arXiv subjects

Tero T. Heikkila

Publications and source records attributed to Tero T. Heikkila.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2020

Topological polarization, dual invariants, and surface flat band in crystalline insulators

We describe a three-dimensional crystalline topological insulator (TI) phase of matter that exhibits spontaneous polarization. This polarization results from the presence of (approximately) flat bands on the surface of such TIs. These flat bands are a consequence of the bulk-boundary correspondence of polarized topological media, and contrary to related nodal line semimetal phases also containing surface flat bands, they span the entire surface Brillouin zone. We also present an example Hamiltonian exhibiting a Lifshitz transition from the nodal line phase to the TI phase with polarization. Utilizing elasticity tetrads, we show a complete classification of 3D crystalline TI phases and invariants. The phase with polarization naturally arises from this classification as a dual to the previously better-known 3D TI phase exhibiting quantum (spin) Hall effect. Besides polarization, another implication of the large surface flat band is the susceptibility to interaction effects such as superconductivity: the mean-field critical temperature is proportional to the size of the flat bands, and this type of systems may hence exhibit superconductivity with a very high critical temperature.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Moiré with flat bands is different

Recent experimental discoveries of superconductivity and other exotic electronic states in twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) call for a reconsideration of our traditional theories of these states, usually based on the assumption of the presence of a Fermi surface. Here we show how such developments may even help us finding mechanisms of increasing the critical temperature of superconductivity towards the room temperature.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Colloquium: Nonequilibrium effects in superconductors with a spin-splitting field

We review the recent progress in understanding the properties of spin-split superconductors under non-equilibrium conditions. Recent experiments and theories demonstrate a rich variety of transport phenomena occurring in devices based on such materials that suggest direct applications in thermoelectricity, low-dissipative spintronics, radiation detection and sensing. We discuss different experimental situations and present a theoretical framework based on quantum kinetic equations. Within this framework we provide an accurate description of the non-equilibrium distribution of charge, spin and energy, which are the relevant non-equilibrium modes, in different hybrid structures. We also review experiments on spin-split superconductors and show how transport measurements reveal the properties of the non-equilibrium modes and their mutual coupling. We discuss in detail spin injection and diffusion and very large thermoelectric effects in spin-split superconductors.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Intrinsic spin-orbit interaction in diffusive normal wire Josephson weak links: supercurrent and density of states

We study the effect of the intrinsic (Rashba or Dresselhaus) spin-orbit interaction in superconductor--nanowire--superconductor (SNS) weak links in the presence of a spin-splitting field that can result either from an intrinsic exchange field or the Zeeman effect of an applied field. We solve the full non-linear Usadel equations numerically and analyze the resulting supercurrent through the weak link and the behavior of the density of states in the center of the wire. We point out how the presence of the spin-orbit interaction gives rise to a long-range spin triplet supercurrent, which remains finite even in the limit of very large exchange fields. In particular, we show how rotating the field leads to a sequence of transitions between the 0 and $π$ states as a function of the angle between the exchange field and the spin-orbit field. Simultaneously, the triplet pairing leads to a zero-energy peak in the density of states. We proceed by solving the linearized Usadel equations, showing the correspondence to the solutions of the full equations and detail the emergence of the long-range supercurrent components. Our studies are relevant for on-going investigations of supercurrent in semiconductor nanowires in the limit of several channels and in the presence of disorder.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2015

Flat bands as a route to high-temperature superconductivity in graphite

Superconductivity is traditionally viewed as a low-temperature phenomenon. Within the BCS theory this is understood to result from the fact that the pairing of electrons takes place only close to the usually two-dimensional Fermi surface residing at a finite chemical potential. Because of this, the critical temperature is exponentially suppressed compared to the microscopic energy scales. On the other hand, pairing electrons around a dispersionless (flat) energy band leads to very strong superconductivity, with a mean-field critical temperature linearly proportional to the microscopic coupling constant. The prize to be paid is that flat bands can generally be generated only on surfaces and interfaces, where high-temperature superconductivity would show up. The flat-band character and the low dimensionality also mean that despite the high critical temperature such a superconducting state would be subject to strong fluctuations. Here we discuss the topological and non-topological flat bands discussed in different systems, and show that graphite is a good candidate for showing high-temperature flat-band interface superconductivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2011

