Signatures of bosonic Landau levels in a finite-momentum superconductor.

Charged particles subjected to magnetic fields form Landau levels (LLs). Originally studied in the context of electrons in metals1, fermionic LLs continue to attract interest as hosts of exotic electronic phenomena2,3. Bosonic LLs are also expected to realize novel quantum phenomena4,5, but, apart from recent advances in synthetic systems6,7, they remain relatively unexplored. Cooper pairs in superconductors-composite bosons formed by electrons-represent a potential condensed-matter platform for bosonic LLs. Under certain conditions, an applied magnetic field is expected to stabilize an unusual superconductor with finite-momentum Cooper pairs8,9 and exert control over bosonic LLs10-13. Here we report thermodynamic signatures, observed by torque magnetometry, of bosonic LL transitions in the layered superconductor Ba6Nb11S28. By applying an in-plane magnetic field, we observe an abrupt, partial suppression of diamagnetism below the upper critical magnetic field, which is suggestive of an emergent phase within the superconducting state. With increasing out-of-plane magnetic field, we observe a series of sharp modulations in the upper critical magnetic field that are indicative of distinct vortex states and with a structure that agrees with predictions for Cooper pair LL transitions in a finite-momentum superconductor10-14. By applying Onsager's quantization rule15, we extract the momentum. Furthermore, study of the fermionic LLs shows evidence for a non-zero Berry phase. This suggests opportunities to study bosonic LLs, topological superconductivity, and their interplay via transport16, scattering17, scanning probe18 and exfoliation techniques19.

Clean 2D superconductivity in a bulk van der Waals superlattice.

Advances in low-dimensional superconductivity are often realized through improvements in material quality. Apart from a small group of organic materials, there is a near absence of clean-limit two-dimensional (2D) superconductors, which presents an impediment to the pursuit of numerous long-standing predictions for exotic superconductivity with fragile pairing symmetries. We developed a bulk superlattice consisting of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) superconductor 2H-niobium disulfide (2H-NbS2) and a commensurate block layer that yields enhanced two-dimensionality, high electronic quality, and clean-limit inorganic 2D superconductivity. The structure of this material may naturally be extended to generate a distinct family of 2D superconductors, topological insulators, and excitonic systems based on TMDs with improved material properties.

Signatures of Ultrafast Reversal of Excitonic Order in Ta_{2}NiSe_{5}.

In the presence of electron-phonon coupling, an excitonic insulator harbors two degenerate ground states described by an Ising-type order parameter. Starting from a microscopic Hamiltonian, we derive the equations of motion for the Ising order parameter in the phonon coupled excitonic insulator Ta_{2}NiSe_{5} and show that it can be controllably reversed on ultrashort timescales using appropriate laser pulse sequences. Using a combination of theory and time-resolved optical reflectivity measurements, we report evidence of such order parameter reversal in Ta_{2}NiSe_{5} based on the anomalous behavior of its coherently excited order-parameter-coupled phonons. Our Letter expands the field of ultrafast order parameter control beyond spin and charge ordered materials.

Singular angular magnetoresistance in a magnetic nodal semimetal.

Transport coefficients of correlated electron systems are often useful for mapping hidden phases with distinct symmetries. Here we report a transport signature of spontaneous symmetry breaking in the magnetic Weyl semimetal cerium-aluminum-germanium (CeAlGe) system in the form of singular angular magnetoresistance (SAMR). This angular response exceeding 1000% per radian is confined along the high-symmetry axes with a full width at half maximum reaching less than 1° and is tunable via isoelectronic partial substitution of silicon for germanium. The SAMR phenomena is explained theoretically as a consequence of controllable high-resistance domain walls, arising from the breaking of magnetic point group symmetry strongly coupled to a nearly nodal electronic structure. This study indicates ingredients for engineering magnetic materials with high angular sensitivity by lattice and site symmetries.

Quantum Hall effect on top and bottom surface states of topological insulator (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 films.

The three-dimensional topological insulator is a novel state of matter characterized by two-dimensional metallic Dirac states on its surface. To verify the topological nature of the surface states, Bi-based chalcogenides such as Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3 and their combined/mixed compounds have been intensively studied. Here, we report the realization of the quantum Hall effect on the surface Dirac states in (Bi1-xSbx)2Te3 films. With electrostatic gate-tuning of the Fermi level in the bulk band gap under magnetic fields, the quantum Hall states with filling factor ±1 are resolved. Furthermore, the appearance of a quantum Hall plateau at filling factor zero reflects a pseudo-spin Hall insulator state when the Fermi level is tuned in between the energy levels of the non-degenerate top and bottom surface Dirac points. The observation of the quantum Hall effect in three-dimensional topological insulator films may pave a way toward topological insulator-based electronics.

Dirac electron states formed at the heterointerface between a topological insulator and a conventional semiconductor.

Topological insulators are a class of semiconductor exhibiting charge-gapped insulating behaviour in the bulk, but hosting a spin-polarized massless Dirac electron state at the surface. The presence of a topologically protected helical edge channel has been verified for the vacuum-facing surface of several topological insulators by means of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy. By performing tunnelling spectroscopy on heterojunction devices composed of p-type topological insulator (Bi1−xSbx)2Te3 and n-type conventional semiconductor InP, we report the observation of such states at the solid-state interface. Under an applied magnetic field, we observe a resonance in the tunnelling conductance through the heterojunction due to the formation of Landau levels of two-dimensional Dirac electrons at the interface. Moreover, resonant tunnelling spectroscopy reveals a systematic dependence of the Fermi velocity and Dirac point energy on the composition x. The successful formation of robust non-trivial edge channels at a solid-state interface is an essential step towards functional junctions based on topological insulators.

