arXiv subjects

Liang Fu

Publications and source records attributed to Liang Fu.

At least 163 records · Page 9Linked to original sources

arXiv2021

Charge-$4e$ superconductivity from multi-component nematic pairing: Application to twisted bilayer graphene

We show that unconventional nematic superconductors with multi-component order parameter in lattices with three-fold and six-fold rotational symmetries support a charge-$4e$ vestigial superconducting phase above $T_c$. The charge-$4e$ state, which is a condensate of four-electron bound states that preserve the rotational symmetry of the lattice, is nearly degenerate with a competing vestigial nematic state, which is non-superconducting and breaks the rotational symmetry. This robust result is the consequence of a hidden discrete symmetry in the Ginzburg-Landau theory, which permutes quantities in the gauge sector and in the crystalline sector of the symmetry group. We argue that random strain generally favors the charge-$4e$ state over the nematic phase, as it acts as a random-mass to the former but as a random-field to the latter. Thus, we propose that two-dimensional inhomogeneous systems displaying nematic superconductivity, such as twisted bilayer graphene, provide a promising platform to realize the elusive charge-$4e$ superconducting phase.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Terahertz detection based on nonlinear Hall effect without magnetic field

We propose a method for broadband long-wavelength photodetection using the nonlinear Hall effect in non-centrosymmetric quantum materials. The inherently quadratic relation between transverse current and input voltage at zero magnetic field is used to rectify the incident terahertz or infrared electric field into a direct current, without invoking any diode. Our photodetector operates at zero external bias with fast response speed and has zero threshold voltage. Remarkably, the intrinsic current responsivity due to Berry curvature mechanism is a material property independent of the incident frequency or the scattering rate, which can be evaluated from first-principles electronic structure calculations. We identify the Weyl semimetal NbP for terahertz photodection with large current responsivity reaching $\sim 1$A/W without external bias.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Charge Transfer Excitations, Pair Density Waves, and Superconductivity in Moiré Materials

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers are a new class of tunable moiré systems attracting interest as quantum simulators of strongly-interacting electrons in two dimensions. In particular, recent theory predicts that the correlated insulator observed in WSe$_2$/WS$_2$ at half filling is a charge-transfer insulator similar to cuprates and, upon further hole doping, exhibits a transfer of charge from anion-like to cation-like orbitals at different locations in the moiré unit cell. In this work, we demonstrate that in this doped charge-transfer insulator, tightly-bound charge-2e excitations can form to lower the total electrostatic repulsion. This composite excitation, which we dub a trimer, consists of a pair of holes bound to a charge-transfer exciton. When the bandwidth of doped holes is small, trimers crystallize into insulating pair density waves at a sequence of commensurate doping levels. When the bandwidth becomes comparable to the pair binding energy, itinerant holes and charge-2e trimers interact resonantly, leading to unconventional superconductivity similar to superfluidity in an ultracold Fermi gas near Feshbach resonance. Our theory is broadly applicable to strongly-interacting charge-transfer insulators, such as WSe$_2$/WS$_2$ or TMD homobilayers under an applied electric field.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Quantum frequency doubling in the topological insulator Bi2Se3

The nonlinear Hall effect due to Berry curvature dipole (BCD) induces frequency doubling, which was recently observed in time-reversal-invariant materials. Here we report novel electric frequency doubling in the absence of BCD on a surface of the topological insulator Bi2Se3 under zero magnetic field. We observe that the frequency-doubling voltage transverse to the applied ac current shows a threefold rotational symmetry, whereas it forbids BCD. One of the mechanisms compatible with the symmetry is skew scattering, arising from the inherent chirality of the topological surface state. We introduce the Berry curvature triple, a high-order moment of the Berry curvature, to explain skew scattering under the threefold rotational symmetry. Our work paves the way to obtain a giant second-order nonlinear electric effect in high mobility quantum materials, as the skew scattering surpasses other mechanisms in the clean limit.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Coexistence of antiferromagnetism and topological superconductivity on the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model

