Spin-polarized Fermi Research Articles

Topological semimetals with intrinsic chirality as spin-controlling electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

AbstractElectrocatalytic water splitting is a promising approach for clean hydrogen production, but the process is hindered by the sluggish kinetics of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) owing to the spin-dependent electron transfer process. Efforts to control spin through chirality and magnetization have shown potential in enhancing OER performance. Here we harnessed the potential of topological chiral semimetals (RhSi, RhSn and RhBiS) and their spin-polarized Fermi surfaces to promote the spin-dependent electron transfer in the OER, addressing the traditional volcano-plot limitations. We show that OER activities follow the trend RhSi < RhSn < RhBiS, corresponding to the increasing extent of spin–orbit coupling (SOC). The chiral single crystals outperform achiral counterparts (RhTe2, RhTe and RuO2) in alkaline electrolyte, with RhBiS exhibiting a specific activity two orders of magnitude higher than RuO2. Our work reveals the pivotal roles of chirality and SOC in spin-dependent catalysis, facilitating the design of ultra-efficient chiral catalysts.

Radio-frequency spectroscopy and the dimensional crossover in interacting spin-polarized Fermi gases

Radio-frequency spectroscopy and the dimensional crossover in interacting spin-polarized Fermi gases

Fully polarized Fermi systems at finite temperature.

We propose a simple model of an interacting, fully spin-polarized Fermi gas in dimensions d=2 and d=3, and derive the approximate expression for the energy spectrum and the corresponding formula for the Helmholtz free energy. We analyze the thermodynamics of the system and find the lines of first-order phase transitions between the low- and high-density phases terminating at critical points. The properties of the corresponding phase diagrams are qualitatively different for d=2 and 3, and sensitively depend on the interparticle attraction, which marks a departure from the standard van der Waals theory. The differences originate from the Pauli exclusion principle and are embedded in the fermionic nature of the system under study.

Phases and dynamics of few fermionic impurities immersed in two-dimensional boson droplets

We unravel the ground state properties and emergent nonequilibrium dynamics of a mixture consisting of a few spin-polarized fermions embedded in a two-dimensional bosonic quantum droplet. For an increasingly attractive droplet-fermion interaction we find a transition from a spatially delocalized fermion configuration to a state where the fermions are highly localized and isolated. This process is accompanied by the rise of induced fermion-fermion interactions mediated by the droplet. Additionally, for increasing attractive droplet-fermion coupling, undulations in the droplet density occur in the vicinity of the fermions manifesting the back-action of the latter. Following interaction quenches from strong to weaker attractive droplet-fermion couplings reveals the spontaneous nucleation of complex excitation patterns in the fermion density such as ring- and cross-shaped structures. These stem from the enhanced interference of the fermions that remain trapped within the droplet, which emulates, to a good degree, an effective potential for the fermions. The non-negligible back-action of the droplet manifests itself in the fact that the effective potential predictions are less accurate at the level of the many-body wave function. Our results provide a paradigm for physics beyond the reduced single-component droplet model, unveiling the role of back-action in droplets and the effect of induced mediated interactions. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Realization of a two-dimensional Weyl semimetal and topological Fermi strings

A two-dimensional (2D) Weyl semimetal, akin to a spinful variant of graphene, represents a topological matter characterized by Weyl fermion-like quasiparticles in low dimensions. The spinful linear band structure in two dimensions gives rise to distinctive topological properties, accompanied by the emergence of Fermi string edge states. We report the experimental realization of a 2D Weyl semimetal, bismuthene monolayer grown on SnS(Se) substrates. Using spin and angle-resolved photoemission and scanning tunneling spectroscopies, we directly observe spin-polarized Weyl cones, Weyl nodes, and Fermi strings, providing consistent evidence of their inherent topological characteristics. Our work opens the door for the experimental study of Weyl fermions in low-dimensional materials.

