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Xiaodong Zhou

Publications and source records attributed to Xiaodong Zhou.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Hybrid-parity sliding multiferroics

In this work, we introduce a class of hybrid-parity sliding multiferroics in which the spontaneous ferroelectric polarization is coupled to certain nonrelativistic spin splitting components through interlayer sliding, allowing these components to be reversibly switched in an electrical way. Symmetry analysis identifies coplanar magnets as natural platforms for realizing this form of sliding multiferroicity. First-principles calculations establish bilayer VBr$_2$ as a representative example, demonstrating the coupled reversal of the out-of-plane ferroelectric polarization and the signs of both even- and odd-parity nonrelativistic spin splitting components via an interlayer-sliding pathway. The signs of these nonrelativistic spin splitting components are locked to the sliding-switchable ferroelectric polarization and encoded in the spin-current responses, providing a signature of the coupled ferroic switching. Our findings expand the scope of sliding multiferroics and the functionality of sliding ferroelectrics for low-energy, nonvolatile logic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Large Exchange Magnetostriction in a Kagome Antiferromagnet at Room Temperature

The pursuit of high-performance magnetostrictive materials is crucial for advancing technologies in sensing, actuation, and microelectromechanical systems. Although pronounced magnetostrictive effects have been observed in a few ferromagnets, a systematic exploration of magnetostriction across a broader range of antiferromagnets remains limited. Here, we report the observation of large magnetostriction in the kagome antiferromagnet YMn6Sn6. Under a magnetic field, the system undergoes a field-induced evolution from a helical magnetic ground state toward a collinear field-polarized state, accompanied by a large anisotropic lattice strain and a substantial volume magnetostriction exceeding 400 ppm at room temperature. Remarkably, the magnetostrictive response remains nearly fully reversible up to 9 T with nearly hysteresis-free behavior, effectively minimizing the energy dissipation commonly associated with domain-wall pinning. Combined experimental measurements and theoretical calculations reveal that the large, nearly hysteresis-free magnetostriction originates from the competition between intralayer ferromagnetic and interlayer exchange interactions. This exchange-driven magnetoelastic coupling further gives rise to a strongly direction-dependent lattice distortion pathway. This work establishes kagome helimagnets as a tunable platform for low-dissipation magnetoelastic functionalities and responsive magnetomechanical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

The Second LoViF 2026 Challenge on Real-World All-in-One Image Restoration: Methods and Results

This paper presents a review of the second LoViF Challenge on Real-World All-in-One Image Restoration. The challenge aims to advance unified image restoration under diverse real-world degradation conditions, including blur, low-light, haze, rain, and snow. It provides a common benchmark for evaluating the restoration accuracy, robustness, and generalization capability of models across multiple degradation categories within a unified framework. The competition attracted 158 registered participants, and 20 teams were included in the final ranking after their submitted results were successfully reproduced and verified. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the submitted solutions and corresponding results, highlighting recent advances in real-world all-in-one image restoration. The summarized methods and empirical findings reveal effective design strategies and establish an updated benchmark for future research in real-world low-level vision.

cs.CV

Strain induced magnetic phase transition and anomalous transport phenomena in RuO$_2$ and MnF$_2$

Collinear antiferromagnets with broken time-reversal symmetry have emerged as a fertile platform for spintronics. Using a general tight-binding model and first-principles calculations, we show that strain engineering provides a simple route to control magnetic phase transition and activate transverse responses in representative altermagnets RuO$_2$ and MnF$_2$. For pristine RuO$_2$ and MnF$_2$ with Néel vector $\mathbf{n}\parallel$ [001], symmetry constrains the off-diagonal elements of the Hall conductivity tensor to vanish, thereby forbidding anomalous transport and magneto-optical responses. Shear strain applied along the $ac$ direction preserves the spin symmetry relating the two spin-opposite magnetic sublattices and therefore maintains the altermagnetic phase. By contrast, shear strain applied along the $ab$ direction breaks this spin symmetry and drives a transition from an altermagnetic phase to a partially compensated ferrimagnetic phase in metallic RuO$_2$ and to a fully compensated ferrimagnetic phase in semiconducting MnF$_2$. In addition, the lowered symmetry enables finite anomalous Hall, anomalous Nernst, and anomalous thermal Hall conductivities, as well as magneto-optical rotation angles, which are prohibited in the pristine systems. These responses exhibit a clear strain dependence and become progressively stronger as the strain amplitude increases. Our results establish strain engineering as an effective route to manipulate magnetic phases and functional responses in unconventional antiferromagnets, thereby expanding opportunities for antiferromagnetic spintronics and magneto-optical applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Reversible fully spin polarization in strain-engineered two-dimensional fully compensated magnets

