arXiv subjects

Yunshan Cao

Publications and source records attributed to Yunshan Cao.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Square-root higher-order Weyl semimetals

The mathematical foundation of quantum mechanics is built on linear algebra, while the application of nonlinear operators can lead to outstanding discoveries under some circumstances. In this Letter, we propose a model of square-root higher-order Weyl semimetal (SHOWS) by inheriting features from its parent Hamiltonians. It is found that the SHOWS hosts both "Fermi-arc" surface and hinge states that connect the projection of the Weyl points. We theoretically construct and experimentally observe the exotic SHOWS state in three-dimensional (3D) stacked electric circuits with honeycomb-kagome hybridizations and double-helix interlayer couplings. Our results open the door for realizing the square-root topology in 3D solid-state platforms.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2021

Type-II Weyl Excitation in Vortex Arrays

Weyl-like magnon excitations in ordered magnets have attracted significant recent attention. Despite of the tantalizing physics and application prospects, the experimental observation of Weyl magnons is still challenging owing to their extraordinarily high frequency that is not accessible to the microstrip antenna technique. Here we predict gigahertz Weyl excitations in the collective dynamics of dipolar-coupled magnetic vortices arranged in a three-dimensional stacked honeycomb lattice. It is found that the inversion symmetry breaking leads to the emergence of the type-II Weyl semimetal (WSM) state with tilted dispersion. We derive the full phase diagram of the vortex arrays that support WSMs with both single and double pairs of Weyl nodes, and the topological insulator phase. We observe robust arc surface states in a dual-segment fashion due to the tilted nature of type-II WSMs. Our findings uncover the low-frequency WSM phase in magnetic texture based crystals that are indispensable for future Weyltronic applications.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Magnetic skyrmion generation by reflective spin-wave focusing

We propose a method to generate magnetic skyrmions by focusing spin waves totally reflected by a curved film edge. Based on the principle of identical magnonic path length, we derive the edge contour that is parabolic and frequency-independent. Micromagnetic simulations are performed to verify our theoretical design. It is found that under proper conditions, magnetic droplet first emerges near the focal point where the spin-wave intensity has been significantly enhanced, and then converts to magnetic skyrmion accompanied by a change of the topological charge. The phase diagram about the amplitude and frequency of the driving field for skyrmion generation is obtained. Our finding would be helpful for the designment of spintronic devices combing the advantage of skyrmionics and magnonics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Magnonic frequency comb through nonlinear magnon-skyrmion scattering

An optical frequency comb consists of a set of discrete and equally spaced frequencies and has found wide applications in the synthesis over broad spectral frequencies of electromagnetic wave and precise optical frequency metrology. Despite the analogies between magnons and photons in many aspects, the analogue of optical frequency comb in magnonic system has not been reported. Here, we theoretically study the magnon-skyrmion interaction and find that magnonic frequency comb (MFC) can be generated above a threshold of driving amplitude, where the nonlinear scattering process involving three magnons prevails. The mode-spacing of the MFC is equal to the breathing-mode frequency of skyrmion and is thus tunable by either electric or magnetic means. The theoretical prediction is verified by micromagnetic simulations and the essential physics can be generalized to a large class of magnetic solitons. Our findings open a new pathway to observe the frequency comb structure in magnonic devices, that may inspire the study of fundamental nonlinear physics in spintronic platform in the future.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Third-order topological insulator in three-dimensional lattice of magnetic vortices

Recent acoustic and electrical-circuit experiments have reported the third-order (or octupole) topological insulating phase, while its counterpart in classical magnetic systems is yet to be realized. Here we explore the collective dynamics of magnetic vortices in three-dimensional breathing cuboids, and find that the vortex lattice can support zero-dimensional corner states, one-dimensional hinge states, two-dimensional surface states, and three-dimensional bulk states, when the ratio of alternating intralayer and interlayer bond lengths goes beyond a critical value. We show that only the corner states are stable against external frustrations because of the topological protection. Full micromagnetic simulations verify our theoretical predictions with good agreement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Strong coupling of quantized spin waves in ferromagnetic bilayers

