arXiv subjects

U. Zeitler

Publications and source records attributed to U. Zeitler.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

FIR transmission and resistively detected cyclotron resonances in InSb

We have developed an experimental setup to simultaneously acquire magneto-transmission spectra and measure the photoconductive response. The low-temperature ($T$=4.2 K) magneto-transmission data for weakly doped InSb in the frequency range 3-15 THz and magnetic fields up to 25 T, shows that the AC conductivity is governed by the classical Drude response. Moreover, the resulting light-induced voltage in this system, consisting of thermoelectric and resistive contributions, both contain features that are related to cyclotron resonances. The frequency dependence of this resonance is in good agreement with $\mathbf{k\cdot p}$ perturbation theory and corresponds to transitions between the first and second Landau level with spin-up electrons. The obtained effective mass $m^{*}(B=0)=0.014m_{e}$, is in line with the value extracted from magneto-transmission experiments. Additionally, we can observe evidence of a fluence-dependent metal-insulator transition in the thermoelectric signal, which suggest that the electronic system becomes less sensitive to the light at higher frequencies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Quantum Hall effect in lightly hydrogenated graphene

We have measured the quantum Hall effect in monolayer graphene samples that were exposed to a cold hydrogen plasma leading to a hydrogenation level of a few percent. Compared to pristine graphene, the Landau level distance significantly decreases in the hydrogenated structures, and its field dependence changes from square root type to linear. From this observation we conclude that the band structure in hydrogenated graphene changes from a linear Dirac-Weyl type dispersion to a quadratic one with an effective electron mass $m_e^* = 0.24~m_e$. This is in good agreement with ab-initio band structure calculations of hydrogen decorated graphene monolayer.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Absolute measurement of the exchange interaction in an InSb quantum well using Landau-level tunnelling spectroscopy

We studied InSb quantum well devices using Landau level tunneling spectroscopy through a three-terminal differential conductance technique. This method is similar to filled state scanning tunneling microscopy but uses a stationary contact instead of a mobile tip to analyze the two-dimensional electron system. Applying magnetic fields up to 15 T, we identified clear peaks in the differential current-voltage profiles, indicative of Landau level formation. By examining deviations from the expected Landau fan diagram, we extract an absolute value for the exchange-induced energy shift. Through an empirical analysis, we derive a formula describing the exchange shift as a function of both magnetic field strength and electron filling. Our findings indicate that the emptying of the $\nu=2$ and $\nu=3$ Landau levels causes an exchange interaction energy shift in the $\nu=1$ level. Unlike prior studies that infer level energies relative to one another and report oscillatory g-factor behavior, our method references the energy of the Landau levels above the filled states of the contact under a bias voltage, revealing that only the ground state Landau level experiences a measurable exchange shift.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

A Demonstration of Slowed Electron ${\bf E} \times {\bf B}$ Drift for PTOLEMY

To resolve the effective neutrino mass $m_\beta$ with an energy resolution of 50~meV, the PTOLEMY experiment has proposed a novel transverse electromagnetic filtering process. Substantially reducing the kinetic energy of tritium $\beta$-decay electrons by counteracting motion from ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ and $\nabla{\rm B}$ drift, the PTOLEMY filter requires an input of emitted electron kinematic information to generate a tailored, suitable electric field for each candidate. The collaboration proposes to extract these quantities by using antennae to observe the relativistic frequency shift of emitted cyclotron radiation as an electron transits by ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ drift through a uniform magnetic field region preceding the filter. Electrons must be contained within this region long enough such that an adequate integrated radiated power signal is received to accurately estimate these kinematics. This necessitates a controlled, slowed drift speed. This paper presents the experimental design to vary ${\bf E}$ $\times$ ${\bf B}$ drift speed of carbon-14 $\beta$-decay electrons using a custom electrode field cage situated between the pole faces of an electromagnet. Matching our results with high-fidelity simulation, we deduce a capacity to increase particle time of flight by a factor of 5 in the field cage's slow drift region. Limited only by the dimensions of our system, we assert drift speed can be arbitrarily slowed to meet the needs of PTOLEMY's future detector. Actualizing such a system is a crucial milestone in developing the detector, enabling future cyclotron radiation measurements, filter implementation, and source injection.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2024

Composite fermions and parton wavefunctions in twisted graphene on hexagonal boron nitride

