Nuclear clustering-manifestations of non-uniformity in nuclei.

Well-developed [Formula: see text] clusters are known to exist in light [Formula: see text] nuclei, and their properties are reasonably well described with modern nuclear structure theories. However, 'modestly' developed clusters in medium to heavy nuclei remain little understood, both theoretically and experimentally. Extension of the focus to include modestly developed clusters leads us to a concept of 'generalized clusters' and 'cluster ubiquitousness'. The former includes clusters more weakly bound than an [Formula: see text] cluster, such as deuteron, triton and [Formula: see text], and even clusters partially broken owing to nuclear medium effects. The latter means the existence of clusters in any nuclei, where cluster development was not previously discussed. Effects of the tensor and the spin-orbit interactions on the coexistence of clusters with independent nucleons are discussed using recent nuclear theoretical models. A mixture of the clusters with shell-like components plays an essential role in the synthesis of elements in the universe and the origin of life, together with an [Formula: see text] decay. It is also pointed out that clustering in heavy nuclei may accelerate fission and fusion processes. Future experimental plans using cluster knockout reactions, which have the potential to extract information of 'generalized clusters' in a variety of nuclei including stable and unstable nuclei, are also discussed. This article is part of the theme issue 'The liminal position of Nuclear Physics: from hadrons to neutron stars'.

Higher Chern number states in curved periodic nanowires.

The coupling between the spin and momentum degrees of freedom due to spin-orbit interactions (SOI) suggests that the strength of the latter can be modified by controlling the motion of the charge carriers. In this paper, we investigate how the effective SOI can be modulated by constraining the motion of charge carriers to curved waveguides thereby introducing real-space geometric curvature in their motion. The change in the SOI can in turn induce topological phase transitions in the system. Specifically, we study how the introduction of periodic sinusoidal curvature in nanowires with intrinsic SOC can induce the onset of mid-gap topologically protected edge states, which can be characterized by a topological invariant or Chern number. The Chern number corresponds to the number of discrete charges that would be pumped across the length of the nanowire when the phase of a sliding gate potential relative to that of the sinusoidal curvature is varied adiabatically over a complete period. In addition, coupling to an external magnetization can be utilized as an experimental knob to modify the Chern number by displacing the energies of the curvature-induced bands relative to one another. The magnetization can be tuned to achieve large discrete jumps in the number of pump charges per phase period.

Energy-harvesting materials based on the anomalous Nernst effect.

The anomalous Nernst effect (ANE), one of the thermomagnetic effects studied for a long time, has recently attracted renewed attention. The ANE, which originates from fictitious fields in momentum space, is essential for clarifying the interplay among heat, spin, and charge in magnets. Moreover, compared to the Seebeck effect, it has various benefits for application to high-efficiency energy-harvesting devices as it may provide much more simple lateral structure, higher flexibility, and much lower production cost. In this review, we discuss various topics related to the methods to modulate the ANE for its thermoelectric applications. In addition, we review strategies to design materials to obtain large ANE including Weyl magnets and thermoelectric devices for effectively utilizing the ANE.

Lateral chirality-sorting optical forces.

The transverse component of the spin angular momentum of evanescent waves gives rise to lateral optical forces on chiral particles, which have the unusual property of acting in a direction in which there is neither a field gradient nor wave propagation. Because their direction and strength depends on the chiral polarizability of the particle, they act as chirality-sorting and may offer a mechanism for passive chirality spectroscopy. The absolute strength of the forces also substantially exceeds that of other recently predicted sideways optical forces.

[OsF6 ]x- : Molecular Models for Spin-Orbit Entangled Phenomena.

Heavy 5d elements, like osmium, feature strong spin-orbit interactions which are at the origin of exotic physical behaviors. Revealing the full potential of, for example, novel osmium oxide materials ("osmates") is however contingent upon a detailed understanding of the local single-ion properties. Herein, two molecular osmate analogues, [OsF6 ]2- and [OsF6 ]- , are reported as model systems for Os4+ and Os5+ centers found in oxides. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) techniques, combined with state-of-the-art ab initio calculations, their ground state was elucidated; mirroring the osmium electronic structure in osmates. The realization of such molecular model systems provides a unique chemical playground to engineer materials exhibiting spin-orbit entangled phenomena.

