arXiv subjects

Ming Yi

Publications and source records attributed to Ming Yi.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

High-Temperature ferromagnetism from site-selective filling in (Fe,Ni)$_{6-\delta}$GeTe$_2$

The discovery of high-temperature ferromagnetism in the metallic van der Waals (vdW) system Fe$_N$GeTe$_2$ has brought two-dimensional (2D) magnets into technologically relevant temperature scales. Specifically at N = 5, dilution of magnetic moments by nickel substitution counterintuitively achieves a record high Curie temperature of 478~K. Unraveling the origin of this nickel-substitution-induced enhancement is complicated by the compound's structural complexity, coexistent itinerant and local magnetic contributions, and mesoscopic compositional domains. Through coordinated structural and electronic characterization, we identify that the high-T$_C$ magnetic phase arises from a strain-stabilized Fe$_6$GeTe$_2$ nano-precipitate. Combining first-principles calculations and spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we uncover a site-specific electronic landscape in which interior iron atoms primarily host localized moments while the outer iron atoms neighboring the tellurium layers produce spin-polarized itinerant carriers that cross the vdW gap. The large energy cost associated with homogeneous nickel substitution is found to favor the spontaneous precipitation of the crystallographically and electronically ``clean'' high-T$_C$ phase. Finally, we compare metal-rich vdW magnets with binary magnetic alloys, and discuss the unifying roles of nano-precipitates in stabilizing otherwise unattainable bulk phases. Our work provides mechanistic insights into the record-high T$_C$ ferromagnetism in (Fe,Ni)$_{5+\delta}$GeTe$_2$, establishing a rigorous foundation for the atomic engineering of vdW magnetic metals informed by direct electronic signatures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2026

A Few-Shot LLM Framework for Extreme Day Classification in Electricity Markets

This paper proposes a few-shot classification framework based on Large Language Models (LLMs) to predict whether the next day will have spikes in real-time electricity prices. The approach aggregates system state information, including electricity demand, renewable generation, weather forecasts, and recent electricity prices, into a set of statistical features that are formatted as natural-language prompts and fed to an LLM along with general instructions. The model then determines the likelihood that the next day would be a spike day and reports a confidence score. Using historical data from the Texas electricity market, we demonstrate that this few-shot approach achieves performance comparable to supervised machine learning models, such as Support Vector Machines and XGBoost, and outperforms the latter two when limited historical data are available. These findings highlight the potential of LLMs as a data-efficient tool for classifying electricity price spikes in settings with scarce data.

cs.LG↗

arXiv2026

Atomically-sharp magnetic soliton in the square-net lattice EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$

Topological spin textures are hallmark manifestations of competing interactions in magnetic matter. Their effective description by nonlinear field theories reflects an energetic frustration that destabilizes uniform order while selecting finite-size, topologically nontrivial configurations as stationary states. Among the most extreme realizations are atomically-sharp domain wall excitations, namely one-dimensional (1D) magnetic solitons, which represent the ultimate scaling limit of magnetic textures. Such solitons may emerge in magnetic systems where effective exchange interactions compete directly with uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. Here we show that the square-net rare earth compound EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ realizes a very susceptible regime where the magnetic anisotropy competes with highly frustrated exchange interactions stabilizing a rare ferrimagnetic $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ state that, under applied magnetic field, supports the formation of atomically-sharp soliton defects. We confirm the bulk response of the 1D magnetic solitons via magnetization and electrical transport measurements. We establish both the zero- and in-field $\uparrow\uparrow\downarrow$ order via neutron diffraction, while magnetic force microscopy visualizes its real-space evolution into a stripe-like array. To elucidate the microscopic origin of the soliton, we relate the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY)-driven exchange interactions and the magnetic anisotropy through density functional theory, and we construct an effective 1D $J_{1}$-$J_{2}$-$K$ model whose atomistic spin dynamics simulations reproduce the observed soliton states as a function of external field. Our results demonstrate that EuRhAl$_{4}$Si$_{2}$ hosts atomically-sharp, field-driven 1D magnetic solitons, providing a new platform for studying 1D topological excitations at the atomic length scale.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Magnetic field-induced momentum-dependent symmetry breaking in a kagome superconductor