Characterizing localization effects in an ultracold disordered Fermi gas by diffusion analysis

Disorder can fundamentally modify the transport properties of a system. A striking example is Anderson localization, suppressing transport due to destructive interference of propagation paths. In inhomogeneous many-body systems, not all particles are localized for finite-strength disorder, and the system can become partially diffusive. Unraveling the intricate signatures of localization from such observed diffusion is a longstanding problem. Here, we experimentally study a degenerate, spin-polarized Fermi gas in a disorder potential formed by an optical speckle pattern. We record the diffusion through the disordered potential upon release from an external confining potential. We compare different methods to analyze the resulting density distributions, including a new approach to capture particle dynamics by evaluating absorption-image statistics. Using standard observables, such as diffusion exponent and coefficient, localized fraction, or localization length, we find that some show signatures for a transition to localization above a critical disorder strength, while others show a smooth crossover to a modified diffusion regime. In laterally displaced disorder, we spatially resolve different transport regimes simultaneously, which allows us to extract the subdiffusion exponent expected for weak localization. Our work emphasizes that the transition toward localization can be investigated by closely analyzing the system's diffusion, offering ways of revealing localization effects beyond the signature of exponentially decaying density distribution. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Non-Hermitian p -wave superfluid and effects of the inelastic three-body loss in a one-dimensional spin-polarized Fermi gas

We theoretically investigate non-Hermitian p-wave Fermi superfluidity in one-dimensional spin-polarized Fermi gases which is relevant to recent ultracold atomic experiments. Considering an imaginary atom-dimer coupling responsible for the three-body recombination process in the Lindblad formalism, we discuss the stability of the superfluid state against the atomic loss effect. Within the two-channel non-Hermitian BCS-Eagles-Leggett theory, the atomic loss is characterized by the product of the imaginary atom-dimer coupling and the p-wave effective range. Our results indicate that for a given imaginary atom-dimer coupling, a smaller magnitude of the effective ranges of p-wave interaction is crucial for reaching the non-Hermitian p-wave Fermi superfluid state. Moreover, our theoretical framework for many-body systems with the three-body loss, which is inevitable in ultracold atoms, would promote further progress in non-Hermitian cold-atomic physics. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Elastic collision rates of spin-polarized fermions in two dimensions

Elastic collision rates of spin-polarized fermions in two dimensions

Observation of large spin-polarized Fermi surface of a magnetically proximitized semiconductor quantum well

The magnetic proximity effect (MPE) attracts much attention as a promising way for introducing ferromagnetism into a nonmagnetic electron-transport channel. Although the range of MPE is generally limited to the interface, it is extended to several tens of nm in high-quality semiconductor bilayers consisting of a nonmagnetic quantum well (QW) and an underlying ferromagnetic semiconductor (FMS) layer. To elucidate the mechanism of this long-range MPE, it is essential to observe the magnetically proximitized electronic structure of the nonmagnetic semiconductor. Here, by investigating the Shubnikov - de Haas oscillations in nonmagnetic n-type InAs QW / FMS (Ga,Fe)Sb bilayers, we successfully observe the spin-polarized Fermi surface of the InAs QW. The spontaneous spin-splitting energy in the conduction band of the InAs QW reaches 18 meV when applying a negative gate voltage. This large and gate-tunable spin-polarized Fermi surface of a magnetically proximitized InAs QW provides an ideal platform for novel spintronic and topological devices.

Detecting fractionalization in critical spin liquids using color centers

Quantum spin liquids are highly entangled ground states of insulating spin systems, in which magnetic ordering is prevented down to the lowest temperatures due to quantum fluctuations. One of the most extraordinary characteristics of quantum spin liquid phases is their ability to support fractionalized, low-energy quasiparticles known as spinons, which carry spin-1/2 but bear no charge. Relaxometry based on color centers in crystalline materials—of which nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond are a well-explored example—provides an exciting new platform to probe the spin spectral functions of magnetic materials with both energy and momentum resolution and to search for signatures of these elusive, fractionalized excitations. In this work, we theoretically investigate the color-center relaxometry of two archetypal quantum spin liquids: the two-dimensional U(1) quantum spin liquid with a spinon Fermi surface and the spin-1/2 antiferromagnetic spin chain. The former is characterized by a metallic, spin-split ground state of mobile, interacting spinons, which closely resembles a spin-polarized Fermi liquid ground state but with neutral quasiparticles. We show that the observation of the Stoner continuum and the collective spin wave mode in the spin spectral function would provide a strong evidence for the existence of spinons and fractionalization. In one dimension, mobile spinons form a Luttinger liquid ground state. We show that the spin spectral function exhibits strong features representing the collective density and spin-wave modes, which are broadened in an algebraic fashion with an exponent characterized by the Luttinger parameter. The possibilities of measuring these collective modes and detecting the power-law decay of the spectral weight using NV relaxometry are discussed. We also examine how the transition rates are modified by marginally irrelevant operators in the Heisenberg limit. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Ground state energy of the dilute spin-polarized Fermi gas: Upper bound via cluster expansion

We prove an upper bound on the ground state energy of the dilute spin-polarized Fermi gas capturing the leading correction to the kinetic energy resulting from repulsive interactions. One of the main ingredients in the proof is a rigorous implementation of the fermionic cluster expansion of Gaudin et al. (1971) [15].

