Condensed Matter

In recent years the physics of two-dimensional semiconductors was revived by the discovery of the class of transition metal dichalcogenides. In these systems excitons dominate the optical response in the visible range and open many perspectives for nonlinear spectroscopy. To describe the coherence and polarization dynamics of excitons after ultrafast excitation in these systems, we employ the Bloch equation model of a two-level system extended by a local field describing the exciton-exciton interaction. We calculate four-wave mixing signals and analyze the dependence of the temporal and spectral signals as a function of the delay between the exciting pulses. Exact analytical results obtained for the case of ultrafast ( δ -shaped) pulses are compared to numerical solutions obtained for finite pulse durations. If two pulses are used to generate the nonlinear signal, characteristic spectral line splittings are restricted to short delays. When considering a three-pulse excitation the line splittings, induced by the local field effect, persist for long delays. All of the found features are instructively explained within the Bloch vector picture and we show how the exciton occupation dynamics govern the different four-wave mixing signals.

It has been demonstrated that a circularly polarized linear down-chirp microwave field pulse (LDCMWP) reverses a single-domain of high anisotropy magnetic nanoparticle but not efficient as expected. Therefore, based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, we study the nonlinear down-chirp microwave field pulse (NLDCMWP) driven magnetization reversal, which can induce fast and energy-efficient reversal since the reversal time is close to the theoretical limit and the required field amplitude and initial frequency band are smaller than that of the LDCMWP. The fast and energy-efficient magnetization reversal is obtained because the frequency change of the NLDCMWP closely matches the frequency change of the magnetization precession which leads to efficient stimulated microwave energy absorption (emission) by (from) the magnetic particle before (after) it crosses over the energy barrier. Moreover, we found that the enhancement of hard anisotropy reduces the initial frequency band and the microwave amplitude of NLDCMWP and the material with the larger damping is better for fast magnetization reversal. These investigations may give a pathway to realize the fast and energy-efficient magnetization reversal.

A new perspective of the Green's function in a boundary value problem as the only eigenstate in an auxiliary formulation is introduced. In this treatment, the Green's function can be perceived as a defect state in the presence of a δ -function potential, the height of which depends on the Green's function itself. This approach is illustrated in one-dimensional and two-dimensional Helmholtz equation problems, with an emphasis on systems that are open and have a non-Hermitian potential. We then draw an analogy between the Green's function obtained this way and a chiral edge state circumventing a defect in a topological lattice, which shines light on the local minimum of the Green's function at the source position.

The non-Hermitian skin effect can be realized through asymmetric hopping between forward and backward directions, where all the modes of the system are localized at one edge of a finite 1D lattice. However, achieving such an asymmetric hopping in optical systems is far from trivial. Here we show theoretically that in a finite chain of 1D exciton-polariton micropillars with symmetric hopping, the inherent non-linearity of the system can exhibit a bi-skin effect, where the modes of the system are localized at the two edges of the system. To show the topological origin of such modes, we calculate the winding number.

We analyze intermittency in intensity and fluorescence lifetime of CsPbBr 3 perovskite quantum dots by applying unbiased Bayesian inference analysis methods. We apply changepoint analysis (CPA) and a Bayesian state clustering algorithm to determine the timing of switching events and the number of states between which switching occurs in a statistically unbiased manner, which we have benchmarked particularly to apply to highly multistate emitters. We conclude that perovskite quantum dots display a plethora of gray states in which brightness broadly speaking correlates inversely with decay rate, confirming the multiple recombination centers model. We leverage the CPA partitioning analysis to examine aging and memory effects. We find that dots tend to return to the bright state before jumping to a dim state, and that when choosing a dim state they tend to explore the entire set of states available.

We study an effective one-dimensional quantum model that includes friction and spin-orbit coupling (SOC), and show that the model exhibits spin polarization when both terms are finite. Most important, strong spin polarization can be observed even for moderate SOC, provided that friction is strong. Our findings might help to explain the pronounced effect of chirality on spin distribution and transport in chiral molecules. In particular, our model implies static magnetic properties of a chiral molecule, which lead to Shiba-like states when a molecule is placed on a superconductor, in accordance with recent experimental data.

We report the first study on the thermal behaviour of the stiffness of individual carbon nanotubes, which is achieved by measuring the resonance frequency of their fundamental mechanical bending modes. We observe a reduction of the Young's modulus over a large temperature range with a slope ??173±65) ppm/K in its relative shift. These findings are reproduced by two different theoretical models based on the thermal dynamics of the lattice. These results reveal how the measured fundamental bending modes depend on the phonons in the nanotube via the Young's modulus. An alternative description based on the coupling between the measured mechanical modes and the phonon thermal bath in the Akhiezer limit is discussed.

It is generally believed that conductivity platform can only exist in insulator with topological nontrivial bulk occupied states. Such rule exhibits in two dimensional quantum (anomalous) Hall effect, quantum spin Hall effect, and three dimensional topological insulator. In this letter, we propose a spin Hall conductivity (SHC) platform in a kind of three dimensional metallic materials with triply degenerate points around the Fermi level. With the help of a four bands \textbf{k} ??\textbf{p} model, we prove that SHC platform can form between | 3 2 ,± 3 2 ??and | 1 2 ,± 1 2 ??states of metallic system. Our further ab initio calculations predict that a nearly ideal SHC platform exhibits in an experimentally synthesized TaN. The width of the SHC platform reaches up to 0.56 eV, hoping to work under high temperature. The electrical conductivity tensor of TaN indicates that its spin Hall angle reaches -0.62, which is larger than many previous reported materials and make it an excellent candidate for producing stable spin current.

We demonstrate that it is possible to rationally incorporate both an isolated flat band, and the physics of zero dimensions (0D), one dimension (1D), and two dimensions (2D) in a single 2D material. Such unique electronic properties are present in a recently synthesized 2D covalent organic framework (COF), where "I"-shaped building blocks and "T"-shaped connectors result in quasi-1D chains that are linked by quasi-0D bridge units arranged in a stable 2D lattice. The lowest unoccupied conduction band is an isolated flat band, and electron-doping gives rise to novel quantum phenomena, such as magnetism and Mott insulating phases. The highest occupied valence band arises from wave functions in the quasi-1D chains. Examples of mixed dimensional physics are illustrated in this system. The strong electron-hole asymmetry in this material results in a large Seebeck coefficient, while the quasi-1D nature of the chains leads to linear dichroism, in conjunction with strongly bound 2D excitons. We elucidate strategies to design and optimize 2D COFs to host both isolated flat bands and quantum-confined 1D subsystems. The properties of the 2D COF discussed here provide a taste of the intriguing possibilities in this open research field.

Microscopic-level understanding of the separation mechanism for two-dimensional (2D) membranes is an active area of research due to potential implications of this class of membranes for various technological processes. Helium (He) purification from the natural resources is of particular interest due to the shortfall in its production. In this work, we applied the ring polymer molecular dynamics (RPMD) method to graphdiyne (Gr2) and graphtriyne (Gr3) 2D membranes having variable pore sizes for the separation of He isotopes. We found that the transmission rate through Gr3 is many orders of magnitude greater than Gr2. The selectivity of either isotope at low temperatures is a consequence of a delicate balance between the zero-point energy effect and tunneling of 4 He and 3 He. RPMD provides an efficient approach for studying the separation of He isotopes, taking into account quantum effects of light nuclei motions at low temperatures, which classical methods fail to capture.