Valley Current Research Articles

Strain-modulated anisotropy of quantum transport properties in single-layer silicene: Spin and valley filtering

Strained two-dimensional crystals often offer novel physical properties that are usable to improve their electronic performance. Here we show by the theory of elasticity combined with the tight-binding approximation that local strains in silicene can open up new prospects for generating fully polarized spin and valley currents. The trajectory of electrons flowing through locally strained regions obeys the same behavior as light waves propagating in uniaxial anisotropic materials. The refraction angle of electrons at local strain boundaries exhibits a strong dependence on the valley degree of freedom, allowing for valley filtering based on the strain direction. The ability to control the spin polarization direction additionally requires a perpendicular electric field to be involved in combination with the local strain. Further similarities of the problem with optics of anisotropic materials are elucidated and possible applications in spin- and valleytronic nanodevices are discussed.

Optical excitation of valley and spin currents of chiral edge states in graphene with Rashba spin-orbital coupling

Graphene on a substrate with a topological line defect possesses chiral edge states that exhibit linear dispersion and have opposite Fermi velocities for two valleys. The chiral edge states are localized at the line defect. With the presence of Rashba spin-orbital coupling, the dispersion of the chiral edge states splits into two. The optical excitation is modeled by the generalized semiconductor Bloch equation based on tight-binding theory. Charge, valley, and spin currents generated by normally incident plane waves through the photogalvanic effect as well as those generated by oblique light through the surface-plasmon drag effect are studied. Conditions for optical generation of purely localized valley or spin currents, which are solely originated from the chiral edge states, are discussed.

Influence of dephasing and B/N doping on valley Seebeck effect in zigzag graphene nanoribbons

We investigate the dephasing effect and atomic doping effect of random substitutional boron (B) or nitrogen (N) on the valley Seebeck effect in zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) using the tight-binding model calculations. When thermal gradient applied in the device made of ZGNRs is around several hundreds K, dephasing effect can only reduce the magnitude of pure valley current without generating electric current associated with the valley Seebeck effect. In the presence of B/N dopants, valley-polarized current occurs in ZGNRs. It is found that the generated valley polarized current is linearly dependent on the temperature gradient (ΔT) when the temperature of one lead is fixed and shows nonlinear dependence on temperature of a particular lead when ΔT is fixed. By calculating the phase diagrams such as (ΔT,p) with p the doping concentration, we find that the valley polarization can be tuned in a wide range from zero up to 0.72, indicating that it can be well controlled by B/N doping concentration. Finally, the noise power of valley Seebeck effect is also studied providing important information on the fluctuation of valley polarized current.

Geometric valley Hall effect and valley filtering through a singular Berry flux

Conventionally, a basic requirement to generate valley Hall effect (VHE) is that the Berry curvature for conducting carriers in the momentum space be finite so as to generate anomalous deflections of the carriers originated from distinct valleys into different directions. We uncover a geometric valley Hall effect (gVHE) in which the valley-contrasting Berry curvature for carriers vanishes completely except for the singular points. The underlying physics is a singular non-$\ensuremath{\pi}$ fractional Berry flux located at each conical intersection point in the momentum space, analogous to the classic Aharonov-Bohm effect of a confined magnetic flux in real space. We demonstrate that, associated with gVHE, exceptional skew scattering of valley-contrasting quasiparticles from a valley-independent, scalar type of impurities can generate charge-neutral, transverse valley currents. As a result, the massless nature of the quasiparticles and their high mobility are retained. We further demonstrate that, for the particular Berry flux of $\ensuremath{\pi}/2$, gVHE is considerably enhanced about the skew scattering resonance, which is electrically controllable. A remarkable phenomenon of significant practical interest is that, associated with gVHE, highly efficient valley filtering can arise. These phenomena are robust against thermal fluctuations and disorders, making them promising for valleytronics applications.

