arXiv subjects

Y. Kozuka

Publications and source records attributed to Y. Kozuka.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2022

Ensemble spin relaxation of shallow donor qubits in ZnO

We present an experimental and theoretical study of the longitudinal electron spin relaxation ($T_1$) of shallow donors in the direct band-gap semiconductor ZnO. $T_1$ is measured via resonant excitation of the Ga donor-bound exciton. $T_1$ exhibits an inverse-power dependence on magnetic field $T_1\propto B^{-n}$, with $4\leq n\leq 5$, over a field range of 1.75 T to 7 T. We derive an analytic expression for the donor spin-relaxation rate due to spin-orbit (admixture mechanism) and electron-phonon (piezoelectric) coupling for the wurtzite crystal symmetry. Excellent quantitative agreement is found between experiment and theory suggesting the admixture spin-orbit mechanism is the dominant contribution to $T_1$ in the measured magnetic field range. Temperature and excitation-energy dependent measurements indicate a donor density dependent interaction may contribute to small deviations between experiment and theory. The longest $T_1$ measured is 480 ms at 1.75 T with increasing $T_1$ at smaller fields theoretically expected. This work highlights the extremely long longitudinal spin-relaxation time for ZnO donors due to their small spin-orbit coupling.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2021

Observation of Nonlinear Spin-Charge Conversion in the Thin Film of Nominally Centrosymmetric Dirac Semimetal SrIrO3 at Room Temperature

Spin-charge conversion via spin-orbit interaction is one of the core concepts in the current spintronics research. The efficiency of the interconversion between charge and spin current is estimated based on Berry curvature of Bloch wavefunction in the linear-response regime. Beyond the linear regime, nonlinear spin-charge conversion in the higher-order electric field terms has recently been demonstrated in noncentrosymmetric materials with nontrivial spin texture in the momentum space. Here we report the observation of the nonlinear charge-spin conversion in a nominally centrosymmetric oxide material, SrIrO3, by breaking inversion symmetry at the interface. A large second-order magnetoelectric coefficient is observed at room temperature because of the antisymmetric spin-orbit interaction at the interface of Dirac semimetallic bands, which is subject to the symmetry constraint of the substrates. Our study suggests that nonlinear spin-charge conversion can be induced in many materials with strong spin-orbit interaction at the interface by breaking the local inversion symmetry to give rise to spin splitting in otherwise spin degenerate systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗

arXiv2020

Interplay of spin-orbit coupling and Coulomb interaction in ZnO-based electron system

Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is pivotal for various fundamental spin-dependent phenomena in solids and their technological applications. In semiconductors, these phenomena have been so far studied in relatively weak electron-electron interaction regimes, where the single electron picture holds. However, SOC can profoundly compete against Coulomb interaction, which could lead to the emergence of unconventional electronic phases. Since SOC depends on the electric field in the crystal including contributions of itinerant electrons, electron-electron interactions can modify this coupling. Here we demonstrate the emergence of SOC effect in a high-mobility two-dimensional electron system in a simple band structure MgZnO/ZnO semiconductor. This electron system features also strong electron-electron interaction effects. By changing the carrier density with Mg-content, we tune the SOC strength and achieve its interplay with electron-electron interaction. These systems pave a way to emergent spintronic phenomena in strong electron correlation regime and to the formation of novel quasiparticles with the electron spin strongly coupled to the density.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Microwave response of interacting oxide two-dimensional electron systems

We present an experimental study on microwave illuminated high mobility MgZnO/ZnO based two-dimensional electron systems with different electron densities and, hence, varying Coulomb interaction strength. The photoresponse of the low-temperature dc resistance in perpendicular magnetic field is examined in low and high density samples over a broad range of illumination frequencies. In low density samples a response due to cyclotron resonance (CR) absorption dominates, while high density samples exhibit pronounced microwave-induced resistance oscillations (MIRO). Microwave transmission experiments serve as a complementary means of detecting the CR over the entire range of electron densities and as a reference for the band mass unrenormalized by interactions. Both CR and MIRO-associated features in the resistance permit extraction of the effective mass of electrons but yield two distinct values. The conventional cyclotron mass representing center-of-mass dynamics exhibits no change with density and coincides with the band electron mass of bulk ZnO, while MIRO mass reveals a systematic increase with lowering electron density consistent with renormalization expected in interacting Fermi liquids.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Anomalous Enhancement of Upper Critical Field in Sr2RuO4 Thin Films

