Controlling many-body states by the electric-field effect in a two-dimensional material.

To understand the complex physics of a system with strong electron-electron interactions, the ideal is to control and monitor its properties while tuning an external electric field applied to the system (the electric-field effect). Indeed, complete electric-field control of many-body states in strongly correlated electron systems is fundamental to the next generation of condensed matter research and devices. However, the material must be thin enough to avoid shielding of the electric field in the bulk material. Two-dimensional materials do not experience electrical screening, and their charge-carrier density can be controlled by gating. Octahedral titanium diselenide (1T-TiSe2) is a prototypical two-dimensional material that reveals a charge-density wave (CDW) and superconductivity in its phase diagram, presenting several similarities with other layered systems such as copper oxides, iron pnictides, and crystals of rare-earth elements and actinide atoms. By studying 1T-TiSe2 single crystals with thicknesses of 10 nanometres or less, encapsulated in two-dimensional layers of hexagonal boron nitride, we achieve unprecedented control over the CDW transition temperature (tuned from 170 kelvin to 40 kelvin), and over the superconductivity transition temperature (tuned from a quantum critical point at 0 kelvin up to 3 kelvin). Electrically driving TiSe2 over different ordered electronic phases allows us to study the details of the phase transitions between many-body states. Observations of periodic oscillations of magnetoresistance induced by the Little-Parks effect show that the appearance of superconductivity is directly correlated with the spatial texturing of the amplitude and phase of the superconductivity order parameter, corresponding to a two-dimensional matrix of superconductivity. We infer that this superconductivity matrix is supported by a matrix of incommensurate CDW states embedded in the commensurate CDW states. Our results show that spatially modulated electronic states are fundamental to the appearance of two-dimensional superconductivity.

Quantum Dot Parity Effects in Trivial and Topological Josephson Junctions.

An odd-occupied quantum dot in a Josephson junction can flip transmission phase, creating a π junction. When the junction couples topological superconductors, no phase flip is expected. We investigate this and related effects in a full-shell hybrid interferometer, using gate voltage to control dot-junction parity and axial magnetic flux to control the transition from trivial to topological superconductivity. Enhanced zero-bias conductance and critical current for odd parity in the topological phase reflects hybridization of the confined spin with zero-energy modes in the leads.

Hybridization of Subgap States in One-Dimensional Superconductor-Semiconductor Coulomb Islands.

We present measurements of one-dimensional superconductor-semiconductor Coulomb islands, fabricated by gate confinement of a two-dimensional InAs heterostructure with an epitaxial Al layer. When tuned via electrostatic side gates to regimes without subgap states, Coulomb blockade reveals Cooper-pair mediated transport. When subgap states are present, Coulomb peak positions and heights oscillate in a correlated way with magnetic field and gate voltage, as predicted theoretically, with (anti)crossings in (parallel) transverse magnetic field indicating Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling. Overall results are consistent with a picture of overlapping Majorana zero modes in finite wires.

Rashba Interaction and Local Magnetic Moments in a Graphene-BN Heterostructure Intercalated with Au.

We intercalate a van der Waals heterostructure of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride with Au, by encapsulation, and show that the Au at the interface is two dimensional. Charge transfer upon current annealing indicates the redistribution of the Au and induces splitting of the graphene band structure. The effect of an in-plane magnetic field confirms that the splitting is due to spin splitting and that the spin polarization is in the plane, characteristic of a Rashba interaction with a magnitude of approximately 25 meV. Consistent with the presence of an intrinsic interfacial electric field we show that the splitting can be enhanced by an applied displacement field in dual gated samples. A giant negative magnetoresistance, up to 75%, and a field induced anomalous Hall effect at magnetic fields <1 T are observed. These demonstrate that the hybridized Au has a magnetic moment and suggests the proximity to the formation of a collective magnetic phase. These effects persist close to room temperature.

Quantum Transport Detected by Strong Proximity Interaction at a Graphene-WS2 van der Waals Interface.

Magnetotransport measurements demonstrate that graphene in a van der Waals heterostructure is a sensitive probe of quantum transport in an adjacent WS2 layer via strong Coulomb interactions. We observe a large low-field magnetoresistance (≫ e(2)/h) and a -ln T temperature dependence of the resistance. In-plane magnetic field resistance indicates the origin is orbital and nonclassical. We demonstrate a strong electron-hole asymmetry in the mobility and coherence length of graphene demonstrating the presence of localized Coulomb interactions with ionized donors in the WS2 substrate, which ultimately leads to screening as the Fermi level of graphene is tuned toward the conduction band of WS2. This leads us to conclude that graphene couples to quantum localization processes in WS2 via the Coulomb interaction and results in the observed signatures of quantum transport. Our results show that theoretical descriptions of the van der Waals interface should not ignore localized strong correlations.

