arXiv subjects

Qian Niu

Publications and source records attributed to Qian Niu.

At least 127 records · Page 7Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Scaling parameters in anomalous and nonlinear Hall effects depend on temperature

In the study of the anomalous Hall effect, the scaling relations between the anomalous Hall and longitudinal resistivities play the central role. The scaling parameters by definition are fixed as the scaling variable (longitudinal resistivity) changes. Contrary to this paradigm, we unveil that the electron-phonon scattering can result in apparent temperature-dependence of scaling parameters when the longitudinal resistivity is tuned through temperature. An experimental approach is proposed to observe this hitherto unexpected temperature-dependence. We further show that this phenomenon also exists in the nonlinear Hall effect in nonmagnetic inversion-breaking materials and may help identify experimentally the presence of the side-jump contribution besides the Berry-curvature dipole.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Valley-Contrasting Orbital Magnetic Moment Induced Negative Magnetoresistance

The valley-contrasting orbital magnetic moment of Bloch electrons allows the lifting of valley degeneracy by an out-of-plane magnetic field. We demonstrate that this leads to negative magnetoresistance, utilizing a gapped two-dimensional multi-valley model as an example. An intuitive physical picture in terms of the increased carrier density from a magnetic gating effect is proposed for this negative magnetoresistance. In particular, giant negative magnetoresistance is achieved after one of the two valleys is depleted by the magnetic field. This new mechanism of negative magnetoresistance is argued to be relevant in ionic-liquid gated gapped graphene with small effective mass.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Temperature dependence of side-jump spin Hall conductivity

In the conventional paradigm of the spin Hall effect, the side-jump conductivity due to electron-phonon scattering is regarded to be temperature independent. To the contrary, we draw the distinction that, while this side-jump conductivity is temperature independent in the classical equipartition regime where the longitudinal resistivity is linear in temperature, it is temperature dependent below the equipartition regime. The mechanism resulting in this temperature dependence differs from the familiar one of the longitudinal resistivity. In the concrete example of Pt, we show that the change of the spin Hall conductivity with temperature can be as high as 50%. Experimentally accessible high-purity Pt is proposed to be suitable for observing this prominent variation below 80 K.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Theory of phonon side jump contribution in Anomalous Hall transport

The role of electron-phonon scattering in finite-temperature anomalous Hall effect is still poorly understood. In this work, we present a Boltzmann theory for the side-jump contribution from electron-phonon scattering, which is derived from the microscopic quantum mechanical theory. We show that the resulting phonon side-jump conductivity generally approaches different limiting values in the high and low temperature limits, and hence can exhibit strong temperature dependence in the intermediate temperature regime. Our theory is amenable to ab initio treatment, which makes quantitative comparison between theoretical and experimental results possible.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Out-of-plane carrier spin in transition-metal dichalcogenides under electric current

In a multilayer comprising ferromagnet and heavy metal, in-plane carrier spin is induced by applied electric current owing to Rashba spin-orbit coupling, while the out-of-plane component is absent. We propose the out-of-plane carrier spin can emerge in ferromagnetic transition-metal dichalcogenides monolayer, by symmetry arguments and first-principles calculations. An intrinsic spin-orbit coupling in the monolayer provides valley-contrasting Zeeman-type spin splitting for generating the vertical induced spin. The current direction can be exploited to tune the induced spin, accompanied with valley polarization. The exotic spin accumulation paves an accessible way for perpendicular magnetization switching and electric control of valleys.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Spin Hall effects without spin currents in magnetic insulators

The spin Hall effect (SHE) is normally discussed in terms of a spin current, which is ill-defined in strongly spin-orbit-coupled systems because of spin non-conservation. In this work we propose an alternative view of SHE phenomena by relating them to a spin analog of charge polarization induced by an electric field. The spin density polarization is most conveniently defined in insulators, which can have a SHE if they break time-reversal symmetry, i.e. if they are magnetic. The reciprocal of this SHE is a counterpart of the inverse SHE (ISHE), and is manifested in magnetic insulators as a charge polarization induced by a Zeeman field gradient. We use a modified Kane-Mele model to illustrate the magnetic spin Hall effect, and to discuss its bulk-boundary relationship.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Magnetic field influenced electron-impurity scattering and magnetotransport