We report large enhancement of upper critical field Hc2 observed in superconducting Sr2RuO4 thin films. Through dimensional crossover approaching two dimensions, Hc2 except the in-plane field direction is dramatically enhanced compared to bulks, following a definite relation distinct from bulk one between Hc2 and the transition temperature. The anomalous enhancement of Hc2 is highly suggestive of important changes of the superconducting properties, possibly accompanied with rotation of the triplet d-vector. Our findings will become a crucial step to further explore exotic properties by employing Sr2RuO4 thin films.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Quantised conductance of one-dimensional strongly-correlated electrons in an oxide heterostructure

Oxide heterostructures are versatile platforms with which to research and create novel functional nanostructures. We successfully develop one-dimensional (1D) quantum-wire devices using quantum point contacts on MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures and observe ballistic electron transport with conductance quantised in units of 2e^{2}/h. Using DC-bias and in-plane field measurements, we find that the g-factor is enhanced to around 6.8, more than three times the value in bulk ZnO. We show that the effective mass m^{*} increases as the electron density decreases, resulting from the strong electron-electron interactions. In this strongly interacting 1D system we study features matching the 0.7 conductance anomalies up to the fifth subband. This paper demonstrates that high-mobility oxide heterostructures such as this can provide good alternatives to conventional III-V semiconductors in spintronics and quantum computing as they do not have their unavoidable dephasing from nuclear spins. This paves a way for the development of qubits benefiting from the low defects of an undoped heterostructure together with the long spin lifetimes achievable in silicon.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Negative magnetoresistance suppressed through topological phase transition in (Cd1-xZnx)3As2 films

The newly discovered topological Dirac semimetals host the possibilities of various topological phase transitions through the control of spin-orbit coupling as well as symmetries and dimensionalities. Here, we report a magnetotransport study of high-mobility (Cd1-xZnx)3As2 films, where the topological Dirac semimetal phase can be turned into a trivial insulator via chemical substitution. By high-field measurements with a Hall-bar geometry, magnetoresistance components ascribed to the chiral charge pumping have been distinguished from other extrinsic effects. The negative magnetoresistance exhibits a clear suppression upon Zn doping, reflecting decreasing Berry curvature of the band structure as the topological phase transition is induced by reducing the spin-orbit coupling.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Coherence properties of shallow donor qubits in ZnO

Defects in crystals are leading candidates for photon-based quantum technologies, but progress in developing practical devices critically depends on improving defect optical and spin properties. Motivated by this need, we study a new defect qubit candidate, the shallow donor in ZnO. We demonstrate all-optical control of the electron spin state of the donor qubits and measure the spin coherence properties. We find a longitudinal relaxation time T$_1$ exceeding 100 ms, an inhomogeneous dephasing time T$_2^*$ of $17\pm2$ ns, and a Hahn spin-echo time T$_2$ of $50\pm13$ $μ$s. The magnitude of T$_2^*$ is consistent with the inhomogeneity of the nuclear hyperfine field in natural ZnO. Possible mechanisms limiting T$_2$ include instantaneous diffusion and nuclear spin diffusion (spectral diffusion). These results are comparable to the phosphorous donor system in natural silicon, suggesting that with isotope and chemical purification long qubit coherence times can be obtained for donor spins in a direct band gap semiconductor. This work motivates further research on high-purity material growth, quantum device fabrication, and high-fidelity control of the donor:ZnO system for quantum technologies.