When multiple degrees of freedom share similar energy scales in quantum materials, intertwined electronic orders, which exhibit broken symmetries, are often strongly coupled. Recent studies on kagome superconductors such as CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ report rotational and time-reversal symmetry breaking linked to a charge density wave. Here, we observe a momentum-selective response of the electronic structure of CsV$_3$Sb$_5$ to an external magnetic field. By performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in a tuneable magnetic field, we demonstrate that the response of the electronic structure is compatible with piezomagnetism along with strong orbital selectivity. Our results show that the origin of the time-reversal symmetry breaking is associated with the vanadium Van Hove singularities at the onset of the charge density wave order. We also demonstrate the presence of fluctuations beyond the charge ordering temperature. Our results reveal that magnetic fields can be used as tuning knobs for disentangling intertwined orders in the momentum space for quantum materials.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Evidence for itinerant electron-local moment interaction in Li-doped $\alpha$-MnTe

We use inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to study the impact of Li doping on the semiconducting altermagnet $\alpha$-MnTe. Introducing Li results in a spin reorientation from in-plane to out-of-plane direction and increases the density of itinerant carriers. While our ARPES measurements do not indicate any notable doping-induced changes in the electronic band structure or the magnitude of the altermagnetic band splitting, our INS measurements reveal an abrupt carrier-induced decrease in the spin wave lifetime near the zone boundary at high energies. This finding is consistent with a new magnon decay channel driven by doping-induced subtle changes in the band structure and enhanced interactions between Mn$^{2+}$ local moments and itinerant electrons. By extracting the local dynamic susceptibility from INS spectra and applying the total moment sum rule, we find that both undoped and Li-doped $\alpha$-MnTe exhibit the full expected Mn$^{2+}$ local moment of $\approx5.9~\mu_\mathrm{B}$ with $S=5/2$. These findings suggest that $\alpha$-MnTe hosts robust local-moment altermagnetism which shows a breakdown at high energies upon addition of itinerant carriers, highlighting the importance of carrier-spin coupling in magneto-transport and spin dynamic properties of altermagnets even in the dilute-carrier limit.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Online Energy Storage Arbitrage under Imperfect Predictions: A Conformal Risk-Aware Approach

This work proposes a conformal approach for energy storage arbitrage to control the downside risk arising from imperfect price forecasts. Energy storage arbitrage relies solely on predictions of future market prices, while inaccurate price predictions may lead to significant profit losses. Based on conformal decision theory, we describe a controller that dynamically adjusts decision conservativeness through prediction sets without distributional assumptions. To enable online calibration when online profit loss feedback is unobservable, we establish that a temporal difference error serves as a measurable proxy. Building on this insight, we develop two online calibration strategies: prediction error-based adaptation targeting forecast accuracy, and value error-based calibration focusing on decision quality. Analysis of the conformal controller proves bounded long-term risk with convergence guarantees in temporal difference error, which further effectively manages risk exposure in potential profit losses. Case studies demonstrate superior performance in balancing risk and opportunity compared to benchmarks under varying forecast conditions.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Quantum oscillations and anisotropic magnetoresistance in the quasi-two-dimensional Dirac nodal line superconductor $\mathrm{YbSb_2}$

Recent interest in quantum materials has focused on systems exhibiting both superconductivity and non-trivial band topology as material candidates to realize topological or unconventional superconducting states. So far, superconductivity in most topological materials has been identified as type II. In this work, we present magnetotransport studies on the quasi-two-dimensional type I superconductor $\mathrm{YbSb_2}$. Combined ab initio DFT calculations and quantum oscillation measurements confirm that $\mathrm{YbSb_2}$ is a Dirac nodal line semimetal in the normal state. The complex Fermi surface morphology is evidenced by the non-monotonic angular dependence of both the quantum oscillation amplitude and the magnetoresistance. Our results establish $\mathrm{YbSb_2}$ as a candidate material platform for exploring the interplay between band topology and superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Fermi surface and Berry phase analysis for Dirac nodal line semimetals: cautionary tale to SrGa$_2$ and BaGa$_2$

