Zeeman Coupling Research Articles

Magnetic phase diagram enriched by chemical substitution in a noncentrosymmetric helimagnet

In noncentrosymmetric helimagnets, magnetic helices are often abruptly transformed to another magnetic structure by applying a moderate magnetic field, accompanying a variety of physical phenomena. However, antiferromagnetic (AF) helimagnets have been attracting less interest, because of the robustness to the magnetic field. Here, the authors modify an AF helimagnet to be a ferrimagnetic helimagnet, which shows an enriched magnetic phase diagram owing to competition among the spin-spin interaction, thermal fluctuations, and Zeeman coupling.

Effect of Zeeman coupling on the Majorana vortex modes in iron-based topological superconductors

In the superconducting regime of FeTe$_{(1-x)}$Se$_x$, there exist two types of vortices which are distinct by the presence or absence of zero energy states in their core. To understand their origin, we examine the interplay of Zeeman coupling and superconducting pairings in three-dimensional metals with band inversion. Weak Zeeman fields are found to suppress the intra-orbital spin-singlet pairing, known to localize the states at the ends of the vortices on the surface. On the other hand, an orbital-triplet pairing is shown to be stable against Zeeman interactions, but leads to delocalized zero-energy Majorana modes which extend through the vortex. In contrast, the finite-energy vortex modes remain localized at the vortex ends even when the pairing is of orbital-triplet form. Phenomenologically, this manifests as an observed disappearance of zero-bias peaks within the cores of topological vortices upon increase of the applied magnetic field. The presence of magnetic impurities in FeTe$_{(1-x)}$Se$_x$, which are attracted to the vortices, would lead to such Zeeman-induced delocalization of Majorana modes in a fraction of vortices that capture a large enough number of magnetic impurities. Our results provide an explanation to the dichotomy between topological and non-topological vortices recently observed in FeTe$_{(1-x)}$Se$_x$.

Antiunitary symmetry protected higher-order topological phases

Higher-order topological (HOT) phases feature boundary (such as corner and hinge) modes of codimension $d_c>1$. We here identify an \emph{antiunitary} operator that ensures the spectral symmetry of a two-dimensional HOT insulator and the existence of cornered localized states ($d_c=2$) at precise zero energy. Such an antiunitary symmetry allows us to construct a generalized HOT insulator that continues to host corner modes even in the presence of a \emph{weak} anomalous Hall insulator and a spin-orbital density wave orderings, and is characterized by a quantized quadrupolar moment $Q_{xy}=0.5$. Similar conclusions can be drawn for the time-reversal symmetry breaking HOT $p+id$ superconductor and the corner localized Majorana zero modes survive even in the presence of weak Zeeman coupling and $s$-wave pairing. Such HOT insulators also serve as the building blocks of three-dimensional second-order Weyl semimetals, supporting one-dimensional hinge modes.

Universal correspondence between edge spin accumulation and equilibrium spin currents in nanowires with spin-orbit coupling

We demonstrate that the interplay of Zeeman and spin-orbit coupling fields in a 1D wire leads to an equilibrium spin current that manifests itself in a spin accumulation at the wire ends with a polarization perpendicular to both fields. This is a universal property that occurs in the normal and superconducting state independently of the degree of disorder. We find that the edge spin polarization transverse to the Zeeman field is strongly enhanced in the superconducting state when the Zeeman energy is of the order of the superconducting gap. By calculating the space resolved magnetization response of the wire we demonstrate that the transverse component of the spin at the wire edges can be much larger than the one parallel to the field. This result generalizes the well established theory of the Knight-shift in superconductors to the case of finite systems.