quant-ph↗

arXiv2018

A cascade of phase transitions in an orbitally mixed half-filled Landau level

Half-filled Landau levels host an emergent Fermi-liquid which displays an instability towards pairing, culminating in a gapped even-denominator fractional quantum Hall ground state. While this pairing may be probed by tuning the polarization of carriers in competing orbital and spin degrees of freedom, sufficiently high quality platforms offering such tunability remain few. Here we explore the ground states at filling factor $ν$ = 5/2 in ZnO-based two-dimensional electron systems through a forced intersection of opposing spin branches of Landau levels taking quantum numbers $N$ = 1 and 0. We reveal a cascade of phases with distinct magnetotransport features including a gapped phase polarized in the $N$ = 1 level and a compressible phase in N = 0, along with an unexpected Fermi-liquid, a second gapped, and a strongly anisotropic nematic-like phase at intermediate polarizations when the levels are near degeneracy. The phase diagram is produced by analyzing the proximity of the intersecting levels and highlights the excellent reproducibility and controllability ZnO offers for exploring exotic fractionalized electronic phases.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Nonlinear response of a MgZnO/ZnO heterostructure close to zero bias

We report on magnetotransport properties of a MgZnO/ZnO heterostructure subjected to weak direct currents. We find that in the regime of overlapping Landau levels, the differential resistivity acquires a quantum correction proportional to both the square of the current and the Dingle factor. The analysis shows that the correction to the differential resistivity is dominated by a current-induced modification of the electron distribution function and allows us to access both quantum and inelastic scattering rates.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Phase transition from a composite fermion liquid to a Wigner solid in the lowest Landau level of ZnO

Interactions between the constituents of a condensed matter system can drive it through a plethora of different phases due to many-body effects. A prominent platform for this type of behavior is a two-dimensional electron system in a magnetic field, which evolves intricately through various gaseous, liquid and solids phases governed by Coulomb interaction. Here we report on the experimental observation of a phase transition between the Laughlin liquid of composite fermions and the adjacent insulating phase of a magnetic field-induced Wigner solid. The experiments are performed in the lowest Landau level of a MgZnO/ZnO two-dimensional electron system with attributes of both a liquid and a solid. An in-plane magnetic field component applied on top of the perpendicular magnetic field extends the Wigner phase further into the liquid phase region. Our observations indicate the direct competition between a Wigner solid and a Laughlin liquid both formed by composite particles rather than bare electrons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Hall field-induced resistance oscillations in MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures

We report on nonlinear magnetotransport in a two-dimensional electron gas hosted in a MgZnO/ZnO heterostructure. Upon application of a direct current, we observe pronounced Hall field-induced resistance oscillations (HIRO) which are well known from experiments on high-mobility GaAs/AlGaAs quantum wells. The unique sensitivity of HIRO to the short-range component of the disorder potential allows us to unambiguously establish that the mobility of our MgZnO/ZnO heterostructure is limited by impurities residing within or near the 2D channel. Demonstration that HIRO can be realized in a system with a much lower mobility, much higher density, and much larger effective mass than in previously studied systems, highlights remarkable universality of the phenomenon and its great promise to be used in studies of a wide variety of emerging 2D materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Epitaxially Stabilized Oxide Composed of Twisted Triangular-Lattice Layers

Layered oxides have been intensively studied due to their high designability for various electronic functions. Here we synthesize a new oxide as epitaxial thin film form by pulsed laser deposition. Film characterizations including cross-section and plan-view transmission electron microscopy confirm that the film is composed of twisted stack of triangular-lattice Rh and Bi layers. We foresee that the concept of twisted oxide layers will open up a new route to design further functional layered oxides.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

All-in-all-out magnetic domain wall conduction in pyrochlore iridate heterointerface

