Spin Direction Research Articles

Tetragonal Mexican-hat dispersion and switchable half-metal state with multiple anisotropic Weyl fermions in penta-graphene

Due to the paired valence electrons configuration, all known two-dimensional (2D) carbon allotropes are intrinsically nonmagnetic. Based on the reported 2D carbon structure database and first-principles calculations, herein we demonstrate that inherent ferromagnetism can be obtained in the prominent allotrope, penta-graphene, which has a unique Mexican-hat valence band edge, giving rise to van Hove singularities and electronic instability. Induced by modest hole-doping that is achievable in electrolyte gate, the semiconducting penta-graphene can be transformed into different ferromagnetic half-metals with room-temperature stability and switchable spin directions. In particular, multiple anisotropic Weyl states, including type-I and type-II Weyl cones and hybrid quasi Weyl nodal loop, can be found in a sizable energy window of spin-down half-metal under proper strains. These findings not only identify a promising carbon allotrope to obtain the inherent magnetism for carbon-based spintronic devices, but highlight the possibility to realize different Weyl states by combining the electronic and mechanical means as well.

Theoretical research on the transverse spin of structured optical fields inside a waveguide

Structured optical fields inside a waveguide possess the transverse spin, i.e., the spin angular momentum perpendicular to the direction of the waveguide. The physical origin of the transverse spin can be attributed to the presence of an effective rest mass of photons in guided waves, or equivalently, to the existence of a longitudinal field component, such that the transverse and longitudinal fields together form an elliptical polarization plane. In contrary to the traditional viewpoint, the transverse spin of photons in guided waves is also quantized, and its quantization form is related to the ellipticity of the polarization ellipse. The direction of the transverse spin depends on the propagation direction of electromagnetic waves along the waveguide, such a spin-momentum locking may have important applications in spin-dependent unidirectional optical interfaces. By means of a coupling between the transverse spin of guided waves and some physical degrees of freedom, one can develop an optical analogy of spintronics, i.e., spinoptics.

Reanalysis of the Spin Direction Distribution of Galaxy Zoo SDSS Spiral Galaxies

The distribution of the spin directions of spiral galaxies in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey has been a topic of debate in the past two decades, with conflicting conclusions reported even in cases where the same data were used. Here, we follow one of the previous experiments by applying the SpArcFiRe algorithm to annotate the spin directions in an original dataset of Galaxy Zoo 1. The annotation of the galaxy spin directions is carried out after the first step of selecting the spiral galaxies in three different manners: manual analysis by Galaxy Zoo classifications, by a model-driven computer analysis, and with no selection of spiral galaxies. The results show that when spiral galaxies are selected by Galaxy Zoo volunteers, the distribution of their spin directions as determined by SpArcFiRe is not random, which agrees with previous reports. When selecting the spiral galaxies using a model-driven computer analysis or without selecting the spiral galaxies at all, the distribution is also not random. Simple binomial distribution analysis shows that the probability of the parity violation to occur by chance is lower than 0.01. Fitting the spin directions as observed from the Earth to cosine dependence exhibits a dipole axis with statistical strength of 2.33 σ to 3.97 σ . These experiments show that regardless of the selection mechanism and the analysis method, all experiments show similar conclusions. These results are aligned with previous reports using other methods and telescopes, suggesting that the spin directions of spiral galaxies as observed from the Earth exhibit a dipole axis formed by their spin directions. Possible explanations can be related to the large-scale structure of the universe or to the internal structure of galaxies. The catalogs of annotated galaxies generated as part of this study are available.

Spin-dependent metastable He ( 23S ) atom scattering from ferromagnetic surfaces: Potential application to polarized-gas production

A spin-polarized triplet metastable helium (He*) beam has been used as a probe for surface magnetism, but changes in the spin state during scattering from a surface remain unclear. In the present study, we explored this issue by constructing an apparatus that allows us to direct a spin-polarized He* beam to a surface and measure the spin polarization of He* scattered from the surface. Magnetic hexapoles were used for both the beam polarization and the spin analysis. The results of the spin-dependent He* scattering experiments on clean Fe$_3$O$_4$(100), H-terminated Fe$_3$O$_4$(100), benzene-adsorbed Fe$_3$O$_4$(100), and non-magnetic Cu(100) surfaces indicated that although the spin direction of He* was mostly preserved during scattering from these surfaces, spin-flop scattering of surviving He* occurred with a probability up to approximately 0.1. Our results showed that the survival probability was higher when the spins of He* and the Fe$_3$O$_4$(100) film were parallel, which can be understood based on the lower He* resonance ionization rate for this spin orientation. Based on our findings, we estimate that a non-polarized He* gas becomes 10% spin-polarized after a single collision with a clean Fe$_3$O$_4$(100) surface.