We formulate a strong-coupling theory for perpendicular standing spin waves (PSSWs) in ferromagnetic bilayers with the interlayer exchange coupling (IEC). Employing the Hoffmann boundary condition and the energy-flow continuity across the interface, we show that the PSSWs are still quantized but with non-integral quantum numbers, in sharp contrast to that of a single layer. The magnon-magnon coupling is characterized by the spectrum splitting which is linear with the IEC in the weak-coupling region, but getting saturated in the strong-coupling limit. Analytical predictions are verified by full micromagnetic simulations with good agreement.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Experimental observation of edge-dependent quantum pseudospin Hall effect

It is a conventional wisdom that the helical edge states of quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator are particularly stable due to the topological protection of time-reversal symmetry. Here, we report the first experimental observation of an edge-dependent quantum (pseudo-)spin Hall effect by employing two Kekule electric circuits with molecule-zigzag and partially-bearded edges, where the chirality of the circulating current in the unit cell mimics the electron spin. We observe a helicity flipping of the topological in-gap modes emerging in opposite parameter regions for the two edge geometries. Experimental findings are interpreted in terms of the mirror winding number defined in the unit cell, the choice of which exclusively depends on the edge shape. Our work offers a deeper understanding of the boundary effect on the QSH phase, and pave the way for studying the spin-dependent topological physics in electric circuits.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Topological insulators and semimetals in classical magnetic systems

Pursuing topological phases in natural and artificial materials is one of the central topics in modern physical science and engineering. In classical magnetic systems, spin waves (or magnons) and magnetic solitons (such as domain wall, vortex, skyrmion, etc) represent two important excitations. Recently, the topological insulator and semimetal states in magnon- and soliton-based crystals (or metamaterials) have attracted growing attention owing to their interesting dynamics and promising applications for designing robust spintronic devices. Here, we give an overview of current progress of topological phases in structured classical magnetism. We first provide a brief introduction to spin wave, and discuss its topological properties including magnon Hall effects, topological magnon insulators, and Dirac (Weyl) magnon semimetals. Appealing proposal of topological magnonic devices is also highlighted. We then review the collective-coordinate approach for describing the dynamics of magnetic soliton lattice. Pedagogical topological models such as the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and the Haldane model and their manifestation in magnetic soliton crystals are elaborated. Then we focus on the topological properties of magnetic solitons, by theoretically analyzing the first-order topological insulating phases in low dimensional systems and higher-order topological states in breathing crystals. Finally, we discuss the experimental realization and detection of the edge states in both the magnonic and solitonic crystals. We remark the challenges and future prospects before concluding this article.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Robust edge states in magnetic domain-wall racetrack

Controllable artificial pinning is indispensable in numerous domain-wall (DW) devices, such as memory, sensor, logic gate, and neuromorphic computing hardware. The high-accuracy determination of the effective spring constant of the pinning potential, however, remains challenging, because the extrinsic pinning is often mixed up with intrinsic ones caused by materials defects and randomness. Here, we study the collective dynamics of interacting DWs in a racetrack with pinning sites of alternate distances. By mapping the governing equations of DW motion to the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model and evaluating the quantized Zak phase, we predict two topologically distinct phases in the racetrack. Robust edge state emerges at either one or both ends depending on the parity of the DW number and the ratio of alternating intersite lengths. We show that the in-gap DW oscillation frequency has a fixed value which depends only on the geometrical shape of the pinning notch, and is insensitive to device imperfections and inhomogeneities. We propose to accurately quantify the spring coefficient that equals the square of the robust DW frequency multiplied by its constant mass. Our findings suggest as well that the DW racetrack is an ideal platform to study the topological phase transition.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Spin-wave focusing induced skyrmion generation

We propose a new method to generate magnetic skyrmions through spin-wave focusing in chiral ferromagnets.A lens is constructed to focus spin waves by a curved interface between two ferromagnetic thin films with different perpendicular magnetic anisotropies. Based on the principle of identical magnonic path length, we derive the lens contour that can be either elliptical or hyperbolical depending on the magnon refractive index. Micromagnetic simulations are performed to verify the theoretical design. It is found that under proper condition magnetic skyrmions emerge near the focus point of the lens where the spin-wave intensity has been significantly enhanced. A close investigation shows that a magnetic droplet first forms and then converts to the skyrmion accompanying with a change of topological charge. Phase diagram about the amplitude and duration-time of the exciting field for skyrmion generation is obtained. Our findings would be helpful for designing novel spintronic devices combining the advantages of skyrmionics and magnonics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Realization of the square-root higher-order topological insulator in electric circuits

Higher-order topological insulator (HOTI) represents a new phase of matter, the characterization of which goes beyond the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence and is attracting significant attention by the broad community. Using a square-root operation, it has been suggested that a square-root HOTI may emerge in a hybrid honeycomb-kagome lattice. Here, we report the first experimental realization of the square-root HOTI in topological LC circuits. We show theoretically and experimentally that the square-root HOTI inherits the feature of wave function from its parent, with corner states pinned to non-zero energies. The topological feature is fully characterized by the bulk polarization. To directly measure the finite-energy corner modes, we introduce extra grounded inductors to each node. Our results experimentally substantiate the emerging square-root HOTI and pave the way to realizing exotic topological phases that are challenging to observe in condensed matter physics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Negative Gilbert damping in cavity optomagnonics

Exceptional point (EP) associated with the parity-time (PT) symmetry breaking is receiving considerable recent attention by the broad physics community. By introducing balanced gain and loss, it has been realized in photonic, acoustic, and electronic structures. However, the observation of magnonic EP remains elusive. The major challenge is to experimentally generate the negative Gilbert damping, which was thought to be highly unlikely but is demanded by the PT symmetry. In this work, we study the magneto-optical interaction of circularly-polarized lasers with a submicron magnet placed in an optical cavity. We show that the off-resonant coupling between the driving laser and cavity photon in the far-blue detuning can induce the magnetic gain (or negative damping) exactly of the Gilbert type. A hyperbolic-tangent function ansatz is found to well describe the time-resolved spin switching as the intrinsic magnetization dissipation is overcome. When the optically pumped magnet interacts with a purely lossy one, we observe a phase transition from the imbalanced to passive PT symmetries by varying the detuning coeffcient. Our findings provide a feasible way to manipulate the sign of the magnetic damping parameter and to realize the EP in cavity optomagnonics.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction on magnetic vortex switching driven by radial spin waves

We theoretically investigate the radial-spin-wave induced magnetic vortex switching in the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI). From micromagnetic simulations, we observe a circular-to-radial vortex phase transition by increasing the DMI strength. The radial spin-wave excitation spectrum for each magnetization configuration is analyzed, showing that the frequency of spin-wave mode with a given radial node number monotonically increases (decreases) with the DMI parameter of the radial (circular) vortex. Interestingly, we find that the DMI can significantly facilitate the polarity switching of the circular vortex driven by radial spin waves. Our work provides a new insight into the DMI effect on the vortex dynamics and is helpful for designing fast all-magnonic memory devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Twisted magnon as a magnetic tweezer

Wave fields with spiral phase dislocations carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) have been realized in many branches of physics, such as for photons, sound waves, electron beams, and neutrons. However, the OAM states of magnons (spin waves)$-$the building block of modern magnetism$-$and particularly their implications have yet to be addressed. Here, we theoretically investigate the twisted spin-wave generation and propagation in magnetic nanocylinders. The OAM nature of magnons is uncovered by showing that the spin-wave eigenmode is also the eigenstate of the OAM operator in the confined geometry. Inspired by optical tweezers, we predict an exotic "magnetic tweezer" effect by showing skyrmion gyrations under twisted magnons in exchange coupled nanocylinder$|$nanodisk heterostructure, as a practical demonstration of magnonic OAM to manipulate topological spin defects. Our study paves the way for the emerging magnetic manipulations by harnessing the OAM degree of freedom of magnons.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Observation of symmetry protected zero modes in topolectrical circuits

