Abstract: In contrast to conventional polycrystalline titanium oxide (TiO), it was found recently that the superconducting transition temperature Tc can be significantly enhanced from about 2 K to 7.4 K in cubic TiO thin films grown epitaxially on alpha-Al2O3 substrates. This kind of TiO film is also expected to have distinctive optoelectronic properties, which are still not very clear up to now. Herein, by using infrared (IR) reflection measurement we investigate the temperature-dependent optoelectronic response of a cubic TiO thin film, in which temperature induced phase transitions are observed. The semiconductor-, metallic- and semiconductor-like electronic phases of this superconducting film are found in the temperature regimes from 10 to 110 K, 110 to 220 K and above 220 K, respectively. The results obtained optically are consistent with those measured by transport experiment. Furthermore, based on an improved reflection model developed here, we extract the complex optical conductivity of the cubic TiO thin film. We are able to approximately determine the characteristic parameters (e.g., effective electron mass, carrier density, scattering time, etc.) for different electronic phases by fitting the optical conductivity with the modified Lorentz formula. These results not only deepen our understanding of the fundamental physics for cubic TiO thin films but also may find applications in optoelectronic devices based on superconductors.

Abstract: The vibrational properties of 2H-TaSe_2-xS_x (0≤x≤2) single crystals were probed using Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. The end members revealed two out of four symmetry-predicted Raman active modes, together with the pronounced two-phonon structure, attributable to the enhanced electron-phonon coupling. Additional peaks become observable due to crystallographic disorder for the doped samples. The evolution of the E₂g² mode Fano parameter reveals that the disorder has a weak impact on electron-phonon coupling, which is also supported by the persistence of two-phonon structure in doped samples. As such, this research provides thorough insights into the lattice properties, the effects of crystallographic disorder on Raman spectra, and the interplay of this disorder with the electron-phonon coupling in 2H-TaSe_2-xS_x compounds.

Abstract: Graphene oxide (GO) is one of the most promising candidates for next generation of atomically thin membranes. Nevertheless, one of the major issues for real world application of GO membranes is their undesirable swelling in an aqueous environment. Recently, we demonstrated that generation of H3O+ and OH- ions (e.g., with an external electric field) in the interlayer gallery could impart aqueous stability to the layered GO membranes (A. Gogoi, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, 2022, 14, 34946). This, however, compromises the water flux through the membrane. In this study, we report on reducing the GO nanosheets as a solution to this issue. With the reduction of the GO nanosheets, the water flux through the layered GO membrane initially increases and then decreases again beyond a certain degree of reduction. Here, two key factors are at play. Firstly, the instability of the H-bond network between water molecules and the GO nanosheets, which increases the water flux. Secondly, the pore size reduction in the interlayer gallery of the membranes, which decreases the water flux. We also observe a significant improvement in the salt rejection of the membranes, due to the dissociation of water molecules in the interlayer gallery. In particular, for the case of 10% water dissociation, the water flux through the membranes can be enhanced without altering its selectivity. This is an encouraging observation as it breaks the traditional tradeoff between water flux and salt rejection of a membrane.

Abstract: Symmetry breaking plays a pivotal role in unlocking intriguing properties and functionalities in material systems. For example, the breaking of spatial and temporal symmetries leads to a fascinating phenomenon: the superconducting diode effect. However, generating and precisely controlling the superconducting diode effect pose significant challenges. Here, we take a novel route with the deliberate manipulation of magnetic charge potentials to realize unconventional superconducting flux-quantum diode effects. We achieve this through suitably tailored nanoengineered arrays of nanobar magnets on top of a superconducting thin film. We demonstrate the vital roles of inversion antisymmetry and its breaking in evoking unconventional superconducting effects, namely a magnetically symmetric diode effect and an odd-parity magnetotransport effect. These effects are nonvolatilely controllable through in situ magnetization switching of the nanobar magnets. Our findings promote the use of antisymmetry (breaking) for initiating unconventional superconducting properties, paving the way for exciting prospects and innovative functionalities in superconducting electronics.

Abstract: The McMillan-Ginzburg-Landau (MGL) model for charge density waves (CDW) is employed in a systematic phenomenological study of the different phases that have been probed in recent experiments involving transition metal dichalcogenides. We implemented an efficient imaginary time evolution method to solve the MGL equations, which enabled us to investigate the role of different coupling parameters on the CDW patterns and to perform calculations with different energy functionals that lead to several experimentally observed singularities in the CDW phase profiles. In particular, by choosing the appropriate energy functionals, we were able to obtain phases that go beyond the well-known periodic phase slips (discommensurations), exhibiting also topological defects (i.e., vortex-antivortex pairs), domain walls where the CDW order parameter is suppressed, and even CDW with broken rotational symmetry. Finally, we briefly discuss the effect of these different CDW phases on the profile and critical temperature of the competing superconducting state.

