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Terumasa Tadano

Publications and source records attributed to Terumasa Tadano.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effects of Interfacial States and Strain on Tunnel Magnetoresistance in van der Waals Magnetic Tunnel Junctions

All-two-dimensional magnetic tunnel junctions promise atomically sharp interfaces, yet the role of interface-induced states in their spin transport is not fully understood. Here, we theoretically investigate spin-dependent transport in van der Waals magnetic tunnel junctions of the structure Cr$_2$C/$MY_2$/Cr$_2$C ($M$ = Mo, W; $Y$ = S, Se) with barrier thicknesses of 3, 5, 7, and 9 layers. The broad features of the $\mathbf{k}_{\parallel}$-resolved conductances, namely suppression near the $Γ$ point and enhancement at six off-$Γ$ hot spots, are consistent with the decay of evanescent states in the barrier. However, trilayer WS$_2$, MoSe$_2$, and WSe$_2$ barriers exhibit conductances of the order of $e^2/h$ at $\mathbf{k}_{\parallel}$ points within the hot spots. We attribute these near-unity transmission channels to resonant coupling between the interfacial states at the two electrode--barrier interfaces, as evidenced by their weak but finite residual weight at the barrier center. For thicker barriers, this coupling weakens, which suppresses the residual weight, thereby reducing the tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR) ratio of the MoS$_2$ junction while enhancing those of the other junctions. To exploit the interfacial states for spin-selective tunneling, we further examine biaxial tensile strain applied to the trilayer junctions. At 4\% strain, the TMR ratio increases from 176\% to 540\% for MoS$_2$ and from 98\% to 496\% for WS$_2$, whereas MoSe$_2$ and WSe$_2$ exhibit comparatively weaker enhancement. Our results establish interfacial-state engineering via strain and barrier thickness as effective routes for enhancing the TMR effect in all-two-dimensional magnetic tunnel junctions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Electron-phonon-coupled Langevin dynamics for strongly-correlated insulators

The Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equations are widely used to study spin dynamics in Mott insulators. However, because energy damping is typically introduced phenomenologically, their validity for describing nonequilibrium processes and their connection to the microscopic origin of dissipation in real materials remains unclear. In this paper, we derive generalized stochastic LLG equations from first principles for spin-orbital coupled Mott insulators, explicitly incorporating the coupling between electronic degrees of freedom and lattice vibrations. Our approach is based on a path-integral formalism formulated along the Keldysh contour, which naturally accounts for dissipation and thermal fluctuations through interactions with a phonon bath and emergent stochastic noise. We benchmark our theoretical framework by numerically integrating the equations of motion for a two-orbital spin chain coupled to Einstein phonons. The resulting energy relaxation mimics realistic cooling dynamics, exhibits nontrivial transient behavior during thermalization, and accurately reproduces thermodynamic properties upon equilibration. We further demonstrate how electron-phonon coupling induces hybridization between electronic and phononic modes in the excitation spectrum and show that the conventional LLG equations are recovered as a limiting case of our microscopic theory. These results establish a robust and reliable framework for capturing dissipative spin dynamics in strongly correlated systems, both in and out of equilibrium.

cond-mat.str-el

Accurate Screening of Functional Materials with Machine-Learning Potential and Transfer-Learned Regressions: Heusler Alloy Benchmark

A machine learning-accelerated high-throughput (HTP) workflow for the discovery of magnetic materials is presented. As a test case, we screened quaternary and all-$d$ Heusler compounds for stable compounds with large magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy ($E_{\mathrm{aniso}}$). Structure optimization and evaluation of formation energy and distance to hull convex were performed using the eSEN-30M-OAM interatomic potential, while local magnetic moments, phonon stability, magnetic stability, and $E_{\mathrm{aniso}}$ were predicted by eSEM models trained on our DxMag Heusler database. A frozen transfer learning strategy was employed to improve accuracy. Candidate compounds identified by the ML-HTP workflow were validated with density functional theory, confirming high predictive precision. We also benchmark the performance of different uMLIPs, discuss the fidelity of local magnetic moment prediction, and demonstrate generalization to unseen elements via transfer learning from a universal interatomic potential.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Database and deep-learning scalability of anharmonic phonon properties by automated brute-force first-principles calculations