Motivated by the recent numerical simulations for doped $t$-$J$ model on the honeycomb lattice, we study superconductivity of singlet and triplet pairing on the honeycomb lattice Hubbard model. We show that a superconducting state with coexisting spin-singlet and spin-triplet pairings is induced by the antiferromagnetic order near half filling. The superconducting state we obtain has a topological phase transition that separates a topologically trivial state and a nontrivial state with Chern number two. Possible experimental realization of such a topological superconductivity is also discussed.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Topological metals and finite-momentum superconductors

We show that Zeeman field can induce a topological transition in two-dimensional spin-orbit coupled metals, and concomitantly, a first-order phase transition in the superconducting state involving a discontinuous change of Cooper pair momentum. Depending on the spin-orbit coupling strength, we find different phase diagrams of 2D superconductors under in-plane magnetic field.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Excitonic density wave and spin-valley superfluid in bilayer transition metal dichalcogenide

Artificial moiré superlattices in 2d van der Waals heterostructure is a new venue for realizing and controlling correlated electronic phenomena. Recently, twisted bilayer WSe$_2$ emerged as a new robust moiré system hosting a correlated insulator at moiré half-filling over a range of twist angle. In this work, we present a theory of this insulating state as an excitonic density wave due to intervalley electron-hole pairing. We show that exciton condensation is strongly enhanced by a van Hove singularity near the Fermi level. Our theory explains the remarkable sensitivity of the insulating gap to the vertical electric field. In contrast, the gap is weakly reduced by a perpendicular magnetic field, with quadratic dependence at low field. The different responses to electric and magnetic field can be understood in terms of pair-breaking versus non-pair-breaking effects in a BCS analog of the system. We further predict superfluid spin transport in this electrical insulator, which can be detected by optical spin injection and spatial-temporal imaging.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Quantized Thermoelectric Hall Effect Induces Giant Power Factor in a Topological Semimetal

Thermoelectrics are promising by directly generating electricity from waste heat. However, (sub-)room-temperature thermoelectrics have been a long-standing challenge due to vanishing electronic entropy at low temperatures. Topological materials offer a new avenue for energy harvesting applications. Recent theories predicted that topological semimetals at the quantum limit can lead to a large, non-saturating thermopower and a quantized thermoelectric Hall conductivity approaching a universal value. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the non-saturating thermopower and quantized thermoelectric Hall effect in the topological Weyl semimetal (WSM) tantalum phosphide (TaP). An ultrahigh longitudinal thermopower Sxx= 1.1x10^3 muV/K and giant power factor ~525 muW/cm/K^2 are observed at ~40K, which is largely attributed to the quantized thermoelectric Hall effect. Our work highlights the unique quantized thermoelectric Hall effect realized in a WSM toward low-temperature energy harvesting applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Clean 2D superconductivity in a bulk van der Waals superlattice

Advances in low-dimensional superconductivity are often realized through improvements in material quality. Apart from a small group of organic materials, there is a near absence of clean-limit two-dimensional (2D) superconductors, which presents an impediment to the pursuit of numerous long-standing predictions for exotic superconductivity with fragile pairing symmetries. Here, we report the development of a bulk superlattice consisting of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) superconductor 2$H$-niobium disulfide (2$H$-NbS$_2$) and a commensurate block layer that yields dramatically enhanced two-dimensionality, high electronic quality, and clean-limit inorganic 2D superconductivity. The structure of this material may naturally be extended to generate a distinct family of 2D superconductors, topological insulators, and excitonic systems based on TMDs with improved material properties.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Tunable vortex Majorana zero modes in LiFeAs superconductor

