arXiv subjects

Zhong Fang

Publications and source records attributed to Zhong Fang.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

VASP2KP: kp models and Lande g-factors from ab initio calculations

The $k\cdot p$ method is significant in condensed matter physics for the compact and analytical Hamiltonian. In the presence of magnetic field, it is described by the effective Zeeman's coupling Hamiltonian with Landé $ g $-factors. Here, we develop an open-source package VASP2KP (including two parts: vasp2mat and mat2kp) to compute $k\cdot p$ parameters and Landé $g$-factors directly from the wavefunctions provided by the density functional theory (DFT) as implemented in Vienna ab initio Simulation Package (VASP). First, we develop a VASP patch vasp2mat to compute matrix representations of the generalized momentum operator $ \mathbf{\hatπ}=\mathbf{\hat{p}}+\frac{1}{2mc^2}\left(\mathbf{\hat{s}}\times\nabla V(\mathbf{r})\right) $, spin operator $\mathbf{\hat{s}}$, time reversal operator $\hat{T}$ and crystalline symmetry operators $\hat{R}$ on the DFT wavefunctions. Second, we develop a python code mat2kp to obtain the unitary transformation $U$ that rotates the degenerate DFT basis towards the standard basis, and then automatically compute the $k\cdot p$ parameters and $g$-factors. The theory and the methodology behind VASP2KP are described in detail. The matrix elements of the operators are derived comprehensively and computed correctly within the projector augmented wave method. We apply this package to some materials, e.g., Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Na$_3$Bi, Te, InAs and 1H-TMD monolayers. The obtained effective model's dispersions are in good agreement with the DFT data around the specific wave vector, and the $g$-factors are consistent with experimental data. The VASP2KP package is available at https://github.com/zjwang11/VASP2KP.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Ferroelectric metals in 1T/1T'-phase transition metal dichalcogenide MTe2 bilayers (M = Pt, Pd, and Ni)

Ferroelectricity and metallicity cannot coexist due to the screening effect of conducting electrons, and a large number of stable monolayers with 1T/1T$^{\prime}$ phase lack spontaneous polarization due to inversion symmetry. In this work, we have constructed the $π$-bilayer structures for transition metal dichalcogenides ($M$Te$_2,M =$ Pt, Pd, and Ni) with van der Waals stacking, where two monolayers are related by $C_{2z}$ rotation, and have demonstrated that these $π$ bilayers are typical ferroelectric metals (FEMs). The $π$-bilayer structure widely exists in nature, such as 1T$^{\prime}$/T$_d$-TMD, $α$-Bi$_4$Br$_4$. The computed vertical polarization of PtTe$_2$ and MoTe$_2$ $π$ bilayers are 0.46 and 0.25 pC/m, respectively. We show that the switching of polarization can be realized through interlayer sliding, which only requires crossing a low energy barrier. The interlayer charge transfer is the source of both vertical polarization and metallicity, and these properties are closely related to the spatially extended Te-$p_z$ orbital. Finally, we reveal that electron doping can significantly adjust the vertical polarization of these FEMs in both magnitude and direction. Our findings introduce a class of FEMs, which have potential applications in functional nanodevices such as ferroelectric tunneling junction and nonvolatile ferroelectric memory.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Large shift current, $π$ Zak phase and unconventional nature in Se and Te

Recently, unconventional materials (or obstructed atomic insulators) have attracted much attention owing to the unconventional feature of mismatch between Wannier centers and atomic positions. In this paper, we demonstrate that the trigonal selenium and tellurium host an unconventional nature in both electronic and phonon spectra. In electronic band structures, the band representation (BR) decomposition for occupied bands has to contain the essential BR of $A@3b$, and the real-space invariant is $δ_1@3b=-1$. The $π$ Zak phase suggests that the one-dimensional Se/Te chain is a chiral Su-Schrieffer-Heeger chain. The effective magnetism can be induced by $p$ states at ends. More importantly, a large shift current is obtained in Se quantum well. In addtion, in phonon spectra, three sets of phonon bands are well separated and assigned to $B@3b$, $B@3a$, and $A@3b$ BRs, respectively. Thus, the obstructed phonon states are predicted on the (0001) surface. As the prototypes of unconventional materials in both electronic and phonon spectra, our findings could create much interest in the study of obstructed surface electronic and phonon states in these novel materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Large spin Hall conductivity and excellent hydrogen evolution reaction activity in unconventional PtTe1.75 monolayer