In a twisted graphene on hexagonal Boron Nitride, the presence of a gap and the breaking of the symmetry between carbon sublattices leads to multicomponent fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) due to the electrons correlation. We report on the FQHE at filling factors nu = k/2 and nu = k/3 with nu > 1, and on the composite fermions at in the nu < 1 lowest landau Level nu = 4/5, 5/7 and 2/3. These fractional states can be described with a partons model, in which the electron is broken down into sub-particles each one residing in an integer quantum Hall effect state; partons are fictitious particles that, glued back together, recover the physical electrons. The parton states host exotic anyons that could potentially form building blocks of a fault-tolerant topological quantum computer.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Atacamite Cu$_2$Cl(OH)$_3$ in High Magnetic Fields: Quantum Criticality and Dimensional Reduction of a Sawtooth-Chain Compound

We report an extensive high-field study of atacamite Cu$_2$Cl(OH)$_3$, a material realization of quantum sawtooth chains with weak interchain couplings, in continuous and pulsed magnetic fields up to 58 T. In particular, we have mapped the entropy landscape for fields as high as 35 T and have identified a field-induced quantum critical point at 21.9(1) T for $\mathbf{H} \parallel c$ axis. The quantum critical point separates field regions with and without magnetic order, evidenced by our thermodynamic study and $^1$H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, but lies far below full saturation of the magnetization. Corroborated by numerical results using density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) calculations, we find this behavior associated with a dimensional reduction of the spin system: the sawtooth chain effectively decouples into an antiferromagnetic spin-$1/2$ chain (backbone of the sawtooth chain) in the presence of an exchange field produced by the remaining field-polarized spins.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2023

Quantum Hall effect in InAsSb quantum wells at elevated temperatures

We have characterized the electronic properties of a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system in modulation doped InAsSb quantum wells and compare them to InSb quantum wells grown in a similar fashion. Using temperature-dependent Shubnikov-de Haas experiments as well as FIR transmission we find an effective mass of $m^{\ast} \approx$ 0.022$m_{e}$, which is lower than in the investigated InSb quantum well, but due to a rather strong confinement still higher than in the corresponding bulk compound. The effective $g$-factor was determined to be $g^{\ast} \approx$ 21.9. These results are also corroborated by $k \cdot p$ band structure calculations. When spin polarizing the electrons in a tilted magnetic field, the $g$-factor is significantly enhanced by electron-electron interactions, reaching a value as large as $g^{\ast}$ = 60 at a spin polarization P = 0.75. Finally, we show that due to the low effective mass the quantum Hall effect in our particular sample can be observed up to a temperature of 60 K and we propose scenarios how to increase this temperature even further.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Antiferromagnetic Hysteresis above the Spin Flop Field

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy is essential in the physics of antiferromagnets and commonly treated as a constant, not depending on an external magnetic field. However, we demonstrate that in CoO the anisotropy should necessarily depend on the magnetic field, which is shown by the spin Hall magnetoresistance of the CoO $|$ Pt device. Below the Néel temperature CoO reveals a spin-flop transition at 240 K at 7.0 T, above which a hysteresis in the angular dependence of magnetoresistance unexpectedly persists up to 30 T. This behavior is shown to agree with the presence of the unquenched orbital momentum, which can play an important role in antiferromagnetic spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in the PTOLEMY project: a theory update

We discuss the consequences of the quantum uncertainty on the spectrum of the electron emitted by the $β$-processes of a tritium atom bound to a graphene sheet. We analyze quantitatively the issue recently raised in [Cheipesh et al., Phys. Rev. D 104, 116004 (2021)], and discuss the relevant time scales and the degrees of freedom that can contribute to the intrinsic spread in the electron energy. We perform careful calculations of the potential between tritium and graphene with different coverages and geometries. With this at hand, we propose possible avenues to mitigate the effect of the quantum uncertainty.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Electrical switching of antiferromagnetic CoO | Pt across the Néel temperature

