Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Edgar, James H.

Publications and source records attributed to Edgar, James H..

6 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Magnetization Dependent In-plane Anomalous Hall Effect in a Low-dimensional System

Anomalous Hall Effect (AHE) response in magnetic systems is typically proportional to an out-of-plane magnetization component because of the restriction imposed by system symmetries, which demands that the magnetization, applied electric field, and induced Hall current are mutually orthogonal to each other. Here, we report experimental realization of an unconventional form of AHE in a low-dimensional heterostructure, wherein the Hall response is not only proportional to the out-of-plane magnetization component but also to the in-plane magnetization component. By interfacing a low-symmetry topological semimetal (TaIrTe4) with the ferromagnetic insulator (Cr2Ge2Te6), we create a low-dimensional magnetic system, where only one mirror symmetry is preserved. We show that as long as the magnetization has a finite component in the mirror plane, this last mirror symmetry is broken, allowing the emergence of an AHE signal proportional to in-plane magnetization. Our experiments, conducted on multiple devices, reveal a gate-voltage-dependent AHE response, suggesting that the underlying mechanisms responsible for the Hall effect in our system can be tuned via electrostatic gating. A minimal microscopic model constrained by the symmetry of the heterostructure shows that both interfacial spin-orbit coupling and time-reversal symmetry breaking via the exchange interaction from magnetization are responsible for the emergence of the in-plane AHE. Our work highlights the importance of system symmetries and exchange interaction in low-dimensional heterostructures for designing novel and tunable Hall effects in layered quantum systems.

FOS: Physical sciences↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tunable Phonon Polariton Hybridization in a Van der Waals Hetero‐Bicrystal

Abstract Phonon polaritons, the hybrid quasiparticles resulting from the coupling of photons and lattice vibrations, have gained significant attention in the field of layered van der Waals heterostructures. Particular interest has been paid to hetero‐bicrystals composed of molybdenum oxide (MoO 3 ) and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), which feature polariton dispersion tailorable via avoided polariton mode crossings. In this work, the polariton eigenmodes in MoO 3 ‐hBN hetero‐bicrystals self‐assembled on ultrasmooth gold are systematically studied using synchrotron infrared nanospectroscopy. It is experimentally demonstrated that the spectral gap in bicrystal dispersion and corresponding regimes of negative refraction can be tuned by material layer thickness, and these results are quantitatively matched with a simple analytic model. Polaritonic cavity modes and polariton propagation along “forbidden” directions are also investigated in microscale bicrystals, which arise from the finite in‐plane dimension of the synthesized MoO 3 micro‐ribbons. The findings shed light on the unique dispersion properties of polaritons in van der Waals heterostructures and pave the way for applications leveraging deeply sub‐wavelength mid‐infrared light‐matter interactions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Fundamentals and emerging optical applications of hexagonal boron nitride: a tutorial

Hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), also known as white graphite, is a transparent layered crystal with a wide bandgap. Its crystal structure resembles graphite, featuring layers composed of honeycomb lattices held together through van der Waals forces. The layered crystal structure of hBN facilitates exfoliation into thinner flakes and makes it highly anisotropic in in-plane and out-of-plane directions. Unlike graphite, hBN is both insulating and transparent, making it an ideal material for isolating devices from the environment and acting as a waveguide. As a result, hBN has found extensive applications in optical devices, electronic devices, and quantum photonic devices. This comprehensive tutorial aims to provide readers with a thorough understanding of hBN, covering its synthesis, lattice and spectroscopic characterization, and various applications in optoelectronic and quantum photonic devices. This tutorial is designed for both readers without prior experience in hBN and those with expertise in specific fields seeking to understand its relevance and connections to others.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Lattice and electronic structure of ScN observed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements

Scandium nitride (ScN) has recently attracted much attention for its potential applications in thermoelectric energy conversion, as a semiconductor in epitaxial metal/semiconductor superlattices, as a substrate for GaN growth, and alloying it with AlN for 5G technology. This study was undertaken to better understand its stoichiometry and electronic structure. ScN (100) single crystals 2 mm thick were grown on a single crystal tungsten (100) substrate by a physical vapor transport method over a temperature range of 1900–2000 °C and a pressure of 20 Torr. The core level spectra of Sc 2p 3/2,1/2 and N 1s were obtained by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The XPS core levels were shifted by 1.1 eV toward higher values as the [Sc]:[N] ratio varied from 1.4 at 1900 °C to ~1.0 at 2000 °C due to the higher binding energies in stoichiometric ScN. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements confirmed that ScN has an indirect bandgap of ~1.2 eV.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thickness- and Twist-Angle-Dependent Interlayer Excitons in Metal Monochalcogenide Heterostructures

Interlayer excitons, or bound electron-hole pairs whose constituent quasiparticles are located in distinct stacked semiconducting layers, are being intensively studied in heterobilayers of two dimensional semiconductors. They owe their existence to an intrinsic type-II band alignment between both layers that convert these into p-n junctions. Here, we unveil a pronounced interlayer exciton (IX) in heterobilayers of metal monochalcogenides, namely gamma-InSe on epsilon-GaSe, whose pronounced emission is adjustable just by varying their thicknesses given their number of layers dependent direct bandgaps. Time-dependent photoluminescense spectroscopy unveils considerably longer interlayer exciton lifetimes with respect to intralayer ones, thus confirming their nature. The linear Stark effect yields a bound electron-hole pair whose separation d is just (3.6 ± 0.1) Å with d being very close to d Se = 3.4 Å which is the calculated interfacial Se separation. The envelope of IX is twist angle dependent and describable by superimposed emissions that are nearly equally spaced in energy, as if quantized due to localization induced by the small moiré periodicity. Furthermore, these heterostacks are characterized by extremely flat interfacial valence bands making them prime candidates for the observation of magnetism or other correlated electronic phases upon carrier doping.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