We formulate a quasiclassical theory ($ω_cτ\lesssim 1$ with $ω_c$ as the cyclotron frequency and $τ$ as the relaxation time) to study the influence of magnetic field on electron-impurity scattering process in the two-dimensional electron gas. We introduce a general recipe based on an abstraction of the detailed impurity scattering process to define the scattering parameter such as the incoming and outgoing momentum and coordinate jump. In this picture, we can conveniently describe the skew scattering and coordinate jump, which will eventually modify the Boltzmann equation. We find an anomalous Hall resistivity different from the conventional Boltzmann-Drude result and a negative magnetoresistivity parabolic in magnetic field. The origin of these results has been analyzed. The relevance between our theory and recent simulation and experimental works is also discussed. Our theory dominates in dilute impurity system where the correlation effect is negligible.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Manipulating Anomalous Hall Antiferromagnets with Magnetic Fields

The symmetry considerations that imply a non-zero anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in certain non-collinear antiferromagnets also imply both non-zero orbital magnetization and a net spin magnetization. We have explicitly evaluated the orbital magnetizations of several anomalous Hall effect antiferromagnets and find that they tend to dominate over spin magnetizations, especially so when spin-orbit interactions are weak. Because of the greater relative importance of orbital magnetization the coupling between magnetic order and an external magnetic field is unusual. We explain how magnetic fields can be used to manipulate magnetic configurations in these systems, pointing in particular to the important role played by the response of orbital magnetization to the Zeeman-like spin exchange fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Geometric effects in the effective-mass theory and topological optical superlattices

Cold atoms tailored by an optical lattice have become a fascinating arena for simulating quantum physics. In this area, one important and challenging problem is creating effective spin-orbit coupling (SOC), especially for fashioning a cold atomic gas into a topological phase, for which prevailing approaches mainly rely on the Raman coupling between the atomic internal states and a laser field. Herein, a strategy for realizing effective SOC is proposed by exploiting the geometric effects in the effective-mass theory, without resorting to internal atomic states. It is shown that the geometry of Bloch states can have nontrivial effects on the wave-mechanical states under external fields, leading to effective SOC and an effective Darwin term, which have been neglected in the standard effective-mass approximation. It is demonstrated that these relativisticlike effects can be employed to introduce effective SOC in a two-dimensional optical superlattice, and induce a nontrivial topological phase.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Hysteresis from nonlinear dynamics of Majorana modes in topological Josephson junctions

We reveal that topological Josephson junctions provide a natural platform for the interplay between the Josephson effect and the Landau-Zener effect through a two-level system formed by coupled Majorana modes. We build a quantum resistively shunted junction (RSJ) model by modifying the standard textbook RSJ model to take account of the two-level system from the Majorana modes at the junction. We show that the dynamics of the two-level system is governed by a nonlinear Schrödinger equation and solve the equations analytically via a mapping to a classical dynamical problem. This nonlinear dynamics leads to hysteresis in the I-V characteristics, which can give a quantitative explanation to recent experiments. We also predict the coexistence of two interference patterns with periods $h/e$ and $h/2e$ in topological superconducting quantum interference devices.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Conserved spin current for the Mott relation

The conserved bulk spin current [Shi et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 076604 (2006)], defined as the time derivative of the spin displacement operator, ensures automatically the Onsager relation between the spin Hall effect (SHE) and the inverse SHE. Here, we reveal another desirable property of this conserved spin current: the Mott relation linking the SHE and its thermal counterpart, the spin Nernst effect (SNE). According to the Mott relation, the SNE is known once the SHE is understood. In a two-dimensional Dirac-Rashba system with a smooth scalar disorder potential, we find a sign change of the spin Nernst conductivity when tuning the chemical potential.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Geometric Dynamics of Magnetization: Electronic Contribution

To give a general description of the influences of electric fields or currents on magnetization dynamics, we developed a semiclassical theory for the magnetization implicitly coupled to electronic degrees of freedom. In the absence of electric fields the Bloch electron Hamiltonian changes the Berry curvature, the effective magnetic field, and the damping in the dynamical equation of the magnetization, which we classify into intrinsic and extrinsic effects. Static electric fields modify these as first-order perturbations, using which we were able to give a physically clear interpretation of the current-induced spin-orbit torques. We used a toy model mimicking a ferromagnet-topological-insulator interface to illustrate the various effects, and predicted an anisotropic gyromagnetic ratio and the dynamical stability for an in-plane magnetization. Our formalism can also be applied to the slow dynamics of other order parameters in crystalline solids.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Geometrodynamics of electrons in a crystal under position and time dependent deformation