One of the most important challenges in antiferromagnetic spintronics is the read-out of the Néel vector state. High current densities up to 10$^8$ Acm$^{-2}$ used in the electrical switching experiments cause notorious difficulty in distinguishing between magnetic and thermal origins of the electrical signals. To overcome this problem, we present a temperature dependence study of the transverse resistance changes in the switching experiment with CoO|Pt devices. We demonstrate the possibility to extract a pattern of spin Hall magnetoresistance for current pulses density of $5 \times 10^7$ Acm$^{-2}$ that is present only below the Néel temperature and does not follow a trend expected for thermal effects. This is the compelling evidence for the magnetic origin of the signal, which is observed using purely electrical techniques. We confirm these findings by complementary experiments in an external magnetic field. Such an approach can allow determining the optimal conditions for switching antiferromagnets and be very valuable when no imaging techniques can be applied to verify the origin of the electrical signal.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Implementation and Optimization of the PTOLEMY Transverse Drift Electromagnetic Filter

The PTOLEMY transverse drift filter is a new concept to enable precision analysis of the energy spectrum of electrons near the tritium beta-decay endpoint. This paper details the implementation and optimization methods for successful operation of the filter. We present the first demonstrator that produces the required magnetic field properties with an iron return-flux magnet. Two methods for the setting of filter electrode voltages are detailed. The challenges of low-energy electron transport in cases of low field are discussed, such as the growth of the cyclotron radius with decreasing magnetic field, which puts a ceiling on filter performance relative to fixed filter dimensions. Additionally, low pitch angle trajectories are dominated by motion parallel to the magnetic field lines and introduce non-adiabatic conditions and curvature drift. To minimize these effects and maximize electron acceptance into the filter, we present a three-potential-well design to simultaneously drain the parallel and transverse kinetic energies throughout the length of the filter. These optimizations are shown, in simulation, to achieve low-energy electron transport from a 1 T iron core (or 3 T superconducting) starting field with initial kinetic energy of 18.6 keV drained to <10 eV (<1 eV) in about 80 cm. This result for low field operation paves the way for the first demonstrator of the PTOLEMY spectrometer for measurement of electrons near the tritium endpoint to be constructed at the Gran Sasso National Laboratary (LNGS) in Italy.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2021

The magnetic anisotropy of individually addressed spin states

Controlling magnetic anisotropy is a key requirement for the fundamental understanding of molecular magnetism and is a prerequisite for numerous applications in magnetic storage, spintronics, and all-spin logic devices. In order to address the question of molecular magnetic anisotropy experimentally, we have synthesized single-crystals of a molecular spin system containing four antiferromagnetically coupled s = 5/2 manganese(II) ions. Using low-temperature cantilever magnetometry, we demonstrate the selective population of the S = 0, 1, . . . , 10 spin states upon application of magnetic fields up to 33 T and map the magnetic anisotropy of each of these states. We observe a strong dependence of the shape and size of the magnetic anisotropy on the populated spin states, and, in particular, reveal an anisotropy reversal upon going from the lowest to the highest spin-state.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Quantum oscillations in an optically-illuminated two-dimensional electron system at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface

We have investigated the illumination effect on the magnetotransport properties of a two-dimensional electron system at the LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface. The illumination significantly reduces the zero-field sheet resistance, eliminates the Kondo effect at low-temperature, and switches the negative magnetoresistance into the positive one. A large increase in the density of high-mobility carriers after illumination leads to quantum oscillations in the magnetoresistance originating from the Landau quantization. The carrier density ($\sim 2 \times 10^{12}$ cm$^{-2}$) and effective mass ($\sim 1.7 ~m_e$) estimated from the oscillations suggest that the high-mobility electrons occupy the d$_{xz/yz}$ subbands of Ti:t$_{2g}$ orbital extending deep within the conducting sheet of SrTiO$_3$. Our results demonstrate that the illumination which induces additional carriers at the interface can pave the way to control the Kondo-like scattering and study the quantum transport in the complex oxide heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Spin flop and crystalline anisotropic magnetoresistance in CuMnAs

Recent research works have shown that the magnetic order in some antiferromagnetic materials can be manipulated and detected electrically, due to two physical mechanisms: Neel-order spin-orbit torques and anisotropic magnetoresistance. While these observations open up opportunities to use antiferromagnets for magnetic memory devices, different physical characterization methods are required for a better understanding of those mechanisms. Here we report a magnetic field induced rotation of the antiferromagnetic Neel vector in epitaxial tetragonal CuMnAs thin films. Using soft x-ray magnetic linear dichroism spectroscopy, x-ray photoemission electron microscopy, integral magnetometry and magneto-transport methods, we demonstrate spin-flop switching and continuous spin reorientation in antiferromagnetic films with uniaxial and biaxial magnetic anisotropies, respectively. From field-dependent measurements of the magnetization and magnetoresistance, we obtain key material parameters including the anisotropic magnetoresistance coefficients, magnetocrystalline anisotropy, spin-flop and exchange fields.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Fractional quantum Hall effect in CVD-grown graphene