Macroscopic quantum tunneling in nanoelectromechanical systems

The experimental observation of quantum phenomena in mechanical degrees of freedom is difficult, as the systems become linear towards low energies and the quantum limit, and thus reside in the correspondence limit. Here we investigate how to access quantum phenomena in flexural nanomechanical systems which are strongly deflected by a voltage. Near a metastable point, one can achieve a significant nonlinearity in the electromechanical potential at the scale of zero point energy. The system could then escape from the metastable state via macroscopic quantum tunneling (MQT). We consider two model systems suspended atop a voltage gate, namely, a graphene sheet, and a carbon nanotube. We find that the experimental demonstration of the phenomenon is currently possible but demanding, since the MQT crossover temperatures fall in the milli-Kelvin range. A carbon nanotube is suggested as the most promising system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Fermions with cubic and quartic spectrum

We study exotic fermions with spectrum E^2 ~ p^{2N}. Such spectrum emerges in the vicinity of the Fermi point with multiple topological charge N, if special symmetry is obeyed. When this symmetry is violated, the multiple Fermi point typically splits into N elementary Fermi points -- Dirac points with N=1 and spectrum E^2 ~ p^2 .

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2010

Electron-electron interaction induced spin thermalization in quasi-low-dimensional spin valves

We study the spin thermalization, i.e., the inter-spin energy relaxation mediated by electron-electron scattering in small spin valves. When one or two of the dimensions of the spin valve spacer are smaller than the thermal coherence length, the direct spin energy exchange rate diverges and needs to be regularized by the sample dimensions. Here we consider two model systems: a long quasi-1D wire and a thin quasi-2D sheet.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2010

Spin heat accumulation and its relaxation in spin valves

We study the concept of spin heat accumulation in excited spin valves, more precisely the effective electron temperature that may become spin dependent, both in linear response and far from equilibrium. A temperature or voltage gradient create non-equilibrium energy distributions of the two spin ensembles in the normal metal spacer, which approach Fermi-Dirac functions through energy relaxation mediated by electron-electron and electron-phonon coupling. Both mechanisms also exchange energy between the spin subsystems. This inter-spin energy exchange may strongly affect thermoelectric properties spin valves, leading, e.g., to violations of the Wiedemann-Franz law.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2008

Statistics of temperature fluctuations in an electron system out of equilibrium

We study the statistics of the fluctuating electron temperature in a metallic island coupled to reservoirs via resistive contacts and driven out of equilibrium by either a temperature or voltage difference between the reservoirs. The fluctuations of temperature are well-defined provided that the energy relaxation rate inside the island exceeds the rate of energy exchange with the reservoirs. We quantify these fluctuations in the regime beyond the Gaussian approximation and elucidate their dependence on the nature of the electronic contacts.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Photon heat transport in low-dimensional nanostructures

At low temperatures when the phonon modes are effectively frozen, photon transport is the dominating mechanism of thermal relaxation in metallic systems. Starting from a microscopic many-body Hamiltonian, we develop a nonequilibrium Green's function method to study energy transport by photons in nanostructures. A formally exact expression for the energy current between a metallic island and a one-dimensional electromagnetic field is obtained. From this expression we derive the quantized thermal conductance as well as show how the results can be generalized to nonequilibrium situations. Generally, the frequency-dependent current noise of the island electrons determines the energy transfer rate.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2007

Peltier effects in Andreev interferometers

The superconducting proximity effect is known to modify transport properties of hybrid normal--superconducting structures. In addition to changing electrical and thermal transport separately, it alters the thermoelectric effects. Changes to one off-diagonal element $L_{12}$ of the thermoelectric matrix $L$ have previously been studied via the thermopower, but the remaining coefficient $L_{21}$ which is responsible for the Peltier effect has received less attention. We discuss symmetry relations between $L_{21}$ and $L_{12}$ in addition to the Onsager reciprocity, and calculate Peltier coefficients for a specific structure. Similarly as for the thermopower, for finite phase differences of the superconducting order parameter, the proximity effect creates a Peltier effect significantly larger than the one present in purely normal-metal structures. This results from the fact that a nonequilibrium supercurrent carries energy.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2006

