arXiv subjects

Ricardo Pablo-Pedro

Publications and source records attributed to Ricardo Pablo-Pedro.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Topological Signatures in Nodal Semimetals through Neutron Scattering

Topological nodal semimetals are known to host a variety of fascinating electronic properties due to the topological protection of the band-touching nodes. Neutron scattering, despite its power in probing elementary excitations, has not been routinely applied to topological semimetals, mainly due to the lack of an explicit connection between the neutron response and the signature of topology. In this work, we theoretically investigate the role that neutron scattering can play to unveil the topological nodal features: a large magnetic neutron response with spectral non-analyticity can be generated solely from the nodal bands. A new formula for the dynamical structure factor for generic topological nodal metals is derived. For Weyl semimetals, we show that the locations of Weyl nodes, the Fermi velocities and the signature of chiral anomaly can all leave hallmark neutron spectral responses. Our work offers a neutron-based avenue towards probing bulk topological materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

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

Understanding disorder in 2D materials: the case of carbon doping of Silicene

We investigate the effect of lattice disorder and local correlation effects in finite and periodic silicene structures caused by carbon doping using first-principles calculations. For both finite and periodic silicene structures, the electronic properties carbon-doped monolayers are dramatically changed by controlling the doping sites in the structures, which is related to the amount of disorder introduced in the lattice and electron-electron correlation effects. By changing the position of the carbon dopants, we found that a Mott-Anderson transition is achieved. Moreover, the band gap is determined by the level of lattice disorder and electronic correlation effects. Finally, these structures are ferromagnetic even under disorder which has potential applications in Si-based nanoelectronics, such as field-effect transistors (FETs).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Topological Singularity Induced Chiral Kohn Anomaly in a Weyl Semimetal

The electron-phonon interaction (EPI) is instrumental in a wide variety of phenomena in solid-state physics, such as electrical resistivity in metals, carrier mobility, optical transition and polaron effects in semiconductors, lifetime of hot carriers, transition temperature in BCS superconductors, and even spin relaxation in diamond nitrogen-vacancy centers for quantum information processing. However, due to the weak EPI strength, most phenomena have focused on electronic properties rather than on phonon properties. One prominent exception is the Kohn anomaly, where phonon softening can emerge when the phonon wavevector nests the Fermi surface of metals. Here we report a new class of Kohn anomaly in a topological Weyl semimetal (WSM), predicted by field-theoretical calculations, and experimentally observed through inelastic x-ray and neutron scattering on WSM tantalum phosphide (TaP). Compared to the conventional Kohn anomaly, the Fermi surface in a WSM exhibits multiple topological singularities of Weyl nodes, leading to a distinct nesting condition with chiral selection, a power-law divergence, and non-negligible dynamical effects. Our work brings the concept of Kohn anomaly into WSMs and sheds light on elucidating the EPI mechanism in emergent topological materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Quantized dislocations for functional and quantum materials

Dislocations have a profound influence on materials functional properties. In this perspective, we discuss the recent development of quantized dislocations - a theoretical tool that aims to compute the role of dislocations on materials' functionalities, at a full quantum field theoretical level. After a brief discussion of the motivation and a pedagogical introduction of quantization, we focus on a few case studies of dislon theory, to see how dislon can be applied to solve a given materials functionality problem and lead to new predictions. We conclude by visioning a few more open questions. With the aid of the powerful quantum field theory, the dislon approach may enable plenty opportunities to compute multiple functional and quantum properties in a dislocated crystal at a new level of clarity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Phonon Quantum Phase Transition

We show that a quantum phase transition can occur in a phonon system in the presence of dislocations. Due to the competing nature between the topological protection of the dislocation and anharmonicity, phonons can reach a quantum critical point at a frequency determined by dislocation density and the anharmonic constant, at zero temperature. In the symmetry-broken phase, a novel phonon state is developed with a dynamically-induced dipole field. We carry out a renormalization group analysis and show that the phonon critical behavior differs wildly from any electronic system. In particular, at the critical point, a single phonon mode dominates the density of states and develops an exotic logarithmic divergence in thermal conductivity. This phonon quantum criticality provides a completely new avenue to tailor phonon transport at the single-mode level without using phononic crystals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Exploring Low Internal Reorganization Energies for Silicene Nanoclusters

High-performance materials rely on small reorganization energies to facilitate both charge separation and charge transport. Here, we performed DFT calculations to predict small reorganization energies of rectangular silicene nanoclusters with hydrogen-passivated edges denoted by H-SiNC. We observe that across all geometries, H-SiNCs feature large electron affinities and highly stabilized anionic states, indicating their potential as n-type materials. Our findings suggest that fine-tuning the size of H-SiNCs along the zigzag and armchair directions may permit the design of novel n-type electronic materials and spinctronics devices that incorporate both high electron affinities and very low internal reorganization energies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