Anisotropic Pauli Spin Blockade of Holes in a GaAs Double Quantum Dot.

Electrically defined semiconductor quantum dots are attractive systems for spin manipulation and quantum information processing. Heavy-holes in both Si and GaAs are promising candidates for all-electrical spin manipulation, owing to the weak hyperfine interaction and strong spin-orbit interaction. However, it has only recently become possible to make stable quantum dots in these systems, mainly due to difficulties in device fabrication and stability. Here, we present electrical transport measurements on holes in a gate-defined double quantum dot in a GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs heterostructure. We observe clear Pauli spin blockade and demonstrate that the lifting of this spin blockade by an external magnetic field is highly anisotropic. Numerical calculations of heavy-hole transport through a double quantum dot in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling show quantitative agreement with experimental results and suggest that the observed anisotropy can be explained by both the anisotropic effective hole g-factor and the surface Dresselhaus spin-orbit interaction.

Terahertz magneto-optical response in ferromagnetic Fe-Co-Al alloys.

We study the magneto-optical properties of Fe-Co-Al ordered alloys in the terahertz range of frequencies. Using the standard Kubo-based approach to compute intrinsic part of theσxy(ω)we find a strong dependence ofσxyonωin the terahertz range. For example, we find that below 10 THz Co3Al has nearly constantσxyand that above 10 THz it is reduced by about 50 times. Furthermore, we find a strong dependence ofσxyon the chemical composition. For example, we find that the addition of Al to Fe changes the sign ofσxy, while the addition of Co to Fe leads to a nonmonotonic dependence ofσxyon Co concentration.

Supercurrent and Superconducting Diode Effect in Parallel Double Quantum Dots with Rashba Spin-Orbit Interaction.

We study theoretically the supercurrent and the superconducting diode effect (SDE) in a structure comprising parallel-coupled double quantum dots (DQDs) sandwiched between two superconductor leads in the presence of a magnetic flux. The influence of the Rashba spin-orbit interaction (RSOI), which induces a spin-dependent phase factor in the dot-superconductor coupling strength, is taken into account by adopting the nonequilibrium Green's function technique. This RSOI-induced phase factor serves as a driving force for the supercurrent in addition to the usual superconducting phase difference, and it leads to the system's left/right asymmetry. Correspondingly, the magnitude of the positive and negative critical currents become different from each other: the so-called SDE. Our results show that the period, magnitude, and direction of the supercurrents depend strongly on the RSOI-induced phase factor, dots' energy levels, interdot coupling strengths, and the magnetic flux. In the absence of magnetic flux, the diode efficiency is negative and may approach -2, which indicates the perfect diode effect with only negative flowing supercurrent in the absence of a positive one. Interestingly enough, both the sign and magnitude of the diode efficiency can be efficiently adjusted with the help of magnetic flux, the dots' energy levels and the interdot coupling strength and thus provide a controllable SDE by rich means, such as gate voltage or host materials of the system.

Engineering Spin-Orbit Interactions in Silicon Qubits at the Atomic-Scale.

Spin-orbit interactions arise whenever the bulk inversion symmetry and/or structural inversion symmetry of a crystal is broken providing a bridge between a qubit's spin and orbital degree of freedom. While strong interactions can facilitate fast qubit operations by all-electrical control, they also provide a mechanism to couple charge noise thereby limiting qubit lifetimes. Previously believed to be negligible in bulk silicon, recent silicon nano-electronic devices have shown larger than bulk spin-orbit coupling strengths from Dresselhaus and Rashba couplings. Here, it is shown that with precision placement of phosphorus atoms in silicon along the [110] direction (without inversion symmetry) or [111] direction (with inversion symmetry), a wide range of Dresselhaus and Rashba coupling strength can be achieved from zero to 1113 × 10-13eV-cm. It is shown that with precision placement of phosphorus atoms, the local symmetry (C2v, D2d, and D3d) can be changed to engineer spin-orbit interactions. Since spin-orbit interactions affect both qubit operation and lifetimes, understanding their impact is essential for quantum processor design.

