arXiv subjects

Xiaoqin Li

Publications and source records attributed to Xiaoqin Li.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Strong damping-like spin-orbit torque and tunable Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction generated by low-resistivity Pd$_{1-x}$Pt$_x$ alloys

Despite their great promise for providing a pathway for very efficient and fast manipulation of magnetization at the nanoscale, spin-orbit torque (SOT) operations are currently energy inefficient due to a low damping-like SOT efficiency per unit current bias, and/or the very high resistivity of the spin Hall materials. Here, we report an advantageous spin Hall material, Pd1-xPtx, which combines a low resistivity with a giant spin Hall effect as evidenced through the use of three independent SOT ferromagnetic detectors. The optimal Pd0.25Pt0.75 alloy has a giant internal spin Hall ratio of >0.47 (damping-like SOT efficiency of ~ 0.26 for all three ferromagnets) and a low resistivity of ~57.5 μΩ cm at 4 nm thickness. Moreover, we find the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI), the key ingredient for the manipulation of chiral spin arrangements (e.g. magnetic skyrmions and chiral domain walls), is considerably strong at the Pd1-xPtx/Fe0.6Co0.2B0.2 interface when compared to that at Ta/Fe0.6Co0.2B0.2 or W/Fe0.6Co0.2B0.2 interfaces and can be tuned by a factor of 5 through control of the interfacial spin-orbital coupling via the heavy metal composition. This work establishes a very effective spin current generator that combines a notably high energy efficiency with a very strong and tunable DMI for advanced chiral spintronics and spin torque applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Single spin sensing of domain wall structure and dynamics in a thin film skyrmion host

Skyrmions are nanoscale magnetic structures with features promising for future low-power memory or logic devices. In this work, we demonstrate novel scanning techniques based on nitrogen vacancy center magnetometry that simultaneously probe both the magnetic dynamics and structure of room temperature skyrmion bubbles in a thin film system Ta/CoFeB/MgO. We confirm the handedness of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in this material and extract the helicity angle of the skyrmion bubbles. Our measurements also show that the skyrmion bubbles in this material change size in discrete steps, dependent on the local pinning environment, with their average size determined dynamically as their domain walls hop between pinning sites. In addition, an increase in magnetic field noise is observed near all skyrmion bubble domain walls. These measurements highlight the importance of interactions between internal degrees of freedom of skyrmion bubble domain walls and pinning sites in thin film systems. Our observations have relevance for future devices based on skyrmion bubbles where pinning interactions will determine important aspects of current-driven motion.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Energy-resolved Photoconductivity Mapping in a Monolayer-bilayer WSe2 Lateral Heterostructure

Vertical and lateral heterostructures of van der Waals materials provide tremendous flexibility for band structure engineering. Since electronic bands are sensitively affected by defects, strain, and interlayer coupling, the edge and heterojunction of these two-dimensional (2D) systems may exhibit novel physical properties, which can be fully revealed only by spatially resolved probes. Here, we report the spatial mapping of photoconductivity in a monolayer-bilayer WSe2 lateral heterostructure under multiple excitation lasers. As the photon energy increases, the light-induced conductivity detected by microwave impedance microscopy first appears along the hetero-interface and bilayer edge, then along the monolayer edge, inside the bilayer area, and finally in the interior of the monolayer region. The sequential emergence of mobile carriers in different sections of the sample is consistent with the theoretical calculation of local energy gaps. Quantitative analysis of the microscopy and transport data also reveals the linear dependence of photoconductivity on the laser intensity and the influence of interlayer coupling on carrier recombination. Combining theoretical modeling, atomic scale imaging, mesoscale impedance microscopy, and device-level characterization, our work suggests an exciting perspective to control the intrinsic band-gap variation in 2D heterostructures down to the few-nanometer regime.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Single Crystalline Silver Films for Plasmonics: From Monolayer to Optically Thick Film