Pyrochlore oxides possessing "all-in-all-out" spin ordering have attracted burgeoning interest as a rich ground of emergent states. This ordering has two distinct types of magnetic domains (all-in-all-out or all-out-all-in) with broken time-reversal symmetry, and a non-trivial metallic surface state has been theoretically demonstrated to appear at their domain wall. Here, we report on observation of this metallic conduction at the single all-in-all-out/all-out-all-in magnetic domain wall formed at the heterointerface of two pyrochlore iridates. By utilizing different magnetoresponses of them with different lanthanide ions, the domain wall is controllably inserted at the heterointerface, the surface state being detected as anomalous conduction enhancement with a ferroic hysteresis. Our establishment paves the way for further investigation and manipulation of this new type of surface transport.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Effective Carrier Doping and Metallization in LaxSr2-x-yBayIrO4-delta Thin Films

We fabricate LaxSr2-x-yBayIrO4-delta thin films by pulsed laser deposition, in an effort to realize the effective carrier doping and metallization in the Sr2IrO4 system. We design ideal in-plane Ir-O-Ir frame structure by utilizing tensile substrate strain and Ba substitution, as well as control La doping and oxygen deficiency. This enables us to elucidate relation between the charge transport and the carrier density through systematic changes from original p-type spin-orbit Mott insulator to highly doped n-type metal.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

All-in-all-out magnetic domain size in pyrochlore iridate thin films as probed by local magnetotransport

Pyrochlore iridates have attracted growing attention because of a theoretical prediction of a possible topological semimetal phase originating from all-in-all-out spin ordering. Related to the topological band structure, recent findings of the magnetic domain wall conduction have stimulated investigations of magnetic domain distribution in this system. Here, we investigate the size of magnetic domains in Eu$_2$Ir$_2$O$_7$ single crystalline thin films by magnetoresistance (MR) using microscale Hall bars. Two distinct magnetic domains of the all-in-all-out spin structure are known to exhibit linear MR but with opposite signs, which enables us to estimate the ratio of the two domains in the patterned channel. The linear MR for 80 ${\times}$ 60 $μ$m$^2$ channel is nearly zero after zero-field cooling, suggesting random distribution of domains smaller than the channel size. In contrast, the wide distribution of the value of the linear MR is detected in 2 ${\times}$ 2 $μ$m$^2$ channel, reflecting the detectable domain size depending on each cooling-cycle. Compared to simulation results, we estimate the average size of a single all-in-all-out magnetic domain as 1-2 $μ$m.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2015

Magnetic modulation doping in topological insulators toward higher-temperature quantum anomalous Hall effect

Quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), which generates dissipation-less edge current without external magnetic field, is observed in magnetic-ion doped topological insulators (TIs), such as Cr- and V-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3. The QAHE emerges when the Fermi level is inside the magnetically induced gap around the original Dirac point of the TI surface state. Although the size of gap is reported to be about 50 meV, the observable temperature of QAHE has been limited below 300 mK. We attempt magnetic-Cr modulation doping into topological insulator (Bi,Sb)2Te3 films to increase the observable temperature of QAHE. By introducing the rich-Cr-doped thin (1 nm) layers at the vicinity of the both surfaces based on non-Cr-doped (Bi,Sb)2Te3 films, we have succeeded in observing the QAHE up to 2 K. The improvement in the observable temperature achieved by this modulation-doping appears to be originating from the suppression of the disorder in the surface state interacting with the rich magnetic moments. Such a superlattice designing of the stabilized QAHE may pave a way to dissipation-less electronics based on the highertemperature and zero magnetic-field quantum conduction.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2015

Thermal generation of spin current in an antiferromagnet

Longitudinal spin Seebeck effect has been investigated for an uniaxial antiferromagnetic insulator Cr2O3, characterized by a spin-flop transition under magnetic field along the c-axis. We have found that temperature gradient applied normal to Cr2O3/Pt interface induces inverse spin Hall voltage of spin current origin in Pt, whose magnitude turns out to be always proportional to magnetization in Cr2O3. The observed voltage shows significant enhancement for the lower temperature region, which can be ascribed to the phonon-drag effect on the relevant spin excitations. The above results establish that antiferromagnetic spin waves with high frequency above 100 GHz can be an effective carrier of spin current.

cond-mat.str-el↗