A Berry phase of odd multiples of $\pi$ inferred from quantum oscillations (QOs) has often been treated as evidence for nontrivial reciprocal space topology. However, disentangling the Berry phase values from the Zeeman effect and the orbital magnetic moment is often challenging. In centrosymmetric compounds, the case is simpler as the orbital magnetic moment contribution is negligible. Although the Zeeman effect can be significant, it is usually overlooked in most studies of QOs in centrosymmetric compounds. Here, we present a detailed study on the non-magnetic centrosymmetric $\mathrm{SrGa_2}$ and $\mathrm{BaGa_2}$, which are predicted to be Dirac nodal line semimetals (DNLSs) based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Evidence of the nontrivial topology is found in magnetotransport measurements. The Fermi surface topology and band structure are carefully studied through a combination of angle-dependent QOs, angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), and DFT calculations, where the nodal line is observed in the vicinity of the Fermi level. Strong de Haas-van Alphen fundamental oscillations associated with higher harmonics are observed in both compounds, which are well-fitted by the Lifshitz-Kosevich (LK) formula. However, even with the inclusion of higher harmonics in the fitting, we found that the Berry phases cannot be unambiguously determined when the Zeeman effect is included. We revisit the LK formula and analyze the phenomena and outcomes that were associated with the Zeeman effect in previous studies. Our experimental results confirm that $\mathrm{SrGa_2}$ and $\mathrm{BaGa_2}$ are Dirac nodal line semimetals. Additionally, we highlight the often overlooked role of spin-damping terms in Berry phase analysis.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Interacting spin and charge density waves in kagome metal FeGe

Unveiling the interplay between spin density wave (SDW) and charge density wave (CDW) orders in correlated electron materials is important to obtain a comprehensive understanding of their electronic, structural, and magnetic properties. Kagome lattice materials are interesting because their flat electronic bands, Dirac points, and van Hove singularities can enable a variety of exotic electronic and magnetic phenomena. The kagome metal FeGe, which exhibits a CDW order deep within an A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase, was found to respond dramatically to post-growth annealing - with the ability to tune the CDW repeatedly from long-range order to no (or extremely weak) order. Additionally, neutron scattering studies suggest that incommensurate magnetic peaks that onsets at $T_{Canting}$ = $T_{SDW} \approx$ 60 K in the system arise from a SDW order instead of the AFM double cone structure. Here we use inelastic neutron scattering to show two distinct spin excitations exist below $T_{Canting}$ corresponding to two coexisting magnetic orders in the system in both sets of annealed samples with and without CDW. While CDW order or no order can dramatically affect the onset temperature of $T_{Canting}$ and elastic incommensurate magnetic scattering, its impact on low-energy spin fluctuations is more limited. In both samples, a pair of gapless incommensurate spin excitations arising from the SDW order wavevector coexist with gapped commensurate spin waves from the A-type AFM order across $T_{Canting}$. Low-energy spin excitations for both samples couple dynamically to the lattice through enhanced magnetic scattering intensity on cooling below $T_{CDW}$, regardless the status of the static long-range CDW order. The incommensurate SDW order in the long-range CDW ordered sample also induces a tiny in-plane lattice distortion of the kagome lattice that is absent in the no CDW ordered sample.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Strain-tunability of the multipolar Berry curvature in altermagnet MnTe

The anomalous Hall effect describes the generation of a transverse voltage by a longitudinal current even in the absence of an external magnetic field. While typically observed in ferromagnets, it has also been predicted to arise in altermagnets, materials characterized by rotational symmetries that enable broken time reversal symmetry despite compensated collinear magnetic ordering. These symmetries enforce band (anti)crossings that can generate significant contributions to the Berry curvature that drives the anomalous Hall effect. This Berry curvature is predicted to exhibit a characteristic multipolar order, resulting in a symmetry-enforced distribution at or near net compensation which is highly sensitive to perturbations that distort this balance. However, exploring the predicted multipolar Berry curvature of altermagnets and its reversible manipulation remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate evidence for the multipolar nature of the altermagnetic Berry curvature in MnTe by tuning the anomalous Hall effect via uniaxial stress. Upon straining, the magnitude of the anomalous Hall conductivity changes and, at a critical strain of 0.14%, the sign is reversed. Symmetry analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal that this tunability is a direct consequence of the altermagnetic multipolar Berry curvature. Our results provide insight into the role of crystal and magnetic symmetries in the realization of higher-order Berry curvature distributions and their unique tunability.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Observation of mirror-odd and mirror-even spin texture in ultrathin epitaxially strained RuO2 films