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have gained lots of attention due to the potential applications. In this work, we propose that based on first-principles calculations, the (2$\times$2) patterned PtTe$_2$ monolayer with kagome lattice formed by the well-ordered Te vacancy (PtTe$_{1.75}$) hosts large spin Hall conductivity (SHC) and excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. The unconventional nature relies on the $A1@1b$ band representation (BR) of the highest valence band without SOC. The large SHC comes from the Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC) in the noncentrosymmetric structure induced by the Te vacancy. Even though it has a metallic SOC band structure, the $\mathbb Z_2$ invariant is well defined due to the existence of the direct band gap and is computed to be nontrivial. The calculated SHC is as large as 1.25$\times 10^3 \frac{\hbar}{e} (Ω~cm)^{-1}$ at the Fermi level ($E_F$). By tuning the chemical potential from $E_F-0.3$ to $E_F+0.3$ eV, it varies rapidly and monotonically from $-1.2\times 10^3$ to 3.1$\times 10^3 \frac{\hbar}{e} (Ω~cm)^{-1}$. In addition, we also find the Te vacancy in the patterned monolayer can induce excellent HER activity. Our results not only offer a new idea to search 2D materials with large SHC, i.e., by introducing inversion-symmetry breaking vacancies in large SOC systems, but also provide a feasible system with tunable SHC (by applying gate voltage) and excellent HER activity.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Highly in-plane anisotropic optical properties of fullerene monolayers

Both the intrinsic anisotropic optical materials and fullerene-assembled 2D materials have attracted a lot of interests in fundamental science and potential applications. The synthesis of a monolayer (ML) fullerene makes the combination of these two features plausible. In this work, using first-principles calculations, we systematically study the electronic structure, optical properties of quasi-hexagonal phase (qHP) ML and quasi-tetragonal phase (qTP) ML fullerenes. The calculations of qHP ML show that it is a semi-conductor with small anisotropic optical absorption, which agrees with the recent experimental measurements. However, the results for qTP ML reveal that it is a semimetal with highly in-plane anisotropic absorption. The dichroic ratio, namely the absorption ratio of $x$- and $y$-polarized light $α$$_x$$_x$/$α$$_y$$_y$, is around 12 at photon energy of 0.29 eV. This anisotropy is much more pronounced when the photon energy is between 0.7 and 1.4 eV, where $α$$_x$$_x$ becomes nearly zero while $α$$_y$$_y$ is more than two orders of magnitude larger. This indicates qTP ML as a candidate for long-pursuit lossless metal and a potential material for atomically thin polarizer. We hope this will stimulate further experimental efforts in the study of qTP ML and other fullerene-assembled 2D materials.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Twisted nodal wires and three-dimensional quantum spin Hall effect in distorted square-net compounds

Recently, square-net materials have attracted lots of attention for the Dirac semimetal phase with negligible spin-orbit coupling (SOC) gap, e.g. ZrSiS/LaSbTe and CaMnSb$_2$. In this paper, we demonstrate that the Jahn-Teller effect enlarges the nontrivial SOC gap in the distorted structure, e.g. LaAsS and SrZnSb$_2$. Its distorted $X$ square-net layer ($X=$ P, As, Sb, Bi) resembles a quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulator. Since these QSH layers are simply stacked in the $\hat{x}$ direction and weakly coupled, three-dimensional QSH effect can be expected in these distorted materials, such as insulating compounds CeAs$_{1+x}$Se$_{1-y}$ and EuCdSb$_2$. Our detailed calculations show that it hosts two twisted nodal wires without SOC [each consists of two noncontractible time-reversal symmetry- and inversion symmetry-protected nodal lines touching at a fourfold degenerate point], while with SOC it becomes a topological crystalline insulator with symmetry indicators $(000; 2)$ and mirror Chern numbers $(0, 0)$. The nontrivial band topology is characterized by a generalized spin Chern number $C_{s+}=2$ when there is a gap between two sets of $\hat{s}_{x}$ eigenvalues. The nontrivial topology of these materials can be well reproduced by our tight-binding model and the calculated spin Hall conductivity is quantized to $σ^{x}_{yz} = (\frac{\hbar}{e})\frac{G_xe^2}{πh}$ with $G_x$ a reciprocal lattice vector.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Unprotected quadratic band crossing points and quantum anomalous Hall effect in FeB2 monolayer