Floquet spinor Bose gases

We introduce a Floquet spinor Bose-Einstein condensate induced by a periodically driven quadratic Zeeman coupling whose frequency is larger than any other energy scales. By examining a spin-1 system available in ultracold atomic gases, we demonstrate that such an external driving field has great effect on the condensate through emergence of a unique spin-exchange interaction. We uncover that the ferromagnetic condensate has several unconventional stationary states and thus exhibits rich continuous phase transitions. On the other hand, the antiferromagnetic condensate is found to possess a nontrivial metastable region, which supports unusual elementary excitations and hysteresis phenomena.

Magnetic field direction dependent magnetization reversal in synthetic antiferromagnets

A perpendicularly magnetized synthetic antiferromagnetic structure is a promising alternative to a single ferromagnetic layer in spintronic applications because of its low net magnetization and high thermal stability. In general, the reversal sequences of the two ferromagnetic layers in the structure are fixed for a specific sample since they have different magnetic anisotropy. Here, we investigate the anomalous Hall effect of the [Pd/Co]/Ru/[Co/Pd] synthetic antiferromagnetic structure. By rotating the external field from out-of-plane to in-plane, three different types of anomalous Hall effect curves can be observed, which shows obvious magnetic field direction dependent magnetization reversal behavior. The mechanism can be explained with the help of the Stoner-Wohlfarth model calculation, and the result indicates that the competition among Zeeman, anisotropy, and exchange coupling energies in the system is sensitive to the magnetic field direction, which changes the switching sequences. Besides the fundamental significance, our finding provides a different dimension to manipulate the performance of spintronics.

Magnetic Assembly of Nanocubes for Orientation-Dependent Photonic Responses.

Close packing is the most favorable manner in colloidal self-assembly, producing superstructures with a limited variety of spatial configurations. This challenge can be overcome by incorporating anisotropic interactions into the assembly process. Using magnetite nanocubes as the building blocks, we show that they can be magnetically assembled into one-dimensional nanochains in an edge-to-edge rather than close-packed face-to-face manner. The cubic shape of the building blocks plays a key role: it decouples the easy magnetization from any of the three geometric axes favoring close packing. Therefore, under magnetic fields, the induced competition between the long-range Zeeman coupling and the short-range dipole-dipole coupling determines the assembly of nanocubes along the [110] directions. The photonic properties of the edge-to-edge configuration are dependent on both chain orientation and viewing angle. Unlike nanosphere assemblies where the strongest diffraction occurs parallel to the chain (or field) direction, the nanocubes allow one to define their long-range periodicity in the plane of a thin film while diffracting light out of the plane, making it particularly useful for applications that desire the achievement of structural colors of sufficient intensity in a film with a minimum thickness. For example, their unique photonic property can be taken advantage of to design "magic" patterns whose rotation is perceived to be opposite to the actual rotational direction of the film. It is difficult to reproduce such unusual optical effects by other means; thereby, many new ways for designing novel security devices are provided. This work reveals the enormous potential of the magnetic assembly strategy, when combined with the use of well-defined nonspherical building blocks, for controlling the spatial configurations of colloidal assemblies and exploiting their novel physical properties for intriguing applications.

Thermal Hall signatures of non-Kitaev spin liquids in honeycomb Kitaev materials

Motivated by the recent surge of field-driven phenomena discussed for Kitaev materials, in particular the experimental observation of a finite thermal Hall effect and theoretical proposals for the emergence of additional spin liquid phases beyond the conventional Kitaev spin liquid, we develop a theoretical understanding of the thermal Hall effect in honeycomb Kitaev materials in magnetic fields. Our focus is on gapless U(1) spin liquids with a spinon Fermi surface, which have been shown to arise as field-induced phases. We demonstrate that in the presence of symmetry-allowed, second-neighbor Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions these spin liquids give rise to a finite, non-quantized, thermal Hall conductance in a magnetic field. The microscopic origin of this thermal Hall effect can be traced back to an interplay of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and Zeeman coupling, which generates an internal U(1) gauge flux that twists the motion of the emergent spinons. We argue that such a non-quantized thermal Hall effect is a generic response in Kitaev models for a range of couplings.

