Nonlinear transport and radio frequency rectification in BiTeBr at room temperature.

Materials showing second-order nonlinear transport under time reversal symmetry can be used for Radio Frequency (RF) rectification, but practical application demands room temperature operation and sensitivity to microwatts level RF signals in the ambient. In this study, we demonstrate that BiTeBr exhibits a giant nonlinear response which persists up to 350 K. Through scaling and symmetry analysis, we show that skew scattering is the dominant mechanism. Additionally, the sign of the nonlinear response can be electrically switched by tuning the Fermi energy. Theoretical analysis suggests that the large Rashba spin-orbit interactions (SOI), which gives rise to the chirality of the Bloch electrons, provide the microscopic origin of the observed nonlinear response. Our BiTeBr rectifier is capable of rectifying radiation within the frequency range of 0.2 to 6 gigahertz at room temperature, even at extremely low power levels of -15 dBm, and without the need for external biasing. Our work highlights that materials exhibiting large Rashba SOI have the potential to exhibit nonlinear responses at room temperature, making them promising candidates for harvesting high-frequency and low-power ambient electromagnetic energy.

Absence of van der Waals Gap in Ternary Thorium Nitride ThNF and ThNCl.

Two kinds of ternary thorium nitride compounds, ThNF and ThNCl, are synthesized. Via the refinement of X-ray diffraction patterns, the accurate crystal structure of the two compounds is solved. Although ThNF and ThNCl share a similar structure with MNX (M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = Cl, Br) compounds, the interaction between adjacent ThNF and ThNCl layers is not a van der Waals gap. For ThNF, the strong electronegativity of F ions leads to the bonding of Th to the F both in the nearest neighbor layer and the next nearest neighbor layer, which results in the absence of a van der Waals gap between ThNF layers. However, for ThNCl, the reason for the absence of a van der Waals gap could be attributed to the large Th-Cl bond length due to the partially covalent Th-Cl bond as well as the flat ThN layer. It is the absence of van der Waals gap that results in the failure of intercalating cations into ThNF and ThNCl. Our result reveals the reason for unsuccessful intercalation in ThNF and ThNCl, thereby providing a deeper understanding for the interlayer interaction in ternary layer structures in metal nitride halides.