Understanding the anharmonic phonon properties of crystal compounds -- such as phonon lifetimes and thermal conductivities -- is essential for investigating and optimizing their thermal transport behaviors. These properties also impact optical, electronic, and magnetic characteristics through interactions between phonons and other quasiparticles and fields. In this study, we develop an automated first-principles workflow to calculate anharmonic phonon properties and build a comprehensive database encompassing more than 6,000 inorganic compounds. Utilizing this dataset, we train a graph neural network model to predict thermal conductivity values and spectra from structural parameters, demonstrating a scaling law in which prediction accuracy improves with increasing training data size. High-throughput screening with the model enables the identification of materials exhibiting extreme thermal conductivities -- both high and low. The resulting database offers valuable insights into the anharmonic behavior of phonons, thereby accelerating the design and development of advanced functional materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Finite-Temperature $\textit{ab initio}$ Structural Optimization of the Bilayer Nickelate Superconductor La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$

We develop a first-principles framework for finite-temperature structural optimization that incorporates vibrational contributions to the free energy through anharmonic phonon theory. We extend and further improve the efficiency of the recent approach, enabling its application to systems in which the size of the primitive cell changes across structural phase transitions. Applying this framework to La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_7$, we establish its pressure-temperature phase diagram and find that the slope of the phase boundary between the high-symmetry and low-symmetry phases is negative, with a magnitude of approximately -60 K / GPa. The present results provide a theoretical foundation for discussing how changes in crystal symmetry influence the emergence of superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con

Control of Covalent Bond Enables Efficient Magnetic Cooling

Magnetic cooling, harnessing the temperature change in matter when exposed to a magnetic field, presents an energy-efficient and climate-friendly alternative to traditional vapor-compression refrigeration systems, with a significantly lower global warming potential. The advancement of this technology would be accelerated if irreversible losses arising from hysteresis in magnetocaloric materials were minimized. Despite extensive efforts to manipulate crystal lattice constants at the unit-cell level, mitigating hysteresis often compromises cooling performance. Herein, we address this persistent challenge by forming Sn(Ge)3/Sn(Ge)3 bonds within the unit cell of the Gd5Ge4 compound. Our approach enables an energetically favorable phase transition, leading to the elimination of thermal hysteresis. Consequently, we achieve a synergistic improvement of two key magnetocaloric figures of merit: a larger magnetic entropy change and a twofold increase in the reversible adiabatic temperature change (from 3.8 to 8 K) in the Gd5Sn2Ge2 compound. Such synergies can be extended over a wide temperature range. This study demonstrates a paradigm shift in mastering hysteresis toward simultaneously achieving exceptional magnetocaloric metrics and opens up promising avenues for gas liquefaction applications in the longstanding pursuit of sustainable energy solutions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Simultaneous achievement of large anomalous Nernst effect and reduced thermal conductivity in sintered polycrystalline topological Heusler ferromagnets

This study reports the observation of the large anomalous Nernst effect in polycrystalline ferromagnetic Co$_{2}$MnGa (CMG) slabs prepared by a spark plasma sintering method. By optimizing the sintering conditions, the anomalous Nernst coefficient reaches ~7.5 $μ$V K$^{-1}$ at room temperature, comparable to the highest value reported in the single-crystalline CMG slabs. Owing to the sizable anomalous Nernst coefficient and reduced thermal conductivity, the dimensionless figure of merit in our optimized CMG slab shows the record-high value of ~8$\times$10$^{-4}$ at room temperature. With the aid of the nano/microstructure characterization and first-principles phonon calculation, this study discusses the dependence of the transport properties on the degree of crystalline ordering and morphology of crystal-domain boundaries in the sintered CMG slabs. The results reveal a potential of polycrystalline topological materials for transverse thermoelectric applications, enabling the construction of large-scale modules.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Anharmonic phonon renormalization and thermal transport in the type-I Ba$_{\rm 8}$Ga$_{\rm 16}$Sn$_{\rm 30}$ clathrate from first principles