Induced spin-orbit coupling in twisted graphene–transition metal dichalcogenide heterobilayers: Twistronics meets spintronics

We propose an interband tunneling picture to explain and predict the interlayer twist-angle dependence of the induced spin-orbit coupling in heterostructures of graphene and monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). We obtain a compact analytic formula for the induced valley Zeeman and Rashba spin-orbit coupling in terms of the TMDC band structure parameters and interlayer tunneling matrix elements. We parametrize the tunneling matrix elements with few parameters, which in our formalism are independent of the twist angle between the layers. We estimate the value of the tunneling parameters from existing density functional theory calculations at zero twist angle and we use them to predict the induced spin-orbit coupling at nonzero angles. Provided that the energy of the Dirac point of graphene is close to the TMDC conduction band, we expect a sharp increase of the induced spin-orbit coupling around a twist angle of ${18}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}$.

Gap-filling states induced by disorder and Zeeman coupling in the nodeless chiral superconducting Bi/Ni bilayer system

Motivated by the recently discovered time-reversal symmetry-breaking superconductivity in epitaxial Bi/Ni bilayer system with transition temperature $T_c\approx 4.2$K and the observation of zero-bias anomaly in tunneling measurements, we show that gap-filling states can appear in the fully gapped $d_{xy}\pm id_{x^2-y^2}$ superconducting states. We consider a model of helical electron states with d-wave pairing. In particular, we show that both magnetic and non-magnetic impurities can create states within the superconducting gap. Alternatively, we also show that the coupling of the electron spins to the in-plane Zeeman field provided by nickel can also create gap-filling states by producing Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces. Our findings may explain the origin of zero-bias anomaly observed in the point-contact tunneling measurements.

Magnetized vector solitons in a spin-orbit coupled spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with Zeeman coupling

The property of matter-wave vector solitons in a spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate with spin-orbit and Zeeman couplings is investigated by multiscale perturbation method. The excitation spectrum and the corresponding state vectors of the system are obtained analytically, and they can be adjusted by the parameters of the system. The bright and dark vector solitons are formulated by reducing the three-component coupled Gross-Pitaeviskii equations to a standard nonlinear Schrödinger equation, which has the solutions of the bright and dark solitons with positive or negative mass depending on the product of the effective dispersive and nonlinear coefficients. The moving vector solitons are demonstrated by adjusting specific momentum near the energy minimum. Finally, the magnetized features of the vector solitons are discussed by the spin polarization of the system.

Bridging Hubbard model physics and quantum Hall physics in trilayer graphene/h−BN moiré superlattice

The moir\'e superlattice formed by ABC stacked trilayer graphene aligned with a hexagonal boron nitride substrate (TG/h-BN) provides an interesting system where both the bandwidth and the topology can be tuned by an applied perpendicular electric field $D$ . Thus the TG/h-BN system can simulate both Hubbard model physics and nearly flat Chern band physics within one sample. We derive lattice models for both signs of $D$ (which controls the band topology) separately through explicit Wannier orbital construction and mapping of Coulomb interaction. When the bands are topologically trivial, we discuss possible candidates for Mott insulators at integer number of holes per site (labeled as $\nu_T$). These include both broken symmetry states and quantum spin liquid insulators which may be particularly favorable in the vicinity of the Mott transition. We propose feasible experiments to study carefully the bandwidth tuned and the doping tuned Mott metal-insulator transition at both $\nu_T=1$ and $\nu_T=2$. We discuss the interesting possibility of probing experimentally a bandwidth (or doping) controlled continuous Mott transition between a Fermi liquid metal and a quantum spin liquid insulator. Finally we also show that the system has a large valley Zeeman coupling to a small out-of-plane magnetic field, which can be used to control the valley degree of freedom.