Linear response, Hamiltonian, and radiative spinning two-body dynamics

Using the spinning, supersymmetric worldline quantum field theory formalism we compute the momentum impulse and spin kick from a scattering of two spinning black holes or neutron stars up to quadratic order in spin at third post-Minkowskian (PM) order, including radiation-reaction effects and with arbitrarily misaligned spin directions. Parts of these observables, both conservative and radiative, are also inferred from lower-PM scattering data by extending Bini and Damour's linear response formula to include misaligned spins. By solving Hamilton's equations of motion we also use a conservative scattering angle to infer a complete 3PM two-body Hamiltonian including finite-size corrections and misaligned spin-spin interactions. Finally, we describe mappings to the bound two-body dynamics for aligned spin vectors: including a numerical plot of the binding energy for circular orbits compared with numerical relativity, analytic confirmation of the NNLO PN binding energy, and the energy loss over successive orbits.

Torque analysis of a permanent magnet synchronous motor using flux densities in air gap

Permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) having high power density and high efficiency are rigorously researched in various premium applications. Among PMSMs, many studies have been conducted on interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs) to improve torque ripple, but its accurate estimation is not straightforward. Therefore, a six-pole nine-slot (6p/9s) IPMSM is adopted as a base model due to its popularity in academia and industries, and other two pole/slot combinations (8p/12s and 10p/15s) are additionally selected to investigate the influence of a pole/slot combination on torque ripple. Torque performance is easily identified by analyzing tangential force due to their direct proportional relation. In this paper, magnetic flux densities in radial and tangential direction are systematically analyzed since tangential force is determined by the product of the two magnetic flux densities. The modification of a stator pole regarding its tip thickness is chosen as a key parameter in 6p/9s IPMSM. The thickness of a stator pole tip opposite to the direction of spin is more critical in torque ripple improvement. It is verified that the proposed method is sufficient for accurate torque prediction.

All-dielectric metasurfaces capable of polarization detection and vortex beams generation

Metasurfaces are the ultrathin version of metamaterials with the flexible ability to control and identify polarization states. Here, an all-dielectric metasurface based on T i O 2 is demonstrated, combining the principle of holographic imaging and using image intensity as a key parameter, vividly realizing one-to-one mapping of linear polarization states with far-field images. In addition, combining the focusing with a polarization multiplexing principle to distinguish the spin direction of circular polarization light and generate the high-purity vortex beams with energy offset, the proposed capabilities have potential applications in the fields of polarization detection, optical beam research, and communication.

Phase Stability, Band Gap Tuning, and Rashba Splitting in Selenium-Alloyed Bournonite: CuPbSb(S1–xSex)3

Recently, bournonite (CuPbSbS3) has been identified as a potential ferroelectric photovoltaic (PV) material with a 1.3 eV band gap, which falls in an appropriate range for single-junction PV devices. Progress in applying bournonite has yielded several studies reporting successful thin-film processing, the most recent of which demonstrated a 2.65% power conversion efficiency for a bournonite-based PV device. In an effort to explore bournonite band gap engineering for PV and other prospective applications (e.g., thermoelectric, spintronic), we here consider the solid-state synthesis of selenium-alloyed bournonite, CuPbSb(S1–xSex)3, across the full range of x (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 1.0) and report phase purity for 0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.5. We characterize the crystal structure and band gap of the samples using X-ray diffraction and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, determining a band gap decrease for single-phase samples from 1.25 eV at x = 0.0 to 1.06 eV at x = 0.5. Formation energies determined using dispersion-corrected hybrid density functional theory (DFT) support experimental findings and are consistent with the stability (instability) of the x = 0.5 (x = 1.0) structure relative to starting materials. The computed band structures show a decreasing trend in the band gap with increasing x, again consistent with experiment, with the states at the conduction (valence) band minima (maxima) being principally derived from Pb (S/Se) states. Spin texture analysis and detailed comparison of spin splitting parameters show that Se alloying modifies the band gap while maintaining Rashba spin splitting character within the electronic structure. Rashba splitting is most pronounced for the conduction band minimum along the Γ–X path in the Brillouin zone. Energy separation between spin states is maintained at ΔE ∼0.2 eV for the various Se contents, with σz as the spin direction. A smaller spin splitting occurs along Γ–Z (decreasing value with increasing x), with σx as the spin direction.

