arXiv subjects

Yukio Tanaka

Publications and source records attributed to Yukio Tanaka.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Axion instability and non-linear electromagnetic effect

We investigate the instability due to dynamical axion field near the topological phase transition of insulators. We first point out that the amplitude of dynamical axion field is bounded for magnetic insulators in general, which suppresses the axion instability. Near the topological phase transition, however, the axion field may have a large fluctuation, which decreases the critical electric field for the instability and increases the axion induced magnetic flux density. Using two different model Hamiltonians, we report the electromagnetic response of the axion field in details.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Spin liquids from Majorana Zero Modes in a Cooper Box

We propose a path for constructing diverse interacting spin systems from topological nanowires in Cooper Boxes. The wires are grouped into a three-wire building block called an 'hexon', consisting of six Majorana zero modes. In the presence of a strong charging energy, the hexon becomes a Cooper box equivalent to two spin-$1/2$ degrees of freedom. By considering arrays of hexons and controlling the distances between the various wires, one can tune the Hamiltonian governing the low-energy spins, thus providing a route for controllably constructing interacting spin systems in one- and two-dimensions. We explicitly present realizations of the one-dimensional spin-$1/2$ XXZ chain, as well as the transverse field Ising model. We propose an experiment capable of revealing the nature of critical points in such effective spin systems by applying a local gate voltage and measuring the induced charge at a distance. To demonstrate the applicability of this approach to two-dimensions, we provide a scheme for realizing the topologically ordered Yao-Kivelson spin-liquid model, which has a collective Majorana edge mode, similar to the B-phase of Kitaev's honeycomb model.

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arXiv2018

Electromagnetic effects induced by time-dependent axion field

We studied the dynamics of the so-called $θ$-term, which exists in topological materials and is related to a hypothetical field predicted by Peccei-Quinn in particle physics, in a magnetic superlattice constructed using a topological insulator and two ferromagnetic insulators, where the ferromagnetic insulators had perpendicular magnetic anisotropies and different magnetic coercive fields. We examined a way to drive the dynamics of the $θ$-term in the magnetic superlattice through changing the inversion symmetry (from an anti-parallel to a parallel magnetic configuration) using an external magnetic field. As a result, we found that unconventional electromagnetic fields, which are magnetic field-induced charge currents and vice versa, are generated by the nonzero dynamics of the $θ$-term.

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arXiv2018

Inter-orbital topological superconductivity in spin-orbit coupled superconductors with inversion symmetry breaking

We study the superconducting state of multi-orbital spin-orbit coupled systems in the presence of an orbitally driven inversion asymmetry assuming that the inter-orbital attraction is the dominant pairing channel. Although the inversion symmetry is absent, we show that superconducting states that avoid mixing of spin-triplet and spin-singlet configurations are allowed, and remarkably, spin-triplet states that are topologically nontrivial can be stabilized in a large portion of the phase diagram. The orbital-dependent spin-triplet pairing generally leads to topological superconductivity with point nodes that are protected by a nonvanishing winding number. We demonstrate that the disclosed topological phase can exhibit Lifshitz-type transitions upon different driving mechanisms and interactions, e.g., by tuning the strength of the atomic spin-orbit and inversion asymmetry couplings or by varying the doping and the amplitude of order parameter. Such distinctive signatures of the nodal phase manifest through an extraordinary reconstruction of the low-energy excitation spectra both in the bulk and at the edge of the superconductor.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Local density of states in two-dimensional topological superconductors under a magnetic field: signature of an exterior Majorana bound state

We study quasiparticle states on a surface of a topological insulator (TI) with proximity-induced superconductivity under an external magnetic field. An applied magnetic field creates two Majorana bound states: a vortex Majorana state localized inside a vortex core and an exterior Majorana state localized along a circle centered at the vortex core. We calculate the spin-resolved local density of states (LDOS) and demonstrate that the shrinking of the radius of the exterior Majorana state, predicted in Ref. [R. S. Akzyanov et al., Phys. Rev. B 94, 125428 (2016)], under a strong magnetic field can be seen in LDOS without smeared out by non-zero-energy states. The spin-resolved LDOS further reveals that the spin of the exterior Majorana state is strongly polarized. Accordingly, the induced odd-frequency spin-triplet pairs are found to be spin-polarized as well. In order to detect the exterior Majorana states, however, the Fermi energy should be closed to the Dirac point to avoid contributions from continuum levels. We also study a different two-dimensional topological-superconducting system where a two-dimensional electron gas with the spin-orbit coupling is sandwiched between an s-wave superconductor and a ferromagnetic insulator. We show that the radius of an exterior Majorana state can be tuned by an applied magnetic field. However, on the contrary to the results at a TI surface, neither the exterior Majorana state nor the induced odd-frequency spin-triplet pairs are spin-polarized. We conclude that the spin-polarization of the Majorana state is attributed to the spin-polarized Landau level which is characteristic for systems with the Dirac-like dispersion.