Tunnel Josephson Junction with Spin-Orbit/Ferromagnetic Valve.

We have theoretically studied the transport properties of the SIsNSOF structure consisting of thick (S) and thin (s) films of superconductor, an insulator layer (I), a thin film of normal metal with spin-orbit interaction (SOI) (NSO), and a monodomain ferromagnetic layer (F). The interplay between superconductivity, ferromagnetism, and spin-orbit interaction allows the critical current of this Josephson junction to be smoothly varied over a wide range by rotating the magnetization direction in the single F-layer. We have studied the amplitude of the spin valve effect and found the optimal ranges of parameters.

Nonlinear Hall effect in monolayer phosphorene with broken inversion symmetry.

Nonlinear Hall effect (NLHE), a new member of the family of Hall effects, in monolayer phosphorene is investigated. We find that phosphorene exhibits pronounced NLHE, arising from the dipole moment of the Berry curvature induced by the proximity effect that breaks the inversion symmetry of the system. Remarkably, the nonlinear Hall response exhibits central minimum with a width on the order of the band gap, followed by two resonance-like peaks. Interestingly, each resonance peak of the Hall response shifts in the negative region of the chemical potential which is consistent with the shift of valence and conduction bands in the energy spectrum of monolayer phosphorene. It is observed that the two peaks are asymmetric, originated from anisotropy in the band structure of phosphorene. It is shown that the NLHE is very sensitive to the band gap and temperature of the system. Moreover, we find that a phase transition occurs in the nonlinear Hall response and nonlinear spin Hall conductivity of the system under the influence of spin-orbit interaction, tuned by the strength of interaction and band gap induced in the energy spectrum of monolayer phosphorene with broken inversion symmetry.

Linear and nonlinear spin current response of anisotropic spin-orbit coupled systems.

We calculate the linear and the second harmonic (SH) spin current response of two anisotropic systems with spin-orbit (SO) interaction. General expressions of wide applicability for the these response functions are first derived for a generic two-band Hamiltonian. The first system is a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas in the presence of Rashba andk-linear Dresselhaus SO couplings. The calculations show how narrow or wide the response spectra can be, what is their overall shape and size, and frequency shiftings, depending on which crystal orientation is selected. The quantitative knowing of this makes possible a comparative study for several orientations, which would allow to select a spectrum with particular characteristic. We find that vanishing linear and second order response tensors are achievable under SU(2) symmetry conditions, characterized by a collinear SO vector field. Additional conditions under which specific tensor components vanish are possible, without having such collinearity. Thus, a proper choice of the growth direction and SO strengths allows to select the polarization of the linear and SH spin currents according to the direction of flowing. The second system is an anisotropic 2D free electron gas with anisotropic Rashba interaction, which has been employed to study the optical conductivity of 2D puckered structures with anisotropic energy bands. The presence of mass anisotropy and an energy gap open several distinct scenarios for the allowed optical interband transitions, which manifest in the linear and SH response contrastingly. The linear response displays only out-of-plane spin polarized currents, while the SH spin currents flow with spin orientation lying parallel to the plane of the system strictly. The models illustrate the possibility of the nonlinear spin Hall effect in systems with SO interaction, under the presence or absence of time-reversal symmetry. The results suggest different ways to manipulate the linear and nonlinear optical generation of spin currents which could find spintronic applications.

Spin-Orbit and Zeeman Effects on the Electronic Properties of Single Quantum Rings: Applied Magnetic Field and Topological Defects.