Epitaxial growth of single crystalline noble metals on dielectric substrates has received tremendous attention recently due to their technological potentials as low loss plasmonic materials. Currently there are two different growth approaches, each with its strengths and weaknesses. One adopts a sophisticated molecular beam epitaxial procedure to grow atomically smooth epitaxial Ag films. However, the procedure is rather slow and becomes impractical to grow films with thickness > 50 nm. Another approach adopts a growth process using rapid e-beam deposition which is capable of growing single crystalline Ag films in the thick regime (> 300 nm). However, the rapid growth procedure makes it difficult to control film thickness precisely, i.e., the method is not applicable to growing thin epitaxial films. Here we report a universal approach to grow atomically smooth epitaxial Ag films with precise thickness control from a few monolayers to the optically thick regime, overcoming the limitations of the two aforementioned methods. In addition, we develop an in-situ growth of aluminum oxide as the capping layer which exhibits excellent properties protecting the epitaxial Ag films. The performance of the epitaxial Ag films as a function of the film thickness is investigated by directly measuring the propagation length of the surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) as well as their device performance to support a waveguide plasmonic nanolaser in infrared incorporating an InGaAsP quantum well as the gain media.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Correlation between Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction and spin mixing conductance at antiferromagnet / ferromagnet interface

The rich interaction phenomena at antiferromagnet (AFM)/ ferromagnet (FM) interfaces are key ingredients in AFM spintronics, where many underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here we report a correlation observed between interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) Ds and effective spin mixing conductance g at IrMn/CoFeB interface. Both Ds and g are quantitatively determined with Brillouin light scattering measurements, and increase with IrMn thickness in the range of 2.5~7.5 nm. Such correlation likely originates from the AFM-states-mediated spin-flip transitions in FM, which promote both interfacial DMI and spin pumping effect. Our findings provide deeper insight into the AFM-FM interfacial coupling for future spintronic design.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Moiré Excitons in Van der Waals Heterostructures

In van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures formed by stacking two monolayer semiconductors, lattice mismatch or rotational misalignment introduces an in-plane moiré superlattice. While it is widely recognized that a moiré superlattice can modulate the electronic band structure and lead to novel transport properties including unconventional superconductivity and insulating behavior driven by correlations, its influence on optical properties has not been investigated experimentally. We present spectroscopic evidence that interlayer excitons are confined by the moiré potential in a high-quality MoSe2/WSe2 heterobilayer with small rotational twist. A series of interlayer exciton resonances with either positive or negative circularly polarized emission is observed in photoluminescence, consistent with multiple exciton states confined within the moiré potential. The recombination dynamics and temperature dependence of these interlayer exciton resonances are consistent with this interpretation. These results demonstrate the feasibility of engineering artificial excitonic crystals using vdW heterostructures for nanophotonics and quantum information applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Microsecond Valley Lifetime of Defect-Bound Excitons in Monolayer WSe$_2$

In atomically thin two-dimensional semiconductors such as transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), controlling the density and type of defects promises to be an effective approach for engineering light-matter interactions. We demonstrate that electron-beam irradiation is a simple tool for selectively introducing defect-bound exciton states associated with chalcogen vacancies in TMDs. Our first-principles calculations and time-resolved spectroscopy measurements of monolayer WSe2 reveal that these defect-bound excitons exhibit exceptional optical properties including a recombination lifetime approaching 200 ns and a valley lifetime longer than 1 $μ$s. The ability to engineer the crystal lattice through electron irradiation provides a new approach for tailoring the optical response of TMDs for photonics, quantum optics, and valleytronics applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Routing Valley Excitons in a Monolayer MoS2 with a Metasurface

Excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are formed at K and K' points at the boundary of the Brillouin zone. They acquire a valley degree of freedom, which may be used as a complementary platform for information transport and processing. In a different context, metasurfaces consisting of engineered arrays of polarizable inclusions have enabled the manipulation of light in unprecedented ways, and found applications in imaging, optical information processing, and cloaking. Here, we demonstrate that, by coupling a MoS2 monolayer to a suitably designed metasurface consisting of asymmetric grooves, valley polarized excitons can be sorted and spatially separated even at room temperature. Emission from valley excitons is also separated in K-space, i.e., photons with opposite helicity are emitted to different directions. Our work demonstrates that metasurfaces can facilitate valley transport and establish an interface between valleytronic and photonic devices, thus addressing outstanding challenges in the nascent field of valleytronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Biexciton fine structure in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

