No Arabic abstract
Methods to generate spin-polarised electronic states in non-magnetic solids are strongly desired to enable all-electrical manipulation of electron spins for new quantum devices. This is generally accepted to require breaking global structural inversion symmetry. In contrast, here we present direct evidence from spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy for a strong spin polarisation of bulk states in the centrosymmetric transition-metal dichalcogenide WSe$_2$. We show how this arises due to a lack of inversion symmetry in constituent structural units of the bulk crystal where the electronic states are localised, leading to enormous spin splittings up to $sim!0.5$ eV, with a spin texture that is strongly modulated in both real and momentum space. As well as providing the first experimental evidence for a recently-predicted `hidden spin polarisation in inversion-symmetric materials, our study sheds new light on a putative spin-valley coupling in transition-metal dichalcogenides, of key importance for using these compounds in proposed valleytronic devices.
Spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy is used to reveal that a large spin polarization is observable in the bulk centrosymmetric transition metal dichalcogenide MoS2. It is found that the measured spin polarization can be reversed by changing the handedness of incident circularly-polarized light. Calculations based on a three-step model of photoemission show that the valley and layer-locked spin-polarized electronic states can be selectively addressed by circularly-polarized light, therefore providing a novel route to probe these hidden spin-polarized states in inversion-symmetric systems as predicted by Zhang et al. [Nature Physics 10, 387 (2014)].
We propose and characterize a new $mathbb{Z}_2$ class of topological semimetals with a vanishing spin--orbit interaction. The proposed topological semimetals are characterized by the presence of bulk one-dimensional (1D) Dirac Line Nodes (DLNs) and two-dimensional (2D) nearly-flat surface states, protected by inversion and time--reversal symmetries. We develop the $mathbb{Z}_2$ invariants dictating the presence of DLNs based on parity eigenvalues at the parity--invariant points in reciprocal space. Moreover, using first-principles calculations, we predict DLNs to occur in Cu$_3$N near the Fermi energy by doping non-magnetic transition metal atoms, such as Zn and Pd, with the 2D surface states emerging in the projected interior of the DLNs. This paper includes a brief discussion of the effects of spin--orbit interactions and symmetry-breaking as well as comments on experimental implications.
The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) lifts the band degeneracy that plays a vital role in the search for different topological states, such as topological insulators (TIs) and topological semimetals (TSMs). In TSMs, the SOC can partially gap a degenerate nodal line, leading to the formation of Dirac/Weyl semimetals (DSMs/WSMs). However, such SOC-induced gap structure along the nodal line in TSMs has not yet been systematically investigated experimentally. Here, we report a direct observation of such gap structure in a magnetic WSM Co3Sn2S2 using high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Our results not only reveal the existence and importance of the strong SOC effect in the formation of the WSM phase in Co3Sn2S2, but also provide insights for the understanding of its exotic physical properties.
Time-resolved scanning Kerr microscopy has been used to directly image the magnetization dynamics of nano-contact (NC) spin-torque vortex oscillators (STVOs) when phase-locked to an injected microwave (RF) current. The Kerr images reveal free layer magnetization dynamics that extend outside the NC footprint, where they cannot be detected electrically, but which are crucial to phase-lock STVOs that share common magnetic layers. For a single NC, dynamics were observed not only when the STVO frequency was fully locked to that of the RF current, but also for a partially locked state characterized by periodic changes in the core trajectory at the RF frequency. For a pair of NCs, images reveal the spatial character of dynamics that electrical measurements show to have enhanced amplitude and reduced linewidth. Insight gained from these images may improve understanding of the conditions required for mutual phase-locking of multiple STVOs, and hence enhanced microwave power emission.
The symmetry-indicators provide valuable information about the topological properties of band structures in real materials. For inversion-symmetric, non-magnetic materials, the pattern of parity eigenvalues of various Kramers-degenerate bands at the time-reversal-invariant momentum points are generally analyzed with the combination of strong $Z_4$, and weak $Z_2$ indices. Can the symmetry indicators identify the tunneling configurations of SU(2) Berry connections or the three-dimensional, winding numbers of topologically non-trivial bands? In this work, we perform detailed analytical and numerical calculations on various effective tight-binding models to answer this question. If the parity eigenvalues are regarded as fictitious Ising spins, located at the vertices of Miller hypercube, the strong $Z_4$ index describes the net ferro-magnetic moment, which is shown to be inadequate for identifying non-trivial bands, supporting even integer winding numbers. We demonstrate that an anti-ferromagnetic index, measuring the staggered magnetization can distinguish between bands possessing zero, odd, and even integer winding numbers. The coarse-grained analysis of symmetry-indicators is substantiated by computing the change in rotational-symmetry-protected, quantized Berry flux and Wilson loops along various high-symmetry axes. By simultaneously computing ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic indices, we categorize various bands of bismuth, antimony, rhombohedral phosphorus, and Bi$_2$Se$_3$.