Anisotropic Topological Anderson Transitions in Chiral Symmetry Classes.

We study quantum phase transitions of three-dimensional disordered systems in the chiral classes (AIII and BDI) with and without weak topological indices. We show that the systems with a nontrivial weak topological index universally exhibit an emergent thermodynamic phase where wave functions are delocalized along one spatial direction but exponentially localized in the other two spatial directions, which we call the quasilocalized phase. Our extensive numerical study clarifies that the critical exponent of the Anderson transition between the metallic and quasilocalized phases, as well as that between the quasilocalized and localized phases, are different from that with no weak topological index, signaling the new universality classes induced by topology. The quasilocalized phase and concomitant topological Anderson transition manifest themselves in the anisotropic transport phenomena of disordered weak topological insulators and nodal-line semimetals, which exhibit the metallic behavior in one direction but the insulating behavior in the other directions.

Dissipationless Spin-Charge Conversion in Excitonic Pseudospin Superfluid.

Spin-charge conversion by the inverse spin Hall effect or inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect is prevalent in spintronics but dissipative. We propose a dissipationless spin-charge conversion mechanism by an excitonic pseudospin superfluid in an electron-hole double-layer system. Magnetic exchange fields lift singlet-triplet degeneracy of interlayer exciton levels in the double-layer system. Condensation of the singlet-triplet hybridized excitons breaks both a U(1) gauge symmetry and a pseudospin rotational symmetry around the fields, leading to spin-charge coupled superflow in the system. We demonstrate the mechanism by deriving spin-charge coupled Josephson equations for the excitonic superflow from a coupled quantum-dot model.

Universality Classes of the Anderson Transitions Driven by Non-Hermitian Disorder.

The interplay between non-Hermiticity and disorder plays an important role in condensed matter physics. Here, we report the universal critical behaviors of the Anderson transitions driven by non-Hermitian disorders for a three-dimensional (3D) Anderson model and 3D U(1) model, which belong to 3D class AI^{†} and 3D class A in the classification of non-Hermitian systems, respectively. Based on level statistics and finite-size scaling analysis, the critical exponent for the length scale is estimated as ν=0.99±0.05 for class AI^{†}, and ν=1.09±0.05 for class A, both of which are clearly distinct from the critical exponents for 3D orthogonal and 3D unitary classes, respectively. In addition, spectral rigidity, level spacing distribution, and level spacing ratio distribution are studied. These critical behaviors strongly support that the non-Hermiticity changes the universality classes of the Anderson transitions.

Topological Boundary Modes from Translational Deformations.

Localized states universally appear when a periodic potential is perturbed by defects or terminated at its surface. In this Letter, we theoretically and experimentally demonstrate a mechanism that generates localized states through continuous translational deformations of periodic potentials. We provide a rigorous proof of the emergence of the localized states under the deformations. The mechanism is experimentally verified in microwave photonic crystals. We also demonstrate topological phase windings of reflected waves for translated photonic crystals.

Effect of Disorder in a Three-Dimensional Layered Chern Insulator.

We studied the effects of disorder in a three-dimensional layered Chern insulator, which, in the clean limit, is either a Chern insulator or a Weyl semimetal depending on an interlayer coupling strength. By calculating the localization length by the transfer matrix method, we found two distinct types of metallic phases between the Anderson insulator and the Chern insulator: one is a diffusive metallic phase and the other is a renormalized Weyl semimetal phase. By calculating the conductance and density of states, we characterize these two metallic phases and reveal a critical nature of a quantum critical line between these two metallic phases.

Giant electrically tunable magnon transport anisotropy in a van der Waals antiferromagnetic insulator.

Anisotropy is a manifestation of lowered symmetry in material systems that have profound fundamental and technological implications. For van der Waals magnets, the two-dimensional (2D) nature greatly enhances the effect of in-plane anisotropy. However, electrical manipulation of such anisotropy as well as demonstration of possible applications remains elusive. In particular, in-situ electrical modulation of anisotropy in spin transport, vital for spintronics applications, has yet to be achieved. Here, we realized giant electrically tunable anisotropy in the transport of second harmonic thermal magnons (SHM) in van der Waals anti-ferromagnetic insulator CrPS4 with the application of modest gate current. Theoretical modeling found that 2D anisotropic spin Seebeck effect is the key to the electrical tunability. Making use of such large and tunable anisotropy, we demonstrated multi-bit read-only memories (ROMs) where information is inscribed by the anisotropy of magnon transport in CrPS4. Our result unveils the potential of anisotropic van der Waals magnons for information storage and processing.