Evolution of c-f hybridization and two-component Hall effect in ß-YbAlB4.

ß-YbAlB(4) is the unique heavy fermion superconductor that exhibits unconventional quantum criticality without tuning in a strongly intermediate valence state. Despite the large coherence temperature, set by the peak of the longitudinal resistivity, our Hall effect measurements reveal that resonant skew scattering from incoherent local moments persists down to at least ~40 K, where the Hall coefficient exhibits a distinct minimum signaling another formation of coherence. The observation strongly suggests that the hybridization between f moments and conduction electrons has a two-component character with distinct Kondo or coherence scales T(K) of ~40 K and 200 K; this is confirmed by the magnetic field dependence of ρ(xy).

Motivation to obtain preferred foods is enhanced by ghrelin in the ventral tegmental area.

Ghrelin is an orexigenic peptide that acts within the central nervous system to stimulate appetite and food intake via the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R). It has been hypothesized that ghrelin modulates food intake in part by stimulating reward pathways in the brain and potentially stimulating the intake of palatable foods. Here we examined the effects of chronic ghrelin administration in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) via osmotic minipumps on 1) ad libitum food intake and bodyweight; 2) macronutrient preference; and 3) motivation to obtain chocolate pellets. In the first study rats receiving ghrelin into the VTA showed a dose-dependent increase in the intake of regular chow, also resulting in increased body weight gain. A second study revealed that intra-VTA delivery of the ghrelin receptor antagonist [Lys-3]-GHRP-6 selectively reduced caloric intake of high-fat chow and reduced body weight gain relative to control and ghrelin treated rats. The third study demonstrated that food restricted rats worked harder for food pellets when infused with ghrelin than when infused with vehicle or ghrelin receptor antagonist treated rats. Finally, rats trained on an FR1 schedule but returned to ad libitum during ghrelin infusion, responded at 86% of baseline levels when they were not hungry, whereas saline infused rats responded at 36% of baseline. Together, these results suggest that ghrelin acts directly on the VTA to increase preference for and motivation to obtain highly-palatable food.

Coherent transport through a Majorana island in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer.

Majorana zero modes are leading candidates for topological quantum computation due to non-local qubit encoding and non-abelian exchange statistics. Spatially separated Majorana modes are expected to allow phase-coherent single-electron transport through a topological superconducting island via a mechanism referred to as teleportation. Here we experimentally investigate such a system by patterning an elongated epitaxial InAs-Al island embedded in an Aharonov-Bohm interferometer. With increasing parallel magnetic field, a discrete sub-gap state in the island is lowered to zero energy yielding persistent 1e-periodic Coulomb blockade conductance peaks (e is the elementary charge). In this condition, conductance through the interferometer is observed to oscillate in a perpendicular magnetic field with a flux period of h/e (h is Planck's constant), indicating coherent transport of single electrons through the islands, a signature of electron teleportation via Majorana modes.

Quantum oscillations in the anomalous phase in Sr3Ru2O7.

We report measurements of quantum oscillations detected in the putative nematic phase of Sr3Ru2O7. Improvements in sample purity enabled the resolution of small amplitude de Haas-van Alphen (dHvA) oscillations between two first order metamagnetic transitions delimiting the phase. Two distinct frequencies were observed, whose amplitudes follow the normal Lifshitz-Kosevich profile. Variations of the dHvA frequencies are explained in terms of a chemical potential shift produced by reaching a peak in the density of states, and an anomalous field dependence of the oscillatory amplitude provides information on domains.

Effect of ovariohysterectomy in bitches with mammary neoplasms.

Ninety bitches with mammary tumours were studied for two years after the surgical removal of the primary tumour(s). Twenty-nine of the bitches had been spayed before the development of the mammary tumour, 22 were spayed when the tumours were removed and 39 were left entire. Fifty-eight of the bitches (64 per cent) had benign tumours and, of these, 15 (26 per cent) developed a new mammary tumour within two years, irrespective of whether the bitch was spayed. The other 32 bitches had malignant tumours which were grouped into 'invasive' and 'well defined' carcinomas. Sixty-three per cent of the spayed bitches and 57 per cent of the entire bitches, with invasive carcinoma were dead within two years of surgery as a result of their mammary tumours. For those with well defined carcinomas the tumour-related death rates were 18 per cent and 33 per cent respectively for the spayed and entire bitches. These findings suggest that ovariohysterectomy when mammary tumours are removed does not have a significant effect on the progression of malignant disease, and that about one in four bitches with a benign mammary tumour is likely to develop a further tumour in another gland.