Abstract: Nitrogen-doped diamond (N-D) is one of the most important carbon-based electronic and optical materials. Here we study the terahertz (THz) magneto-optical (MO) properties of N-D grown by microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The optical microscope, SEM, XRD, Raman spectrum, FTIR spectroscopy and XPS are used for the characterization of N-D samples. Applying THz time-domain spectroscopy (TDS), in combination with the polarization test and the presence of magnetic field in Faraday geometry, THz MO transmissions through N-D are measured from 0 to 8 T at 80 K. The complex right- and left-handed circular transmission coefficients and MO conductivities for N-D are obtained accordingly. Through fitting the experimental results with theoretical formulas of the dielectric constant and MO conductivities for an electron gas, we are able to determine magneto-optically the key electronic parameters of N-D, such as the static dielectric constant epsilon b, the electron density ne, the electronic relaxation time tau, the electronic localization factor alpha and, particularly, the effective electron mass m* obtained under non-resonant condition. The dependence of these parameters upon magnetic field is examined and analyzed. We find that the MO conductivities of N-D can be described rightly by the MO Drude-Smith formulas developed by us previously. It is shown that N-doping and the presence of the magnetic field can lead towards the larger epsilon b and heavier m* in diamond, while ne/tau/alpha in N-D decreases/increases/decreases with increasing magnetic field. The results obtained from this work are benefit to us in gaining an in-depth understanding of the electronic and optoelectronic properties of N-D.

Abstract: Seminal Goodenough-Kanamori-Anderson (GKA) rules provide an inceptive understanding of the superexchange interaction of two magnetic metal ions bridged with an anion, and suggest fostered ferromagnetic interaction for orthogonal bridging bonds. However, there are no examples of two-dimensional (2D) materials with structure that optimizes the GKA arguments towards enhanced ferromagnetism and its critical temperature. Here we reveal that an ideally planar GKA ferromagnetism is indeed stable in selected tetragonal transition-metal xenes (tTMXs), with Curie temperature above 300 K found in CrC and MnC. We provide the general orbitally-resolved analysis of magnetic interactions that supports the claims and sheds light at the mechanisms dominating the magnetic exchange process in these structures. Furthermore, we propose the set of three GKA-like rules that will guarantee room temperature ferromagetnism. With recent advent of epitaxially-grown tetragonal 2D materials, our findings earmark tTMXs for facilitated spintronic and magnonic applications, or as a desirable magnetic constituent of functional 2D heterostructures.

Abstract: Quantum anomalous Hall, high-Chern number, and axion phases in topological insulators are characterized by its Chern invariant C (respectively, C = 1, integer C > 1, and C = 0 with half-quantized Hall conductance of opposite signs on top and bottom surfaces). They are of recent interest because of novel fundamental physics and prospective applications, but identifying and controlling these phases has been challenging in practice. Here we show that these states can be created and switched between in thin films of Bi2Se3 by Floquet engineering, using irradiation by circularly polarized light. We present the calculated phase diagrams of encountered topological phases in Bi2Se3, as a function of wavelength and amplitude of light, as well as sample thickness, after properly taking into account the penetration depth of light and the variation of the gap in the surface states. These findings open pathways towards energy-efficient optoelectronics, advanced sensing, quantum information processing and metrology.

Abstract: Electrical transport properties of the two-dimensional electron gas are studied in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field B = Bz and of a weak one-dimensional electric (V0 cos (Kx)) or magnetic (B0 = B0 cos (Kx)z) modulation where B0 << B, K = 2-pi/a, and a is the modulation period. In either case the discrete Landau levels broaden into bands whose width: (1) is proportional to the modulation strength, (2) it oscillates with B, and (3) it gives rise to magnetoresistance oscillations, at low B, that are different in period and temperature dependence from the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) ones, at higher B. For equal energy modulation strengths, V0 = heB0/m*, the magnetic bandwidth at the Fermi energy is about one order of magnitude larger than the electric one. The same holds for the oscillation amplitude of the electrical magnetoresistivity tensor. For two-dimensional modulations the energy spectrum has the same structure but with different scales. For weak magnetic fields and equal modulation strengths the gaps in the spectrum can be much larger in the magnetic case thus making easier the observability of the spectrum's fine structure.