Abstract: The dynamics of driven pancake vortices in layered superconductors is studied using molecular-dynamics simulations. We found that, with increasing driving force, for strong interlayer coupling, the preexisted vortex lines either directly depin or first transform to two-dimensional (2D) pinned states before they are depinned, depending on the pinning strength. In a narrow region of pinning strengths, we found an interesting repinning process, which results in a negative differential resistance. For weak interlayer coupling, individually pinned pancake vortices first form disordered 2D flow and then transform to ordered three-dimensional (3D) flow with increasing driving force. However, for extremely strong pinning, the random pinning-induced thermal-like Langevin forces melt 3D vortex lines, which results in a persistent 2D flow in the fast-sliding regime. In the intermediate regime, the peak effect is found: With increasing driving force, the moving pancake vortices first crystallize to moving 3D vortex lines, and then these 3D vortex lines are melted, leading to the appearance of a reentrant 2D flow state. Our results are summarized in a dynamical phase diagram.

Abstract: The effect of the number of stacking layers and the type of stacking on the electronic and optical properties of bilayer and trilayer black phosphorus are investigated by using first-principles calculations within the framework of density functional theory. We find that inclusion of many-body effects (i.e., electron-electron and electron-hole interactions) modifies strongly both the electronic and optical properties of black phosphorus. While trilayer black phosphorus with a particular stacking type is found to be a metal by using semilocal functionals, it is predicted to have an electronic band gap of 0.82 eV when many-body effects are taken into account within the G(0)W(0) scheme. Though different stacking types result in similar energetics, the size of the band gap and the optical response of bilayer and trilayer phosphorene are very sensitive to the number of layers and the stacking type. Regardless of the number of layers and the type of stacking, bilayer and trilayer black phosphorus are direct band gap semiconductors whose band gaps vary within a range of 0.3 eV. Stacking arrangements that are different from the ground state structure in both bilayer and trilayer black phosphorus exhibit significant modified valence bands along the zigzag direction and result in larger hole effective masses. The optical gap of bilayer (trilayer) black phosphorus varies by 0.4 (0.6) eV when changing the stacking type. The calculated binding energy of the bound exciton hardly changes with the type of stacking and is found to be 0.44 (0.30) eV for bilayer (trilayer) phosphorous.

Abstract: We investigate silicene superlattices in the presence of a tunable barrier potential U, an exchange field M, and a perpendicular electric field E-z. The resulting miniband structure depends on the spin and valley indices and on the fields M and E-z. These fields determine the minigaps and also affect the additional Dirac points brought about by the periodic potential U. In addition, we consider diffusive transport and assess its dependence on the spin and valley indices as well as on temperature. The corresponding spin and valley polarizations strongly depend on the potential U and can be made almost 100% at very low temperatures at particular values of the Fermi energy.

Abstract: Scanning Hall probe microscopy (SHPM) has been used to study vortex structures in thin epitaxial films of the superconductor MgB2. Unusual vortex patterns observed in MgB2 single crystals have previously been attributed to a competition between short-range repulsive and long-range attractive vortex-vortex interactions in this two band superconductor; the type 1.5 superconductivity scenario. Our films have much higher levels of disorder than bulk single crystals and therefore both superconducting condensates are expected to be pushed deep into the type 2 regime with purely repulsive vortex interactions. We observe broken symmetry vortex patterns at low fields in all samples after field-cooling from above T-c. These are consistent with those seen in systems with competing repulsions on disparate length scales, and remarkably similar structures are reproduced in dirty two band Ginzburg-Landau calculations, where the simulation parameters have been defined by experimental observations. This suggests that in our dirty MgB2 films, the symmetry of the vortex structures is broken by the presence of vortex repulsions with two different lengthscales, originating from the two distinct superconducting condensates. This represents an entirely new mechanism for spontaneous symmetry breaking in systems of superconducting vortices, with important implications for pinning phenomena and high current density applications.

Abstract: Recent experimental studies showed that formation of a two-dimensional crystal structure of nitrogenated holey graphene (NHG) is possible. Similar to graphene, NHGs have an atomically thin and strong crystal structure. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the structural, phononic, and thermal properties of monolayer NHG crystal. Our charge analysis reveals that the charged holey sites of NHG provide a reactive ground for further functionalization by adatoms or molecules. We also found that similar to graphene, the NHG structure has quite high-frequency phonon modes and the presence of nitrogen atoms leads to the emergence of additional vibrational modes. Our phonon analysis reveals the presence of three characteristic Raman-active modes of NHG. Furthermore, the analysis of constant-volume heat capacity showed that the NHG structure has a linear temperature dependence in the low-temperature region. The strong lattice structure and unique thermal properties of the NHG crystal structure are desirable in nanoscale device applications.

