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Xu, Chunqiang

Publications and source records attributed to Xu, Chunqiang.

Multigap nodeless superconductivity in the topological semimetal PdTe

Recently, PdTe was identified as a spin-orbit-coupled topological Dirac semimetal and was claimed to exhibit both bulk-nodal and surface-nodeless superconducting gaps. Here we report on ultra-low-temperature thermal-conductivity measurements on PdTe single crystals with T c = 4.5 K to investigate its superconducting gap structure. It is found that the residual linear term κ 0 /T is negligible in zero magnetic field. Furthermore, the field dependence of κ 0 ⁡(H)/T exhibits an S-shaped curve. These results suggest that PdTe has multiple nodeless superconducting gaps, which is at odds with the claimed bulk-nodal gap. The reason for the discrepancy is likely that previous angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements were only performed down to 2 K and cannot observe the smaller nodeless gap. As a result, the fully gapped superconducting state in PdTe is compatible with it being a topological superconductor candidate.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Large anomalous Nernst effect and topological Nernst effect in the noncollinear antiferromagnet NdMn 2⁢ Ge 2

ThCr 2 Si 2 -type NdMn 2 Ge 2 was recently proposed to be a magnetic skyrmion candidate exhibiting the topological Hall effect. In this work, we report magnetic, electronic, and thermoelectric measurements for NdMn 2 Ge 2 single crystals. We show that, in the canted antiferromagnetic phase and the conical magnetic phase with a large out-of-plane ferromagnetic component, this system exhibits both an anomalous Nernst effect and a topological Nernst effect. Here we argue that NdMn 2 Ge 2 is a unique magnetic material, with its topological characteristics associated with the Berry phases in both real space and momentum space.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Thermal Hall effect in a van der Waals triangular magnet FeCL 2

Thermal transport is a pivotal probe for studying low-energy, charge-neutral quasiparticles in insulating magnets. In this Letter, we report an observation of large magnetothermal conductivity and thermal Hall effect (THE) in a van der Waals antiferromagnet FeCl 2 . The magnetothermal conductivity reaches over ~700%, indicating strong magnon-phonon coupling. Furthermore, we find an appreciable thermal Hall signal which changes sign concurrently with the spin-flip transition from the antiferromagnetic state to the polarized ferromagnetic state. Our theoretical calculations suggest that, in addition to the Berry curvature induced at the anticrossing points of the hybridized magnon and acoustic phonon modes of FeCl 2 , other mechanisms are needed to account for the magnitude of the observed THE.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Exchange-biased topological transverse thermoelectric effects in a Kagome ferrimagnet

Abstract Kagome metal TbMn 6 Sn 6 was recently discovered to be a ferrimagnetic topological Dirac material by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy measurements. Here, we report the observation of large anomalous Nernst effect and anomalous thermal Hall effect in this compound. The anomalous transverse transport is consistent with the Berry curvature contribution from the massive Dirac gaps in the 3D momentum space as demonstrated by our first-principles calculations. Furthermore, the transverse thermoelectric transport exhibits asymmetry with respect to the applied magnetic field, i.e., an exchange-bias behavior. Together, these features place TbMn 6 Sn 6 as a promising system for the outstanding thermoelectric performance based on anomalous Nernst effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Anomalous Thermal Hall Effect in an Insulating van der Waals Magnet

Two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) magnets have been a fertile playground for the discovery and exploration of physical phenomena and new physics. In this Letter, we report the observation of an anomalous thermal Hall effect (THE) with κ xy ~ 1 × 10 -2 WK -1 m -1 in an insulating van der Waals ferromagnet VI 3 . The thermal Hall signal persists in the absence of an external magnetic field and flips sign upon the switching of the magnetization. In combination with theoretical calculations, we show that VI 3 exhibits a dual nature of the THE, i.e., dominated by topological magnons hosted by the ferromagnetic honeycomb lattice at higher temperatures and by phonons induced by the magnon-phonon coupling at lower temperatures. Our results not only position VI 3 as the first ferromagnetic system to investigate both anomalous magnon and phonon THEs, but also render it as a potential platform for spintronics-magnonics applications.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Fermi-crossing Type-II Dirac fermions and topological surface states in NiTe 2

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) offer an ideal platform to experimentally realize Dirac fermions. However, typically these exotic quasiparticles are located far away from the Fermi level, limiting the contribution of Dirac-like carriers to the transport properties. Here we show that NiTe 2 hosts both bulk Type-II Dirac points and topological surface states. The underlying mechanism is shared with other TMDs and based on the generic topological character of the Te p-orbital manifold. However, unique to NiTe 2 , a significant contribution of Ni d orbital states shifts the energy of the Type-II Dirac point close to the Fermi level. In addition, one of the topological surface states intersects the Fermi energy and exhibits a remarkably large spin splitting of 120 meV. Our results establish NiTe 2 as an exciting candidate for next-generation spintronics devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