Gate-tunable valley currents, nonlocal resistances, and valley accumulation in bilayer graphene nanostructures

Using the B\"{u}ttiker-Landauer formulation of transport theory in the linear response regime, the valley currents and non-local resistances of bilayer graphene nanostructures with broken inversion symmetry are calculated. It is shown that broken inversion symmetry in bilayer graphene nanostructures leads to striking enhancement of the non-local 4-terminal resistance and to valley currents several times stronger than the conventional electric current when the Fermi energy is in the spectral gap close to the energy of Dirac point. The scaling relation between local and non-local resistances is investigated as the gate voltage varies at zero Fermi energy and a power-law is found to be satisfied. The valley velocity field and valley accumulation in four-terminal bilayer graphene nanostructures are evaluated in the presence of inversion symmetry breaking. The valley velocity and non-local resistance are found to scale differently with the applied gate voltage. The unit cell-averaged valley accumulation is found to exhibit a dipolar spatial distribution consistent with the accumulation arising from the valley currents. We define and calculate a {\em valley capacitance} that characterizes the valley accumulation response to voltages applied to the nanostructure's contacts.

Valley-filtered edge states and quantum valley Hall effect in gated bilayer graphene

Electron edge states in gated bilayer graphene in the quantum valley Hall (QVH) effect regime can carry both charge and valley currents. We show that an interlayer potential splits the zero-energy level and opens a bulk gap, yielding counter-propagating edge modes with different valleys. A rich variety of valley current states can be obtained by tuning the applied boundary potential and lead to the QVH effect, as well as to the unbalanced QVH effect. A method to individually manipulate the edge states by the boundary potentials is proposed.

Generation of large spin and valley currents in a quantum pump based on molybdenum disulfide.

Generation of large currents, versatile functionality, and simple structures are of fundamental importance in the development of adiabatic quantum pump devices with nanoscale dimensions. In the present study, we propose an adiabatic quantum pump with a simple structure based on molybdenum disulfide, MoS2, to generate large spin and valley resolved currents. We show that pure and fully polarized spin and valley currents can be easily generated by employing two potential gates and using an exchange magnetic field. Unlike graphene and silicene, in order to induce a valley resolved current in MoS2, one does not need to induce strain and apply an electric field. The spin and valley resolved currents are completely coupled together, so that the spin up (down) current is exactly equal to the valley K(K') current. Hence, we can detect the valley resolved current by utilizing more straightforward and simple methods used for the detection of spin resolved currents. The other prominent feature of this proposed pump is its large current, which is two and three orders of magnitude larger than the maximum current of similar pump structures based on silicene and graphene, respectively. The results of this study are promising for the fabrication of quantum pumps with large spin and valley resolved currents, which opens up the possibility of further development of spintronics and valleytronics in 2D nanostructures.

Controllable quantum valley pumping with high current in a silicene junction

We propose an efficient scheme for the generation and control of both pure and fully polarized valley currents in a silicene-based junction, using adiabatic quantum pumping. The pure and fully polarized valley currents are induced using ferromagnetic proximity and the application of a perpendicular electric field. We show that the valley polarized current can easily be switched from valley K to valley and vice versa, simply by reversing the direction of the electric field. Thus, the valley current is controllable electrically. Compared to the methods proposed for generation of valley current by quantum pumping in graphene, which are based on inducing strain on its sheet, our method is very simple and can be easily utilized in practical applications. Also, we show that the magnitude of pumped current in a silicene-based junction is roughly one order of magnitude greater than that of graphene. In addition to valley-related currents, our pump scheme can be used on its own to generate pure and fully polarized spin currents. A comparison between weak and strong adiabatic regimes is given, and the effects of some structural parameters that can significantly affect the pumping currents and polarizations are discussed.

Nonlocal topological valley transport at large valley Hall angles

Berry curvature hot spots in two-dimensional materials with broken inversion symmetry are responsible for the existence of transverse valley currents, which give rise to giant nonlocal dc voltages. Recent experiments in high-quality gapped graphene have highlighted a saturation of the nonlocal resistance as a function of the longitudinal charge resistivity $\rho_{{\rm c}, xx}$, when the system is driven deep into the insulating phase. The origin of this saturation is, to date, unclear. In this work we show that this behavior is fully compatible with bulk topological transport in the regime of large valley Hall angles (VHAs). We demonstrate that, for a fixed value of the valley diffusion length, the dependence of the nonlocal resistance on $\rho_{{\rm c}, xx}$ weakens for increasing VHAs, transitioning from the standard $\rho^3_{{\rm c}, xx}$ power-law to a result that is independent of $\rho_{{\rm c}, xx}$.