Within the framework of effective mass theory, we investigate the effects of spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and Zeeman splitting on the electronic properties of an electron confined in GaAs single quantum rings. Energies and envelope wavefunctions in the system are determined by solving the Schrödinger equation via the finite element method. First, we consider an inversely quadratic model potential to describe electron confining profiles in a single quantum ring. The study also analyzes the influence of applied electric and magnetic fields. Solutions for eigenstates are then used to evaluate the linear inter-state light absorption coefficient through the corresponding resonant transition energies and electric dipole matrix moment elements, assuming circular polarization for the incident radiation. Results show that both SOI effects and Zeeman splitting reduce the absorption intensity for the considered transitions compared to the case when these interactions are absent. In addition, the magnitude and position of the resonant peaks have non-monotonic behavior with external magnetic fields. Secondly, we investigate the electronic and optical properties of the electron confined in the quantum ring with a topological defect in the structure; the results show that the crossings in the energy curves as a function of the magnetic field are eliminated, and, therefore, an improvement in transition energies occurs. In addition, the dipole matrix moments present a non-oscillatory behavior compared to the case when a topological defect is not considered.

Circular current in a one-dimensional open quantum ring in the presence of magnetic field and spin-orbit interaction.

In an open quantum system having a channel in the form of loop geometry, the current inside the channel, namely circular current, and overall junction current, namely transport current, can be different. A quantum ring has doubly degenerate eigen energies due to periodic boundary condition that is broken in an asymmetric ring where the ring is asymmetrically connected to the external electrodes. Kramers' degeneracy and spin degeneracy can be lifted by considering non-zero magnetic field and spin-orbit interaction (SOI), respectively. Here, we find that symmetry breaking impacts the circular current conductance vs energy (E) spectra in addition to lifting the degeneracy. For charge and spin current conductances, the corresponding effects are not the same. Under symmetry-breaking they may remain symmetric or anti-symmetric or asymmetric aroundE = 0 whereas the transmission function (which is proportional to the junction current conductance) vs energy characteristic remains symmetric aroundE = 0. This study leads us to estimate the qualitative nature of the circular current and the choices of Fermi-energy/chemical potential to have a net non-zero current. As a result, we may manipulate the system to generate pure currents of charge, spin, or both, which is necessary for any spintronic and electronic applications.

The effects of intramolecular and intermolecular coordination on (31)P nuclear shielding: phosphorylated azoles.

The effects of intramolecular and intermolecular coordination on (31)P nuclear shielding have been investigated in the series of tetracoordinated, pentacoordinated and hexacoordinated N-vinylpyrazoles and intermolecular complexes of N-vinylimidazole and 1-allyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazole with phosphorous pentachloride both experimentally and theoretically. It was shown that either intramolecular or intermolecular coordination involving phosphorous results in a dramatic (31)P nuclear shielding amounting to approximately 150 ppm on changing the phosphorous coordination number by one. A major importance of solvent effects on (31)P nuclear shielding of intramolecular and intermolecular complexes involving N → P coordination bond has been demonstrated. It was found that the zeroth-order regular approximation-gauge-including atomic orbital-B1PW91/DZP method was sufficiently accurate for the calculation of (31)P NMR chemical shifts, provided relativistic corrections are taken into account, the latter being of crucial importance in the description of (31)P nuclear shielding.

Superconducting Valve Exploiting Interplay between Spin-Orbit and Exchange Interactions.

We theoretically investigated the proximity effect in SNSOF and SF'F structures consisting of a superconductor (S), a normal metal (NSO), and ferromagnetic (F',F) thin films with spin-orbit interaction (SOI) in the NSO layer. We show that a normal layer with spin-orbit interaction effectively suppresses triplet correlations generated in a ferromagnetic layer. Due to this effect, the critical temperature of the superconducting layer in the SNSOF multilayer turns out to be higher than in a similar multilayer without spin-orbit interaction in the N layer. Moreover, in the presence of a mixed type of spin-orbit interaction involving the Rashba and Dresselhaus components, the SNSOF structure is a spin valve, whose critical temperature is determined by the direction of the magnetization vector in the F layer. We calculated the control characteristics of the SNSOF spin valve and compared them with those available in traditional SF'F devices with two ferromagnetic layers. We concluded that SNSOF structures with one controlled F layer provide solid advantages over the broadly considered SF'F spin valves, paving the way for high-performance storage components for superconducting electronics.

Pyrochlore oxide Hg2Os2O7on verge of metal-insulator boundary.

