arXiv subjects

S. -C. Wu

Publications and source records attributed to S. -C. Wu.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Realization of a Synthetic Hall Torus with a Spinor Bose-Einstein Condensate

We report the first experimental realization of a synthetic Hall torus using a spinor Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a ring-shaped trap with in situ imaging. By cyclically coupling three hyperfine spin states via Raman and microwave fields, we impose a periodic boundary condition in the synthetic dimension, which together with a real-space ring trap, realizes a toroidal geometry with a synthetic magnetic flux. This flux induces azimuthal density modulations in the condensate, whose periodicity is uniquely determined by the quantized toroidal magnetic flux-a hallmark of the Hall torus geometry. By varying the relative phase between the couplings across repeated experimental runs, we control the location of the density extrema, emulating the behavior of Thouless charge pump in a toroidal geometry. We further investigate the onset of these modulations as the system transitions from a cylindrical to a toroidal topology. Our results establish a versatile platform for investigating quantum Hall physics and topological phenomena in synthetic curved spaces.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2025

Vortex nucleations in spinor Bose condensates under localized synthetic magnetic fields

Gauge fields are ubiquitous in modern quantum physics. In superfluids, quantized vortices can be induced by gauge fields. Here we demonstrate the first experimental observation of vortex nucleations in light-dressed spinor Bose-Einstein condensates under radially-localized synthetic magnetic fields. The light-induced spin-orbital-angular-momentum coupling creates azimuthal gauge potentials $\vec{A}$ for the lowest-energy spinor branch dressed eigenstate. The observation of the atomic wave function in the lowest-energy dressed eigenstate reveals that vortices nucleate from the cloud center of a vortex-free state with canonical momentum $\vec{p} = 0$. This is because a large circulating azimuthal velocity field $\propto \vec{p}-\vec{A}$ at the condensate center results in a dynamically unstable localized excitation that initiates vortex nucleations. Furthermore, the long-time dynamics to reach the ground state stops in a metastable state when $|\vec{A}|$ is not sufficiently large. Our observation has reasonable agreement with the time-dependent Gross-Pitaevskii simulations.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗

arXiv2021

Weyl nodes close to the Fermi energy in NbAs

The noncentrosymmetric transition metal monopnictides NbP, TaP, NbAs and TaAs are a family of Weyl semimetals in which pairs of protected linear crossings of spin-resolved bands occur. These so-called Weyl nodes are characterized by integer topological charges of opposite sign associated with singular points of Berry curvature in momentum space. In such a system anomalous magnetoelectric responses are predicted, which should only occur if the crossing points are close to the Fermi level and enclosed by Fermi surface pockets penetrated by an integer flux of Berry curvature, dubbed Weyl pockets. TaAs was shown to possess Weyl pockets whereas TaP and NbP have trivial pockets enclosing zero net flux of Berry curvature. Here, via measurements of the magnetic torque, resistivity and magnetisation, we present a comprehensive quantum oscillation study of NbAs, the last member of this family where the precise shape and nature of the Fermi surface pockets is still unknown. We detect six distinct frequency branches, two of which have not been observed before. A comparison to density functional theory calculations suggests that the two largest pockets are topologically trivial, whereas the low frequencies might stem from tiny Weyl pockets. The enclosed Weyl nodes are within a few meV of the Fermi energy.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Observation of Landau quantization and standing waves in HfSiS

Recently, HfSiS was found to be a new type of Dirac semimetal with a line of Dirac nodes in the band structure. Meanwhile, Rashba-split surface states are also pronounced in this compound. Here we report a systematic study of HfSiS by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy at low temperature and high magnetic field. The Rashba-split surface states are characterized by measuring Landau quantization and standing waves, which reveal a quasi-linear dispersive band structure. First-principles calculations based on density-functional theory are conducted and compared with the experimental results. Based on these investigations, the properties of the Rashba-split surface states and their interplay with defects and collective modes are discussed.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Stability of Weyl points in magnetic half-metallic Heusler compounds

We employ {\it ab-initio} fully-relativistic electronic structure calculations to study the stability of the Weyl points in the momentum space within the class of the half-metallic ferromagnetic full Heusler materials, by focusing on Co$_2$TiAl as a well-established prototype compound. Here we show that both the number of the Weyl points together with their $k$-space coordinates can be controlled by the orientation of the magnetization. This alternative degree of freedom, which is absent in other topological materials (e.g. in Weyl semimetals), introduces novel functionalities, specific for the class of half-metallic ferromagnets. Of special interest are Weyl points which are preserved irrespectively of any arbitrary rotation of the magnetization axis.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Dirac Line-nodes and Effect of Spin-orbit Coupling in Non-symmorphic Critical Semimetal MSiS (M=Hf, Zr)

Topological Dirac semimetals (TDSs) represent a new state of quantum matter recently discovered that offers a platform for realizing many exotic physical phenomena. A TDS is characterized by the linear touching of bulk (conduction and valance) bands at discrete points in the momentum space (i.e. 3D Dirac points), such as in Na3Bi and Cd3As2. More recently, new types of Dirac semimetals with robust Dirac line-nodes (with non-trivial topology or near the critical point between topological phase transitions) have been proposed that extends the bulk linear touching from discrete points to 1D lines. In this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we explored the electronic structure of the non-symmorphic crystals MSiS (M=Hf, Zr). Remarkably, by mapping out the band structure in the full 3D Brillouin Zone (BZ), we observed two sets of Dirac line-nodes in parallel with the kz-axis and their dispersions. Interestingly, along directions other than the line-nodes in the 3D BZ, the bulk degeneracy is lifted by spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in both compounds with larger magnitude in HfSiS. Our work not only experimentally confirms a new Dirac line-node semimetal family protected by non-symmorphic symmetry, but also helps understanding and further exploring the exotic properties as well as practical applications of the MSiS family of compounds.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