Effects of strong phonon anharmonicity of a type-I clathrate Ba$_{\rm 8}$Ga$_{\rm 16}$Sn$_{\rm 30}$ induced by quadruple-well potential of guest atoms were investigated. Phonon transport including coherent interbranch component was analyzed using a first-principles-based self-consistent phonon (SCP) theory that gives temperature-dependent harmonic interatomic force constants and by solving off-diagonal components of group velocity operator. Experimentally observed thermal conductivities have been reasonably reproduced by considering both lattice and electron contributions. Through the analysis with the SCP theory, we found that hardening of guest modes leads to an increase in lattice thermal conductivity at frequencies below those of framework-dominant flat modes (< 40 cm$^{\rm -1}$), which finally results in the slow decay and slight increase in the total lattice thermal conductivity with increasing temperature. Detailed analyses revealed that the increase in lattice thermal conductivity at low frequency is attributed to (a) the increase in group velocities of phonon modes located at frequencies below that of the flat guest modes and (b) abnormal increase in lifetimes of phonon modes located between frequencies of the flat guest and framework modes with increasing temperature. From an engineering point of view, this effect may lead to an intriguing phenomenon, a larger decrease in thermal conductivity due to nanostructuring at higher temperatures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

High-throughput computational screening of Heusler compounds with phonon considerations for enhanced material discovery

High-throughput (HTP) $ab$ $initio$ calculations are performed on 27,865 Heusler compositions, covering a broad range of regular, inverse, and half-Heusler compounds in both cubic and tetragonal phases. In addition to conventional stability metrics, such as formation energy, Hull distance, and magnetic critical temperature $T_{\mathrm{c}}$, phonon stability is assessed by systematically conducting $ab$ $initio$ phonon calculations for over 8,000 compounds. The performance of $ab$ $initio$ stability criteria is systematically assessed against 189 experimentally synthesized compounds, and magnetic critical temperature calculations are validated using 59 experimental data points. As a result, we identify 631 stable compounds as promising candidates for further functional material exploration. Notably, 47 low-moment ferrimagnets are identified, with their spin polarization and anomalous Hall/Nernst conductivity calculated to provide insights into potential applications in spintronics and energy harvesting. Furthermore, our analyses reveal linear relationship between $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ and magnetization in 14 systems and correlations between stability and atomic properties such as atomic radius and ionization energy. The regular/inverse structures preference in $X_2YZ$ compound and tetragonal distortion are also investigated for a broad Heusler family.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Emergence of Superconductivity at 20 K in Th$_3$P$_4$-type In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ Synthesized by Diamond Anvil Cell with Boron-doped Diamond Electrodes

The exploration of superconductors in metastable phases by manipulating crystal structures through high-pressure techniques has attracted significant interest in materials science to achieve a high critical temperature ($T_c$). In this study, we report an emergence of novel superconductivity in a metastable phase of Th$_3$P$_4$-type cubic In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ with remarkably high $T_c$ at 20 K under 45 GPa by using an originally designed diamond anvil cell equipped with boron-doped diamond electrodes, which can perform a high-pressure synthesis and an in-situ electrical transport measurement simultaneously. In-situ structural analysis indicates that the In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ appears partially above 40 GPa without heating. The high-pressure annealing treatment induces complete transformation to the Th$_3$P$_4$-type structure, and the defected concentration of x in In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ decreases with increasing annealing temperature. The $T_c$ in In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ is maximized at x = 0 and approaches 20 K. Electronic band calculations show that the high density of states composed of sulfur and indium bands are located at the conduction band bottom near Fermi energy. The record high $T_c$ in In$_{3-x}$S$_4$ among superconducting sulfides accelerates the further exploration of high $T_c$ materials within the Th$_3$P$_4$-type cubic family by using flexibility in crystal structure.

cond-mat.supr-con

Chemical-substitution-driven giant anomalous Hall and Nernst effects in magnetic cubic Heusler compounds