Quantum detectors for the third cumulant of current fluctuations

We consider the measurement of the third cumulant of current fluctuations arising from a point contact, employing the transitions that they cause in a quantum detector connected to the contact. We detail two generic detectors: a quantum two-level system and a harmonic oscillator. In these systems, for an arbitrary relation between the voltage driving the point contact and the energy scales of the detectors, the results can be expressed in terms of an effective detector temperature T_eff. The third cumulant can be found from the dependence of T_eff on the sign of the driving voltage. We find that proper ordering of the fluctuation operators is relevant in the analysis of the transition rates. This is reflected in the effective Fano factor for the third cumulant measured in such setups: it depends on the ratio of the voltage and an energy scale describing the circuit where the fluctuations are produced.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2006

Opportunities for mesoscopics in thermometry and refrigeration: Physics and applications

This review presents an overview of the thermal properties of mesoscopic structures. The discussion is based on the concept of electron energy distribution, and, in particular, on controlling and probing it. The temperature of an electron gas is determined by this distribution: refrigeration is equivalent to narrowing it, and thermometry is probing its convolution with a function characterizing the measuring device. Temperature exists, strictly speaking, only in quasiequilibrium in which the distribution follows the Fermi-Dirac form. Interesting nonequilibrium deviations can occur due to slow relaxation rates of the electrons, e.g., among themselves or with lattice phonons. Observation and applications of nonequilibrium phenomena are also discussed. The focus in this paper is at low temperatures, primarily below 4 K, where physical phenomena on mesoscopic scales and hybrid combinations of various types of materials, e.g., superconductors, normal metals, insulators, and doped semiconductors, open up a rich variety of device concepts. This review starts with an introduction to theoretical concepts and experimental results on thermal properties of mesoscopic structures. Then thermometry and refrigeration are examined with an emphasis on experiments. An immediate application of solid-state refrigeration and thermometry is in ultrasensitive radiation detection, which is discussed in depth. This review concludes with a summary of pertinent fabrication methods of presented devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

Slow Vibrations in Transport through Molecules

We show how one can measure the signal from slow jumps of a single molecule between metastable positions using a setup where the molecule is fixed to one lead, and one of the coupling strengths is controlled externally. Such a measurement yields information about slow processes deforming the molecule in times much longer than the characteristic time scales for the electron transport process.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2005

State-dependent impedance of a strongly coupled oscillator-qubit system

We investigate the measurements of two-state quantum systems (qubits) at finite temperatures using a resonant harmonic oscillator as a quantum probe. The reduced density matrix and oscillator correlators are calculated by a scheme combining numerical methods with an analytical perturbation theory. Correlators provide us information about the system impedance, which depends on the qubit state. We show in detail how this property can be exploited in the qubit measurement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Cyclostationary shot noise in mesoscopic measurements

We discuss theoretically a setup where a time-dependent current consisting of a DC bias and two sinusoidal harmonics is driven through a sample. If the sample exhibits current-dependent shot noise, the down-converted noise power spectrum varies depending on the local-oscillator phase of the mixer. The theory of this phase-dependent noise is applied to discuss the measurement of the radio-frequency single-electron transistor. We also show that this effect can be used to measure the shot noise accurately even in nonlinear high-impedance samples.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2004

Measuring non-Gaussian fluctuations through incoherent Cooper pair current

We study a Josephson junction (JJ) in the regime of incoherent Cooper pair tunneling, capacitively coupled to a nonequilibrium noise source. The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of the JJ are sensitive to the excess voltage fluctuations in the source, and can thus be used for wide-band noise detection. Under weak driving, the odd part of the I-V can be related to the second cumulant of noise, whereas the even part is due to the third cumulant. After calibration, one can measure the Fano factors for the noise source, and get information about the frequency dependence of the noise.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