Quadratic band crossing points (QBCPs) and quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) have attracted the attention of both theoretical and experimental researchers in recent years. Based on first-principle calculations, we find that the FeB$_2$ monolayer is a nonmagnetic semimetal with QBCPs at $K$. Through symmetry analysis and $\mathbf{k}\cdot\mathbf{p}$ invariant theory, we find that the QBCP is not protected by rotation symmetry and consists of two Dirac points with same chirality (Berry phase of $2π$). Once introducing Coulomb interactions, we find that there is a spontaneous-time-reversal-breaking instability of the spinful QBCPs, which gives rise to a $C=2$ QAH insulator with orbital moment ordering.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Unconventional Materials: the mismatch between electronic charge centers and atomic positions

The complete band representations (BRs) have been constructed in the work of topological quantum chemistry. Each BR is expressed by either a localized orbital at a Wyckoff site in real space, or by a set of irreducible representations in momentum space. In this work, we define unconventional materials with a common feature of the mismatch between average electronic centers and atomic positions. They can be effectively diagnosed as whose occupied bands can be expressed as a sum of elementary BRs (eBRs), but not a sum of atomic-orbital-induced BRs (aBRs). The existence of an essential BR at an empty site is described by nonzero real-space invariants (RSIs). The "valence" states can be derived by the aBR decomposition, and unconventional materials are supposed to have an uncompensated total "valence" state. The high-throughput screening for unconventional materials has been performed through the first-principles calculations. We have discovered 423 unconventional compounds, including thermoelectronic materials, higher-order topological insulators, electrides, hydrogen storage materials, hydrogen evolution reaction electrocatalysts, electrodes, and superconductors. The diversity of these interesting properties and applications would be widely studied in the future.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2022

Topological states and topological phase transition in Cu2SnS3 and Cu2SnSe3

Based on the first-principles calculations within local density approximation and model analysis, we propose that the iso-structural compounds Cu2SnS3 and Cu2SnSe3 are both the simplest nodal line semimetals with only one nodal line in their crystal momentum space when spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is ignored. The including of SOC drives Cu2SnS3 into a Weyl semimetal (WSM) state with only two pairs of Weyl nodes, the minimum number required for WSM with time reversal symmetry. In contrast, SOC leads Cu2SnSe3 to strong topological insulator (TI) state. This difference can be well understood as there is a topological phase transition (TPT). In it, the Weyl nodes are driven by tunable SOC and annihilate in a mirror plane, resulting in a TI. This TPT, together with the evolution of Weyl nodes, the changing of mirror Chern numbers of mirror plane and the Z2 indices protected by time-reversal symmetry has been demonstrated by the calculation of Cu2SnS3-xSex within virtual crystal approximation and an effective k $\cdot$ p model analysis. Though our first-principles calculations have overestimated the topological states in both compounds, we believe that the theoretical demonstration of controlling TPT and evolution of Weyl nodes will stimulate further efforts in exploring them.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

The evolution of Weyl nodes in Ni doped thallium niobate pyrochlore Tl$_{2-x}$Ni$_x$Nb$_2$O$_7$

Magnetic Weyl semimetal (WSM) is of great importance both for fundamental physics and potential applications due to its spontaneous magnetism, robust band topology, and enhanced Berry curvature. It possesses many unique quantum effects, including large intrinsic anomalous Hall effect, Fermi arcs, and chiral anomaly. In this work, using ab initio calculations, we propose that Ni doped pyrochlore Tl$_2$Nb$_2$O$_7$ is a magnetic WSM caused by exchange field splitting on bands around its quadratic band crossing point. The exchange field tuned by Ni 3d on-site Coulomb interaction parameter $U$ drives the evolution of Weyl nodes and the resulting topological phase transition. Since Weyl nodes can exist at generic point in Brillouin zone and are hard to be exactly identified, the creation and annihilation of them, i.e., the change in their number, chirality and distribution, have been consistently confirmed with a combined theoretical approach, which employs parity criterion, symmetry indicator analysis and the Wilson loop of Wannier center. We find that Weyl nodes remain in a quite large range of $U$ and are close to Fermi level, which makes the experimental observation very possible. We think this method and our proposal of magnetic WSM will be useful in finding more WSMs and adding our understanding on the topological phase transition.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Application of topological quantum chemistry in electrides