Chemical substitution efficiently optimizes the physical properties of Heusler compounds, especially their anomalous transport properties, including anomalous Hall conductivity (AHC) and anomalous Nernst conductivity (ANC). This study systematically investigates the effect of chemical substitution on AHC and ANC in 1493 magnetic cubic Heusler compounds using high-throughput first-principles calculations. Notable trends emerge in Co- and Rh-based compounds, where chemical substitution effectively enhances the AHC and ANC. Intriguingly, certain chemically substituted candidates exhibit outstanding enhancement in AHCs and ANCs, such as (Co$_{0.8}$Ni$_{0.2}$)$_2$FeSn with considerable AHC and ANC values of $-2567.78$ S cm$^{-1}$ and $8.27$ A m$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$, respectively, and (Rh$_{0.8}$Ru$_{0.2}$)$_2$MnIn with an AHC of $1950.49$ S cm$^{-1}$. In particular, an extraordinary ANC of $8.57$ A m$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$ is identified exclusively in Rh$_2$Co$_{0.7}$Fe$_{0.3}$In, nearly double the maximum value of $4.36$ A m$^{-1}$K$^{-1}$ observed in the stoichiometric Rh$_2$CoIn. A comprehensive band structure analysis underscores that the notable enhancement in ANC arises from the creation and modification of the energy-dependent nodal lines through chemical substitution. This mechanism generates a robust Berry curvature, resulting in significant ANCs. These findings emphasize the pivotal role of chemical substitution in engineering high-performance materials, thereby expanding the horizons of transport property optimization within Heusler compounds.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Continuous crossover between insulating ferroelectrics and the polar metals: \textit{Ab initio} calculation of structural phase transitions of Li$B$O$_3$ ($B$ = Ta, W, Re, Os)

Inspired by the recent discovery of a new polar metal LiReO$_3$ by K. Murayama, \textit{et al}, we calculate the temperature($T$)-dependent crystal structures of Li$B$O3 with $B$ = Ta, W, Re, Os, using the self-consistent phonon (SCPH) theory. We have reproduced the experimentally observed polar-nonpolar structural phase transitions and the transition temperatures ($T_c$) of LiTaO$_3$, LiReO$_3$, and LiOsO$_3$. From the calculation, we predict that LiWO$_3$ is a polar metal, which is yet to be tested experimentally. Upon doping electrons to the insulating LiTaO$_3$, the predicted $T_c$ is quickly suppressed and approaches those of the polar metals. Thus, there is a continuous crossover between ferroelectric insulators and polar metals if we dope electrons to the polar metals. Investigating the detailed material dependence of the interatomic force constants (IFCs), we explicitly show that the suppression of $T_c$ in polar metals can be ascribed to the screening of the long-range Li-O interaction, which is caused by the presence of the itinerant electrons.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Limits of the phonon quasi-particle picture at the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition in halide perovskites

The soft modes associated with continuous-order phase transitions are associated with strong anharmonicity. This leads to the overdamped limit where the phonon quasi-particle picture can breakdown. However, this limit is commonly restricted to a narrow temperature range, making it difficult to observe its signature feature, namely the breakdown of the inverse relationship between the relaxation time and damping. Here we present a physically intuitive picture based on the relaxation times of the mode coordinate and its conjugate momentum, which at the instability approach infinity and the inverse damping factor, respectively. We demonstrate this behavior for the cubic-to-tetragonal phase transition of the inorganic halide perovskite CsPbBr$_3$ via molecular dynamics, and show that the overdamped region extends almost 200 K above the transition temperature. Further, we investigate how the dynamics of these soft phonon modes change when crossing the phase transition.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

First-principles prediction of phase transition of YCo$_5$ from self-consistent phonon calculations

