arXiv subjects

Yulei Han

Publications and source records attributed to Yulei Han.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2020

Van der Waals Heterostructure Pt$_{2}$HgSe$_{3}$/CrI$_3$ for Topological Valleytronics

We identify a valley-polarized Chern insulator in the van der Waals heterostructure, Pt$_{2}$HgSe$_{3}$/CrI$_3$, for potential applications with interplay between electric, magnetic, optical, and mechanical effects. The interlayer proximity magnetic coupling nearly closes the band gap of Pt$_{2}$HgSe$_{3}$ and the strong intra-layer spin-orbit coupling further lifts the valley degeneracy by over 100 meV leading to positive and negative band gaps at opposite valleys. In the valley with negative gap, the interfacial Rashba spin-orbit coupling opens a topological band gap of 17.8 meV, which is enlarged to 30.8 meV by adding an $h$-BN layer. We find large orbital magnetization in Pt$_{2}$HgSe$_{3}$ layer that is much larger than spin, which can induce measurable optical Kerr effect. The valley polarization and Chern number are coupled to the magnetic order of the nearest neighboring CrI$_3$ layer, which is switchable by electric, magnetic, and mechanical means in experiments. The presence of $h$-BN protects the topological phase allowing the construction of superlattices with valley, spin, and layer degrees of freedoms.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Berry-Curvature Exchange Induced Anderson Localization in Large-Chern-Number Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect

We theoretically investigate the localization mechanism of quantum anomalous Hall Effect (QAHE) with large Chern numbers $\mathcal{C}$ in bilayer graphene and magnetic topological insulator thin films, by applying either nonmagnetic or spin-flip (magnetic) disorders. We show that, in the presence of nonmagnetic disorders, the QAHEs in both two systems become Anderson insulating as expected when the disorder strength is large enough. However, in the presence of spin-flip disorders, the localization mechanisms in these two host materials are completely distinct. For the ferromagnetic bilayer graphene with Rashba spin-orbit coupling, the QAHE with $\mathcal{C}=4$ firstly enters a Berry-curvature mediated metallic phase, and then becomes localized to be Anderson insulator along with the increasing of disorder strength. While in magnetic topological insulator thin films, the QAHE with $\mathcal{C=N}$ firstly enters a Berry-curvature mediated metallic phase, then transitions to another QAHE with ${\mathcal{C}}={\mathcal{N}}-1$ along with the increasing of disorder strength, and is finally localized to the Anderson insulator after ${\mathcal{N}}-1$ cycling between the QAHE and metallic phases. For the unusual findings in the latter system, by analyzing the Berry curvature evolution, it is known that the phase transitions originate from the exchange of Berry curvature carried by conduction (valence) bands. At the end, we provide a phenomenological picture related to the topological charges to help understand the underlying physical origins of the two different phase transition mechanisms.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Pursuing High-Temperature Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$/Sb$_2$Te$_3$ Heterostructures

Quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) has been experimentally realized in magnetically-doped topological insulators or intrinsic magnetic topological insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ by applying an external magnetic field. However, either the low observation temperature or the unexpected external magnetic field (tuning all MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ layers to be ferromagnetic) still hinders further application of QAHE. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that proper stacking of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and Sb$_2$Te$_3$ layers is able to produce intrinsically ferromagnetic van der Waals heterostructures to realize the high-temperature QAHE. We find that interlayer ferromagnetic transition can happen at $T_{\rm C}=42~\rm K$ when a five-quintuple-layer Sb$_2$Te$_3$ topological insulator is inserted into two septuple-layer MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ with interlayer antiferromagnetic coupling. Band structure and topological property calculations show that MnBi$_2$Te$_4$/Sb$_2$Te$_3$/MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ heterostructure exhibits a topologically nontrivial band gap around 26 meV, that hosts a QAHE with a Chern number of $\mathcal{C}=1$. In addition, our proposed materials system should be considered as an ideal platform to explore high-temperature QAHE due to the fact of natural charge-compensation, originating from the intrinsic n-type defects in MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and p-type defects in Sb$_2$Te$_3$.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Mesoscopic Electronic Transport in Twisted Bilayer Graphene

We numerically investigate the electronic transport properties between two mesoscopic graphene disks with a twist by employing the density functional theory coupled with non-equilibrium Green's function technique. By attaching two graphene leads to upper and lower graphene layers separately, we explore systematically the dependence of electronic transport on the twist angle, Fermi energy, system size, layer stacking order and twist axis. When choose different twist axes for either AA- or AB-stacked bilayer graphene, we find that the dependence of conductance on twist angle displays qualitatively distinction, i.e., the systems with "top" axis exhibit finite conductance oscillating as a function of the twist angle, while the ones with "hollow" axis exhibit nearly vanishing conductance for different twist angles or Fermi energies near the charge neutrality point. These findings suggest that the choice of twist axis can effectively tune the interlayer conductance, making it a crucial factor in designing of nanodevices with the twisted van der Waals multilayers.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2019

