No Arabic abstract
In bilayer CrI3, experimental and theoretical studies suggest that the magnetic order is closely related to the layer staking configuration. In this work, we study the effect of dynamical lattice distortions, induced by non-linear phonon coupling, in the magnetic order of the bilayer system. We use density functional theory to determine the phonon properties and group theory to obtain the allowed phonon-phonon interactions. We find that the bilayer structure possesses low-frequency Raman modes that can be non-linearly activated upon the coherent photo-excitation of a suitable infrared phonon mode. This transient lattice modification, in turn, inverts the sign of the interlayer spin interaction for parameters accessible in experiments, indicating a low-frequency light-induced antiferromagnet-to-ferromagnet transition.
The challenge of controlling magnetism using electric fields raises fundamental questions and addresses technological needs such as low-dissipation magnetic memory. The recently reported two-dimensional (2D) magnets provide a new system for studying this problem owing to their unique magnetic properties. For instance, bilayer chromium triiodide (CrI3) behaves as a layered antiferromagnet with a magnetic field-driven metamagnetic transition. Here, we demonstrate electrostatic gate control of magnetism in CrI3 bilayers, probed by magneto-optical Kerr effect (MOKE) microscopy. At fixed magnetic fields near the metamagnetic transition, we realize voltage-controlled switching between antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic states. At zero magnetic field, we demonstrate a time-reversal pair of layered antiferromagnetic states which exhibit spin-layer locking, leading to a remarkable linear dependence of their MOKE signals on gate voltage with opposite slopes. Our results pave the way for exploring new magnetoelectric phenomena and van der Waals spintronics based on 2D materials.
A time-resolved observation of coherent interlayer longitudinal acoustic phonons in 2$H$-MoSe$_2$ is reported. A femtosecond pump-probe technique is used to investigate the evolution of the energy loss of these vibrational modes in a wide selection of MoSe$_2$ flakes with different thicknesses ranging from bilayer up to the bulk limit. By directly analysing the temporal decay of the modes, we can clearly distinguish an abrupt crossover related to the acoustic mean free path of the phonons in a layered system, and the constraints imposed to the acoustic decay channels when reducing the dimensionality. Loses intrinsic to the low dimensionality of single or few layer materials impose critical limitations for their use in optomechanical and optoelectronic devices.
The possibility of superconducting pairing of electrons in doped graphene due to in-plane and out-of-plane phonons is studied. Quadratic coupling of electrons with out-of-plane phonons is considered in details, taking into account both deformation potential and bond-stretch contributions. The order parameter of electron-electron pairing can have different structures due to four-component spinor character of electrons wave function. We consider s-wave pairing, diagonal on conduction and valence bands, but having arbitrary structure with respect to valley degree of freedom. The sign and magnitude of contribution of each phonon mode to effective electron-electron interaction turns out to depend on both the symmetry of phonon mode and the structure of the order parameter. Unconventional orbital-spin symmetry of the order parameter is found.
We present a theory of phonon-mediated superconductivity in near magic angle twisted bilayer graphene. Using a microscopic model for phonon coupling to moire band electrons, we find that phonons generate attractive interactions in both $s$ and $d$ wave pairing channels and that the attraction is strong enough to explain the experimental superconducting transition temperatures. Before including Coulomb repulsion, the $s$-wave channel is more favorable; however, on-site Coulomb repulsion can suppress $s$-wave pairing relative to $d$-wave. The pair amplitude varies spatially with the moire period, and is identical in the two layers in the $s$-wave channel but phase shifted by $pi$ in the $d$-wave channel. We discuss experiments that can distinguish the two pairing states.
Conduction between graphene layers is suppressed by momentum conservation whenever the layer stacking has a rotation. Here we show that phonon scattering plays a crucial role in facilitating interlayer conduction. The resulting dependence on orientation is radically different than previously expected, and far more favorable for device applications. At low temperatures, we predict diode-like current-voltage characteristics due to a phonon bottleneck. Simple scaling relationships give a good description of the conductance as a function of temperature, doping, rotation angle, and bias voltage, reflecting the dominant role of the interlayer beating phonon mode.