Recent theoretical study has shown that the hexagonal YCo$_5$ is dynamically unstable and distorts into a stable orthorhombic structure. In this study, we show theoretically that the orthorhombic phase is energetically more stable than the hexagonal phase in the low-temperature region, while the phonon entropy stabilizes the hexagonal phase thermodynamically in the high-temperature region. The orthorhombic-to-hexagonal phase transition temperature is $\sim$165 K, which is determined using the self-consistent phonon calculations. We investigate the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) using the self-consistent and non-self-consistent (force theorem) calculations with the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) along with the Hubbard $U$ correction. Then, we find that the orthorhombic phase has similar MAE, orbital moment, and its anisotropy to the hexagonal phase when the self-consistent calculation with the SOI is performed. Since the orthorhombic phase still gives magnetic properties comparable to the experiments, the orthorhombic distortion is potentially realized in the low-temperature region, which awaits experimental exploration.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Full optimization of quasiharmonic free energy with anharmonic lattice model: Application to thermal expansion and pyroelectricity of wurtzite GaN and ZnO

We present a theory and a calculation scheme of structural optimization at finite temperatures within the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA). The theory is based on an efficient scheme of updating the interatomic force constants with the change of crystal structures, which we call the IFC renormalization. The cell shape and the atomic coordinates are treated equally and simultaneously optimized. We apply the theory to the thermal expansion and the pyroelectricity of wurtzite GaN and ZnO, which accurately reproduces the experimentally observed behaviors. Furthermore, we point out a general scheme to obtain correct $T$ dependence at the lowest order in constrained optimizations that reduce the number of effective degrees of freedom, which is helpful to perform efficient QHA calculations with little sacrificing accuracy. We show that the scheme works properly for GaN and ZnO by comparing with the optimization of all the degrees of freedom.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Implementation strategies in phonopy and phono3py

Scientific simulation codes are public property sustained by the community. Modern technology allows anyone to join scientific software projects, from anywhere, remotely via the internet. The phonopy and phono3py codes are widely used open source phonon calculation codes. This review describes a collection of computational methods and techniques as implemented in these codes and shows their implementation strategies as a whole, aiming to be useful for the community. Some of the techniques presented here are not limited to phonon calculations and may therefore be useful in other area of condensed matter physics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Anharmonic Grüneisen theory based on self-consistent phonon theory: Impact of phonon-phonon interaction neglected in the quasiharmonic theory

We formulate a theory of thermal expansion based on the self-consistent phonon (SCP) theory, which nonperturbatively considers the anharmonic effect. We show that the Grünseisen formula holds within the SCP theory by replacing the phonon frequency by the SCP frequency. By comparing it with the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA), we derive explicit formulas of the correction to the QHA result. We show that the phonon anharmonicity gives a small correction of $O(\langle{\hat{U}_4\rangle}/\langle{\hat{U}_2\rangle})$ to the thermal expansion coefficient $α$, where $\hat{U}_2$ and $\hat{U}_4$ are the harmonic and the quartic terms of the potential energy surface. On the other hand, we show that the phonon anharmonicity gives two correction terms to the temperature ($T$)-dependent phonon frequency shift which are comparable to the original QHA term. In strongly anharmonic materials such as NaCl and MgO, these two correction terms tend to cancel out each other, which explains why the QHA sometimes gives reasonable values for the $T$-dependent phonon frequency shift while it fails for thermal expansion.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Ab initio structural optimization at finite temperatures based on anharmonic phonon theory: Application to the structural phase transitions of BaTiO$_3$

We formulate a first-principle scheme for structural optimization at finite temperature ($T$) based on the self-consistent phonon (SCP) theory, which accurately takes into account the effect of strong phonon anharmonicity. The $T$-dependence of the shape of the unit cell and internal atomic configuration is determined by minimizing the variational free energy in the SCP theory. At each optimization step, the interatomic force constants in the new structure are calculated without running additional electronic structure calculations, which makes the method dramatically efficient. We demonstrate that the thermal expansion of silicon and the three-step structural phase transitions in BaTiO$_3$ and its pressure-temperature ($p$-$T$) phase diagram are successfully reproduced. The present formalism will open the way to the non-empirical prediction of physical properties at finite $T$ of materials having a complex structural phase diagram.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci