arXiv subjects

Zhiyu Dong

Publications and source records attributed to Zhiyu Dong.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

Collective excitations in chiral Stoner magnets

We argue that spin and valley-polarized metallic phases recently observed in graphene bilayers and trilayers support chiral edge modes that allow spin waves to propagate ballistically along system boundaries without backscattering. The chiral edge behavior originates from the interplay between the momentum-space Berry curvature in Dirac bands and the geometric phase of a spin texture in position space. The edge modes are weakly confined to the edge, featuring dispersion which is robust and insensitive to the detailed profile of magnetization at the edge. This unique character of edge modes reduces their overlap with edge disorder and enhances the mode lifetime. The mode propagation direction reverses upon reversing valley polarization, an effect that provides a clear testable signature of geometric interactions in isospin-polarized Dirac bands.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2023

Signatures of Cooper pair dynamics and quantum-critical superconductivity in tunable carrier bands

Different superconducting pairing mechanisms are markedly distinct in the underlying Cooper pair kinematics. Pairing interactions mediated by quantum-critical soft modes are dominated by highly collinear processes, falling into two classes: forward scattering and backscattering. In contrast, phonon mechanisms have a generic non-collinear character. We show that the type of kinematics can be identified by examining the evolution of superconductivity when tuning the Fermi surface geometry. We illustrate our approach using recently measured phase diagrams of various graphene systems. Our analysis unambiguously connects the emergence of superconductivity at ``ghost crossings'' of Fermi surfaces in distinct valleys to the pair kinematics of a backscattering type. Together with the observed non-monotonic behavior of superconductivity near its onset (sharp rise followed by a drop), it provides strong support for a particular quantum-critical superconductivity scenario. These findings conclusively settle the long-standing debate on the origin of superconductivity in this system and demonstrate the essential role of quantum-critical modes in superconducting pairing. Moreover, our work highlights the potential of tuning bands via ghost crossings as a promising means of boosting superconductivity.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2023

Isospin and momentum polarized orders in bilayer graphene

Electron bands in the untwisted bilayer graphene flatten out in a transverse electric field, offering a promising platform for correlated electron physics. We predict that the spin/valley isospin magnetism, resembling that seen in moiré bands, coexists with momentum-polarized phases occurring via a ``flocking transition'' in momentum space. This transition results in the electron momentum distribution being spontaneously displaced relative to the $K$ and $K'$ valley centers. These phases feature unusual observables such as persistent currents in the ground state. Momentum-polarized carriers ``sample'' the Berry curvature of the conduction band, resulting in a unique behavior of the anomalous Hall conductivity and other effects that do not occur in previously studied systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Spin-triplet superconductivity at the onset of isospin order in biased bilayer graphene

The quest for unconventional superconductivity governed by Coulomb repulsion between electrons rather than phonon attraction received new momentum with the advent of moiré graphene. Initially, delineating the phonon and Coulomb-repulsion-based pairing mechanisms has proven to be a challenging task, however the situation has changed after recent discovery of superconductivity in non-twisted graphene bilayers and trilayers. Superconductivity occurring at the phase boundaries of spin and valley polarized orders calls for non-phonon scenarios, yet the specific pairing mechanisms remain to be understood. Here we analyze a striking example -- superconductivity in graphene bilayers occurring at the onset of valley-polarized order induced by a magnetic field. We describe an attraction-from-repulsion mechanism for pairing mediated by a quantum-critical mode, which fully explains the observed phenomenology. While it is usually notoriously difficult to infer the pairing mechanism from the observed superconducting phases, this case presents a rare exception, allowing for a fairly unambiguous identification of the origin of the pairing glue. A combination of factors such as the location of superconducting phase at the onset of isospin-polarized phase, a threshold in a magnetic field, above which superconductivity occurs, and its resilience at high magnetic fields paints a clear picture of a triplet superconductivity driven by quantum-critical fluctuations.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2022

Out-of-equilibrium criticalities in graphene superlattices

In thermodynamic equilibrium, current in metallic systems is carried by electronic states near the Fermi energy whereas the filled bands underneath contribute little to conduction. Here we describe a very different regime in which carrier distribution in graphene and its superlattices is shifted so far from equilibrium that the filled bands start playing an essential role, leading to a critical-current behavior. The criticalities develop upon the velocity of electron flow reaching the Fermi velocity. Key signatures of the out-of-equilibrium state are current-voltage characteristics resembling those of superconductors, sharp peaks in differential resistance, sign reversal of the Hall effect, and a marked anomaly caused by the Schwinger-like production of hot electron-hole plasma. The observed behavior is expected to be common for all graphene-based superlattices.

cond-mat.other↗

arXiv2021

Superconductivity in the vicinity of an isospin-polarized state in a cubic Dirac band