Spin-polarized valley Hall effect in ultrathin silicon nanomembrane via interlayer antiferromagnetic coupling

Fundamental understanding of two-dimensional materials has spurred a surge in the search for topological quantum phase associated with the valley degree of freedom (VDOF). We discuss a spin-polarized version to the VDOF in which spin degeneracy is broken by the antiferromagnetic exchange coupling (LAFM) between opposite layers of the quasi-two-dimensional silicon nanomembrane (SiNM). Based on first principles calculations, we found that the LAFM state in SiNM can lead to metal–insulator transition (MIT). The broken degeneracy of spin degree of freedom in this insulating state of ultrathin SiNM may differ for different valleys, so that the SiNM can be exploited to produce the spatially separated spin and valley currents. We propose that the tunable spin-polarized valley photocurrents can be generated in an experimentally feasible ellipsometry setup. Our work shows promise for the development of spintronic and valleytronic devices compatible with current silicon industry.

Topological spin and valley pumping in silicene.

We propose to realize adiabatic topological spin and valley pumping by using silicene, subject to the modulation of an in-plane ac electric field with amplitude Ey and a vertical electric field consisting of an electrostatic component and an ac component with amplitudes and . By tuning and , topological valley pumping or spin-valley pumping can be achieved. The low-noise valley and spin currents generated can be useful in valleytronic and spintronic applications. Our work also demonstrates that bulk topological spin or valley pumping is a general characteristic effect of two-dimensional topological insulators, irrelevant to the edge state physics.

Low frequency conductivity in monolayer graphene model with partial unfolding of Dirac bands

A secondary quantized field gauge theory with a number of flavors [Formula: see text] has been proposed to describe monolayer graphene. Charge carriers in this graphene model are Majorana pseudo-fermions. Partial unfolding of Dirac bands proceeds from coupling between anti-ordered pseudo-spins and valley currents. Splitting of Dirac cone replicas on Weyl-like node and anti-node leads to polarization effects analogous to graphene doping.

Multiple Negative Differential Resistance Device by Using the Ambipolar Behavior of Tunneling Field Effect Transistor with Fast Switching Characteristics.

We propose a novel double-peak negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic at the conventional single-peak MOS-NDR circuit by employing ambipolar behavior of TFET. The fluctuated voltage transfer curve (VTC) from ambipolar inverter is analyzed with simple model and successfully demonstrated with TFET, as a practical example, on the device simulation. We also verified that the fluctuated VTC generates additional peak and valleys on NDR characteristics by using circuit simulations. Moreover, by adjusting the threshold voltage of conventional MOSFET, ultra-high 1st and 2nd peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) over 10(7) is obtained with fully suppressed valley currents. The proposed double-peak NDR circuit expected to apply on faster switching and low power multi-functional applications.

Photoinduced valley-polarized current of layered MoS2 by electric tuning

A photoinduced current of a layered MoS2-based transistor is studied from first-principles. Under the illumination of circular polarized light, a valley-polarized current is generated, which can be tuned by the gate voltage. For monolayer MoS2, the valley-polarized spin-up (down) electron current at K () points is induced by the right (left) circular polarized light. The valley polarization is found to reach +1.0 (−1.0) for the valley current that carried such a K () index. For bilayer MoS2, the spin-up (down) current can be induced at both K and valleys by the right (left) circular light. In contrast to monolayer MoS2, the photoinduced valley polarization shows asymmetric behavior upon reversal of the gate voltage. Our results show that the valley polarization of the photoinduced current can be modulated by the circular polarized light and the gate voltage. All the results can be well understood using a simple kp model.

Perfect valley filter in strained graphene with single barrier region

We present a single barrier system to generate pure valley-polarized current in monolayer graphene. A uniaxial strain is applied within the barrier region, which is delineated by localized magnetic field created by ferromagnetic stripes at the region’s boundaries. We show that under the condition of matching magnetic field strength, strain potential, and Fermi energy, the transmitted current is composed of only one valley contribution. The desired valley current can transmit with zero reflection while the electrons from the other valley are totally reflected. Thus, the system generates pure valley-polarized current with maximum conductance. The chosen parameters of uniaxial strain and magnetic field are in the range of experimental feasibility, which suggests that the proposed scheme can be realized with current technology.

Digitally Current Controlled DC-DC Switching Converters Using an Adjacent Cycle Sampling Strategy

A novel digital current control strategy for digitally controlled DC-DC switching converters, referred to as Adjacent Cycle Sampling (ACS), is proposed in this paper. For the ACS current control strategy, the available time interval from sampling the current to updating the duty ratio, is approximately one switching cycle. In addition, it is independent of the duty ratio. As a result, the contradiction between the processing speed of the hardware and the transient response speed can be effectively relaxed by using the ACS current control strategy. For digitally controlled buck DC-DC switching converters with trailing-edge modulation, digital current control algorithms with the ACS control strategy are derived for three different control objectives. These objectives are the valley, average, and peak inductor currents. In addition, the sub-harmonic oscillations of the above current control algorithms are analyzed and eliminated by using the digital slope compensation (DSC) method. Experimental results based on a FPGA are given, which verify the theoretical analysis results very well. It can be concluded that the ACS control has a faster transient response speed than the time delay control, and that its requirements for hardware processing speed can be reduced when compared with the deadbeat control. Therefore, it promises to be one of the key technologies for high-frequency DC-DC switching converters.

Floquet-Engineered Valleytronics in Dirac Systems.

Valley degrees of freedom offer a potential resource for quantum information processing if they can be effectively controlled. We discuss an optical approach to this problem in which intense light breaks electronic symmetries of a two-dimensional Dirac material. The resulting quasienergy structures may then differ for different valleys, so that the Floquet physics of the system can be exploited to produce highly polarized valley currents. This physics can be utilized to realize a valley valve whose behavior is determined optically. We propose a concrete way to achieve such valleytronics in graphene as well as in a simple model of an inversion-symmetry broken Dirac material. We study the effect numerically and demonstrate its robustness against moderate disorder and small deviations in optical parameters.

Competing magnetic orderings and tunable topological states in two-dimensional hexagonal organometallic lattices

The exploration of topological states is of significant fundamental and practical importance in contemporary condensed matter physics, for which the extension to two-dimensional (2D) organometallic systems is particularly attractive. Using first-principles calculations, we show that a 2D hexagonal triphenyl-lead lattice composed of only main group elements is susceptible to a magnetic instability, characterized by a considerably more stable antiferromagnetic (AFM) insulating state rather than the topologically nontrivial quantum spin Hall state proposed recently. Even though this AFM phase is topologically trivial, it possesses an intricate emergent degree of freedom, defined by the product of spin and valley indices, leading to Berry curvature-induced spin and valley currents under electron or hole doping. Furthermore, such a trivial band insulator can be tuned into a topologically nontrivial matter by the application of an out-of-plane electric field, which destroys the AFM order, favoring instead ferrimagnetic spin ordering and a quantum anomalous Hall state with a non-zero topological invariant. These findings further enrich our understanding of 2D hexagonal organometallic lattices for potential applications in spintronics and valleytronics.

Valley Seebeck effect in gate tunable zigzag graphene nanoribbons

We propose, for the first time, a valley Seebeck effect in gate tunable zigzag graphene nanoribbons as a result of the interplay between thermal gradient and valleytronics. A pure valley current is further generated by the thermal gradient as well as the external bias. In a broad temperature range, the pure valley current is found to be linearly dependent on the temperature gradient while it increases with the increasing temperature of one lead for a fixed thermal gradient. A valley field effect transistor (FET) driven by the temperature gradient is proposed that can turn on and off the pure valley current by gate voltage. The threshold gate voltage and on valley current are proportional to the temperature gradient. When the system switches on at positive gate voltage, the pure valley current is nearly independent of gate voltage. The valley transconductance is up to 30 μS if we take Ampere as the unit of the valley current. This valley FET may find potential application in future valleytronics and valley caloritronics.

Valley Hall Effect in Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Lattices

Valley is a quantum number defined for energetically degenerate but nonequivalent structures in energy bands of a crystalline material. Recent discoveries of two-dimensional (2D) layered materials have shed light on the potential use of this degree of freedom for information carriers because the valley can now be potentially manipulated in integrated 2D architectures. The valleys separated by a long distance in a momentum space are robust against external disturbance and the flow of the valley, the valley current, is nondissipative because it carries no net electronic current. Among the various 2D valley materials, graphene has by far the highest crystal quality, leading to an extremely long valley relaxation length in the bulk. In this review, we first describe the theoretical background of the valley Hall effect, which converts an electric field into a valley current. We then describe the first observation of the valley Hall effect in monolayer MoS2. Finally, we describe experiments on the generation an...