arXiv subjects

Qing-Feng Sun

Publications and source records attributed to Qing-Feng Sun.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2025

Strongly correlated electrons in superconducting islands with fluctuating Cooper pairs

We present a particle-number conserving theory for many-body effects in mesoscopic superconducting islands connected to normal electrodes, which explicitly includes quantum fluctuations of Cooper pairs in the condensate. Beyond previous BCS mean-field descriptions, our theory can precisely treat the pairing and Coulomb interactions over an unprecedentedly broad range of parameters by using the numerical renormalization group method. On increasing the ratio of pairing to Coulomb interactions, the low-energy physics of the system evolves from the spin Kondo to mixed valence regimes and eventually reaches an anisotropic charge Kondo phase, while a crossover from $1e$- to $2e$-periodic Coulomb blockade of transport is revealed at high temperatures. For weak pairing, the superconducting condensate is frozen in the local spin-flip processes but fluctuates in the virtual excitations, yielding an enhanced spin Kondo temperature. For strong pairing, massive fluctuations of Cooper pairs are crucial for establishing charge Kondo correlations whose Kondo temperature rapidly decreases with the pairing interaction. Surprisingly, a charge-exchange induced local field may occur even at the charge degenerate point, thereby destroying the charge Kondo effect. These are demonstrated in the spectral and transport properties of the island.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Two-Dimensional Higher-Order Topological Metals

We investigate the energy band structure and energy levels of graphene with staggered intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and in-plane Zeeman fields. Our study demonstrates that staggered intrinsic spin-orbit coupling induces bulk band crossover at the the $ K $ and $ K' $ valleys and generates antihelical edge states at the zigzag boundaries, resulting in topological metallic phases. Quantized transport coefficients confirm the existence of these antihelical edge states. Furthermore, an in-plane Zeeman field, regardless of orientation, opens a gap in the antihelical edge states while preserving bulk band closure, leading to higher-order topological metals with corner states. We also validate the presence of these corner states in nanoflakes with zigzag boundaries and confirm the metallic phases with crossed bands through a continuum low-energy model analysis.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Two-dimensional Dirac semimetals with tunable edge states

We theoretically propose a design for two-dimensional Dirac semimetals using a bilayer-modified Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang (BHZ) model. By introducing new sites into the BHZ model, we engineer flat bands at the Fermi energy. In the bilayer system, interlayer coupling separates these flat bands, resulting in two Dirac points that preserve time-reversal and inversion symmetries. Two Dirac points are connected by a one-dimensional Fermi arc edge state, whose bound nature is confirmed by quantized transmission resonance peaks. Notably, the position of the Dirac points can be precisely tuned by adjusting interlayer coupling strengths and symmetries.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Spin Splitting Nernst Effect in Altermagnet

Altermagnet is a distinctive magnet phase, which has spin-split energy band but with zero net magnetic moment. In this paper, we propose that altermagnet behaves spin splitting Nernst effect: Under a longitudinal temperature gradient, the electrons with opposite spins tend to split oppositely in the transverse direction, thus generating a transverse spin current. The spin splitting Nernst effect is understood from the contribution of the longitudinal wave vector to the transverse group velocity. Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method, we calculate the spin-dependent transmission coefficient in the four-terminal altermagnet device. From the spin-dependent transmission coefficient, the nonzero transverse spin current from longitudinal temperature gradient is obtained, and the spin splitting Nernst effect is verified. We systematically study the parameter dependence of the spin splitting Nernst effect, while also performing symmetry analysis. The spin splitting Nernst effect can be easily regulated by Fermi surface energy, temperature, transport direction, and system size. Furthermore, in altermagnet, the $xy$-response and $yx$-response spin splitting Nernst coefficients are equal with $N_{s,xy}=N_{s,yx}$, different from the conventional spin Nernst effect where they are opposite. Meanwhile, the spin splitting Nernst effect require neither spin-orbit coupling nor net magnetism.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Altermagnetism-Induced Parity Anomaly in Weak Topological Insulators

