The contribution of bulk and surface to the electrical resistance along crystallographic textit{b}- and textit{c}-axes as a function of crystal thickness gives evidence for a temperature independent surface states in an antiferromagnetic narrow-gap semiconductor CrSb$_{2}$. ARPES shows a clear electron-like pocket at $Gamma$-$Z$ direction which is absent in the bulk band structure. First-principles calculations also confirm the existence of metallic surface states inside the bulk gap. Whereas combined experimental probes point to enhanced surface conduction similar to topological insulators, surface states are trivial since CrSb$_2$ exhibits no band inversion.
We present magnetic stray field measurements performed on a single micro-crystal of the half metallic ferromagnet CrO$_2$, covered by a naturally grown 2,-,5,nm surface layer of antiferromagnetic (AFM) Cr$_2$O$_3$. The temperature variation of the stray field of the micro-crystal measured by micro-Hall magnetometry shows an anomalous increase below $sim$,60,K. We find clear evidence that this behavior is due to the influence of the AFM surface layer, which could not be isolated in the corresponding bulk magnetization data measured using SQUID magnetometry. The distribution of pinning potentials, analyzed from Barkhausen jumps, exhibits a similar temperature dependence. Overall, the results indicate that the surface layer plays a role in defining the potential landscape seen by the domain configuration in the ferromagnetic grain.
The recent discovery of topology-protected charge transport of ultimate thinness on surfaces of three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) are breaking new ground in fundamental quantum science and transformative technology. Yet a challenge remains on how to isolate and disentangle helical spin transport on the surface from bulk conduction. Here we show that selective midinfrared femtosecond photoexcitation of exclusive intraband electronic transitions at low temperature underpins topological enhancement of terahertz (THz) surface transport in doped Bi2Se3, with no complication from interband excitations or need for controlled doping. The unique, hot electron state is characterized by conserved populations of surface/bulk bands and by frequency-dependent hot carrier cooling times that directly distinguish the faster surface channel than the bulk. We determine the topological enhancement ratio between bulk and surface scattering rates, i.e., $gamma_text{BS}/gamma_text{SS}sim$3.80 in equilibrium. These behaviors are absent at elevated lattice temperatures and for high pumpphoton frequencies and uences. The selective, mid-infrared-induced THz conductivity provides a new paradigm to characterize TIs and may apply to emerging topological semimetals in order to separate the transport connected with the Weyl nodes from other bulk bands.
A general formula for the average vector potential of bulk periodic systems is proposed and shown to set the boundary conditions at magnetic interfaces. For antiferromagnetic materials, the study reveals a unique relation between the macroscopic potential and the orientation-dependent magnetic quadrupole, as a result of the different crystalline and magnetic symmetries. In particular, at surfaces and interfaces of a truncated bulk without inversion and time-reversal symmetries, the average vector potential exhibits a discontinuity, which results in an interfacial magnetic field. In general, however, due to the surface and interface electronic and atomic relaxations, additional magnetization may result. For the experimentally-observed magnetoelectric antiferromagnets, in particular, our symmetry analysis suggest that the relaxation effects could well be a system response to the presence of such a potential discontinuity.
We report results of investigation of the phonon and thermal properties of the exfoliated films of layered single crystals of antiferromagnetic FePS3 and MnPS3 semiconductors. The Raman spectroscopy was conducted using three different excitation lasers with the wavelengths of 325 nm (UV), 488 nm (blue), and 633 nm (red). The resonant UV-Raman spectroscopy reveals new spectral features, which are not detectable via visible Raman light scattering. The thermal conductivity of FePS3 and MnPS3 thin films was measured by two different techniques: the steady-state Raman optothermal and transient time-resolved magneto-optical Kerr effect. The Raman optothermal measurements provided the orientation-average thermal conductivity of FePS3 to be 1.35 W/mK at room temperature. The transient measurements revealed that the through-plane and in-plane thermal conductivity of FePS3 is 0.85 W/mK and 2.7 W/mK, respectively. The films of MnPS3 have higher thermal conductivity of 1.1 W/mK through-plane and 6.3 W/mK in-plane. The data obtained by both techniques reveal strong thermal anisotropy of the films and the dominant contribution of phonons to heat conduction. Our results are important for the proposed applications of the antiferromagnetic semiconductor thin films in spintronic devices.
With exceptional electrical and mechanical properties and at the same time air-stability, layered MoSi2N4 has recently draw great attention. However, band structure engineering via strain and electric field, which is vital for practical applications, has not yet been explored. In this work, we show that the biaxial strain and external electric field are effective ways for the band gap engineering of bilayer MoSi$_2$N$_4$ and WSi$_2$N$_4$. It is found that strain can lead to indirect band gap to direct band gap transition. On the other hand, electric field can result in semiconductor to metal transition. Our study provides insights into the band structure engineering of bilayer MoSi$_2$N$_4$ and WSi$_2$N$_4$ and would pave the way for its future nanoelectronics and optoelectronics applications.