Pressure of a dilute spin-polarized Fermi gas: Lower bound

Abstract We consider a dilute fully spin-polarized Fermi gas at positive temperature in dimensions $d\in \{1,2,3\}$ . We show that the pressure of the interacting gas is bounded from below by that of the free gas plus, to leading order, an explicit term of order $a^d\rho ^{2+2/d}$ , where a is the p-wave scattering length of the repulsive interaction and $\rho $ is the particle density. The results are valid for a wide range of repulsive interactions, including that of a hard core, and uniform in temperatures at most of the order of the Fermi temperature. A central ingredient in the proof is a rigorous implementation of the fermionic cluster expansion of Gaudin, Gillespie and Ripka (Nucl. Phys. A, 176.2 (1971), pp. 237–260).

Dirac Half-Semimetallicity and Antiferromagnetism in Graphene Nanoribbon/Hexagonal Boron Nitride Heterojunctions.

Half-metals have been envisioned as active components in spintronic devices by virtue of their completely spin-polarized electrical currents. Actual materials hosting half-metallic phases, however, remain scarce. Here, we predict that recently fabricated heterojunctions of zigzag nanoribbons embedded in two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride are half-semimetallic, featuring fully spin-polarized Dirac points at the Fermi level. The half-semimetallicity originates from the transfer of charges from hexagonal boron nitride to the embedded graphene nanoribbon. These charges give rise to opposite energy shifts of the states residing at the two edges, while preserving their intrinsic antiferromagnetic exchange coupling. Upon doping, an antiferromagnetic-to-ferrimagnetic phase transition occurs in these heterojunctions, with the sign of the excess charge controlling the spatial localization of the net magnetic moments. Our findings demonstrate that such heterojunctions realize tunable one-dimensional conducting channels of spin-polarized Dirac fermions seamlessly integrated into a two-dimensional insulator, thus holding promise for the development of carbon-based spintronics.

Tailoring dynamical fermionization: Delta-kick cooling of a Tonks-Girardeau gas

In one spatial dimension, quantum exchange statistics and interactions are inextricably intertwined. As a manifestation, the expansion dynamics of a Tonks-Girardeau gas is characterized by dynamical fermionization (DF), whereby the momentum distribution approaches that of a spin-polarized Fermi gas. Using a phase-space analysis and the unitary evolution of the one-body reduced density matrix, we show that DF can be tailored and reversed, using a generalization of delta kick cooling (DKC) to interacting systems, establishing a simple protocol to rescale the initial momentum distribution. The protocol applies to both expansions and compressions and can be used for microscopy of quantum correlations.

Two-dimensional half-metallicity and fully spin-polarized topological fermions in monolayer EuOBr

Two-dimensional (2D) half-metal and topological states have been the current research focus in condensed matter physics. Herein, we report a novel 2D material named EuOBr monolayer, which can simultaneously show 2D half-metal and topological fermions. This material shows a metallic state in the spin-up channel but a large insulating gap of 4.38 eV in the spin-down channel. In the conducting spin channel, the EuOBr monolayer shows the coexistence of Weyl points and nodal-lines near the Fermi level. These nodal-lines are classified by type-I, hybrid, closed, and open nodal-lines. The symmetry analysis suggests these nodal-lines are protected by the mirror symmetry, which cannot be broken even spin–orbit coupling is included because the ground magnetization direction in the material is out-of-plane [001]. The topological fermions in the EuOBr monolayer are fully spin-polarized, which can be meaningful for future applications in topological spintronic nano-devices.