Galaxy Spin Classification. I. Z-wise versus S-wise Spirals with the Chirality Equivariant Residual Network

The angular momentum of galaxies (galaxy spin) contains rich information about the initial condition of the universe, yet it is challenging to efficiently measure the spin direction for the tremendous amount of galaxies that are being mapped by ongoing and forthcoming cosmological surveys. We present a machine-learning-based classifier for the Z-wise versus S-wise spirals, which can help to break the degeneracy in the galaxy spin direction measurement. The proposed chirality equivariant residual network (CE-ResNet) is manifestly equivariant under a reflection of the input image, which guarantees that there is no inherent asymmetry between the Z-wise and S-wise probability estimators. We train the model with Sloan Digital Sky Survey images, with the training labels given by the Galaxy Zoo 1 project. A combination of data augmentation techniques is used during the training, making the model more robust to be applied to other surveys. We find an ∼30% increase in both types of spirals when Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) images are used for classification, due to the better imaging quality of DESI. We verify that the ∼7σ difference between the numbers of Z-wise and S-wise spirals is due to human bias, since the discrepancy drops to <1.8σ with our CE-ResNet classification results. We discuss the potential systematics relevant to future cosmological applications.

Programmable active matter across scales

AbstractProgrammable active matter (PAM) combines information processing and energy transduction. The physical embodiment of information could be the direction of magnetic spins, a sequence of molecules, the concentrations of ions, or the shape of materials. Energy transduction involves the transformation of chemical, magnetic, or electrical energies into mechanical energy. A major class of PAM consists of material systems with many interacting units. These units could be molecules, colloids, microorganisms, droplets, or robots. Because the interaction among units determines the properties and functions of PAMs, the programmability of PAMs is largely due to the programmable interactions. Here, we review PAMs across scales, from supramolecular systems to macroscopic robotic swarms. We focus on the interactions at different scales and describe how these (often local) interactions give rise to global properties and functions. The research on PAMs will contribute to the pursuit of generalised crystallography and the study of complexity and emergence. Finally, we ponder on the opportunities and challenges in using PAM to build a soft-matter brain.

Flow characteristics and wake topology of two-seat convertibles

This study aims to clarify the flow characteristics and the wake structure of convertible vehicles. Numerical simulations are performed to obtain a preliminary visualization, and the potential vortical motion characteristics are investigated by examining the Q-criterion across multiple cross sections. Comparisons between numerical and experimental results validate the reasonableness of our numerical model. The predominant wake topology of a two-seat convertible is obtained in terms of the location, shape, and spin direction of the vortices. We observe a “nook” vortex that is triggered by the flow acceleration induced by the pressure gradient near the windshield step, provoking undesirable aeroacoustic noise and degrading the cabin comfort. Complicated A-pillar vortex dynamics are revealed, with small vortices that are shed into the cabin and impinge the seats, eventually forming a long tail structure above the back of the vehicle. Moreover, periodic fluctuations of the windshield vortex are induced by the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, significant impacting the streamwise wake. Ultimately, the combined motion characteristics of the A-pillar and windshield vortices exert undesirable effects on the aeroacoustic noise and drag, suggesting fundamental mechanisms for achieving optimal energy-saving and acoustic convertibles in the future. Based on the wake topology and the vortical generating mechanism, some approaches are proposed to reduce the drag and aeroacoustic noise by impeding the flow over the door into the cabin, modifying the shape of windshield step, and lengthening the windshield in stream direction.

Electric-Field-Tunable Spin Polarization and Carrier-Transport Anisotropy in an A-Type Antiferromagnetic van der Waals Bilayer

Two-dimensional (2D) magnetic semiconductor materials with the electric-field-tunable spin polarization and carrier-transport anisotropy are of great significance for the fundamental physics and device application. Here we propose a general strategy to tune the spin polarization and anisotropic effective mass in a 2D A-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) bilayer system. We take the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ (with the intralayer ferromagnetic and interlayer AFM coupling) as an example to confirm this design principle. Firstly, a vertical electric field can lift the spin degeneracy in the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$. By flipping the direction of electric field, the spin polarization direction can be reversed. Secondly, in the A-type AFM bilayer $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ with an interlayer twist angle of 90\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}, both the spin direction and the carrier-transport anisotropy can be tuned simultaneously by applying a vertical electric field due to the in-plane anisotropic carrier effective mass in each $\mathrm{CrSBr}$ monolayer. This opens an opportunity for controlling the spin polarization as well as carrier-transport anisotropy in the 2D magnetic van der Waals layered materials by interlayer twist and electric field, and provides an idea for utilizing A-type AFM semiconductors to design spintronic devices.