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arXiv2018

Spin-Dependent Conductance in a Junction with Dresselhaus Spin-Orbit Coupling

We studied spin-dependent conductance in a normal metal (NM)/NM junction with Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling (DSOC) and magnetization. As a reference, we also studied the spin-dependent conductance in such a junction with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (RSOC). Using a standard scattering method, we calculated the gate-voltage dependence of the spin-dependent conductances in DSOC and RSOC. In addition, we calculated the gate-voltage dependence of the conductances in a ferromagnetic metal (FM)/NM junction with spin-orbit coupling and magnetization, which we call ferromagnetic spin-orbit metal (FSOM). From these results, we discuss the relation between these conductance in the presence of DSOC and that in the presence of RSOC. We found that conductance in DSOC is the same as that in RSOC for the NM/FSOM junction. In addition, we found that in the FM/FSOM junction, the conductance in DSOC is the same as that in RSOC only when the FM magnetization is along the out-of-plane direction.

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arXiv2018

Tunneling conductance in two-dimensional junctions between a normal metal and a ferromagnetic Rashba metal

We have studied charge transport in ferromagnetic Rashba metal (FRM), where both Rashba type spin-orbit coupling (RSOC) and exchange coupling coexist. It has nontrivial metallic states, i.e., normal Rashba metal (NRM), anomalous Rashba metal (ARM), and Rashba ring metal (RRM), and they are manipulated by tuning the Fermi level with an applied gate voltage. We theoretically studied tunneling conductance (G) in a normal metal / FRM junction by changing the Fermi level via an applied gate voltage (Vg) on the FRM. We found a wide variation in the Vg dependence of G, which depends on the metallic states. In NRM, the Vg dependence of G is the same as that in a conventional two-dimensional system. However, in ARM, the Vg dependence of G is similar to that in a conventional one (two)-dimensional system for a large (small) RSOC. Furthermore, in RRM, which is generated by a large RSOC, the Vg dependence of the $G$ is similar to that in the one-dimensional system. In addition, these anomalous properties stem from the spin-momentum locking of RSOC rather than the density of states in ARM and RRM because of the large RSOC and exchange coupling.

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arXiv2017

Valley Edelstein Effect in Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

In this work, we predict the emergence of the valley Edelstein Effect (VEE), which is an electric-field-induced spin polarization effect, in gated monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (MTMDs). We found an unconventional valley-dependent response in which the spin-polarization is parallel to the applied electric field with opposite spin-polarization generated by opposite valleys. This is in sharp contrast to the conventional Edelstein effect in which the induced spin-polarization is perpendicular to the applied electric field. We identify the origin of VEE as combined effects of conventional Edelstein effect and valley-dependent Berry curvatures induced by coexisting Rashba and Ising SOCs in gated MTMDs. Experimental schemes to detect the VEE are also considered.

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arXiv2017

Tunability of Andreev levels via spin-orbit coupling in Zeeman-split Josephson junctions

We study Andreev reflection and Andreev levels $\varepsilon$ in Zeeman-split superconductor/Rashba wire/Zeeman-split superconductor junctions by solving the Bogoliubov de-Gennes equation. We theoretically demonstrate that the Andreev levels $\varepsilon$ can be controlled by tuning either the strength of Rashba spin-orbit interaction or the relative direction of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and the Zeeman field. In particular, it is found that the magnitude of the band splitting is tunable by the strength of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction and the rength of the wire, which can be interpreted by a spin precession in the Rashba wire. We also find that if the Zeeman field in the superconductor has the component parallel to the direction of the junction, the $\varepsilon$-$ϕ$ curve becomes asymmetric with respect to the superconducting phase difference $ϕ$. Whereas the Andreev reflection processes associated with each pseudospin band are sensitive to the relative orientation of the spin-orbit field and the exchange field, the total electric conductance interestingly remains invariant.

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arXiv2017

Crossing-Line-Node Semimetals: General Theory and Application to Rare-Earth Trihydrides

Multiple line nodes in energy-band gaps are found in semimetals preserving mirror-reflection symmetry. We classify possible configurations of multiple line nodes with crossing points (crossing line nodes) under point-group symmetry. Taking the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) into account, we also classify topological phase transitions from crossing-line-node Dirac semimetals to other topological phases, e.g., topological insulators and point-node semimetals. This study enables one to find crossing-line-node semimetal materials and their behavior in the presence of SOI from the band structure in the absence of SOI without detailed calculations. As an example, the theory applies to hexagonal rare-earth trihydrides with the HoD3 structure and clarifies that it is a crossing-line-node Dirac semimetal hosting three line nodes.