Higher-order topological insulators are a new class of topological phases of matter, originally conceived for electrons in solids. It has been suggested that $\mathbb{Z}_N$ Berry phase (Berry phase quantized into $2π/N$) is a useful tool to characterize the symmetry protected topological states, while the experimental evidence is still elusive. Recently, topolectrical circuits have emerged as a simple yet very powerful platform for studying topological physics that are challenging to realize in condensed matter systems. Here, we present the first experimental observation of second-order corner states characterized by $\mathbb{Z}_3$ Berry phase in topolectrical circuits. We demonstrate theoretically and experimentally that the localized second-order topological states are protected by a generalized chiral symmetry of tripartite lattices, and they are pinned to "zero energy". By introducing extra capacitors within sublattices in the circuit, we are able to examine the robustness of the zero modes against both chiral-symmetry conserving and breaking disturbances. Our work paves the way for testing exotic topological band theory by electrical-circuit experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Higher-order exceptional points in all-magnetic structures

Magnetometers with exceptional sensitivity are highly demanded in solving a variety of physical and engineering problems, such as measuring Earth's weak magnetic fields and prospecting mineral deposits and geological structures. It has been shown that the non-Hermitian degeneracy at exceptional points (EPs) can provide a new route for that purpose, because of the nonlinear response to external perturbations. One recent work [H. Yang et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 197201 (2018)] has made the first step to realize the second-order magnonic EP in ferromangetic bilayers respecting the parity-time symmetry. In this paper, we generalize the idea to higher-order cases by considering ferromagnetic trilayers consisting of a gain, a neutral, and a (balanced-)loss layer. We observe both second- and third-order magnonic EPs by tuning the interlayer coupling strength, the external magnetic field, and the gain-loss parameter. We show that the magnetic sensitivity can be enhanced by $3$ orders of magnitude comparing to the conventional magnetic tunneling junction based sensors. Our results pave the way for studying high-order EPs in purely magnetic system and for designing magnetic sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Off-axial focusing of spin-wave lens in the presence of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction

We theoretically study the effect of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) on the focusing of a spin-wave lens that is constructed by a circular interface between two magnetic films. We analytically derive the generalized Snell's law in the curved geometry and the position of the focal point which exhibits a peculiar off-axial focusing behavior. We uncover a strong dependence of the focal point on both the material parameters and the frequency of incident spin waves. Full micromagnetic simulations compare well with theoretical predictions. Our findings would be helpful to manipulate spin waves in chiral magnets and to design functional magnonic devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Second-order topological insulator in breathing square lattice of magnetic vortices

We study the topological phase in dipolar-coupled two-dimensional breathing square lattice of magnetic vortices. By evaluating the quantized Chern number and $\mathbb{Z}_{4}$ Berry phase, we obtain the phase diagram and identify that the second-order topological corner states appear only when the ratio of alternating bond lengths goes beyond a critical value. Interestingly, we uncover three corner states at different frequencies ranging from sub GHz to tens of GHz by solving the generalized Thiele's equation, which has no counterpart in condensed matter system. We show that the emerging corner states are topologically protected by a generalized chiral symmetry of the quadripartite lattice, leading to particular robustness against disorder and defects. Full micromagnetic simulations confirm theoretical predictions with a great agreement. A vortex-based imaging device is designed as a demonstration of the real-world application of the second-order magnetic topological insulator. Our findings provide a route for realizing symmetry-protected multi-band corner states that are promising to achieve spintronic higher-order topological devices.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