We demonstrate that introducing altermagnetism on the surface of a weak topological insulator (TI) results in the emergence of a single massless Dirac fermion, exhibiting a parity anomaly. To explore the transport properties induced by this parity anomaly, we propose an effective two-dimensional (2D) lattice model to describe the weak TI surface. This model captures both the energy spectrum and spin texture of the weak TI surface while reducing computational complexity. We show that the weak TI surface hosts a half-integer chiral edge current under the influence of altermagnetism. Additionally, in the presence of decoherence, the Hall conductance attains a half-quantized value. Layer-resolved calculations from a 3D slab model further confirm that surface altermagnetism drives the surface Hall conductance to transition to $e^{2}/2h$, aligning with calculation from the 2D effective lattice model. Our findings establish a link between altermagnetism and quantum anomalies, positioning weak TIs as a potential platform for investigating the parity anomaly without a net magnetic moment.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Design of a Josephson diode based on double magnetic impurities

We theoretically propose a universal superconducting diode device based on double magnetic impurities which are coupled to the connection region of the Josephson junction. The positive and negative currents flowing across the junction can generate opposite magnetic fields, flipping the magnetic moment of the side magnetic impurity to the opposite directions, and in turn, the two impurities will have different impacts on the opposite currents. This results in the phenomenon that the positive and negative critical currents are unequal, referred to as the superconducting diode effect (SDE). Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method (NEGF), we obtain the direction-dependent critical currents. We confirm the emergency of the SDE and demonstrate the dependence of the superconducting diode efficiency on a range of parameters including the magnitude, the direction, and the position of the magnetic moment. Besides, we systematically analyze the symmetry relations of the nonreciprocity in our system. Our proposal has high practicability by avoiding the demand on the external magnetic field, the Cooper pair momentum, and the spin-orbit coupling. Our approach opens up new possibilities for the development of nonreciprocal electronic circuits and provides an alternate perspective on the advancement of superconducting devices.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Dynamical theory of chiral-induced spin selectivity in electron donor-chiral molecule-acceptor systems

The chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect, a phenomenon where the chirality of molecules imparts significant spin selectivity to electron transfer processes, has garnered increasing interest among the chemistry, biology, and physics communities. Although this effect was discovered more than a decade ago, the dynamical process of how electron spin polarization is caused by chiral molecules is still unclear. Here, we propose a dynamical theory of electron transfer in donor-chiral molecule bridge-acceptor systems without electrodes or substrates based on the Lindblad-type master equation. We demonstrate that the molecular spin-orbit coupling generates unequal spin velocities and achieves steady spin polarization with the help of dephasing. Our work elucidates the dynamical process of CISS and may promote the applications of chiral-based spintronic devices.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2025

Frustration-enhanced persistent currents in correlated trimer nanorings

We investigate the persistent current in a correlated trimer nanoring comprising of three magnetic atoms, which sits on a metallic host and encloses a magnetic flux. In the molecular-orbital regime, charge fluctuations can reverse the aromaticity of the trimer molecule by driving quantum phase transitions between many-body states. It is shown that in frustrated trimers the superexchange-induced current as a function of interatom hopping is enhanced by the competition of conflicting magnetic orders, with an asymmetric peak at the quantum criticality separating the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic Kondo regimes. Interestingly, the critical current undergoes an anomalous rise with temperature before decaying, signaling the suppression of Kondo bound state at finite temperature. Our results demonstrate that the coherent current response to external flux indeed conveys important information on the states of strongly correlated systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2025

Interplay of Altermagnetic Order and Wilson Mass in the Dirac Equation: Helical Edge States without Time-Reversal Symmetry

We investigate topological phases in three-dimensional topological insulator (3DTI) thin films interfaced with altermagnetic (AM) orders. Starting from a modified Dirac equation, we elucidate the interplay between the Wilson mass, arising from lattice regularization, and the altermagnetic mass, and show how this interplay fundamentally alters the band topology and boundary modes. In particular, we demonstrate that coupling a 3DTI thin film to AM order induces a topological phase transition: although the total Chern number remains zero across the transition, topological helical edge states emerge after the transition. These helical edge states arise from opposite Chern numbers at different high-symmetry points, and are distinct from both the chiral edge states of the quantum anomalous Hall phase and the helical edge states of the conventional quantum spin Hall states. The quantum transport simulations reveal robust, quantized nonlocal resistance plateaus associated with these helical edge states, which persist even under strong potential and magnetic disorder. Our results establish 3DTI/AM heterostructures as a feasible material platform for engineering and detecting helical topological edge transport without time-reversal symmetry, thus expanding the landscape of topological matter and providing new opportunities for quantum devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Tunneling Magnetoresistance Effect in Altermagnets