The recently developed theory of topological quantum chemistry (TQC) has built a close connection between band representations in momentum space and orbital characters in real space. It provides an effective way to diagnose topological materials, leading to the discovery of lots of topological materials after the screening of all known nonmagnetic compounds. On the other hand, it can also efficiently reveal spacial orbital characters, including average charge centers and site-symmetry characters. By using TQC theory with the computed irreducible representations in the first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that the electrides with excess electrons serving as anions at vacancies can be well identified by analyzing band representations (BRs), which cannot be expressed as a sum of atomic-orbital-induced band representations (aBRs). In fact, the floating bands (formed by the excess electrons) belong to the BRs induced from the "pseudo-orbitals" centered at vacancies. In other words, the electrides are proved to be unconventional ionic crystals, where a set of occupied bands is not a sum of aBRs but necessarily contains a BR from vacancies. The TQC theory provides a promising avenue to pursue more electride candidates in ionic crystals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

A $k\cdot p$ effective Hamiltonian generator

$k\cdot p$ effective Hamiltonian is important for theoretical analysis in condensed matter physics. Based on the 'kdotp-symmetry' package, we develop an upgraded package named 'kdotp-generator'. This generator takes in arbitrary magnetic symmetries with their representations and returns symmetry-allowed $k\cdot p$ Hamiltonians. Using this package, we calculate $k\cdot p$ Hamiltonians for irreducible corepresentations in 1651 magnetic space groups up to the third order, and their linear coupling to external fields including the electromagnetic field and the strain tensor. We hope that the package will facilitate related research in the future.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

Topological classification and diagnosis in magnetically ordered electronic materials

We show that compositions of time-reversal and spatial symmetries, also known as the magnetic-space-group symmetries, protect topological invariants as well as surface states that are distinct from those of all preceding topological states. We obtain, by explicit and exhaustive construction, the topological classification of electronic band insulators that are magnetically ordered for each one of the 1421 magnetic space groups in three dimensions. We have also computed the symmetry-based indicators for each nontrivial class, and, by doing so, establish the complete mapping from symmetry representations to topological invariants.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2021

High-throughput screening for Weyl Semimetals with S$_{4}$ Symmetry

Based on irreducible representations (or symmetry eigenvalues) and compatibility relations, a material can be predicted to be a topological/trivial insulator [satisfying compatibility relations] or a topological semimetal [violating compatibility relations]. However, Weyl semimetals usually go beyond this symmetry-based strategy. In other words, Weyl nodes could emerge in a material, no matter if its occupied bands satisfy compatibility relations, or if the symmetry indicators are zero. In this work, we propose a new topological invariant $χ$ for the systems with S$_4$ symmetry [i.e., the improper rotation S$_4$ ($\equiv$ IC$_{4z}$) is a proper four-fold rotation (C$_{4z}$) followed by inversion (I)], which can be used to diagnose the Weyl semimetal phase. Moreover, $χ$ can be easily computed through the one-dimensional Wilson-loop technique. By applying this method to the high-throughput screening in first-principles calculations, we predict a lot of Weyl semimetals in both nonmagnetic and magnetic compounds. Various interesting properties (e.g. magnetic frustration effects, superconductivity and spin-glass order, etc.) are found in predicted Weyl semimetals, which provide realistic platforms for future experimental study of the interplay between Weyl fermions and other exotic states.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Layer Construction of Topological Crystalline Insulator LaSbTe