Recently, rutile ruthenium dioxide (RuO$_2$) has attracted renewed interest due to expectations of prominent altermagnetic spin splitting. However, accumulating experimental evidence suggests that, in its bulk and thick-film forms, RuO$_2$ does not display any form of magnetic ordering. Despite this, the spin structure of RuO$_2$ remains largely unexplored in the ultrathin limit, where substrate-imposed epitaxial strain can be substantial. Here, we use spin-resolved angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, supported by ab initio calculations, to reveal the electronic structure of 2-nanometer-thick epitaxial RuO$_2$ heterostructures. We observe an unconventional spin texture characterized by the coexistence of mirror-even and mirror-odd momentum-dependent components. A comprehensive symmetry analysis rules out nonmagnetic origins of this spin texture. These findings suggest an emergent nonrelativistic spin structure enabled by epitaxial strain in the ultrathin limit, marking a distinct departure from the behavior of relaxed or bulk RuO$_2$. Our work opens previously unexplored perspectives for exploring symmetry-breaking mechanisms and spin textures in oxide heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Sub-tesla on-chip nanomagnetic metamaterial platform for angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy

Magnetically controlled states in quantum materials are central to their unique electronic and magnetic properties. However, direct momentum-resolved visualization of these states via angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) has been hindered by the disruptive effect of magnetic fields on photoelectron trajectories. Here, we introduce an \textit{in-situ} method that is, in principle, capable of applying magnetic fields up to 1 T. This method uses substrates composed of nanomagnetic metamaterial arrays with alternating polarity. Such substrates can generate strong, homogeneous, and spatially confined fields applicable to samples with thicknesses up to the micron scale, enabling ARPES measurements under magnetic fields with minimal photoelectron trajectory distortion. We demonstrate this minimal distortion with ARPES data taken on monolayer graphene. Our method paves the way for probing magnetic field-dependent electronic structures and studying field-tunable quantum phases with state-of-the-art energy-momentum resolutions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Thermoelectric evidence of the electronic structure changes from the charge-density-wave transition in FeGe

Kagome metals provide a material platform for probing new correlated quantum phenomena due to the naturally incorporated linear dispersions, flat bands, and Van Hove singularities in their electronic structures. Among these quantum phenomena is the charge density wave (CDW), or the distortion of the lattice structure due to the motion of correlated electrons through the material. CDWs lower the energy of the compound, creating an energy gap that facilitates behaviors akin to superconductivity, nonlinear transport, or other quantum correlated phenomena. The kagome metal FeGe has been shown to host a CDW transition at approximately 100 K, and its occurrence is strongly influenced by the sample annealing conditions. However, a notable gap in the literature is the lack of clear thermoelectric transport evidence for electronic structure changes associated with this CDW transition. Here we present evidence of electron behavior modification due to annealing disorder via thermoelectric measurements on FeGe crystals presenting a CDW transition and those without a CDW. The observed Nernst effect and Seebeck effect under sufficient annealing demonstrate modified electrical transport properties resulting from induced disorder, including a change in carrier sign and an enhancement of the Nernst effect due to the CDW. Our results provide evidence of multiple phase transitions, which confirms the influence of CDW on the thermal properties of FeGe and demonstrates the suppression of CDW with sufficient disordering.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Dichotomy of flat bands in the van der Waals ferromagnet Fe$_5$GeTe$_2$

Quantum materials with bands of narrow bandwidth near the Fermi level represent a promising platform for exploring a diverse range of fascinating physical phenomena, as the high density of states within the small energy window often enables the emergence of many-body physics. On one hand, flat bands can arise from strong Coulomb interactions that localize atomic orbitals. On the other hand, quantum destructive interference can quench the electronic kinetic energy. Although both have a narrow bandwidth, the two types of flat bands should exhibit very distinct spectral properties arising from their distinctive origins. So far, the two types of flat bands have only been realized in very different material settings and chemical environments, preventing a direct comparison. Here, we report the observation of the two types of flat bands within the same material system--an above-room-temperature van der Waals ferromagnet, Fe$_{5-x}$GeTe$_2$, distinguishable by a switchable iron site order. The contrasting nature of the flat bands is also identified by the remarkably distinctive temperature-evolution of the spectral features, indicating that one arises from electron correlations in the Fe(1) site-disordered phase, while the other geometrical frustration in the Fe(1) site-ordered phase. Our results therefore provide a direct juxtaposition of the distinct formation mechanism of flat bands in quantum materials, and an avenue for understanding the distinctive roles flat bands play in the presence of magnetism, topology, and lattice geometrical frustration, utilizing sublattice ordering as a key control parameter.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