Semiconductor-metal transition in vulcanized NiCo2O4 film

The effects of vulcanization on the electrical transport properties and magnetic structure of NiCo2O4 were studied in this work. NiCo2O4 films were epitaxially grown on Al2O3 substrate, and then vulcanized. The NiCo2O4 structures with O replaced by S atoms were calculated based on the density functional theory. As O were replaced by S atoms, the orbital overlap between S and cations increases, the localized electrons around cations are transformed into collective electrons, and the conductive behavior of the film changes from semiconductor to metal. The formation of covalent bonds caused by S substitution leads to the weakening of the interaction between tetrahedral Co and octahedral Ni ions. Meanwhile, the d-orbital energy level of cations shifts. The spin direction of Ni ions and half tetrahedral Co ions is flipped in the vulcanized NiCo2O4 structure, and the electrons at Ni3+eg level enter the conduction band, which makes the carrier type of the vulcanized NiCo2O4 film change from p to n-type. These results indicate that S atoms play an active role in improving the conductivity of NiCo2O4.

Dynamic modeling and nonlinear oscillations of a rotating pendulum with a spinning tip mass

In this work, a dynamic model of a rotating pendulum with a spinning tip mass is developed. The pendulum is rotating with a prescribed angular velocity around the vertical axis, while the tip mass spins around an arbitrary axis with constant angular velocity. The dynamic stability and bifurcation of the system are examined first for the pendulum when rotating with a constant angular velocity. The effects of the tip mass spin on the dynamic equilibrium and stability are thoroughly examined by constructing the bifurcation diagrams and phase plane portrait plots. It is found the tip mass spin considerably affects the qualitative nonlinear behavior and stability of the system. The frequency response of the pendulum due to sinusoidal angular rotation of the pendulum around the vertical axis is obtained using numerical integration combined with an arc-length continuation scheme. The effects of the magnitudes and directions of the tip mass spin on the nonlinear dynamic behavior of the system are subsequently investigated.

Symmetry Breaking in an Experimental Annular Combustor Model With Deterministic Electroacoustic Feedback and Stochastic Forcing

AbstractIn this study, we use an annular combustor experimental model with electroacoustic feedback to investigate systematically the effect of stochastic forcing and nonuniform flame response distribution on azimuthal thermoacoustic modes. We break the symmetry of a nominally degenerate mode of azimuthal order m by imposing a nonzero 2m Fourier component of the flame gain, b2m, and of the time-delay, ε2m. Various orientations between the gain and the time-delay staging patterns are considered. In addition, stochastic forcing is introduced. First, all experiments are performed without noise, as well as at the maximum noise intensity. We observe that the mode nature that dominates in the presence of intense noise may be far from the one observed in noise-free conditions. To better understand the effect of noise in the presence of asymmetries, we repeat some of the experiments at various noise intensities. Although our results confirm that for the axisymmetric configuration and some asymmetric configurations pure spinning modes are never reached, we also observe some radically different behaviors. For a noise-free experiment leading to a purely standing mode, the introduction of a sufficient amount of noise can lead to beating. We also observe that, for a mode that is nearly standing in the absence of noise, an increase in the noise intensity leads to the predominance of mixed modes with a clearly favored spinning direction. We explain our experimental results with the aid of low-order models.

Spin direction tunable topological transition in two-dimensional frustrate antiferromagnetic triangular lattice T-FeO2 monolayer

Recently, numerous two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials are predicted with various promising properties, whereas noncollinear antiferromagnetic 2D materials are rarely reported. In this paper, we predicted a stable 2D noncollinear antiferromagnetic triangular lattice T-FeO2. The ground state is 120° antiferromagnetic with stronger next nearest neighbor exchange coupling than that of nearest neighbor exchange coupling because of the RKKY interaction. Our Monte Carlo simulations reveal that the magnetic phase transition is from a 120° antiferromagnetic state to a stripy state and then to a paramagnetic state with increasing temperature. In addition, by tuning the spin direction from an in plane antiferromagnetic state to a canted weak ferromagnetic state, a nontrivial topological phase transition could be induced. Our investigation about magnetic property and nontrivial topological phase transition is very promising for antiferromagnetic spintronics.