Topological crystalline insulator (TCI) is one of the symmetry-protected topological states. Any TCI can be deformed into a simple product state of several decoupled two-dimensional (2D) topologically nontrivial layers in its lattice respecting its crystalline symmetries called the layer construction (LC) limit. In this work, based on first-principles calculations we have revealed that both tetragonal LaSbTe (t-LaSbTe) and orthorhombic LaSbTe (o-LaSbTe) can be interpreted as stacking of 2D topological insulators in each lattice space. The structural phase transition from t-LaSbTe to o-LaSbTe due to soft phonon modes demonstrates how the real space change can lead to the modification of topological states. Their symmetry-based indicators and topological invariants have been analyzed based on LC. We propose that LaSbTe is an ideal example demonstrating the LC paradigm, which bridges the crystal structures in real space to the band topology in momentum space.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

Spontaneous Formation of a Superconductor-Topological Insulator-Normal Metal Layered Heterostructure

The discovery of graphene has spurred vigorous investigation of 2D materials, revealing a wide range of extraordinary properties and functionalities. 2D heterostructural materials have recently been fabricated by assembling isolated planes layer-by-layer in a desired sequence. Unusual properties and novel physical phenomena have been unveiled in such layered heterostructures. For example, Hofstadter's butterfly, an intriguing pattern of the energy states of Bloch electrons, was predicted several decades ago to be observable only under unfeasibly strong magnetic fields in conventional materials. But it has been observed recently under current experimental conditions in graphene/BN layered heterostructures, one of the outstanding new kinds of 2D materials. Moreover, another amazing physics phenomenon, Majorana fermions was predicted to exist in heterostructural systems consisting of a superconductor (SC) and a topological insulator (TI) Journal.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Topological phase transition in layered magnetic compound MnSb2Te4: Spin-orbit coupling and interlayer coupling dependeces

Based on the first-principles calculations and theoretical analysis, we investigate the electronic structures, topological phase transition (TPT) and topological properties of layered magnetic compound MnSb2Te4. It has the similar crystal and magnetic structure as the magnetic topological insulator MnBi2Te4. We find that when the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is considered, the band structure of MnSb2Te4 in antiferromagnetic (AFM) state has no band inversion at Γ. This is due to the SOC strength of Sb is less than that of Bi. The band inversion can be realized by increasing the SOC of Sb by 0.3 times, which drives MnSb2Te4 from a trivial AFM insulator to an AFM topological insulator (TI) or axion insulator. Uniaxial compressive strain along the layer stacking direction is another way to control the band inversion. The interlayer distance shorten by 5% is needed to drive the similar TPT. For the ferromagnetic (FM) MnSb2Te4 with experimental crystal structure, it is a normal FM insulator. The band inversion can happen when SOC is enhanced by 0.1 times or the interlayer distance is decreased by more than 1%. Thus, FM MnSb2Te4 can be tuned to be the simplest type-I Weyl semimetal with only one pair of Weyl nodes on the three-fold rotational axis. These two Weyl nodes are projected onto (1-10) surface with one Fermi arc connecting them.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2020

BaHgSn: A Dirac semimetal with surface hourglass fermions

We proposed that BaHgSn is a Dirac semimetal (DSM) which can host hourglass-like surface states (HSSs) as protected by nonsymmorphic glide symmetry. Compared to KHgSb, an isostructural topological crystalline insulator with the same HSSs, BaHgSn has an additional band inversion at $Γ$ point. This band inversion is induced by the stronger interlayer coupling among Hg-Sn honeycomb layers than that among Hg-Sb-layers in KHgSb, which leads to bulk Dirac nodes in BaHgSn along the layer stacking direction $Γ$-$A$. In addition, the mirror Chern number $C_{i}$ protected by the mirror plane $\overline{M}_{z}$ ($k_z$=0) changes from 2 in KHgSb to 3 in BaHgSn. Therefore, when a compressive uniaxial strain is applied along the $y$ axis to break the rotation symmetry protecting the DSM state, BaHgSn becomes a strong topological insulator with $Z_{2}$ indices of $(1;000)$ and the topological surface Dirac cone co-exists with HSSs on the (010) surface. The Wilson-loop spectra have been calculated to verify these topological features. The calculated surface states, the Fermi surfaces and their quasiparticle interference patterns are ready to be compared with experimental measurements.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