No Arabic abstract
We have given a summary on our theoretical predictions of three kinds of topological semimetals (TSMs), namely, Dirac semimetal (DSM), Weyl semimetal (WSM) and Node-Line Semimetal (NLSM). TSMs are new states of quantum matters, which are different with topological insulators. They are characterized by the topological stability of Fermi surface, whether it encloses band crossing point, i.e., Dirac cone like energy node, or not. They are distinguished from each other by the degeneracy and momentum space distribution of the nodal points. To realize these intriguing topological quantum states is quite challenging and crucial to both fundamental science and future application. In 2012 and 2013, Na$_3$Bi and Cd$_3$As$_2$ were theoretically predicted to be DSM, respectively. Their experimental verifications in 2014 have ignited the hot and intensive studies on TSMs. The following theoretical prediction of nonmagnetic WSM in TaAs family stimulated a second wave and many experimental works have come out in this year. In 2014, a kind of three dimensional crystal of carbon has been proposed to be NLSM due to negligible spin-orbit coupling and coexistence of time-reversal and inversion symmetry. Though the final experimental confirmation of NLSM is still missing, there have been several theoretical proposals, including Cu$_3$PdN from us. In the final part, we have summarized the whole family of TSMs and their relationship.
Phonon Hall effect (PHE) has attracted a lot of attention in recent years with many theoretical and experimental explorations published. While experiments work on complicated materials, theoretical studies are still hovering around the phenomenon-based models. Moreover, previous microscopic theory was found unable to explain large thermal Hall conductivity obtained by experiments in strontium titanate (STO). Therefore, as a first attempt to bridge this gap, we implement first-principles calculations to explore the PHE in real materials. Our work provides a new benchmark of the PHE in sodium chloride (NaCl) under a large external magnetic field. Moreover, we demonstrate our results in barium titanate (BTO), and discuss the results in STO in detail about their deviation from experiments. As a possible future direction, we further propose that the inner electronic Berry curvature plays an important role in the PHE in STO.
Two-dimensional (2D) multiferroics exhibit cross-control capacity between magnetic and electric responses in reduced spatial domain, making them well suited for next-generation nanoscale devices; however, progress has been slow in developing materials with required characteristic properties. Here we identify by first-principles calculations robust 2D multiferroic behaviors in decorated Fe2O3 monolayer, showcasing N@Fe2O3 as a prototypical case, where ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism stem from the same origin, namely Fe d-orbit splitting induced by the Jahn-Teller distortion and associated crystal field changes. The resulting ferromagnetic and ferroelectric polarization can be effectively reversed and regulated by applied electric field or strain, offering efficient functionality. These findings establish strong materials phenomena and elucidate underlying physics mechanism in a family of truly 2D multiferroics that are highly promising for advanced device applications.
We report a systematic first-principles investigation of the influence of different magnetic insulators on the magnetic proximity effect induced in graphene. Four different magnetic insulators are considered: two ferromagnetic europium chalcogenides namely EuO and EuS and two ferrimagnetic insulators yttrium iron garnet (YIG) and cobalt ferrite (CFO). The obtained exchange-splitting varies from tens to hundreds of meV. We also find an electron doping induced by YIG and europium chalcogenides substrates, that shift the Fermi level up to 0.78 eV and 1.3 eV respectively, whereas hole doping up to 0.5 eV is generated by CFO. Furthermore, we study the variation of the extracted exchange and tight binding parameters as a function of the EuO and EuS thicknesses. We show that those parameters are robust to thickness variation such that a single monolayer of magnetic insulator can induce a large magnetic proximity effect on graphene. Those findings pave the way towards possible engineering of graphene spin-gating by proximity effect especially in view of recent experiments advancement.
We present calculations for electronic and magnetic properties of surface states confined by a circular quantum corral built of magnetic adatoms (Fe) on a Cu(111) surface. We show the oscillations of charge and magnetization densities within the corral and the possibility of the appearance of spin--polarized states. In order to classify the peaks in the calculated density of states with orbital quantum numbers we analyzed the problem in terms of a simple quantum mechanical circular well model. This model is also used to estimate the behaviour of the magnetization and energy with respect to the radius of the circular corral. The calculations are performed fully relativistically using the embedding technique within the Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method.
The field of two-dimensional topological semimetals, which emerged at the intersection of two-dimensional materials and topological materials, have been rapidly developing in recent years. In this article, we briefly review the progress in this field. Our focus is on the basic concepts and notions, in order to convey a coherent overview of the field. Some material examples are discussed to illustrate the concepts. We discuss the outstanding problems in the field that need to be addressed in future research.