As an unconventional magnet, altermagnetism attracts great interest in condensed matter physics and applies a new research platform for the spintronics. Since the tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) effect is an important research aspect in spintronics, we theoretically propose a universal altermagnetic sandwich device to achieve the TMR effect and investigate its transport properties. Using the nonequilibrium Green's function method and the Landauer-Büttiker formula, we obtain the conductance and the TMR ratio. By systematically rotating the orientations of the altermagnet and spin, we investigate how the altermagnetic orientations affect the conductance and the TMR ratio, and comprehensively demonstrate the dependence of the conductance and the TMR ratio on a range of parameters in the system. By tuning the altermagnetism strength and the Fermi energy, as well as rotating the orientations in the altermagnet, the TMR ratio can reach a value of over 1000%. In addition, we analyze the detailed symmetry relations of the conductance and the TMR ratio in our system. Our approach provides a new design concept for the next-generation information technologies based on the altermagnetic platform, paving the way for the development of spintronics applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Controllable Josephson diode effect, $0$-$π$ transition and switch effect in the superconductor/two-dimensional Weyl nodal line semimetal/superconductor junctions

We study the Josephson effects in the superconductor/two-dimensional Weyl nodal line semimetal/superconductor junctions using the Green's function method. When the Rashba spin-orbit coupling and an external magnetic field coexist in the semimetal, the symmetries protecting the reciprocity of supercurrent can be broken and the Josephson diode effect with the nonreciprocity of supercurrent can be realized. A high efficiency exceeding $40\%$ can be achieved with the experimentally accessible values of the magnetic field and the Rashba spin-orbit coupling. The diode efficiency can be easily controlled by the direction and magnitude of the field and the strength of the spin-orbit coupling. When the spin-orbit coupling is absent or the external field is absent, the Josephson diode effect vanishes but the current-phase difference relations still show strong dependence on the field or the coupling. The tunable $0$-$π$ transition and the switch effect of supercurrent in the junctions can be formed if the direction of the field is rotated or the magnitude of the field and the strength of the coupling are changed. The obtained Josephson diode effect, the $0$-$π$ transition and the switch effect of supercurrent are helpful in the design of the quantum devices based on nodal line semimetals.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Tunable Majorana corner states driven by superconducting phase bias in a vertical Josephson junction

The realization and manipulation of Majorana zero modes is a key step in achieving topological quantum computation. In this paper, we demonstrate the existence of Majorana corner states in a superconductor-insulators-superconductor vertical Josephson junction. The position of these Majorana corner states can be precisely and easily controlled by the superconducting phase bias, which be confirmed through both numerical and edge state theoretical analysis. In addition, we propose a protocol for achieving topological braiding of the Majorana corner states in a system of three circular vertical Josephson junctions. Our findings advance the field of topological quantum computation by providing new insights into the efficient and precise manipulation of Majorana corner states.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2025

Phase transitions in quantum dot-Majorana zero mode coupling systems

The magnetic doublet ground state (GS) of a quantum dot (QD) could be changed to a spin-singlet GS by coupling to a superconductor. In analogy, here we study the GS phase transitions in QD-Majorana zero mode (MZM) coupling systems: GS behaves phase transition versus intra-dot energy level and QD-MZM coupling strength. The phase diagrams of GS are obtained, for cases with and without Zeeman term. Along with the phase transition, we also study the change of spin feature and density of states. The properties of the phase transition are understood via a mean-field picture. Our study not only serves as an analogue to QD-superconductor phase transitions, but also gives alternative explanations on MZM-relevant experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Quantum spin Hall effect in bilayer honeycomb lattices with C-type antiferromagnetic order