Semimetallic osmium pyrochlore oxide Cd2Os2O7undergoes a magnetic transition to an all-in-all-out (AIAO)-type order at 227 K, followed by a crossover to an AIAO insulator at around 210 K. Here, we studied the isostructural and isoelectronic compound Hg2Os2O7through thermodynamic measurements, muon spin rotation (µSR) spectroscopy and neutron diffraction experiments. A similar magnetic transition, probably to an AIAO-type order, was observed at 88 K, while the resistivity showed a decrease at the transition and remained metallic down to 2 K. Thus, the ground state of Hg2Os2O7is most likely an AIAO semimetal, which is analogous to the intermediate-temperature state of Cd2Os2O7. Hg2Os2O7exists on the verge of the metal-insulator boundary on the metal side and provides an excellent platform for studying the electronic instability of 5delectrons with moderate electron correlations and strong spin-orbit interactions.

Arbitrary-Order and Multichannel Optical Vortices with Simultaneous Amplitude and Phase Modulation on Plasmonic Metasurfaces.

The highly localized and uneven spatial distribution of the subwavelength light field in metal metasurfaces provides a promising means for the generation of optical vortices (OVs) with arbitrary topological charges. In this paper, a simple and reliable way for generating multichannel OVs on gold nanoporous metasurfaces is reported. The instantaneous field of arbitrary-order OVs can be regulated and concentrated on the same focal surface by adapting photonic spin-orbit interaction (SOI) and geometric phase. The focal ring energy distribution of OVs along the conical propagation path is accurately calculated, and the double phase of units induced by spin rotation is confirmed. Based on the parameter optimization of the nanohole arrangement, the simultaneous amplitude and phase modulation of multichannel OVs has been realized. Furthermore, the average multichannel signal-to-noise ratio exceeds 15 dB, which meets the requirements of high resolution and low crosstalk. Our study obtains broadband and efficient OVs, which can contribute to improving the capacity storage and security of optical information and possess great application prospects in beam shaping, optical tweezers, and communication coding.

From spherical to periodic symmetry: the analog of orbital angular momentum for semiconductor crystals.

The angular momentum formalism provides a powerful way to classify atomic states. Yet, requiring a spherical symmetry from the very first line, this formalism cannot be used for periodic systems, even though cubic semiconductor states are commonly classified according to atomic notations. Although never noted, it is possible to define the analog of the orbital angular momentum, by only using the potential felt by the electrons. The spin-orbit interaction for crystals then takes theL^⋅S^form, withL^reducing toL^=r^×p^for spherical symmetry. This provides the long-missed support for using the eigenvalues ofL^andJ^=L^+S^, as quantum indices to label cubic semiconductor states. Importantly, these quantum indices also control the phase factor that relates valence electron to hole operators, in the same way as particle to antiparticle, in spite of the fact that the hole is definitely not the valence-electron antiparticle. Being associated with a broader definition, the(L^,J^)analogs of the(L^,J^)angular momenta, must be distinguished by names: we suggest 'spatial momentum' forL^that acts in the real space, and 'hybrid momentum' forJ^that also acts on spin, the potential symmetry being specified as 'cubic spatial momentum'. This would castJ^as a 'spherical hybrid momentum', a bit awkward for the concept is novel.

Manifestation of Majorana modes overlap in the Aharonov-Bohm effect.

One of the key features of the Majorana bound states emerging in topological superconducting (SC) wires is increasing oscillations of their energy under the growth of magnetic field or chemical potential due to concomitant enhancement of hybridization of the Majorana mode wave functions initially localized at the opposite edges of the structure. In this study we found that the other consequence of it is a shift of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) oscillations of linear-response conductance in an interference device where two ends of the SC wire connected with a normal contact via non-SC wires (arms). In addition, it is accompanied by an oscillation period doubling. The numerical calculations for the spinful system are supported by the analytical results for different spinless models allowing to track the conductance evolution as the hybridization of the Majorana modes increases. It is shown that since the coupling between the different arms and normal contact is implemented only via the different-type Majoranas the AB oscillations acquire a fundamentalπ/2 shift in comparison with the effect for an analogous system of zero-energy quantum dots.