Prediction of bipolar VSi2As4 and VGe2As4 monolayers with high Curie temperature and strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Recent studies have demonstrated that two-dimensional intrinsic magnetic materials with high Curie temperature $({T}_{\text{c}})$ and large magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) are highly desirable for future spintronics. After careful investigations through density functional theory, bipolar ${\mathrm{VSi}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{4}$ and ${\mathrm{VGe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{4}$ monolayers, with semiconductor valence and conduction band edges fully spin polarized in different spin directions, are demonstrated to be highly stable and have in-plane ferromagnetism (FM) with large MAE of $\ensuremath{\sim}5.5$ meV. The FM interaction is found to be dominated by the superexchange between d orbitals of V atoms through p orbitals of anions. More interestingly, ${T}_{\text{c}}$ is estimated to be $\ensuremath{\sim}900$ K through Monte Carlo simulation, which is significantly higher than room temperature. In addition, both MAE and ${T}_{\text{c}}$ can be substantially regulated and increased under biaxial strain and the transition from FM semiconductors to metals will occur. Our calculations and analyses indicate that ${\mathrm{VSi}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{4}$ and ${\mathrm{VGe}}_{2}{\mathrm{As}}_{4}$ monolayers are ideal systems for the fundamental understanding of magnetic physics as well as building blocks for magnetoelastic applications, high-temperature, or/and gate-tunable spintronic nanodevices.

Alternating Magnetic Field Induced Magnetic Heating in Ferromagnetic Cobalt Single-Atom Catalysts for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Alternating magnetic field (AMF) is a promising methodology for further improving magnetic single-atom catalyst (SAC) activity toward oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, the anchoring of Co single atoms on MoS2 support (Co@MoS2), leading to the appearance of in-plane room-temperature ferromagnetic properties, is favorable for the parallel spin arrangement of oxygen atoms when a magnetic field is applied. Moreover, field-assisted electrocatalytic experiments confirmed that the spin direction of Co@MoS2 is changing with the applied magnetic field. On this basis, under AMF, the active sites in ferromagnetic Co@MoS2 were heated by exploiting the magnetic heating generated from spin polarization flip of these SACs to further expedite OER efficiency, with overpotential at 10 mA cm-2 reduced from 317 mV to 250 mV. This work introduces a feasible and efficient approach to enhance the OER performance of Co@MoS2 by AMF, shedding some light on the further development of magnetic SACs for energy conversion.

Prediction of ferromagnetic Weyl semimetal and antiferromagnetic topological insulator phases in MnHg2Te3

Based on first-principles band-structure calculations, we predict that FM MnHg2Te3 is a Weyl semimetal candidate. When the direction of spin polarization is toward the c-axis, there are six Weyl points in the whole Brillouin zone. With spin orientation along the a-axis, there exist eight Weyl points. For AFM MnHg2Te3, when the spin direction is along the c-axis, the band structure is fully gapped. The calculation of the Z2 number confirms that AFM-c MnHg2Te3 is a 3D AFM topological insulator. Adjusting the spin direction from the c-axis to the a-axis only changes the bandgap without affecting the topological properties of this system. The gapless surface-state on the (100) surface is also obtained, the results of which correspond with the properties of the AFM topological insulator.

Andreev reflection mediated by Majorana zero modes in T-shaped double quantum dots

We theoretically study the Andreev reflection processes in T-shaped double quantum dots (TDQDs) in terms of the nonequilibrium Green’s function technique. It is considered that one of the TDQDs is coupled to the Majorana zero modes (MZMs) prepared at the ends of a topological superconductor nanowire and simultaneously to one metallic and one superconductor lead. Our numerical results show that the in-gap state originated from the proximity effect due to the superconductor lead being sensitive to the existence of MZMs. The local density of states (LDOS) of the spin-up electrons, which are directly coupled to the MZMs, has a Fano antiresonance at the in-gap state. Meanwhile, the local density of the spin-down electrons, which are free from hybridization to the MZMs due to the helical property of the latter, has a Lorentzian resonance at the same state. The differential Andreev conductance of both the spin directions exhibits Fano-type resonance but with different tails’ directions. The in-gap state is also significantly influenced by the energy level and coupling strength of the other side-coupled dot, as well as the MZM–MZM interaction.