We present a theory of superconducting pairing originating from soft critical fluctuations near isospin-polarized states in rhombohedral trilayer graphene. Using a symmetry-based approach, we determine possible isospin order types and derive the effective electron-electron interactions mediated by isospin fluctuations. Superconductitivty arising due to these interactions has symmetry and order parameter structure that depend in a unique way on the "mother" isospin order. This model naturally leads to a superconducting phase adjacent to isospin-ordering phase transition, which mimics the behavior observed in experiment. The symmetry of the paired state predicted for the isospin order type inferred in experiments matches the observations. These findings support a scenario of superconductivity originating from electron-electron interactions.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2021

Synchronizing Bloch-oscillating free carriers in moiré flat bands

Achieving Bloch oscillations of free carriers under a direct current, a long-sought-after collective many-body behavior, has been challenging due to stringent constraints on the band properties. We argue that the flat bands in moiré graphene fulfill the basic requirements for observing Bloch oscillations, offering an appealing alternative to the stacked quantum wells used in previous work aiming to access this regime. Bloch-oscillating moiré superlattices emit a comb-like spectrum of incommensurate frequencies, a property of interest for converting direct currents into high-frequency currents and developing broad-band amplifiers in THz domain. The oscillations can be synchronized through coupling to an oscillator mode in a photonic or plasmonic resonator. Phase-coherent collective oscillations in the resonant regime provide a realization of current-pumped THz lasing.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Activating superconductivity in a repulsive system by high-energy degrees of freedom

We discuss superconducting pairing in a narrow conduction band sandwiched between unoccupied and occupied bands, an arrangement that enables an unconventional pairing mechanism governed by Coulomb repulsion. Pairing interaction originates from repulsion-assisted scattering between far-out pair states in the higher-energy bands and those at the Fermi level. Optimizing the bandstructure design and carrier density in order to bring plasma frequency below the bandgap renders the repulsion unscreened for the processes with a large frequency transfer. This allows the pairing to fully benefit from the pristine Coulomb repulsion strength. The repulsion-induced attraction is particularly strong in two dimensions and is assisted by a low density of carriers and the resulting low plasma frequency values. We assess the possible connection of this mechanism to superconductivity in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene where the bandstructure features wide dispersive upper and lower minibands. We use a simple model to illustrate the importance of the far-out pairs in these bands and predict testable signatures of this superconductivity mechanism.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2019

Plasmonic Drag in a Flowing Fermi Liquid

Collective modes in two-dimensional electron fluids show an interesting response to a background carrier flow. Surface plasmons propagating on top of a flowing Fermi liquid acquire a non-reciprocal character manifest in a $\pm k$ asymmetry of mode dispersion. The nonreciprocity arises due to Fermi surface polarization by the flow. The flow-induced interactions between quasiparticles make collective modes of the system uniquely sensitive to subtle "motional" Fermi-liquid effects. The flow-induced Doppler-type frequency shift of plasmon resonances, arising due to electron interactions, can strongly deviate from the classical value. This opens a possibility to directly probe motional Fermi-liquid effects in plasmonic near-field imaging experiments.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Classical Dynamics of Harmonically Trapped Interacting Particles

Motivated by current interest in the dynamics of trapped quantum gases, we study the microcanonical dynamics of a trapped one-dimensional gas of classical particles interacting via a finite-range repulsive force of tunable strength. We examine two questions which have been of interest in quantum dynamics: (1) the breathing mode (size oscillation) dynamics of the trapped gas and the dependence of the breathing frequency on the interaction strength, and (2) the long-time relaxation and possible thermalization of the finite isolated gas. We show that the breathing mode frequency has non-monotonic dependence on the magnitude of the mutual repulsion, decreasing for small interactions and increasing for larger interactions. We explain these dependences in terms of slowing-down or speeding-up effects of two-body collision processes. We find that the gas thermalizes within a reasonable finite timescale in the sense of single-particle energies acquiring a Boltzmann distribution, only when the interaction strength is large compared to the energy per particle.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2017

Bosonic Integer Quantum Hall States without Landau Levels on Square Lattice

We study an interacting two-component hard-core bosons on square lattice for which, in the presence of staggered magnetic flux, the ground state is a bosonic integer quantum Hall (BIQH) state. Using a coupled-wire bosonization approach, we analytically show this model exhibits a BIQH state at total charge half filling associated with a symmetry-protected topological phase under $U(1)$ charge conservation. These theoretical expectations are verified, using the infinite density matrix renormalization group method, by providing numerical evidences for: (i) a quantized Hall conductance $σ_{xy}=\pm2$, and (ii) two counter-propagating gapless edge modes. Our model is a bosonic cousin of the fermionic Haldane model and serves as an additional case of analogy between bosonic and fermionic quantum Hall states.

cond-mat.quant-gas↗