We propose a scheme to realize time-reversal symmetry-broken quantum spin Hall insulators using bilayer honeycomb lattices, combining intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, C-type antiferromagnetic ordering, and staggered potentials. The C-type antiferromagnetic order emerges from the interplay between intralayer antiferromagnetism and interlayer ferromagnetism. The system's topological properties are characterized by the spin Chern number. We present the topological phase diagram of the bilayer honeycomb lattice, providing a detailed insight into the stability and tunability of the quantum spin Hall effect in this system. The presence of helical edge states is confirmed by the measurement of quantized longitudinal resistance values of 3/2(h/e2) and 1/2(h/e2) in a sixterminal Hall-bar device. Remarkably, this quantum spin Hall insulator phase is protected by interlayer parity-time (PT) symmetry, despite the breaking of time-reversal symmetry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Two-dimensional higher-order Weyl semimetals

We propose a theoretical scheme to realize two-dimensional higher-order Weyl semimetals using a trilayer topological insulator film coupled with a d-wave altermagnet. Our results show that the trilayer topological insulator exhibits two-dimensional Weyl semimetal characteristics with helical edge states. Notably, the Weyl points are located at four high-symmetry points in the Brillouin zone, and the topology of symmetric subspaces governs the formation of these Weyl points and edge states. Upon introducing a d-wave altermagnet oriented along the z-direction, gaps open in the helical edge states while preserving two Weyl points, leading to the realization of two-dimensional higher-order Weyl semimetals hosting topological corner states. The nonzero winding number in the subspace along the high-symmetry line serves as a topological invariant characterizing these corner states, and the other subspace Hamiltonian confirms the existence of the Weyl points. Finally, a topological phase diagram provides a complete topological description of the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Rules for dissipationless topotronics

Topological systems hosting gapless boundary states have attracted huge attention as promising components for next-generation information processing, attributed to their capacity for dissipationless electronics. Nevertheless, recent theoretical and experimental inquiries have revealed the emergence of energy dissipation in precisely quantized electrical transport. Here, we present a criterion for the realization of truly no-dissipation design, characterized as $N_{in}=N_{tunl}+N_{bs}$, where $N_{in}$, $N_{tunl}$, and $N_{bs}$ represent the number of modes participating in injecting, tunneling, and backscattering processes, respectively. The key lies in matching the number of injecting, tunneling and backscattering modes, ensuring the equilibrium among all engaged modes inside the device. Among all the topological materials, we advocate for the indispensability of Chern insulators exhibiting higher Chern numbers to achieve functional devices and uphold the no-dissipation rule simultaneously. Furthermore, we design the topological current divider and collector, evading dissipation upon fulfilling the established criterion. Our work paves the path for developing the prospective topotronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Edge supercurrent in Josephson junctions based on topological materials

The interplay between novel topological states and superconductivity has garnered substantial interest due to its potential for topological quantum computing. The Josephson effect serves as a useful probe for edge superconductivity in these hybrid topological materials. In Josephson junctions based on topological materials, supercurrents exhibit unique quantum interference patterns, including the conventional Fraunhofer oscillations, the $Φ_0$-periodic oscillation, and the $2Φ_0$-periodic oscillation in response to the external magnetic field ($Φ_0 = h/2e$ is the flux quantum, $h$ the Planck constant, and $e$ the electron charge). These interference patterns stem from varied Andreev reflection mechanisms and the associated current density profiles. This review seeks to comprehensively examine the theoretical and experimental advancements in understanding the quantum interference patterns of edge supercurrents in Josephson junctions based on quantum spin Hall, quantum Hall, and quantum anomalous Hall systems.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2024

Design of Josephson diode based on magnetic impurity

We theoretically propose a mechanism to realize the superconducting diode effect (SDE): The current can generate a magnetic field, affecting the magnetic moment of magnetic impurity. When the connection region of the Josephson junction is coupled with the magnetic impurity, the supercurrents in positive and negative directions have different influences on the magnetic moment. This results in a phenomenon that the critical supercurrents in these opposite directions are unequal, which is called SDE. We model the Josephson connection region by a quantum dot. Then the critical supercurrents are investigated by the non-equilibrium Green's function method, and we carry out a detailed symmetry analysis on the supercurrent relations. The calculation results confirm that the SDE does exist in this system. Besides, the SDE is significant in a wide parameter space and can be effectively adjusted in various ways. Our design only demands a magnetic impurity and conventional superconductors. The unconventional finite-momentum Cooper pair and spin-orbit coupling are not required, and there is also no need for the existence of chirality or an external magnetic field. Our work provides a universal device structure for the development of superconducting electronics.

cond-mat.supr-con↗