Quantum Internal Structure of Plasmons.

Plasmons are usually described in terms of macroscopic quantities such as electric fields and currents. However, as fundamental excitations of metals, they are also quantum objects with internal structure. We demonstrate that this can induce an intrinsic dipole moment which is tied to the quantum geometry of the Hilbert space of plasmon states. This quantum geometric dipole offers a unique handle for manipulation of plasmon dynamics via density modulations and electric fields. As a concrete example, we demonstrate that scattering of plasmons with a nonvanishing quantum geometric dipole from impurities is nonreciprocal, skewing in different directions in a valley-dependent fashion. This internal structure can be used to control plasmon trajectories in two dimensional materials.

Nonlocal Quantum Effects in Plasmons of Graphene Superlattices.

By using a nonlocal, quantum mechanical response function we study graphene plasmons in a one-dimensional superlattice (SL) potential V_{0}cosG_{0}x. The SL introduces a quantum energy scale E_{G}∼ℏv_{F}G_{0} associated with electronic subband transitions. At energies lower than E_{G}, the plasmon dispersion is highly anisotropic; plasmons propagate perpendicularly to the SL axis, but become damped by electronic transitions along the SL direction. These results question the validity of semiclassical approximations for describing low energy plasmons in periodic structures. At higher energies, the dispersion becomes isotropic and Drude-like with effective Drude weights related to the average of the absolute value of the local chemical potential. Full quantum mechanical treatment of the kinetic energy thus introduces nonlocal effects that delocalize the plasmons in the SL, making the system behave as a metamaterial even near singular points where the charge density vanishes.

Plasmonic Dirac Cone in Twisted Bilayer Graphene.

We discuss plasmons of biased twisted bilayer graphene when the Fermi level lies inside the gap. The collective excitations are a network of chiral edge plasmons (CEP) entirely composed of excitations in the topological electronic edge states that appear at the AB-BA interfaces. The CEP form a hexagonal network with a unique energy scale ε_{p}=(e^{2})/(ε_{0}εt_{0}) with t_{0} the moiré lattice constant and ε the dielectric constant. From the dielectric matrix we obtain the plasmon spectra that has two main characteristics: (i) a diverging density of states at zero energy, and (ii) the presence of a plasmonic Dirac cone at ℏω∼ε_{p}/2 with sound velocity v_{D}=0.0075c, which is formed by zigzag and armchair current oscillations. A network model reveals that the antisymmetry of the plasmon bands implies that CEP scatter at the hexagon vertices maximally in the deflected chiral outgoing directions, with a current ratio of 4/9 into each of the deflected directions and 1/9 into the forward one. We show that scanning near-field microscopy should be able to observe the predicted plasmonic Dirac cone and its broken symmetry phases.

Magnetic Skyrmionic Polarons.

We study a two-dimensional electron gas exchange coupled to a system of classical magnetic ions. For large Rashba spin-orbit coupling, a single electron can become self-trapped in a skyrmion spin texture self-induced in the magnetic ions system. This new quasiparticle carries electrical and topological charge as well as a large spin, and we named it as magnetic skyrmionic polaron. We study a range of parameters; temperature, exchange coupling, Rashba coupling, and magnetic field, for which the magnetic skyrmionic polaron is the fundamental state in the system. The dynamics of this quasiparticle is studied using the collective coordinate approximation, and we obtain that in the presence of an electric field the new quasiparticle shows, due to the chirality of the skyrmion, a Hall effect. Finally, we argue that the magnetic skyrmionic polarons can be found in large Rashba spin-orbit coupling semiconductors as GeMnTe.

Symmetries of quantum transport with Rashba spin-orbit: graphene spintronics.

The lack of some spatial symmetries in planar devices with Rashba spin-orbit interactions opens up the possibility of producing spin polarized electrical currents in the absence of external magnetic fields or magnetic impurities. We study how the direction of the spin polarization of the current is related to spatial symmetries of the device. As an example of these relations we study numerically the spin-resolved current in graphene nanoribbons. Different configurations are explored and analyzed to demonstrate that graphene nanoflakes may be used as excellent spintronic devices in an all-electrical setup.

Signatures of a two-dimensional ferromagnetic electron gas at the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 interface arising from orbital reconstruction.

The magnetoresistance of La0.7Sr0.3MnO3/SrTiO3 superlattices with magnetic field rotating out-of-plane shows unexpected peaks for in-plane fields. Resistivity calculations with spin-orbit coupling reveal that orbital reconstruction at the manganite interface leads to a 2D ferromagnetic electron gas coupled antiparallel to the manganite "bulk". These orbital and magnetic reconstructions are supported by X-ray linear dichroism and ab initio calculations.

Nanophysics in graphene: neutrino physics in quantum rings and superlattices.

Electrons in graphene at low energy obey a two-dimensional Dirac equation, closely analogous to that of neutrinos. As a result, quantum mechanical effects when the system is confined or subjected to potentials at the nanoscale may be quite different from what happens in conventional electronic systems. In this article, we review recent progress on two systems where this is indeed the case: quantum rings and graphene electrons in a superlattice potential. In the former case, we demonstrate that the spectrum reveals signatures of 'effective time-reversal symmetry breaking', in which the spectra are most naturally interpreted in terms of effective magnetic flux contained in the ring, even when no real flux is present. A one-dimensional superlattice potential is shown to induce strong band-structure changes, allowing the number of Dirac points at zero energy to be manipulated by the strength and/or period of the potential. The emergence of new Dirac points is shown to be accompanied by strong signatures in the conduction properties of the system.

Solitonic phase in manganites.

Orbital order present in several transition metal compounds could give rise to topological defects. Here we argue that the topological defects in orbital ordered half doped manganites are orbital solitons that carry a charge of +/-e/2. When extra charge is added to the system an array of solitons is formed and an incommensurate solitonic phase occurs. The striking experimental asymmetry in the phase diagram as electrons or holes are added to half doped manganites is explained by the energy difference between positive and negative charged solitons. The presence of nanoscale inhomogeneities in manganites is naturally explained by the existence of solitonic phases.

Continuous charge modulated diagonal phase in manganites.

We present a novel ground state that explains the continuous charge modulated diagonal order recently observed in manganese oxides, at hole concentrations x larger than one-half. In this diagonal phase the charge is modulated with a predominant Fourier component inversely proportional to 1-x. Magnetically this state consists of antiferromagnetically coupled zigzag chains. For a wide range of physical parameters such as electron-phonon coupling, antiferromagnetic interaction between Mn ions, and on-site Coulomb repulsion, the diagonal phase is the ground state of the system. Also we find that the diagonal modulation of the electron density is only a small fraction of the average charge, a much smaller modulation than the one obtained by distributing Mn+3 and Mn+4 ions. We discuss also the spin and orbital structure properties of this new diagonal phase.