Achieving controllable spin polarization and its reversal in symmetry-compensated magnets. Here we demonstrate, using symmetry analysis and a minimal tight-binding model, that uniaxial strain removes these constraints by inducing inequivalence between magnetic sublattices in two-dimensional (2D) system, driving an altermagnetic (AM) state into a fully compensated ferrimagnetic (fFIM) state and enabling fully spin polarization. Furthermore, strain along orthogonal directions gives rise to two energetically degenerate fFIM states with opposite spin polarization, enabling reversible spin switching. More importantly, the two symmetry-related fFIM states can be regarded as distinct ferroelastic variants, suggesting that this model or mechanism can be extended to ferroelastic fFIM systems. The generality of this mechanism is confirmed by combining spin-group analysis, first-principles calculations, and Boltzmann transport theory in representative candidates, including AM Mn$_2$SeO and ferroelastic fFIM V$_2$SO. Our results reveal a universal symmetry-driven framework for strain-controlled and -reversible fully spin-polarized transport and identify strain-engineered AM and ferroelastic fFIM systems as a promising platform for volatile and nonvolatile spintronic applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Chiral Altermagnetic Magnetoelectrics

In this work, we introduce a new class of chiral altermagnetic magnetoelectrics in structurally chiral, nonpolar altermagnetic systems and identify the experimentally well-characterized three-dimensional metal-organic framework K[Co(HCOO)$_3$] as a promising material platform. K[Co(HCOO)$_3$] exhibits chirality-locked \emph{g}-wave altermagnetic spin splitting together with dual-mode switchable electric polarization controlled by Néel-vector reorientation and structural chirality. Specifically, Néel-vector reorientation generates a finite electric polarization and reverses its sign, whereas chirality switching between left- and right-handed enantiomers produces an additional sign reversal. The associated electronic and optical responses provide effective readout channels for these switchable states. Our results establish chiral altermagnetic magnetoelectrics as a promising route to chirality- and Néel-vector-controlled nonvolatile multifunctional spintronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Giant Magnetostriction by Design: A First-Principles Screening of Co-based Heusler Alloys

The pursuit of high-performance, rare-earth-free magnetostrictive materials is crucial for advancing technologies in sensing, actuation, and microelectromechanical systems. Heusler alloys represent a promising, yet underexplored, class of materials for this purpose. In this work, we perform a systematic first-principles investigation of the magnetostrictive properties of 25 Co-based full Heusler alloys, Co$_2$YZ (Y = V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co; Z = Al, Ga, Si, Ge, Sn). Our screening identifies 10 compounds with large predicted magnetostriction ($|λ_{001}| > 100$~ppm), highlighted by Co$_3$Si with a giant value of -966~ppm. Furthermore, we demonstrate two effective strategies for engineering magnetostriction: (i) tuning the Fermi level, which enhances the magnetostriction of Co$_3$Sn to -905~ppm via Sb doping, and (ii) amplifying the spin-orbit coupling, which boosts the magnetostriction of Co$_2$CrGa to a colossal -1008~ppm through Re substitution. Our analysis reveals a general predictive rule, uncovering a linear relationship between the magnetostriction and the choice of the Y-site transition metal. This work not only identifies novel candidates for magnetostrictive applications but also establishes clear, physically-grounded design principles to accelerate the discovery of new functional magnetic materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

On a class of Nonlinear Grushin equations

In this paper, we study two kinds of nonlinear degenerate elliptic equations containing the Grushin operator. First, we prove radial symmetry and a decay rate at infinity of solutions to such a Grushin equation by using the moving plane method in combination with suitable integral inequalities. Applying similar methods, we obtain nonexistence results for solutions to a second type of Grushin equation in Euclidean half space. Finally, we derive a priori estimates and the existence for positive solutions to more general types of Grushin equations by employing blow up analysis and topological degree methods, respectively.