Abstract: Using advanced Ginzburg-Landau simulations, we study the superconducting state of a thin superconducting film under a ferromagnetic layer, separated by an insulating oxide, in applied external magnetic field and electric current. The taken uniaxial ferromagnet is organized into a series of parallel domains with alternating polarization of out-of-plane magnetization, sufficiently strong to induce vortex-antivortex pairs in the underlying superconductor in absence of other magnetic field. We show the organization of such vortex-antivortex matter into rich configurations, some of which are not matching the periodicity of the ferromagnetic film. The variety of possible configurations is enhanced by applied homogeneous magnetic field, where additional vortices in the superconductor may lower the energy of the system by either annihilating the present antivortices under negative ferromagnetic domains or by lowering their own energy after positioning under positive ferromagnetic domains. As a consequence, both the vortex-antivortex reordering in increasing external field and the evolution of the energy of the system are highly nontrivial. Finally, we reveal the very interesting effects of applied dc electric current on the vortex-antivortex configurations, since resulting Lorentzian force has opposite direction for vortices and antivortices, while direction of the applied current with respect to ferromagnetic domains is of crucial importance for the interaction of the applied and the Meissner current, as well as the consequent vortex-antivortex dynamics-both of which are reflected in the anisotropic critical current of the system. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Abstract: The valley splitting of the conduction-band states in a thin silicon-on-insulator layer is investigated using the 30-band k . p theory. The system composed of a few nm thick Si layer embedded within thick SiO2 layers is analyzed. The valley split states are found to cross periodically with increasing quantum well width, and therefore the energy splitting is an oscillatory function of the quantum well width, with period determined by the wave vector K-0 of the conduction band minimum. Because the valley split states are classified by parity, the optical transition between the ground hole state and one of those valley split conduction band states is forbidden. The oscillations in the valley splitting energy decrease with electric field and with smoothing of the composition profile between the well and the barrier by diffusion of oxygen from the SiO2 layers to the Si quantum well. Such a smoothing also leads to a decrease of the interband transition matrix elements. The obtained results are well parametrized by the effective two-valley model, but are found to disagree from previous 30-band calculations. This discrepancy could be traced back to the fact that the basis for the numerical solution of the eigenproblem must be restricted to the first Brillouin zone in order to obtain quantitatively correct results for the valley splitting.

Abstract: Anharmonic effects in an atomic monolayer thin crystal with honeycomb lattice structure are investigated by analytical and numerical lattice dynamical methods. Starting from a semiempirical model for anharmonic couplings of third and fourth orders, we study the in-plane and out-of-plane (flexural) mode components of the generalized wave vector dependent Gruneisen parameters, the thermal tension and the thermal expansion coefficients as a function of temperature and crystal size. From the resonances of the displacement-displacement correlation functions, we obtain the renormalization and decay rate of in-plane and flexural phonons as a function of temperature, wave vector, and crystal size in the classical and in the quantum regime. Quantitative results are presented for graphene. There, we find that the transition temperature T-alpha from negative to positive thermal expansion is lowered with smaller system size. Renormalization of the flexural mode has the opposite effect and leads to values of T-alpha approximate to 300 K for systems of macroscopic size. Extensive numerical analysis throughout the Brillouin zone explores various decay and scattering channels. The relative importance of normal and umklapp processes is investigated. The work is complementary to crystalline membrane theory and computational studies of anharmonic effects in two-dimensional crystals.

Abstract: A strong in-plane magnetic field drastically alters the low-energy spectrum of bilayer graphene by separating the parabolic energy dispersion into two linear Dirac cones. The effect of this dramatic change on the transport properties strongly depends on the orientation of the in-plane magnetic field with respect to the propagation direction of the charge carriers and the angle at which they impinge on the electrostatic potentials. For magnetic fields oriented parallel to the potential boundaries an additional propagating mode that results from the splitting into Dirac cones enhances the transmission probability for charge carriers tunneling through the potentials and increases the corresponding conductance. Our results show that the chiral suppression of transmission at normal incidence, reminiscent of bilayer graphene's 2 pi Berry phase, is turned into a chiral enhancement when the magnetic field increases, thus indicating a transition from a bilayer to a monolayer-like system at normal incidence. Further, we find that the typical transmission resonances stemming from confinement in a potential barrier are shifted to higher energy and are eventually transformed into antiresonances with increasing magnetic field. For magnetic fields oriented perpendicular to the potential boundaries we find a very pronounced transition from a bilayer system to two separated monolayer-like systems with Klein tunneling emerging at certain incident angles symmetric around 0, which also leaves a signature in the conductance. For both orientations of the magnetic field, the transmission probability is still correctly described by pseudospin conservation. Finally, to motivate the large in-plane magnetic field, we show that its energy spectrum can be mimicked by specific lattice deformations such as a relative shift of one of the layers. With this equivalence we introduce the notion of an in-plane pseudomagnetic field.