A Decision-Focused Predict-then-Bid Framework for Strategic Energy Storage

This paper introduces a novel decision-focused framework for energy storage arbitrage bidding. Inspired by the bidding process for energy storage in electricity markets, we propose a predict-then-bid end-to-end method incorporating the storage arbitrage optimization and market clearing models. This is achieved through a tri-layer framework that combines a price prediction layer with a two-stage optimization problem: an energy storage optimization layer and a market-clearing optimization layer. We leverage the implicit function theorem for gradient computation in the first optimization layer and incorporate a perturbation-based approach into the decision-focused loss function to ensure differentiability in the market-clearing layer. Numerical experiments using electricity market data from New York demonstrate that our bidding design substantially outperforms existing methods, achieving the highest profits and showcasing the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

eess.SY↗

arXiv2025

Kramers nodal lines in intercalated TaS$_2$ superconductors

Kramers degeneracy is one fundamental embodiment of the quantum mechanical nature of particles with half-integer spin under time reversal symmetry. Under the chiral and noncentrosymmetric achiral crystalline symmetries, Kramers degeneracy emerges respectively as topological quasiparticles of Weyl fermions and Kramers nodal lines (KNLs), anchoring the Berry phase-related physics of electrons. However, an experimental demonstration for ideal KNLs well isolated at the Fermi level is lacking. Here, we establish a class of noncentrosymmetric achiral intercalated transition metal dichalcogenide superconductors with large Ising-type spin-orbit coupling, represented by In$_x$TaS$_2$, to host an ideal KNL phase. We provide evidence from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with spin resolution, angle-dependent quantum oscillation measurements, and ab-initio calculations. Our work not only provides a realistic platform for realizing and tuning KNLs in layered materials, but also paves the way for exploring the interplay between KNLs and superconductivity, as well as applications pertaining to spintronics, valleytronics, and nonlinear transport.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Conformal Uncertainty Quantification of Electricity Price Predictions for Risk-Averse Storage Arbitrage

This paper proposes a risk-averse approach to energy storage price arbitrage, leveraging conformal uncertainty quantification for electricity price predictions. The method addresses the significant challenges posed by the inherent volatility and uncertainty of real-time electricity prices, which create substantial risks of financial losses for energy storage participants relying on future price forecasts to plan their operations. The framework comprises a two-layer prediction model to quantify real-time price uncertainty confidence intervals with high coverage. The framework is distribution-free and can work with any underlying point prediction model. We evaluate the quantification effectiveness through storage price arbitrage application by managing the risk of participating in the real-time market. We design a risk-averse policy for profit-maximization of energy storage arbitrage to find the safest storage schedule with very minimal losses. Using historical data from New York State and synthetic price predictions, our evaluations demonstrate that this framework can achieve good profit margins with less than $35\%$ purchases.

math.OC↗

arXiv2024

Vacancy-induced suppression of CDW order and its impact on magnetic order in kagome antiferromagnet FeGe

Two-dimensional (2D) kagome lattice metals are interesting because they display flat electronic bands, Dirac points, Van Hove singularities, and can have interplay between charge density wave (CDW), magnetic order, and superconductivity. In kagome lattice antiferromagnet FeGe, a short-range CDW order was found deep within an antiferromagnetically ordered state, interacting with the magnetic order. Surprisingly, post-growth annealing of FeGe at 560$^{\circ}$C can suppress the CDW order while annealing at 320$^{\circ}$C induces a long-range CDW order, with the ability to cycle between the states repeatedly by annealing. Here we perform transport, neutron scattering, scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and muon spin rotation ($\mu$SR) experiments to unveil the microscopic mechanism of the annealing process and its impact on magneto-transport, CDW, and magnetic properties of FeGe. We find that 560$^{\circ}$C annealing creates germanium vacancies uniformly distributed throughout the FeGe kagome lattice, which prevent the formation of Ge-Ge dimers necessary for the CDW order. Upon annealing at 320$^{\circ}$C, the system segregates into stoichiometric FeGe regions with long-range CDW order and regions with stacking faults that act as nucleation sites for the CDW. The presence or absence of CDW order greatly affects the anomalous Hall effect, incommensurate magnetic order, and spin-lattice coupling in FeGe, thus placing FeGe as the only known kagome lattice material with a tunable CDW and magnetic order, potentially useful for sensing and information transmission.

cond-mat.str-el↗