math.AP

Manipulating Anomalous Transport via Crystal Symmetry in 2D Altermagnets

Anomalous transports, including the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and anomalous Nernst effect (ANE), are typical manifestations of time-reversal-symmetry-breaking responses in materials. In general, the two Hall states with opposite Hall conductivities can be regarded as time-reversal pairs coupled to magnetic order, and switching between them relies on reversing the magnetization via an external magnetic field or electric current. Here, we introduce a approach for manipulating anomalous transport through crystal symmetry engineering in two-dimensional (2D) altermagnetic systems. Based on symmetry analysis, we demonstrate that 2D altermagnets (AM) with out-of-plane Néel vectors will not host any anomalous Hall transport. Remarkably, breaking the symmetry connecting the two magnetic sublattices, an anomalous Hall response can emerge immediately, and the signs of the anomalous Hall and anomalous Nernst conductivities can be flexibly controlled by the symmetry-breaking term, thereby realizing tunable sign-reversible anomalous transport. Furthermore, the feasibility of the theoretical scheme is further verified by explicit lattice-model construction. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the realization of crystal symmetry-controlled anomalous transport in a 2D AM material Cr$_{2}$O$_{2}$. The results indicate that Cr$_{2}$O$_{2}$ with out-of-plane Néel vectors can sequentially exhibit the AHE and quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) under continuous uniaxial strain. Interestingly, the sign reversal between these two effects can be achieved by simply rotating the strain direction by C$_{4z}$ symmetry. The corresponding ANE and its sign reversal are also revealed. Our findings provide a new strategy to manipulate anomalous transport, and should have significant potential applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Multi-Head Spectral-Adaptive Graph Anomaly Detection

Graph anomaly detection technology has broad applications in financial fraud and risk control. However, existing graph anomaly detection methods often face significant challenges when dealing with complex and variable abnormal patterns, as anomalous nodes are often disguised and mixed with normal nodes, leading to the coexistence of homophily and heterophily in the graph domain. Recent spectral graph neural networks have made notable progress in addressing this issue; however, current techniques typically employ fixed, globally shared filters. This 'one-size-fits-all' approach can easily cause over-smoothing, erasing critical high-frequency signals needed for fraud detection, and lacks adaptive capabilities for different graph instances. To solve this problem, we propose a Multi-Head Spectral-Adaptive Graph Neural Network (MHSA-GNN). The core innovation is the design of a lightweight hypernetwork that, conditioned on a 'spectral fingerprint' containing structural statistics and Rayleigh quotient features, dynamically generates Chebyshev filter parameters tailored to each instance. This enables a customized filtering strategy for each node and its local subgraph. Additionally, to prevent mode collapse in the multi-head mechanism, we introduce a novel dual regularization strategy that combines teacher-student contrastive learning (TSC) to ensure representation accuracy and Barlow Twins diversity loss (BTD) to enforce orthogonality among heads. Extensive experiments on four real-world datasets demonstrate that our method effectively preserves high-frequency abnormal signals and significantly outperforms existing state-of-the-art methods, especially showing excellent robustness on highly heterogeneous datasets.

cs.LG

Symmetry-driven giant magneto-optical Kerr effects in altermagnet hematite

Altermagnets have attracted tremendous interest for revealing intriguing physics and promising spintronics applications. In contrast to conventional antiferromagnets, altermagnets break both PT and Tt symmetries, and simultaneously exhibit spin-split band structures with a vanishing net magnetization. To quantify insulating altermagnets without conduction electron, we propose to use magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) to identify the altermagnetic fingerprints. In particular, we demonstrate not only the giant MOKE responses, but also their connection with the orientations of Neel vectors at room temperature in altermagnet hematite alpha-Fe_2O_3. Specifically, under the Neel vector along the [1-100] axis, we find a giant polar Kerr rotation angle 93.4 mdeg in the (11-20) plane, which is allowed by the magnetic space group C2'/c'. Under the Neel vector along the [11-20] axis, we find a longitudinal Kerr angle 9.6 mdeg in the (0001) plane, which is allowed by the magnetic space group C2/c. Further, we show that such pronounced MOKE effects directly enable an optical imaging of altermagnetic domains, together with their reversible domain wall (DW) motion. Our studies not only suggest MOKE can be used to identify altermagnet candidates, but also signify the feasibility of exploring altermagnetic optical and DW spintronics, which could largely expand the current research paradigm of altermagnetism.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Magnetic-Field and Strain Engineering of Modulated Transverse Transport in Altermagnetic Topological Materials