Rectification of Spin Current in Inversion-Asymmetric Magnets with Linearly Polarized Electromagnetic Waves

We theoretically propose a method of rectifying spin current with a linearly polarized electromagnetic wave in inversion-asymmetric magnetic insulators. To demonstrate the proposal, we consider quantum spin chains as a simple example; these models are mapped to fermion (spinon) models via Jordan-Wigner transformation. Using a nonlinear response theory, we find that a dc spin current is generated by the linearly polarized waves. The spin current shows rich anisotropic behavior depending on the direction of the electromagnetic wave. This is a manifestation of the rich interplay between spins and the waves; inverse Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya, Zeeman, and magnetostriction couplings lead to different behaviors of the spin current. The resultant spin current is insensitive to the relaxation time of spinons, a property of which potentially benefits a long-distance propagation of the spin current. An estimate of the required electromagnetic wave is given.

Spin-orbit crossed susceptibility in topological Dirac semimetals

We theoretically study the spin-orbit crossed susceptibility of topological Dirac semimetals. Because of strong spin-orbit coupling, the orbital motion of electrons is modulated by Zeeman coupling, which contributes to orbital magnetization. We find that the spin-orbit crossed susceptibility is proportional to the separation of the Dirac points and it is highly anisotropic. The orbital magnetization is induced only along the rotational symmetry axis. We also study the conventional spin susceptibility. The spin susceptibility exhibits anisotropy and the spin magnetization is induced only along the perpendicular to the rotational symmetry axis in contrast to the spin-orbit crossed susceptibility. We quantitatively compare the two susceptibilities and find that they can be comparable.

Reentrant Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state in small-sized superconductors

We study the effect of a parallel magnetic field in a thin and small superconductor. The field suppresses superconductivity through Zeeman coupling while stabilizes the Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov (FFLO) state at high fields before superconductivity is destroyed. When the spatial period of FFLO state is comparable to the size of the superconductor, there is a strong commensuration effect, which modifies the superconducting phase diagram. We investigate the FFLO state and the phase diagram in the presence of strong commensuration effect both for the $s$-wave and $d$-wave superconductors using the Bogoliubov de Gennes equation, Green function approach, and Ginzburg-Landau theory. We found that the superconducting phase diagram is strongly modulated. Interestingly, there is re-entrance of superconductivity upon increasing the magnetic field. The commensuration effect of the FFLO state can be used to detect the FFLO state in experiments.

The δ-Doping-Dependent Spin Polarization in a Both Magnetically and Electrically Confined Semiconductor Heterostructure

In this paper, we theoretically investigate how to control electron-spin polarization by δ-doping in a both magnetically and electrically confined semiconductor heterostructure. It is shown that, due to Zeeman coupling, a considerable spin polarization effect appears in the δ-doped device. It is also shown that both magnitude and sign of spin polarization can be tuned by changing weight or position of the δ-doping. Thus, a δ-doping controllable spin filter can be achieved for spintronics device applications.

Entangled end states with fractionalized spin projection in a time-reversal-invariant topological superconducting wire

We study the ground state and low-energy subgap excitations of a finite wire of a time-reversal-invariant topological superconductor (TRITOPS) with spin-orbit coupling. We solve the problem analytically for a long chain of a specific one-dimensional lattice model in the electron-hole symmetric configuration and numerically for other cases of the same model. We present results for the spin density of excitations in long chains with an odd number of particles. The total spin projection along the axis of the spin-orbit coupling $S_z= \pm 1/2$ is distributed with fractions $\pm 1/4$ localized at both ends, and shows even-odd alternation along the sites of the chain. We calculate the localization length of these excitations and find that it can be well approximated by a simple analytical expression. We show that the energy $E$ of the lowest subgap excitations of the finite chain defines tunneling and entanglement between end states.We discuss the effect of a Zeeman coupling $\Delta_Z$ on one of the ends of the chain only. For $\Delta_Z<E$, the energy difference of excitations with opposite spin orientation is $\Delta_Z/2$, consistent with a spin projection $\pm 1/4$. We argue that these physical features are not model dependent and can be experimentally observed in TRITOPS wires under appropriate conditions.