The optical properties of atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors are shaped by the emergence of correlated many-body complexes due to strong Coulomb interaction. Exceptional electron-hole exchange predestines TMDCs to study fundamental and applied properties of Coulomb complexes such as valley depolarization of excitons and fine-structure splitting of trions. Biexcitons in these materials are less understood and it has been established only recently that they are spectrally located between exciton and trion. Here we show that biexcitons in monolayer TMDCs exhibit a distinct fine structure on the order of meV due to electron-hole exchange. Ultrafast pump-probe experiments on monolayer WSe$_2$ reveal decisive biexciton signatures and a fine structure in excellent agreement with a microscopic theory. We provide a pathway to access biexciton spectra with unprecedented accuracy, which is valuable beyond the class of TMDCs, and to understand even higher Coulomb complexes under the influence of electron-hole exchange.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Tailoring Semiconductor Lateral Multi-junctions for Giant Photoconductivity Enhancement

Semiconductor heterostructures have played a critical role as the enabler for new science and technology. The emergence of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) as atomically thin semiconductors has opened new frontiers in semiconductor heterostructures either by stacking different TMDs to form vertical heterojunctions or by stitching them laterally to form lateral heterojunctions via direct growth. In conventional semiconductor heterostructures, the design of multi-junctions is critical to achieve carrier confinement. Analogously, we report successful synthesis of monolayer WS2/WS2(1-x)Se2x/WS2 multi-junction lateral heterostructure via direct growth by chemical vapor deposition. The grown structures are characterized by Raman, photoluminescence, and annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy to determine its lateral compositional profile. More importantly, using microwave impedance microscopy, we demonstrate that the local photoconductivity in the alloy region can be tailored and enhanced by 2 orders of magnitude over pure WS2. Finite element analysis confirms that this effect is due to the carrier diffusion and confinement into the alloy region. Our work exemplifies the technological potential of atomically thin lateral heterostructures in optoelectronic applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Scaling of Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction at heavy metal and ferromagnetic metal interfaces

The Dzyaloshinskii Moriya Interaction (DMI) at the heavy metal (HM) and ferromagnetic metal (FM) interface has been recognized as a key ingredient in spintronic applications. Here we investigate the chemical trend of DMI on the 5d band filling (5d^3~5d^10) of the HM element in HM/CoFeB/MgO multilayer thin films. DMI is quantitatively evaluated by measuring asymmetric spin wave dispersion using Brillouin light scattering. Sign reversal and 20 times modification of the DMI coefficient D have been measured as the 5d HM element is varied. The chemical trend can be qualitatively understood by considering the 5d and 3d bands alignment at the HM/FM interface and the subsequent orbital hybridization around the Fermi level. Furthermore, a positive correlation is observed between DMI and spin mixing conductance at the HM/FM interfaces. Our results provide new insights into the interfacial DMI for designing future spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Disorder Dependent Valley Properties in Monolayer WSe2

We investigate the effect on disorder potential on exciton valley polarization and valley coherence in monolayer WSe2. By analyzing polarization properties of photoluminescence, the valley coherence (VC) and valley polarization (VP) is quantified across the inhomogeneously broadened exciton resonance. We find that disorder plays a critical role in the exciton VC, while minimally affecting VP. For different monolayer samples with disorder characterized by their Stokes Shift (SS), VC decreases in samples with higher SS while VP again remains unchanged. These two methods consistently demonstrate that VC as defined by the degree of linearly polarized photoluminescence is more sensitive to disorder potential, motivating further theoretical studies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction across antiferromagnet / ferromagnet interface

The antiferromagnet (AFM) / ferromagnet (FM) interfaces are of central importance in recently developed pure electric or ultrafast control of FM spins, where the underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. Here we report the direct observation of Dzyaloshinskii Moriya interaction (DMI) across the AFM/FM interface of IrMn/CoFeB thin films. The interfacial DMI is quantitatively measured from the asymmetric spin wave dispersion in the FM layer using Brillouin light scattering. The DMI strength is enhanced by a factor of 7 with increasing IrMn layer thickness in the range of 1- 7.5 nm. Our findings provide deeper insight into the coupling at AFM/FM interface and may stimulate new device concepts utilizing chiral spin textures such as magnetic skyrmions in AFM/FM heterostructures.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Long-Lived Valley Polarization of Intra-Valley Trions in Monolayer WSe2