We show the emergence of fractional quantum Hall states in dry-transferred chemical vapor deposition (CVD) derived graphene assembled into heterostructures for magnetic fields from below 3 T to 35 T. Effective composite-fermion filling factors up to $ν^* = 4$ are visible and higher order composite-fermion states (with four flux quanta attached) start to emerge at the highest fields. Our results show that the quantum mobility of CVD-grown graphene is comparable to that of exfoliated graphene and, more specifically, that the $p/3$ fractional quantum Hall states have energy gaps of up to 30 K, well comparable to those observed in other silicon-gated devices based on exfoliated graphene.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Field-induced insulating states in a graphene superlattice

We report on high-field magnetotransport (B up to 35 T) on a gated superlattice based on single-layer graphene aligned on top of hexagonal boron nitride. The large-period moiré modulation (15 nm) enables us to access the Hofstadter spectrum in the vicinity of and above one flux quantum per superlattice unit cell (Phi/Phi_0 = 1 at B = 22 T). We thereby reveal, in addition to the spin-valley antiferromagnet at nu = 0, two insulating states developing in positive and negative effective magnetic fields from the main nu = 1 and nu = -2 quantum Hall states respectively. We investigate the field dependence of the energy gaps associated with these insulating states, which we quantify from the temperature-activated peak resistance. Referring to a simple model of local Landau quantization of third generation Dirac fermions arising at Phi/Phi_0 = 1, we describe the different microscopic origins of the insulating states and experimentally determine the energy-momentum dispersion of the emergent gapped Dirac quasi-particles.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Band inversion driven by electronic correlations at the (111) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$ interface

Quantum confinement at complex oxide interfaces establishes an intricate hierarchy of the strongly correlated $d$-orbitals which is widely recognized as a source of emergent physics. The most prominent example is the (001) LaAlO$_3$/SrTiO$_3$(LAO/STO) interface, which features a dome-shaped phase diagram of superconducting critical temperature and spin-orbit coupling (SOC) as a function of electrostatic doping, arising from a selective occupancy of $t_{2g}$ orbitals of different character. Here we study (111)-oriented LAO/STO interfaces - where the three $t_{2g}$ orbitals contribute equally to the sub-band states caused by confinement - and investigate the impact of this unique feature on electronic transport. We show that transport occurs through two sets of electron-like sub-bands, and the carrier density of one of the sets shows a non-monotonic dependence on the sample conductance. Using tight-binding modeling, we demonstrate that this behavior stems from a band inversion driven by on-site Coulomb interactions. The balanced contribution of all $t_{2g}$ orbitals to electronic transport is shown to result in strong SOC with reduced electrostatic modulation.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2018

Magnetoresistance in the in-plane magnetic field induced semi-metallic phase of inverted HgTe quantum wells

In this study we have measured the magnetoresistance response of inverted HgTe quantum wells in the presence of a large parallel magnetic field up to 33 T is applied. We show that in quantum wells with inverted band structure a monotonically decreasing magnetoresistance is observed when a magnetic field up to order 10 T is applied parallel to the quantum well plane. This feature is accompanied by a vanishing of non-locality and is consistent with a predicted modification of the energy spectrum that becomes gapless at a critical in-plane field $B_{c}$. Magnetic fields in excess of $B_c$ allow us to investigate the evolution of the magnetoresistance in this field-induced semi-metallic region beyond the known regime. After an initial saturation phase in the presumably gapless phase, we observe a strong upturn of the longitudinal resistance. A small residual Hall signal picked up in non-local measurements suggests that this feature is likely a bulk phenomenon and caused by the semi-metallicity of the sample. Theoretical calculations indeed support that the origin of these features is classical and a power law upturn of the resistance can be expected due to the specifics of two-carrier transport in thin (semi-)metallic samples subjected to large magnetic fields.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