Electrically switchable van der Waals magnon valves.

Van der Waals magnets have emerged as a fertile ground for the exploration of highly tunable spin physics and spin-related technology. Two-dimensional (2D) magnons in van der Waals magnets are collective excitation of spins under strong confinement. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding 2D magnons, a crucial magnon device called the van der Waals magnon valve, in which the magnon signal can be completely and repeatedly turned on and off electrically, has yet to be realized. Here we demonstrate such magnon valves based on van der Waals antiferromagnetic insulator MnPS3. By applying DC electric current through the gate electrode, we show that the second harmonic thermal magnon (SHM) signal can be tuned from positive to negative. The guaranteed zero crossing during this tuning demonstrates a complete blocking of SHM transmission, arising from the nonlinear gate dependence of the non-equilibrium magnon density in the 2D spin channel. Using the switchable magnon valves we demonstrate a magnon-based inverter. These results illustrate the potential of van der Waals anti-ferromagnets for studying highly tunable spin-wave physics and for application in magnon-base circuitry in future information technology.

Experimental signatures of spin superfluid ground state in canted antiferromagnet Cr2O3 via nonlocal spin transport.

Spin superfluid is a novel emerging quantum matter arising from the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of spin-1 bosons. We demonstrate the spin superfluid ground state in canted antiferromagnetic Cr2O3 thin film at low temperatures via nonlocal spin transport. A large enhancement of the nonlocal spin signal is observed below ~20 K, and it saturates from ~5 down to 2 K. We show that the spins can propagate over very long distances (~20 µm) in such spin superfluid ground state and that the nonlocal spin signal decreases very slowly as the spacing increases with an inverse relationship, which is consistent with theoretical prediction. Furthermore, spin superfluidity has been investigated in the canted antiferromagnetic phase of the (11[Formula: see text]0)-oriented Cr2O3 film, where the magnetic field dependence of the associated critical temperature follows a 2/3 power law near the critical point. The experimental demonstration of the spin superfluid ground state in canted antiferromagnet will be extremely important for the fundamental physics on the BEC of spin-1 bosons and paves the way for future spin supercurrent devices, such as spin-Josephson junctions.

Artificial electric field in fermi liquids.

Based on the Keldysh formalism, we derive an effective Boltzmann equation for a quasiparticle constrained within a particular Fermi surface in an interacting Fermi liquid. This provides a many-body derivation of Berry curvatures in electron dynamics with spin-orbit coupling, which has received much attention in recent years in noninteracting models. As is well known, the Berry curvature in momentum space modifies naïve band dynamics via an "artificial magnetic field" in momentum space. Our Fermi liquid formulation completes the reinvention of modified band dynamics by introducing in addition an artificial electric field, related to Berry curvature in frequency and momentum space. We show explicitly how the artificial electric field affects the renormalization factor and transverse conductivity of interacting U(1) Fermi liquids with nondegenerate bands.

Quantum effects in a half-polarized pyrochlore antiferromagnet.

We study quantum effects in a spin-3/2 antiferromagnet on the pyrochlore lattice in an external magnetic field, focusing on the vicinity of a plateau in the magnetization at half the saturation value, observed in CdCr2O4 and HgCr2O4. Our theory, based on quantum fluctuations, predicts the existence of a symmetry-broken state on the plateau, even with only nearest-neighbor microscopic exchange. This symmetry-broken state consists of a particular arrangement of spins polarized parallel and antiparallel to the field in a 3:1 ratio on each tetrahedron. It quadruples the lattice unit cell, and reduces the space group from Fd3m to P4(3)32. We also predict that for fields just above the plateau, the low-temperature phase has transverse spin order, describable as a Bose-Einstein condensate of magnons. Other comparisons to and suggestions for experiments are discussed.

Theory of ferromagnetism in Ca(1-x)La(x)B(6).

Novel ferromagnetism in Ca(1-x)La(x)B(6) is studied in terms of the Ginzburg-Landau theory for excitonic-order parameters, taking into account symmetry of the wave functions. We found that the minima of the free energy break both inversion and time-reversal symmetries, while the product of these two remains preserved. This explains various novelties of the ferromagnetism and predicts a number of magnetic properties, including the magnetoelectric effect, which can be tested experimentally.