The recent realization of pristine Majorana zero modes (MZMs) in vortices of iron-based superconductors (FeSCs) provides a promising platform for long-sought-after fault-tolerant quantum computation. A large topological gap between the MZMs and the lowest excitations enabled detailed characterization of vortex MZMs in those materials. Despite those achievements, a practical implementation of topological quantum computation based on MZM braiding remains elusive in this new Majorana platform. Among the most pressing issues are the lack of controllable tuning methods for vortex MZMs and inhomogeneity of the FeSC Majorana compounds that destroys MZMs during the braiding process. Thus, the realization of tunable vortex MZMs in a truly homogeneous compound of stoichiometric composition and with a charge neutral cleavage surface is highly desirable. Here we demonstrate experimentally that the stoichiometric superconductor LiFeAs is a good candidate to overcome these two obstacles. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we discover that the MZMs, which are absent on the natural surface, can appear in vortices influenced by native impurities. Our detailed analysis and model calculations clarify the mechanism of emergence of MZMs in this material, paving a way towards MZMs tunable by controllable methods such as electrostatic gating. The tunability of MZMs in this homogeneous material offers an unprecedented platform to manipulate and braid MZMs, the essential ingredients for topological quantum computation.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Discovery of segmented Fermi surface induced by Cooper pair momentum

Since the early days of Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory, it has been predicted that a sufficiently large supercurrent can close the energy gap in a superconductor and creates gapless Bogoliubov quasiparticles through the Doppler shift of quasiparticle energy due to the Cooper pair momentum. In this gapless superconducting state, zero-energy quasiparticles reside on a segment of the normal state Fermi surface, while its remaining part is still gapped. The finite density of states of field-induced quasiparticles, known as the Volovik effect, has been observed in tunneling and specific heat measurements on d- and s-wave superconductors. However, the segmented Fermi surface of a finite-momentum state carrying a supercurrent has never been detected directly. Here we use quasiparticle interference (QPI) technique to image field-controlled Fermi surface of Bi$_2$Te$_3$ thin films proximitized by the superconductor NbSe$_2$. By applying a small in-plane magnetic field, a screening supercurrent is induced which leads to finite-momentum pairing on topological surface states of Bi$_2$Te$_3$. Our measurements and analysis reveal the strong impact of finite Cooper pair momentum on the quasiparticle spectrum, and thus pave the way for STM study of pair density wave and FFLO states in unconventional superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Enhanced Superconductivity in Monolayer $T_d$-MoTe$_2$ with Tilted Ising Spin Texture

Crystalline two-dimensional (2D) superconductors with low carrier density are an exciting new class of materials in which superconductivity coexists with strong interactions, the effects of complex topology are not obscured by disorder, and electronic properties can be strongly tuned by electrostatic gating. Very recently, two such materials, 'magic-angle' twisted bilayer graphene and monolayer $T_d$-WTe$_2$, have been reported to show superconductivity at temperatures near 1 K. Here we report superconductivity in semimetallic monolayer $T_d$-MoTe$_2$. The critical temperature $T_\textrm{c}$ reaches 8 K, a sixty-fold enhancement as compared to the bulk. This anomalous increase in $T_\textrm{c}$ is only observed in monolayers, and may be indicative of electronically mediated pairing. Reflecting the low carrier density, the critical temperature, magnetic field, and current density are all tunable by an applied gate voltage, revealing a superconducting dome that extends across both hole and electron pockets. The temperature dependence of the in-plane upper critical field is distinct from that of $2H$ transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), consistent with a tilted spin texture as predicted by \textit{ab initio} theory.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2020

Enhanced anomalous Nernst effect in disordered Dirac and Weyl materials

We analyze the thermoelectric response of Dirac and Weyl semimetals using the semiclassical approach, focusing on the extrinsic contributions due to skew-scattering and side jump. Our results apply to linear response Nernst effect in ferromagnetic Dirac materials such as Fe$_3$Sn$_2$, Weyl semimetal Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$ and to second order response of monolayer graphene on hBN with trigonal warping. Our analysis indicates that the extrinsic contributions can be a significant component of anomalous Nernst response and used to explain an enhanced thermoelectric response.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Stripe phases in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices