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arXiv2017

Current fluctuations in unconventional superconductor junctions with impurity scattering

The order parameter of bulk two-dimensional superconductors is classified as nodal, if it vanishes for a direction in momentum space, or gapful if it does not. Each class can be topologically nontrivial if Andreev bound states are formed at the edges of the superconductor. Non-magnetic impurities in the superconductor affect the formation of Andreev bound states and can drastically change the tunneling spectra for small voltages. Here, we investigate the mean current and its fluctuations for two-dimensional tunnel junctions between a normal-metal and unconventional superconductors by solving the quasi-classical Eilenberger equation self-consistently, including the presence of non-magnetic impurities in the superconductor. As the impurity strength increases, we find that superconductivity is suppressed for almost all order parameters since (i) at zero applied bias, the effective transferred charge calculated from the noise-current ratio tends to the electron charge $e$ and (ii) for finite bias, the current-voltage characteristics follows that of a normal state junction. There are notable exceptions to this trend. First, gapful nontrivial (chiral) superconductors are very robust against impurity scattering due to the linear dispersion relation of their surface Andreev bound states. Second, for nodal nontrivial superconductors, only p_x-wave pairing is almost immune to the presence of impurities due to the emergence of odd-frequency s-wave Cooper pairs near the interface. Owing to their anisotropic dependence on the wave vector, impurity scattering is an effective pair breaking mechanism for the rest of nodal superconductors. All these behaviors are neatly captured by the noise-current ratio, providing a useful guide to find experimental signatures for unconventional superconductivity.

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arXiv2017

Josephson effect in a multi-orbital model for Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$

We study Josephson current between s-wave/spin-triplet superconductor junctions by taking into account details of band structures in Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$ such as three conduction bands, spin-orbit interaction in the bulk and that at the interface. We assume five superconducting order parameters in Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$: a chiral p-wave symmetry and four helical p-wave symmetries. We calculate current-phase relationship $I(φ)$ in these junctions, where $φ$ is the macroscopic phase difference between two superconductors. The results for a chiral p-wave pairing symmetry show that $\cos(φ)$ term appears in the current-phase relation due to time-reversal symmetry (TRS) breaking. On the other hand, $\cos(φ)$ term is absent in the helical pairing states which preserve the TRS. We also study the dependence of maximum Josephson current $I_c$ on an external magnetic flux $Φ$ in a corner junction. The calculated results of $I_c(Φ)$ show a relation $I_{c}(Φ) \neq I_{c}(-Φ)$ in a chiral state and $I_{c}(Φ)=I_{c}(-Φ)$ in a helical state. We calculate $I_c(Φ)$ in a corner and a symmetric SQUIDs geometry. In a symmetric SQUID geometry, the relation $I_{c}(Φ)=I_{c}(-Φ)$ is satisfied for all the pairing states and it is impossible to distinguish chiral state from helical one. On the other hand, results for a corner SQUID always show $I_{c}(Φ) \neq I_{c}(-Φ)$ and $I_{c}(Φ)=I_{c}(-Φ)$ for a chiral and a helical states, respectively. Experimental tests of these relations in a corner junctions and SQUIDs may serve as a tool for unambiguous determination of the pairing symmetry in Sr$_{2}$RuO$_{4}$.

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arXiv2017

Anisotropic magnetic responses of topological crystalline superconductors

Majorana Kramers pairs emerged on surfaces of time-reversal-invariant topological crystalline superconductors show the Ising anisotropy to an applied magnetic field. We clarify that crystalline symmetry uniquely determines the direction of the Majorana Ising spin for given irreducible representations of pair potential, deriving constraints to topological invariants. Besides, necessary conditions for nontrivial topological invariants protected by the n-fold rotational symmetry are shown.