Spin-orbit proximity effect in graphene.

The development of spintronics devices relies on efficient generation of spin-polarized currents and their electric-field-controlled manipulation. While observation of exceptionally long spin relaxation lengths makes graphene an intriguing material for spintronics studies, electric field modulation of spin currents is almost impossible due to negligible intrinsic spin-orbit coupling of graphene. In this work, we create an artificial interface between monolayer graphene and few-layer semiconducting tungsten disulphide. In these devices, we observe that graphene acquires spin-orbit coupling up to 17 meV, three orders of magnitude higher than its intrinsic value, without modifying the structure of the graphene. The proximity spin-orbit coupling leads to the spin Hall effect even at room temperature, and opens the door to spin field effect transistors. We show that intrinsic defects in tungsten disulphide play an important role in this proximity effect and that graphene can act as a probe to detect defects in semiconducting surfaces.

Sonic hedgehog regulates Bmi1 in human medulloblastoma brain tumor-initiating cells.

Bmi1 is a key stem cell regulatory gene implicated in the pathogenesis of many aggressive cancers, including medulloblastoma. Overexpression of Bmi1 promotes cell proliferation and is required for hedgehog (Hh) pathway-driven tumorigenesis. This study aimed to determine if Sonic hedgehog (Shh) modulates the key stem cell regulatory gene Bmi1 in childhood medulloblastoma brain tumor-initiating cells (BTICs). Although current literature suggests that there is a correlation between Shh pathway genes and Bmi1 expression, it is unclear whether there is indeed a direct regulatory mechanism. To address whether Shh induces expression of Bmi1, stem cell-enriched populations from medulloblastoma cell lines and primary samples were treated with Shh ligand and KAAD-cyclopamine (Shh antagonist). Our data indicate that Bmi1 expression positively correlates with increasing Shh ligand concentrations. Chromatin immunoprecipitation reveals that Gli1 preferentially binds to the Bmi1 promoter, and Bmi1 transcript levels are increased and decreased by Gli1 overexpression and downregulation, respectively. Knockdown experiments of Bmi1 in vitro and in vivo demonstrate that Hh signaling not only drives Bmi1 expression, but a feedback mechanism exists wherein downstream effectors of Bmi1 may, in turn, activate Hh pathway genes. These findings implicate Bmi1 and Hh as mutually indispensable pathways in medulloblastoma BTIC maintenance. Recent molecular characterization of medulloblastoma also reveals that Bmi1 is overexpressed across all subgroups of medulloblastoma, particularly in the most aggressive subtypes. Lastly, despite recent identification of BTIC markers, the molecular characterization of these cell populations remains unclear. In this work, we propose that the BTIC marker CD133 may segregate a cell population with a Hh-receptor phenotype, thus demonstrating a cell-cell interaction between the CD133+ Hh receptor cells and the CD133- Hh-secreting cells.

Role of f electrons in the Fermi surface of the heavy fermion superconductor beta-YbAlB4.

We present a detailed quantum oscillation study of the Fermi surface of the recently discovered Yb-based heavy fermion superconductor beta-YbAlB4. We compare the data, obtained at fields from 10 to 45 T, to band structure calculations performed using the local density approximation. Analysis of the data suggests that f holes participate in the Fermi surface up to the highest magnetic fields studied. We comment on the significance of these findings for the unconventional superconducting properties of this material.

Fermi-surface reconstruction in CeRh1-xCoxIn5.

The evolution of the Fermi surface of CeRh(1-x)CoxIn5 was studied as a function of Co concentration x via measurements of the de Haas-van Alphen effect. By measuring the angular dependence of quantum oscillation frequencies, we identify a Fermi-surface sheet with f-electron character which undergoes an abrupt change in topology as x is varied. Surprisingly, this reconstruction does not occur at the quantum critical concentration x(c), where antiferromagnetism is suppressed to T=0. Instead we establish that this sudden change occurs well below x(c), at the concentration x approximately 0.4, where long-range magnetic order alters its character and superconductivity appears. Across all concentrations, the cyclotron effective mass of this sheet does not diverge, suggesting that critical behavior is not exhibited equally on all parts of the Fermi surface.