting from electron-electron interaction or strain applied to the sample. The number of Dirac points changes with varying parameter w, this directly affect the minimal conductivity. Our analytic expression is confirmed using an independent calculation based on Landauer approach and we find remarkably good agreement between the two methods. We demonstrate that the minimal conductivity is very sensitive to the change of the parameter $w$ and the orientation of the electrodes with respect to the sample. Our results show that the minimal conductivity is closely related to the topology of the low energy band structure.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