Here, we explore the role of inherent altermagnetic topology in transverse transport phenomena (such as crystal/anomalous Hall, Nernst, and thermal Hall effects) in several famous altermagnets, including tetragonal \textit{X}V$_2$\textit{Y}$_2$O (\textit{X} = K, Rb, Cs; \textit{Y} = S, Se, Te), RuO$_2$, MnF$_2$, as well as hexagonal CrSb and MnTe. Notably, in \textit{X}V$_2$\textit{Y}$_2$O, the first experimentally realized layered altermagnets, transverse transport is governed by altermagnetic pseudonodal surfaces, emphasizing the purely topological contributions to transverse transport. Interestingly, we demonstrate that strain engineering and magnetic field, two unique methods for selectively controlling crystal and anomalous transport, can substantially enhance the magnitude of these phenomena while preserving the alternating spin characteristics in both real and momentum space. Moreover, due to the spin symmetry breaking via shear strain, a new magnetic phase, fully compensated ferrimagnetism, with isotropic spin splitting, can be induced. Our findings provide effective strategies not only for manipulating transverse transport in altermagnets but also for controlling magnetic phase transitions, offering valuable insights for their potential applications in spintronics and spin caloritronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Rewritable Complementary Nanoelectronics Enabled by Electron-Beam Programmable Ambipolar Doping

The ability to reversibly and site-selectively tune ambipolar doping in a single semiconductor is crucial for reconfigurable electronics beyond silicon, but remains highly challenging. Here, we present a rewritable architecture based on electron-beam programmable field-effect transistors (FETs). Using WSe$_2$ as a model system, we demonstrate electron-beam-induced doping that enables reversible, precisely controlled carrier modulation exceeding $10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$. The in-situ writing, erasing, and rewriting of ambipolar doping of nanoscale patterns was directly visualized by scanning microwave impedance microscopy. This mask-free, lithography-compatible approach can achieve precise band engineering within individual channels, yielding near-ideal subthreshold swings (~ 60 mV/dec) and finely tunable threshold voltages for both carrier types without specialized contact engineering. These capabilities allow on-demand realization of high performance logic, including CMOS inverters with high voltage gains and low power consumption, as well as NAND-to-NOR transitions on the same device via direct polarity rewriting. Our platform offers a scalable and versatile route for rapid prototyping of complementary electronics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Sliding Ferroelectric Metal with Ferrimagnetism

Two-dimensional (2D) sliding ferroelectric (FE) metals with ferrimagnetism represent a previously unexplored class of spintronic materials, featuring out-of-plane FE polarization, metallic conductivity, and a finite net magnetization, which together enable electrically tunable spintronic functionalities via FE switching. Here, based on antiferromagnetic (AFM) metallic bilayers, we propose a general strategy for constructing 2D sliding FE ferrimagnetic (FiM) metals that can achieve triply-coupled switching, in which the FE polarization, spin splitting, and net magnetization are reversed simultaneously through FE switching. As a prototypical realization, we design a bilayer sliding FE metal with FiM order, derived from monolayer Fe$_5$GeTe$_2$ -- a van der Waals metal with intrinsic ferromagnetic order close to room temperature. The system exhibits a FE transition from a nonpolar (NP) AFM phase to a FE FiM phase via interlayer sliding. The in-plane mirror symmetry breaking in FE metallic states lifts the nonrelativistic spin degeneracy that exists in the NP phase, leading to a sizable net magnetic moment. Furthermore, the interplay between metallicity, ferroelectricity, and ferrimagnetism gives rise to pronounced sign-reversible transport responses near the Fermi level, all of which can be electrically controlled by FE switching. Our results establish sliding FE metals with FiM as a promising platform for electrically reconfigurable, high-speed, and low-dissipation spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Ultrafast symmetry modulation and induced magnetic excitation in the Kagome metal RbV3Sb5