We investigate valley dynamics associated with trions in monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe2) using polarization resolved two-color pump-probe spectroscopy. When tuning the pump and probe energy across the trion resonance, distinct trion valley polarization dynamics are observed as a function of energy and attributed to the intra-valley and inter-valley trions in monolayer WSe2. We observe no decay of a near-unity valley polarization associated with the intra-valley trions during ~ 25 ps, while the valley polarization of the inter-valley trions exhibits a fast decay of ~ 4 ps. Furthermore, we show that resonant excitation is a prerequisite for observing the long-lived valley polarization associated with the intra-valley trion. The exceptionally robust valley polarization associated with resonantly created intra-valley trions discovered here may be explored for future valleytronic applications such as valley Hall effects.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Trion Valley Coherence in Monolayer Semiconductors

The emerging field of valleytronics aims to exploit the valley pseudospin of electrons residing near Bloch band extrema as an information carrier. Recent experiments demonstrating optical generation and manipulation of exciton valley coherence (the superposition of electron-hole pairs at opposite valleys) in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a critical step towards control of this quantum degree of freedom. The charged exciton (trion) in TMDs is an intriguing alternative to the neutral exciton for control of valley pseudospin because of its long spontaneous recombination lifetime, its robust valley polarization, and its coupling to residual electronic spin. Trion valley coherence has however been unexplored due to experimental challenges in accessing it spectroscopically. In this work, we employ ultrafast two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy to resonantly generate and detect trion valley coherence in monolayer MoSe$_2$ demonstrating that it persists for a few-hundred femtoseconds. We conclude that the underlying mechanisms limiting trion valley coherence are fundamentally different from those applicable to exciton valley coherence. Based on these observations, we suggest possible strategies for extending valley coherence times in two-dimensional materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Interfacial Control of Dzyaloshinskii Moriya Interaction in Heavy Metal_Ferromagnetic Metal Thin Film Heterostructures

The interfacial Dzyaloshinskii Moriya Interaction (DMI) in ultrathin magnetic thin film heterostructures provides a new approach for controlling spin textures on mesoscopic length scales. Here we investigate the dependence of the interfacial DMI constant D on a Pt wedge insertion layer in Ta_CoFeB_Pt(wedge)_MgO thin films by observing the asymmetric spin wave dispersion using Brillouin light scattering. Continuous tuning of D by more than a factor of three is realized by inserting less than one monolayer of Pt. The observations provide new insights for designing magnetic thin film heterostructures with tailored D for controlling skyrmions and magnetic domain wall chirality and dynamics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Impact of Grain Boundaries on Efficiency and Stability of Organic-Inorganic Trihalide Perovskites

Organic-inorganic perovskite solar cells have attracted tremendous attention because of their remarkably high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). To further improve the device performance, however, it is imperative to obtain fundamental understandings on the photo-response and long-term stability down to the microscopic level. Here, we report the first quantitative nanoscale photoconductivity imaging on two methylammonium lead triiodide (MAPbI3) thin films with different PCEs by light-stimulated microwave impedance microscopy. The intrinsic photo-response is largely uniform across grains and grain boundaries, which is direct evidence on the inherently benign nature of microstructures in the perovskite thin films. In contrast, the carrier mobility and lifetime are strongly affected by bulk properties such as the sample crystallinity. As visualized by the spatial evolution of local photoconductivity, the degradation due to water diffusion through the capping layer begins with the disintegration of large grains rather than the nucleation and propagation from grain boundaries. Our findings provide new insights to improve the electro-optical properties of MAPbI3 thin films towards large-scale commercialization.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Neutral and Charged Inter-Valley Biexcitons in Monolayer MoSe$_2$

In atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), reduced dielectric screening of the Coulomb interaction leads to strongly correlated many-body states, including excitons and trions, that dominate the optical properties. Higher-order states, such as bound biexcitons, are possible but are difficult to identify unambiguously using linear optical spectroscopy methods alone. Here, we implement polarization-resolved two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy to unravel the complex optical response of monolayer MoSe$_2$ and identify multiple higher-order correlated states. Decisive signatures of neutral and charged inter-valley biexcitons appear in cross-polarized two-dimensional spectra as distinct resonances with respective ~20 meV and ~5 meV binding energies--similar to recent calculations using variational and Monte Carlo methods. A theoretical model taking into account the valley-dependent optical selection rules reveals the specific quantum pathways that give rise to these states. Inter-valley biexcitons identified here, comprised of neutral and charged excitons from different valleys, offer new opportunities for creating exotic exciton-polariton condensates and for developing ultrathin biexciton lasers and polarization-entangled photon sources.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