Artificial magnetism for a harmonically trapped Fermi gas in a synthetic magnetic field

We have analytically explored the artificial magnetism for a 3D spin-polarized harmonically trapped ideal Fermi gas of electrically neutral particles exposed to a uniform synthetic magnetic field. Though polarization of the spin is necessary for trapping electrically neutral atoms in a magneto-optical trap, Pauli paramagnetism can not be studied for the spin-polarized Fermi system. However, it is possible to study Landau diamagnetism and de Haas-van Alphen effect for such a system. We have unified the artificial Landau diamagnetism and the artificial de Haas-van Alphen effect in a single framework for all temperatures as well as for all possible magnitudes of the synthetic magnetic field in the thermodynamic limit. Our prediction is testable in the present-day experimental setup for ultracold fermionic atoms in magneto-optical trap.

Geometry-Induced Spin Filtering in Photoemission Maps from WTe_{2} Surface States.

We demonstrate that an important quantum material WTe_{2} exhibits a new type of geometry-induced spin filtering effect in photoemission, stemming from low symmetry that is responsible for its exotic transport properties. Through the laser-driven spin-polarized angle-resolved photoemission Fermi surface mapping, we showcase highly asymmetric spin textures of electrons photoemitted from the surface states of WTe_{2}. Such asymmetries are not present in the initial state spin textures, which are bound by the time-reversal and crystal lattice mirror plane symmetries. The findings are reproduced qualitatively by theoretical modeling within the one-step model photoemission formalism. The effect could be understood within the free-electron final state model as an interference due to emission from different atomic sites. The observed effect is a manifestation of time-reversal symmetry breaking of the initial state in the photoemission process, and as such it cannot be eliminated, but only its magnitude influenced, by special experimental geometries.

Transport in p -wave-interacting Fermi gases

The scattering properties of spin-polarized Fermi gases are dominated by p-wave interactions. Besides their inherent angular dependence, these interactions differ from their s-wave counterparts as they also require the presence of a finite effective range in order to understand the low-energy properties of the system. In this article we examine how the shear viscosity and thermal conductivity of a three-dimensional spin-polarized Fermi gas in the normal phase depend on the effective range and the scattering volume in both the weakly and strongly interacting limits. We show that although the shear viscosity and thermal conductivity both explicitly depend on the effective range near resonance, the Prandtl number which parametrizes the ratio of momentum to thermal diffusivity does not have an explicit interaction dependence both at resonance and for weak interactions in the low-energy limit. In contrast to s-wave systems, p-wave scattering exhibits an additional resonance at weak attraction from a quasi-bound state at positive energies, which leads to a pronounced dip in the shear viscosity at specific temperatures.

Tremendous tunneling magnetoresistance effects based on van der Waals room-temperature ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2 with highly spin-polarized Fermi surfaces

Recently, van der Waals (vdW) magnetic heterostructures have received increasing research attention in spintronics. However, the lack of room-temperature magnetic order of vdW materials has largely impeded its development in practical spintronic devices. Inspired by the lately discovered vdW ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2, which has been shown to have magnetic order above room temperature and sizable perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, we investigate the basic electronic structure and magnetic properties of Fe3GaTe2 as well as tunneling magnetoresistance effect in magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs) with structure of Fe3GaTe2/insulator/Fe3GaTe2 by using first-principles calculations. It is found that Fe3GaTe2 with highly spin-polarized Fermi surface ensures that such magnetic tunnel junctions may have prominent tunneling magnetoresistance effect at room temperature even comparable to existing conventional AlOx and MgO-based MTJs. Our results suggest that Fe3GaTe2-based MTJs may be the promising candidate for realizing long-waiting full magnetic vdW spintronic devices.

Correlation in momentum space of Tonks–Girardeau gas

In momentum space, we investigate the correlation properties of the ground state of Tonks–Girardeau gases. With Bose–Fermi mapping method, the exact ground state wavefunction in coordinate space can be obtained based on the wavefunction of spin-polarized Fermions. By Fourier transformation we obtain the ground state wavefunction in momentum space, and therefore the pair correlation and the reduced one-body density matrix (ROBDM) in momentum space, whose diagonal part is the momentum distribution. The ROBDM in momentum space is the Fourier transformation of the ROBDM in coordinate space and the pair correlation in momentum space is the Fourier transformation of the reduced two-body density matrix in coordinate space. The correlations in momentum space display larger values only in small momentum region and vanish in most other regions. The lowest natural orbital and occupation distribution in momentum space are also obtained.