Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “MATSCI”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5

Electrically Tunable Magnetism in Magnetic Topological Insulators

The external controllability of the magnetic properties in topological insulators would be important both for fundamental and practical interests. Here we predict the electric-field control of ferromagnetism in a thin film of insulating magnetic topological insulators. The decrease of band inversion by the application of electric fields results in a reduction of magnetic susceptibility, and hence in the modification of magnetism. Remarkably, the electric field could even induce the magnetic quantum phase transition from ferromagnetism to paramagnetism. We further propose a transistor device in which the dissipationless charge transport of chiral edge states is controlled by an electric field. In particular, the field-controlled ferromagnetism in a magnetic topological insulator can be used for voltage based writing of magnetic random access memories in magnetic tunnel junctions. The simultaneous electrical control of magnetic order and chiral edge transport in such devices may lead to electronic and spintronic applications for topological insulators.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Observation of the Zero Hall Plateau in a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator

We report experimental investigations on the quantum phase transition between the two opposite Hall plateaus of a quantum anomalous Hall insulator. We observe a well-defined plateau with zero Hall conductivity over a range of magnetic field around coercivity when the magnetization reverses. The features of the zero Hall plateau are shown to be closely related to that of the quantum anomalous Hall effect, but its temperature evolution exhibits a significant difference from the network model for a conventional quantum Hall plateau transition. We propose that the chiral edge states residing at the magnetic domain boundaries, which are unique to a quantum anomalous Hall insulator, are responsible for the novel features of the zero Hall plateau.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Intrinsic quantum anomalous Hall effect in the kagome lattice Cs 2 LiMn 3 F 12

In a kagome lattice, the time reversal symmetry can be broken by a staggered magnetic flux emerging from ferromagnetic ordering and intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, leading to several well-separated nontrivial Chern bands and intrinsic quantum anomalous Hall effect. Based on this idea and ab initio calculations, we propose the realization of the intrinsic quantum anomalous Hall effect in the single layer Cs 2 Mn 3 F 12 kagome lattice and on the (001) surface of a Cs 2 LiMn 3 F 12 single crystal by modifying the carrier coverage on it, where the band gap is around 20 meV. Furthermore, a simplified tight binding model based on the in-plane ddσ antibonding states is constructed to understand the topological band structures of the system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Bandwidth and Electron Correlation-Tuned Superconductivity in Rb 0.8 Fe 2 ( Se 1 - z S z ) 2

Here, we present a systematic angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy study of the substitution dependence of the electronic structure of Rb 0.8 Fe 2 (Se 1-z S z ) 2 (z = 0, 0.5, 1), where superconductivity is continuously suppressed into a metallic phase. Going from the nonsuperconducting Rb 0.8 Fe 2 S 2 to superconducting Rb 0.8 Fe 2 Se 2 , we observe little change of the Fermi surface topology, but a reduction of the overall bandwidth by a factor of 2. Hence, for these heavily electron-doped iron chalcogenides, we have identified electron correlation as explicitly manifested in the quasiparticle bandwidth to be the important tuning parameter for superconductivity, and that moderate correlation is essential to achieving high T C .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Erratum: Creation of X-Ray Transparency of Matter by Stimulated Elastic Forward Scattering [Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 , 107402 (2015)]

X-ray absorption by matter has long been described by the famous Beer-Lambert law. Here we show how this fundamental law needs to be modified for high-intensity coherent x-ray pulses, now available at x-ray free electron lasers, due to the onset of stimulated elastic forward scattering. We present an analytical expression for the modified polarization-dependent Beer-Lambert law for the case of resonant core-to-valence electronic transitions and incident transform limited x-ray pulses. Upon transmission through a solid, the absorption and dichroic contrasts are found to vanish with increasing x-ray intensity, with the stimulation threshold lowered by orders of magnitude through a super-radiative coherent effect. Our results have broad implications for the study of matter with x-ray lasers.

MATSCI↗

NMR evidence for inhomogeneous nematic fluctuations in BaFe 2 ( As 1 - x P x ) 2

We present evidence for nuclear spin-lattice relaxation driven by glassy nematic fluctuations in isovalent P-doped BaFe 2 As 2 single crystals. Both the 75 As and 31 P sites exhibit a stretched-exponential relaxation similar to the electron-doped systems. By comparing the hyperfine fields and the relaxation rates at these sites we find that the As relaxation cannot be explained solely in terms of magnetic spin fluctuations. We demonstrate that nematic fluctuations couple to the As nuclear quadrupolar moment and can explain the excess relaxation. Lastly, these results suggest that glassy nematic dynamics are a common phenomenon in the iron-based superconductors.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Correlation-driven insulator-metal transition in near-ideal vanadium dioxide films

We use polarization- and temperature-dependent x-ray absorption spectroscopy, in combination with photoelectron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, and electronic transport measurements, to study the driving force behind the insulator-metal transition in VO 2 . We show that both the collapse of the insulating gap and the concomitant change in crystal symmetry in homogeneously strained single-crystalline VO 2 films are preceded by the purely electronic softening of Coulomb correlations within V-V singlet dimers. Furthermore, this process starts 7 K (±0.3 K) below the transition temperature, as conventionally defined by electronic transport and x-ray diffraction measurements, and sets the energy scale for driving the near-room-temperature insulator-metal transition in this technologically promising material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Picosecond electric-field-induced threshold switching in phase-change materials [THz-induced threshold switching and crystallization of phase-change materials]

Many chalcogenide glasses undergo a breakdown in electronic resistance above a critical field strength. Known as threshold switching, this mechanism enables field-induced crystallization in emerging phase-change memory. Purely electronic as well as crystal nucleation assisted models have been employed to explain the electronic breakdown. Here, picosecond electric pulses are used to excite amorphous Ag 4 In 3 Sb 67 Te 26 . Field-dependent reversible changes in conductivity and pulse-driven crystallization are observed. The present results show that threshold switching can take place within the electric pulse on subpicosecond time scales—faster than crystals can nucleate. As a result, this supports purely electronic models of threshold switching and reveals potential applications as an ultrafast electronic switch.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Examining Electron-Boson Coupling Using Time-Resolved Spectroscopy

Nonequilibrium pump-probe time-domain spectroscopies can become an important tool to disentangle degrees of freedom whose coupling leads to broad structures in the frequency domain. Here, using the time-resolved solution of a model photoexcited electron-phonon system, we show that the relaxational dynamics are directly governed by the equilibrium self-energy so that the phonon frequency sets a window for “slow” versus “fast” recovery. The overall temporal structure of this relaxation spectroscopy allows for a reliable and quantitative extraction of the electron-phonon coupling strength without requiring an effective temperature model or making strong assumptions about the underlying bare electronic band dispersion.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