Bulk band gap and surface state conduction observed in voltage-tuned crystals of the topological insulator Bi2Se3.

We report a transport study of exfoliated few monolayer crystals of topological insulator Bi2Se3 in an electric field effect geometry. By doping the bulk crystals with Ca, we are able to fabricate devices with sufficiently low bulk carrier density to change the sign of the Hall density with the gate voltage V(g). We find that the temperature T and magnetic field dependent transport properties in the vicinity of this V(g) can be explained by a bulk channel with activation gap of approximately 50 meV and a relatively high-mobility metallic channel that dominates at low T. The conductance (approximately 2×7e2/h), weak antilocalization, and metallic resistance-temperature profile of the latter lead us to identify it with the protected surface state. The relative smallness of the observed gap implies limitations for electric field effect topological insulator devices at room temperature.

Superconductivity in CuxBi2Se3 and its implications for pairing in the undoped topological insulator.

Bi2Se3 is one of a handful of known topological insulators. Here we show that copper intercalation in the van der Waals gaps between the Bi2Se3 layers, yielding an electron concentration of approximately 2x10{20} cm{-3}, results in superconductivity at 3.8 K in CuxBi2Se3 for 0.12

A tunable topological insulator in the spin helical Dirac transport regime.

Helical Dirac fermions-charge carriers that behave as massless relativistic particles with an intrinsic angular momentum (spin) locked to its translational momentum-are proposed to be the key to realizing fundamentally new phenomena in condensed matter physics. Prominent examples include the anomalous quantization of magneto-electric coupling, half-fermion states that are their own antiparticle, and charge fractionalization in a Bose-Einstein condensate, all of which are not possible with conventional Dirac fermions of the graphene variety. Helical Dirac fermions have so far remained elusive owing to the lack of necessary spin-sensitive measurements and because such fermions are forbidden to exist in conventional materials harbouring relativistic electrons, such as graphene or bismuth. It has recently been proposed that helical Dirac fermions may exist at the edges of certain types of topologically ordered insulators-materials with a bulk insulating gap of spin-orbit origin and surface states protected against scattering by time-reversal symmetry-and that their peculiar properties may be accessed provided the insulator is tuned into the so-called topological transport regime. However, helical Dirac fermions have not been observed in existing topological insulators. Here we report the realization and characterization of a tunable topological insulator in a bismuth-based class of material by combining spin-imaging and momentum-resolved spectroscopies, bulk charge compensation, Hall transport measurements and surface quantum control. Our results reveal a spin-momentum locked Dirac cone carrying a non-trivial Berry's phase that is nearly 100 per cent spin-polarized, which exhibits a tunable topological fermion density in the vicinity of the Kramers point and can be driven to the long-sought topological spin transport regime. The observed topological nodal state is shown to be protected even up to 300 K. Our demonstration of room-temperature topological order and non-trivial spin-texture in stoichiometric Bi(2)Se(3).M(x) (M(x) indicates surface doping or gating control) paves the way for future graphene-like studies of topological insulators, and applications of the observed spin-polarized edge channels in spintronic and computing technologies possibly at room temperature.

Quantum interference in macroscopic crystals of nonmetallic Bi2Se3.

Photoemission experiments have shown that Bi2Se3 is a topological insulator. By controlled doping, we have obtained crystals of Bi2Se3 with nonmetallic conduction. At low temperatures, we uncover a novel type of magnetofingerprint signal which involves the spin degrees of freedom. Given the mm-sized crystals, the observed amplitude is 200-500x larger than expected from universal conductance fluctuations. The results point to very long phase-breaking lengths in an unusual conductance channel in these nonmetallic samples. We discuss the nature of the in-gap conducting states and their relation to the topological surface states.

Phase transitions of Dirac electrons in bismuth.

The Dirac Hamiltonian, which successfully describes relativistic fermions, applies equally well to electrons in solids with linear energy dispersion, for example, in bismuth and graphene. A characteristic of these materials is that a magnetic field less than 10 tesla suffices to force the Dirac electrons into the lowest Landau level, with resultant strong enhancement of the Coulomb interaction energy. Moreover, the Dirac electrons usually come with multiple flavors or valley degeneracy. These ingredients favor transitions to a collective state with novel quantum properties in large field. By using torque magnetometry, we have investigated the magnetization of bismuth to fields of 31 tesla. We report the observation of sharp field-induced phase transitions into a state with striking magnetic anisotropy, consistent with the breaking of the threefold valley degeneracy.

Co1-xFexS2: a tunable source of highly spin-polarized electrons.

In the emerging field of spin-electronics ideal ferromagnetic electron sources would not only possess a high degree of spin polarization, but would also offer control over the magnitude of this polarization. We demonstrate here that a simple scheme can be utilized to control both the magnitude and the sign of the spin polarization of ferromagnetic CoS2, which we probe with a variety of techniques. The position of the Fermi level is fine-tuned by solid solution alloying with the isostructural diamagnetic semiconductor FeS2, leading to tunable spin polarization of up to 85%.