Light-matter interaction in frustrated Kagome metals enables access to hidden quantum states, yet the microscopic origin of symmetry breaking under ultrafast excitation remains elusive. Here, we uncover a microscopic mechanism for laser-induced symmetry breaking in RbV3Sb5 through first-principles real-time simulations. Selective excitation of a single-QM phonon mode dynamically breaks both rotational and time-reversal symmetries within the 2X2X1 charge density wave (CDW) superlattice. The resulting anisotropic lattice distortion lifts geometric frustration and stabilizes a nonequilibrium ferrimagnetic phase, accompanied by a sizable intrinsic anomalous Hall effect. Distinct from prior interpretations based on orbital antiferromagnetism or extrinsic perturbations, our findings reveal a spin-driven pathway for symmetry breaking under strong optical fields. These results provide a microscopic foundation for exploring how spin, lattice and charge degrees of freedom are intertwined in nonequilibrium correlated states.

cond-mat.str-el

Pohozaev identities for weak solutions of Grushin type p-sub-Laplacian equation via domain variations

In this paper, we study Pohozaev identities for weak solutions of degenerate elliptic equations involving Grushin type p-sub-Laplacian under only $C^1$-regularity assumption. By using domain variations, we obtain the local Pohozaev identities of translating type and scaling type. As an application, a global Pohozaev identity of scaling type in $\mathbb{R}^{N+l}$ is also derived.

math.AP

Giant magneto-cubic in-plane Hall effect in a nonmagnetic material

In-plane Hall effect (IPHE) triggered by an external magnetic field applied in the transport plane has attracted significant experimental attentions in recent few years 1-6. However, most experiments focus on magnetic materials, where the existence of magnetic ordering may complicate understanding the physics behind, and the relatively small signal magnitudes limit the application of the effect. Here, we report a giant IPHE in a nonmagnetic half-Heusler compound LuAuSn, with a magnitude exceeding all the previously reported values. A -period of IPHE and the consistent cubic dependence on the magnetic field are observed, realizing the long-sought theoretical prediction of magneto-cubic IPHE under threefold rotational symmetry7-9 in an unexpected material. The scaling law analysis and first-principles calculations indicate that extrinsic side jump and skew scattering processes from both impurity and phonon scatterings dominate the observed effect. These findings unravel a new type of magneto-nonlinear IPHE, and its large magnitude and wide-temperature operation may open the door to practical applications of IPHE.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Ferroelectric Antiferromagnetic Lifting of Spin-Valley Degeneracy

The generation and control of spin- and valley-polarization in antiferromagnets (AFMs) have garnered increasing attention due to their potential for enabling faster and more stable multifunctional spintronic and valleytronic memory and logic devices. However, the two primary categories of AFMs, altermagnets and TP-symmetric AFMs, either lack intrinsic valley-polarization or net spin-polarization. Here, we propose an effective approach for achieving spontaneous spin-valley polarization in TP-broken layered ferroelectric antiferromagnets (FE-AFMs). The FE-AFMs exhibit lifted spin degeneracy across the entire Brillouin zone, along with uncompensated spin density of states. They combine the benefits of spin-polarization in altermagnets with valley-polarization in TP-symmetric AFMs. Furthermore, the FE-AFMs feature layer-dependent spin-polarization, rooted in their intrinsic ferroelectric property, allowing for the flexible control over spin-valley polarization by interlayer sliding. This tunability facilitates sign-reversible and size-tunable valley Hall and Nernst effects, along with other spin-valley-dependent transport properties. Our findings are demonstrated in a broad class of TP-broken bilayer antiferromagnets such as Nb3X8 (X = Cl, Br, I), VX2 (X = S, Se), and VSi2X4 (X = N, P), underscoring the potential of FE-AFMs for advancing next-generation spin- and valley-based information technologies.

cond-mat.mes-hall