Emergence of non-Fermi-liquid type Weyl metals driven by doped magnetic impurities in spin-orbit coupled semiconductors

Constructing an effective field theory in terms of doped magnetic impurities (described by an O(3) vector model with a random mass term), itinerant electrons of spin-orbit coupled semiconductors (given by a Dirac theory with a relatively large mass term), and effective interactions between doped magnetic ions and itinerant electrons (assumed by an effective Zeeman coupling term), we perform the perturbative renormalization group analysis in the one-loop level based on the dimensional regularization technique. As a result, we find that the mass renormalization in dynamics of itinerant electrons acquires negative feedback effects due to quantum fluctuations involved with the Zeeman coupling term, in contrast with that of the conventional problem of quantum electrodynamics, where such interaction effects enhance the fermion mass more rapidly. Recalling that the applied magnetic field decreases the band gap in the presence of spin-orbit coupling, this renormalization group analysis shows that the external magnetic field overcomes the renormalized band gap, allowed by doped magnetic impurities even without ferromagnetic ordering. In other words, the Weyl metal physics can be controlled by doping magnetic impurities into spin-orbit coupled semiconductors, even if the external magnetic field alone cannot realize the Weyl metal phase due to relatively large band gaps of semiconductors. Furthermore, we emphasize that quasiparticles do not exist in this emergent disordered Weyl metal phase due to correlations with strong magnetic fluctuations. This non-Fermi liquid type Weyl metal state may be regarded to be a novel metallic phase in the respect that a topologically nontrivial band structure appears in the vicinity of quantum criticality.

Photoexcitation in two-dimensional topological insulators

One of the most fascinating challenges in Physics is the realization of an electron-based counterpart of quantum optics, which requires the capability to generate and control single electron wave packets. The edge states of quantum spin Hall (QSH) systems, i.e., two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators realized in HgTe/CdTe and InAs/GaSb quantum wells, may turn the tide in the field, as they do not require the magnetic field that limits the implementations based on quantum Hall effect. However, the band structure of these topological states, described by a massless Dirac fermion Hamiltonian, prevents electron photoexcitation via the customary vertical electric dipole transitions of conventional optoelectronics. So far, proposals to overcome this problem are based on magnetic dipole transitions induced via Zeeman coupling by circularly polarised radiation, and are limited by the g-factor. Alternatively, optical transitions can be induced from the edge states to the bulk states, which are not topologically protected though. Here we show that an electric pulse, localized in space and/or time and applied at a QSH edge, can photoexcite electron wavepackets by intra-branch electrical transitions, without invoking the bulk states or the Zeeman coupling. Such wavepackets are spin-polarised and propagate in opposite directions, with a density profile that is independent of the initial equilibrium temperature and that does not exhibit dispersion, as a result of the linearity of the spectrum and of the chiral anomaly characterising massless Dirac electrons. We also investigate the photoexcited energy distribution and show how, under appropriate circumstances, minimal excitations (Levitons) are generated. Furthermore, we show that the presence of a Rashba spin–orbit coupling can be exploited to tailor the shape of photoexcited wavepackets. Possible experimental realizations are also discussed.

Spin-orbit-coupled soliton in a random potential

We investigate theoretically the dynamics of a spin-orbit coupled soliton formed by a self- interacting Bose-Einstein condensate immersed in a random potential, in the presence of an artificial magnetic field. We find that due to the anomalous spin-dependent velocity, the synthetic Zeeman coupling can play a critical role in the soliton dynamics by causing its localization or delocalization, depending on the coupling strength and on the parameters of the random potential. The observed effects of the Zeeman coupling qualitatively depend on the type of self-interaction in the condensate since the spin state and the self-interaction energy of the condensate are mutually related if the invariance of the latter with respect to the spin rotation is lifted.