Semiclassical dynamics of Bloch electrons in a crystal under slowly varying deformation is developed in the geometric language of a lattice bundle. Berry curvatures and gradients of energy are introduced in terms of lattice covariant derivatives, with the corresponding connections given by the gradient and rate of strain. A number of physical effects are discussed: an effective post-Newtonian gravity at band bottom, polarization induced by spatial gradient of strain, orbital magnetization induced by strain rate, and electron energy stress tensor.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Observation of long phase-coherence length in epitaxial La-doped CdO thin films

The search for long electron phase coherence length, which is the length that an electron can keep its quantum wave-like properties, has attracted considerable interest in the last several decades. Here, we report the long phase coherence length of ~ 3.7 micro meters in La-doped CdO thin films at 2 K. Systematical investigations of the La doping and the temperature dependences of the electron mobility and the electron phase coherence length reveal contrasting scattering mechanisms for these two physical properties. Furthermore, these results show that the oxygen vacancies could be the dominant scatters in CdO thin films that break the electron phase coherence, which would shed light on further investigation of phase coherence properties in oxide materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Semiclassical theory of spin-orbit torques in disordered multiband electron systems

We study spin-orbit torques (SOT) in non-degenerate multiband electron systems in the weak disorder limit. In order to have better physical transparency a semiclassical Boltzmann approach equivalent to the Kubo diagrammatic approach in the non-crossing approximation is formulated. This semiclassical framework accounts for the interband- coherence effects induced by both the electric field and static impurity scattering. Using the two-dimensional Rashba ferromagnet as a model system, we show that the antidamping-like SOT arising from disorder-induced interband-coherence effects is very sensitive to the spin structure of disorder and may have the same sign as the intrinsic SOT in the presence of spin-dependent disorder. While the cancellation of this SOT and the intrinsic one occurs only in the case of spin-independent short-range disorder.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Rashba torque beyond the Boltzmann regime

We study spin torques induced by Rashba spin-orbit coupling in two-dimensional ferromagnets under the good-metal condition $ε_{F}τ/\hbar\gg1$ ($ε_{F}$ the Fermi energy, $τ$ the electron lifetime) by employing the Kubo formula. We find that, in the presence of spin-dependent disorder the Rashba torque changes greatly as the system evolves out of the weak disorder limit where $\hbar/τ$ is much smaller than any intrinsic energy scale characterizing the multiband structure. The antidamping-like component of Rashba torque can be comparable to and larger than the field-like one out of the weak disorder limit. The semiclassical Boltzmann theory produces the same results as microscopic linear response calculations only in the weak disorder limit. Our analysis indicates that rich behaviors of various nonequilibrium phenomena beyond the Boltzmann theory may also be present even when $ε_{F}τ/\hbar\gg1$ in multiband systems where $ε_{F}$ is not the unique intrinsic energy scale.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Chiral anomaly and anomalous finite-size conductivity in graphene

Graphene is a monolayer of carbon atoms packed into a hexagon lattice to host two pairs of massless two-dimensional Dirac fermions in the absence of or with negligible spin-orbit coupling. It is known that the existence of non-zero electric polarization in reduced momentum space which is associated with a hidden chiral symmetry will lead to the zero-energy flat band of zigzag nanoribbon. The Adler-Bell-Jackiw chiral anomaly or non-conservation of chiral charges at different valleys can be realized in a confined ribbon of finite width. In the laterally diffusive regime, the finite-size correction to conductivity is always positive and goes inversely with the square of the lateral dimension W, which is different from the finite-size correction inversely with W from boundary modes. This anomalous finite-size conductivity reveals the signature of the chiral anomaly in graphene, and is measurable experimentally.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Interfacial-state coupling induced topological phase transitions in SnTe (110) thin film

A defining feature of topological insulating phases is symmetry-protected interfacial Dirac states. SnTe is a representative topological crystalline insulator, of which (110) thin films have two symmetry-unrelated valleys of interfacial states. With the help of valley-contrasting couplings of interfacial states, we design various two-dimensional topological phases in (110) SnTe thin film systems. Our first-principles calculations demonstrate that surface-state coupling strengths of two valleys independently vary with the thickness of the thin film, leading to both two-dimensional topological crystalline insulator and quantum spin Hall insulator. Most interestingly, by constructing a nanoribbon array of SnTe thin film, edge-state couplings of nanoribbons can further induce topological phase transition between the above topological phases with high tunability, which offers multi-mode quantum transport with potential use in electronic and spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