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arXiv2017

Theory of surface Andreev bound states and tunneling spectroscopy in three-dimensional chiral superconductors

We study the surface Andreev bound states (SABSs) and quasiparticle tunneling spectroscopy of three-dimensional (3D) chiral superconductor by changing the surface (interface) misorientation angle of chiral superconductors. We obtain analytical formula of the energy dispersion of SABS for general pair potential when an original 4$\times$4 BdG Hamiltonian can be reduced to be two 2$\times$2 blocks. The resulting SABS for 3D chiral superconductors with pair potential given by $k_z(k_x + ik_y)^ν$ $(ν = 1, 2)$ has a complicated energy dispersion due to the coexistence of both point and line nodes. We focus on the tunneling spectroscopy of this pairing in the presence of applied magnetic field which induces Doppler shift of quasiparticle spectra. By contrast to previous known Doppler effect in unconventional superconductors, zero bias conductance dip can change into zero bias conductance peak by external magnetic field. We also study SABSs and tunneling spectroscopy for possible pairing symmetries of UPt$_3$ . For this purpose, we extend a standard formula of tunneling conductance of unconventional superconductor junctions in order to treat spin-triplet non-unitary pairings. The magneto tunneling spectroscopy, i.e., tunneling spectroscopy in the presence of magnetic field, can serve as a guide to determine the pairing symmetry of this material.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Edge states of hydrogen terminated monolayer materials: silicene, germanene and stanene ribbons

We investigate the energy dispersion of the edge states in zigzag silicene, germanene and stanene nanoribbons with and without hydrogen termination based on a multi-orbital tight-binding model. Since the low buckled structures are crucial for these materials, both the $π$ and $σ$ orbitals have a strong influence on the edge states, different from the case for graphene nanoribbons. The obtained dispersion of helical edge states is nonlinear, similar to that obtained by first-principles calculations. On the other hand, the dispersion derived from the single-orbital tight-binding model is always linear. Therefore, we find that the non-linearity comes from the multi-orbital effects, and accurate results cannot be obtained by the single-orbital model but can be obtained by the multi-orbital tight-binding model. We show that the multi-orbital model is essential for correctly understanding the dispersion of the edge states in tetragen nanoribbons with a low buckled geometry.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Generalized parafermions and non-local Josephson effect in multi-layer systems

We theoretically investigate the effects of backscattering and superconducting proximity terms between the edges of two multi-layer fractional quantum Hall (FQH) systems. While the different layers are strongly interacting, we assume that tunneling between them is absent. Studying the boundaries between regions gapped by the two mechanisms in an $N$-layer system, we find $N$ localized zero-mode operators realizing a generalized parafermionic algebra. We further propose an experiment capable of probing imprints of the generalized parafermionic bound states. This is done by coupling different superconducting contacts to different layers, and examining the periodicity of the Josephson effect as a function of the various relative superconducting phases. Remarkably, even if we apply a phase difference between the superconductors in one layer, we induce a Josephson current at the other layers due to inter-layer interactions. Furthermore, while the Josephson effect is commonly used to probe only charged degrees of freedom, the possibility of independently controlling the superconducting phase differences between the layers allows us to find imprints of the neutral modes of the underlying multi-layer system. In particular, we propose two configurations, one of which is capable of isolating the signal associated with the charge modes, while the other probes the neutral modes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Superconductivity in doped Dirac semimetals

We theoretically study intrinsic superconductivity in doped Dirac semimetals. Dirac semimetals host bulk Dirac points, which are formed by doubly degenerate bands, so the Hamiltonian is described by a $4 \times 4$ matrix and six types of $k$-independent pair potentials are allowed by the Fermi-Dirac statistics. We show that the unique spin-orbit coupling leads to characteristic superconducting gap structures and $d$ vectors on the Fermi surface and the electron-electron interaction between intra and interorbitals gives a novel phase diagram of superconductivity. It is found that when the inter-orbital attraction is dominant, an unconventional superconducting state with point nodes appears. To verify the experimental signature of possible superconducting states, we calculate the temperature dependence of bulk physical properties such as electronic specific heat and spin susceptibility and surface state. In the unconventional superconducting phase, either dispersive or flat Andreev bound states appear between point nodes, which leads to double peaks or single peak in the surface density of states, respectively. As a result, possible superconducting states can be distinguished by combining bulk and surface measurements.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2016

Pairing mechanism of unconventional superconductivity in doped Kane-Mele model

We study the pairing symmetry of a doped Kane-Mele model on a honeycomb lattice with on-site Coulomb interaction. The pairing instability of Cooper pair is calculated based on the linearized Eliashberg equation within the random phase approximation (RPA). When the magnitude of the spin-orbit coupling is weak, even-frequency spin-singlet even-parity (ESE) pairing is dominant. On the other hand, with the increase of the spin-orbit coupling, we show that the even-frequency spin-triplet odd-parity (ETO) f-wave pairing exceeds ESE one. ETO f-wave pairing is supported by the longitudinal spin fluctuation. Since the transverse spin fluctuation is strongly suppressed by spin-orbit coupling, ETO f-wave pairing becomes dominant for large magnitude of spin-orbit coupling.

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