Nonmagnetic-Doping Induced Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Topological Insulators

Quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) has been experimentally observed in magnetically doped topological insulators. However, ultra-low temperature (usually below 300 mK), which is mainly attributed to inhomogeneous magnetic doping, becomes a daunting challenge for potential applications. Here, a \textit{nonmagnetic}-doping strategy is proposed to produce ferromagnetism and realize QAHE in topological insulators. We numerically demonstrated that magnetic moments can be induced by nitrogen or carbon substitution in Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Bi$_2$Te$_3$, and Sb$_2$Te$_3$, but only nitrogen-doped Sb$_2$Te$_3$ exhibits long-range ferromagnetism and preserve large bulk band gap. We further show that its corresponding thin-film can harbor QAHE at temperatures of 17-29 Kelvin, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the typical temperatures in similar systems. Our proposed \textit{nonmagnetic} doping scheme may shed new light in experimental realization of high-temperature QAHE in topological insulators.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2018

Universal Current Correlations Induced by the Majorana and Fermionic Andreev Bound States

Due to their nonlocality, Majorana bound states have been proposed to induce current-current correlations (CCCs) that are completely different from those induced by low-energy fermionic Andreev bound states. Such characteristics can be used as a signature to detect Majorana bound states. Herein, we studied the Majorana and fermionic Andreev bound states in a two-dimensional topological insulator system. We found that nonlocality occurs for both types of bound states and that their coupling strengths depend on system parameters in the same pattern. Majorana and fermionic Andreev bound states show the same differential CCCs characteristics, thereby indicating a universal behavior for both types of bound states. The maximal cross differential CCCs are robust to the structural asymmetry of the system.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2017

In-Plane Magnetization Induced Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Atomic Crystals of Group-V Elements

We theoretically demonstrate that the in-plane magnetization induced quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) can be realized in atomic crystal layers of group-V elements with buckled honeycomb lattice. We first construct a general tight-binding Hamiltonian with $sp^3$ orbitals via Slater-Koster two-center approximation, and then numerically show that for weak and strong spin-orbit couplings the systems harbor QAHEs with Chern numbers of $\mathcal{C}=\pm1$ and $\pm2$ , respectively. For the $\mathcal{C}=\pm1$ phases, we find the critical phase-transition magnetization from a trivial insulator to QAHE can become extremely small by tuning the spin-orbit coupling strength. Although the resulting band gap is small, it can be remarkably enhanced by orders via tilting the magnetization slightly away from the in-plane orientation. For the $\mathcal{C}=\pm2$ phases, we find that the band gap is large enough for the room-temperature observation. Although the critical magnetization is relatively large, it can be effectively decreased by applying a strain. All these suggest that it is experimentally feasible to realize high-temperature QAHE from in-plane magnetization in atomic crystal layers of group-V elements.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Realization of Quantum Anomalous Hall Effect in Graphene from \textit{n}-\textit{p} Codoping Induced Stable Atomic-Adsorption

Using first-principles calculation methods, we study the possibility of realizing quantum anomalous Hall effect in graphene from stable 3\textit{d}-atomic adsorption via charge-compensated \textit{n}-\textit{p} codoping scheme. As concrete examples, we show that long-range ferromagnetism can be established by codoping 3\textit{d} transition metal and boron atoms, but only the Ni codopants can open up a global bulk gap to harbour the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Our estimated ferromagnetic Curie transition temperature can reach over 10 Kelvin for various codoping concentrations.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Anderson Localization from Berry-Curvature Interchange in Quantum Anomalous Hall System

We theoretically investigate the localization mechanism of the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) in the presence of spin-flip disorders. We show that the QAHE keeps quantized at weak disorders, then enters a Berry-curvature mediated metallic phase at moderate disorders, and finally goes into the Anderson insulating phase at strong disorders. From the phase diagram, we find that at the charge neutrality point although the QAHE is most robust against disorders, the corresponding metallic phase is much easier to be localized into the Anderson insulating phase due to the \textit{interchange} of Berry curvatures carried respectively by the conduction and valence bands. At the end, we provide a phenomenological picture related to the topological charges to better understand the underlying physical origin of the QAHE Anderson localization.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