Stripe phases, in which the rotational symmetry of charge density is spontaneously broken, occur in many strongly correlated systems with competing interactions. One representative example is the copper-oxide superconductors, where stripe order is thought to be relevant to the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity. Identifying and studying the stripe phases in conventional strongly correlated systems are, however, challenging due to the complexity and limited tunability of these materials. Here we uncover stripe phases in WSe2/WS2 moiré superlattices with continuously gate-tunable charge densities by combining optical anisotropy and electronic compressibility measurements. We find strong electronic anisotropy over a large doping range peaked at 1/2 filling of the moiré superlattice. The 1/2-state is incompressible and assigned to a (insulating) stripe crystal phase. It can be continuously melted by thermal fluctuations around 35 K. The domain configuration revealed by wide-field imaging shows a preferential alignment along the high-symmetry axes of the moiré superlattice. Away from 1/2 filling, we observe additional stripe crystals at commensurate filling 1/4, 2/5 and 3/5. The anisotropy also extends into the compressible regime of the system at incommensurate fillings, indicating the presence of electronic liquid crystal states. The observed filling-dependent stripe phases agree with the theoretical phase diagram of the extended Hubbard model on a triangular lattice in the flat band limit. Our results demonstrate that two-dimensional semiconductor moiré superlattices are a highly tunable platform to study the stripe phases and their interplay with other symmetry breaking ground states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Moiré quantum chemistry: charge transfer in transition metal dichalcogenide superlattices

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) bilayers have recently emerged as a robust and tunable moiré system for studying and designing correlated electron physics. In this work, by combining large-scale first principle calculation and continuum model approach, we provide an electronic structure theory that maps long-period heterobilayer TMD superlattices onto diatomic crystals with cations and anions. We find that the interplay between moiré potential and Coulomb interaction leads to filling-dependent charge transfer between MM and MX regions several nanometers apart. We show that the insulating state at half-filling found in recent experiments on WSe$_2$/WS$_2$ is a charge-transfer insulator rather than a Mott-Hubbard insulator. Our work reveals the richness of simplicity in moiré quantum chemistry.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Creating Majorana modes from segmented Fermi surface

We present a new platform for creating Majorana bound states from 2D gapless superconducting state in spin-helical systems under the in-plane Zeeman field. Topological 1D channels are formed by quantum confinement of quasiparticles via Andreev reflection from the surrounding fully gapped superconducting region. Our proposal can be realized using narrow strips of magnetic insulators on top of proximitized 3D topological insulators. This setup has key advantages that include: small Zeeman fields, no required fine-tuning of chemical potential, removal of the low-energy detrimental states, and large attainable topological gap.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Local Probes for Quantum Hall Ferroelectrics and Nematics

Two-dimensional multi-valley electronic systems in which the dispersion of individual pockets has low symmetry give rise to quantum Hall ferroelectric and nematic states in the presence of strong quantising magnetic fields. We investigate local signatures of these states arising near impurities that can be probed via Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy (STM) spectroscopy. For quantum Hall ferroelectrics, we demonstrate a direct relation between the dipole moment measured at impurity bound states and the ideal bulk dipole moment obtained from the modern theory of polarisation. We also study the many-body problem with a single impurity via exact diagonalization and find that near strong impurities non-trivial excitonic state can form with specific features that can be easily identified via STM spectroscopy.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

DMFT reveals the non-Hermitian topology in heavy-fermion systems

We find that heavy fermion systems can have bulk "Fermi arcs", with the use of the non-Hermitian topological theory. In an interacting electron system, the microscopic many-body Hamiltonian is Hermitian, but the one-body quasiparticle Hamiltonian is non-Hermitian due to the finite quasiparticle lifetime. We focus on heavy electron systems as a stage of finite lifetime quasiparticles with two lifetimes, since quasiparticle lifetimes for f-electrons and c-electrons should be different. Two lifetimes induce exceptional points (EPs) of the non-Hermitian quasiparticle Hamiltonian matrix in momentum space. The line connecting between two EPs characterizes the bulk Fermi arcs. With the use of the dynamical mean field theory (DMFT) calculation, we confirm our statement in Kondo insulators with a momentum-dependent hybridization in two-dimensions. We show that the concept of the EPs in the non-Hermitian quasiparticle Hamiltonian is one of powerful tools to predict new phenomena in strongly correlated electron systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