No Arabic abstract
A salient feature of topological phases are surface states and many of the widely studied physical properties are directly tied to their existence. Although less explored, a variety of topological phases can however similarly be distinguished by their response to localized flux defects, resulting in the binding of modes whose stability can be traced back to that of convectional edge states. The reduced dimensionality of these objects renders the possibility of arranging them in distinct geometries, such as arrays that branch or terminate in the bulk. We show that the prospect of hybridizing the modes in such new kinds of channels poses profound opportunities in a dynamical context. In particular, we find that creating junctions of $pi$-flux chains or extending them as function of time can induce transistor and stop-and-go effects. Pending controllable initial conditions certain branches of the extended defect array can be actively biased. Discussing these physical effects within a generally applicable framework that relates to a variety of established artificial topological materials, such as mass-spring setups and LC circuits, our results offer an avenue to explore and manipulate new transport effects that are rooted in the topological characterization of the underlying system.
Dislocations are ubiquitous in three-dimensional solid-state materials. The interplay of such real space topology with the emergent band topology defined in reciprocal space gives rise to gapless helical modes bound to the line defects. This is known as bulk-dislocation correspondence, in contrast to the conventional bulk-boundary correspondence featuring topological states at boundaries. However, to date rare compelling experimental evidences are presented for this intriguing topological observable, owing to the presence of various challenges in solid-state systems. Here, using a three-dimensional acoustic topological insulator with precisely controllable dislocations, we report an unambiguous experimental evidence for the long-desired bulk-dislocation correspondence, through directly measuring the gapless dispersion of the one-dimensional topological dislocation modes. Remarkably, as revealed in our further experiments, the pseudospin-locked dislocation modes can be unidirectionally guided in an arbitrarily-shaped dislocation path. The peculiar topological dislocation transport, expected in a variety of classical wave systems, can provide unprecedented controllability over wave propagations.
We analyze the band topology of acoustic phonons in 2D materials by considering the interplay of spatial and internal symmetries with additional constraints that arise from the physical context. These supplemental constraints trace back to the Nambu-Goldstone theorem and the requirements of structural stability. We show that this interplay can give rise to previously unaddressed non-trivial nodal charges that are associated with the crossing of the acoustic phonon branches at the center ($Gamma$-point) of the phononic Brillouin zone. We moreover apply our perspective to the concrete context of graphene, where we demonstrate that the phonon spectrum harbors these kinds of non-trivial nodal charges. Apart from its fundamental appeal, this analysis is physically consequential and dictates how the phonon dispersion is affected when graphene is grown on a substrate. Given the generality of our framework, we anticipate that our strategy that thrives on combining physical context with insights from topology should be widely applicable in characterizing systems beyond electronic band theory.
We introduce selective area grown hybrid InAs/Al nanowires based on molecular beam epitaxy, allowing arbitrary semiconductor-superconductor networks containing loops and branches. Transport reveals a hard induced gap and unpoisoned 2e-periodic Coulomb blockade, with temperature dependent 1e features in agreement with theory. Coulomb peak spacing in parallel magnetic field displays overshoot, indicating an oscillating discrete near-zero subgap state consistent with device length. Finally, we investigate a loop network, finding strong spin-orbit coupling and a coherence length of several microns. These results demonstrate the potential of this platform for scalable topological networks among other applications.
We propose a realization of chiral Majorana modes propagating on the hinges of a 3D antiferromagnetic topological insulator, which was recently theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed in the tetradymite-type $mathrm{MnBi_2Te_4}$-related ternary chalgogenides. These materials consist of ferromagnetically ordered 2D layers, whose magnetization direction alternates between neighboring layers, forming an antiferromagnetic order. Besides surfaces with a magnetic gap, there also exsist gapless surfaces with a single Dirac cone, which can be gapped out when proximity coupled to an $s$-wave superconductor. On the sharing edges between the two types of gapped surfaces, the chiral Majorana modes emerge. We further propose experimental signatures of these Majoana hinge modes in terms of two-terminal conductance measurements.
In this work we conduct a transient heat conduction experiment with an aqueous suspension of nanoparticle disks of Laponite JS, a sol forming grade, using laser light interferometry. The image sequence in time is used to measure thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of the suspension. Imaging of the temperature distribution is facilitated by the dependence of refractive index of the suspension on temperature itself. We observe that with the addition of 4 volume % of nano-disks in water, thermal conductivity of the suspension increases by around 30%. A theoretical model for thermal conductivity of the suspension of anisotropic particles by Fricke as well as by Hamilton and Crosser explains the trend of data well. In turn, it estimates thermal conductivity of the Laponite nanoparticle itself, which is otherwise difficult to measure in a direct manner. We also measure viscosity of the nanoparticle suspension using a concentric cylinder rheometer. Measurements are seen to follow quite well, the theoretical relation for viscosity of suspensions of oblate particles that includes up to two particle interaction. This result rules out the presence of clusters of particles in the suspension. The effective viscosity and thermal diffusivity data show that the shape of the particle has a role in determining enhancement of thermophysical properties of the suspension.