Abstract: The effect of an applied electric field and the effect of charging are investigated on themagnetic anisotropy (MA) of various stable two-dimensional (2D) crystals such as graphene, FeCl2, graphone, fluorographene, and MoTe2 using first-principles calculations. We found that themagnetocrystalline anisotropy energy of Co-on-graphene and Os-doped-MoTe2 systems change linearly with electric field, opening the possibility of electric field tuningMAof these compounds. In addition, charging can rotate the easy-axis direction ofCo-on-graphene andOs-doped-MoTe2 systems from the out-of-plane (in-plane) to in-plane (out-of-plane) direction. The tunable MA of the studied materials is crucial for nanoscale electronic technologies such as data storage and spintronics devices. Our results show that controlling the MA of the mentioned 2D crystal structures can be realized in various ways, and this can lead to the emergence of a wide range of potential applications where the tuning and switching of magnetic functionalities are important.

Abstract: Strain can strongly impact the performance of III-V tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs). However, previous studies on homostructure TFETs have found an increase in ON-current to be accompanied with a degradation of subthreshold swing. We perform 30-band quantum mechanical simulations of staggered heterostructure p-n-i-n TFETs submitted to uniaxial and biaxial uniform stress and find the origin of the subthreshold degradation to be a reduction of the density of states in the strained case. We apply an alternative configuration including a lowly doped pocket in the source, which allows to take full benefit of the strain-induced increase in ON-current.

Abstract: Fermi's golden rule underpins the investigation of mobile carriers propagating through various solids, being a standard tool to calculate their scattering rates. As such, it provides a perturbative estimate under the implicit assumption that the effect of the interaction Hamiltonian which causes the scattering events is sufficiently small. To check the validity of this assumption, we present a general framework to derive simple validity criteria in order to assess whether the scattering rates can be trusted for the system under consideration, given its statistical properties such as average size, electron density, impurity density et cetera. We derive concrete validity criteria for metallic nanowires with conduction electrons populating a single parabolic band subjected to different elastic scattering mechanisms: impurities, grain boundaries and surface roughness.

Abstract: A comparative study is made of the propagation of wave packets and fronts in three different meta-media, i.e. graphene, left-handed media (LHM) and transmission lines, using one-dimensional models. It is shown that a potential step in graphene influences only the frequency of the electronic wave, i.e., the particular spectrum branch (electron or hole) to which the wave belongs to, while the envelop function (the wave front or packet form) remains unchanged. Although the model for a vacuum and LHM interface is similar to that of the potential step in graphene, the solutions are quite different due to differences in the chirality of the waves. Comparing the propagation of wave fronts and packets in a standard transmission line and its meta-analog we demonstrate that the propagating packets in the meta-line are much more deformed as compared to the standard one, including broadening, asymmetry and even the appearance of fast moving precursors. This influence is seen not only in the case of packets with steep fronts but in soft Gaussian packets as well.

Abstract: The trapping of positrons at the surface of a material can be exploited to study quite selectively the surface properties of the latter by means of positron annihilation spectroscopy techniques. To support these, it is desirable to be able to theoretically predict the existence of such positronic surface states and to describe their annihilation characteristics with core or valence surface electrons in a reliable way. Here, we build on the well-developed first-principles techniques for the study of positrons in bulk solids as well as on previous models for surfaces, and investigate two schemes that can improve the theoretical description of the interaction of positrons with surfaces. One is based on supplementing the local-density correlation potential with the corrugated image potential at the surface, and the other is based on the weighted-density approximation to correlation. We discuss our results for topological insulators, graphene layers, and quantum dots, with emphasis on the information that can be directly related to experiment. We also discuss some open theoretical problems that should be addressed by future research.

Abstract: Chiral p-wave superconductors in applied magnetic field can exhibit more complex topological defects than just conventional superconducting vortices, due to the two-component order parameter (OP) and the broken time-reversal symmetry. We investigate the electronic properties of those exotic states, some of which contain clusters of one-component vortices in chiral components of the OP and/or exhibit skyrmionic character in the relative OP space, all obtained as a self-consistent solution of the microscopic Bogoliubov-de Gennes equations. We reveal the link between the local density of states (LDOS) of the novel topological states and the behavior of the chiral domain wall between the OP components, enabling direct identification of those states in scanning tunneling microscopy. For example, a skyrmion always contains a closed chiral domain wall, which is found to be mapped exactly by zero-bias peaks in LDOS. Moreover, the LDOS exhibits electron-hole asymmetry, which is different from the LDOS of conventional vortex states with same vorticity. Finally, we present the magnetic field and temperature dependence of the properties of a skyrmion, indicating that this topological defect can be surprisingly large in size, and can be pinned by an artificially indented nonsuperconducting closed path in the sample. These features are expected to facilitate the experimental observation of skyrmionic states, thereby enabling experimental verification of chirality in emerging superconducting materials.