Motion tracking of 80-nm-size skyrmions upon directional current injections.

Nanometer-scale skyrmions are prospective candidates for information bits in low-power consumption devices owing to their topological nature and controllability with low current density. Studies on skyrmion dynamics in different classes of materials have exploited the topological Hall effect and current-driven fast motion of skyrmionic bubbles. However, the small current track motion of a single skyrmion and few-skyrmion aggregates remains elusive. Here, we report the tracking of creation and extinction and motion of 80-nm-size skyrmions upon directional one-current pulse excitations at low current density of the order of 109 A m-2 in designed devices with the notched hole. The Hall motion of a single skyrmion and the torque motions of few-skyrmion aggregates have been directly revealed. The results exemplify low-current density controls of skyrmions, which will pave the way for the application of skyrmions.

Topological Quantum Transition Driven by Charge-Phonon Coupling in the Haldane Chern Insulator.

In condensed matter physics many features can be understood in terms of their topological properties. Here we report evidence of a topological quantum transition driven by the charge-phonon coupling in the spinless Haldane model on a honeycomb lattice, a well-known prototypical model of the Chern insulator. Starting from parameters describing the topological phase in the bare Haldane model, we show that increasing the strength of the charge lattice coupling drives the system towards a trivial insulator. The average number of fermions in the Dirac point, characterized by the lowest gap, exhibits a finite discontinuity at the transition point and can be used as a direct indicator of the topological quantum transition. Numerical simulations show, also, that the renormalized phonon propagator exhibits a two peak structure across the quantum transition, whereas, in the absence of the mass term in the bare Haldane model, there is indication of a complete softening of the effective vibrational mode, signaling a charge density wave instability.

Phonon Magnetochiral Effect.

The magnetochiral effect (MCE) of phonons, a nonreciprocal acoustic propagation arising due to symmetry principles, is demonstrated in the chiral-lattice ferrimagnet Cu_{2}OSeO_{3}. Our high-resolution ultrasound experiments reveal that the sound velocity differs for parallel and antiparallel propagation with respect to the external magnetic field. The sign of the nonreciprocity depends on the chirality of the crystal in accordance with the selection rule of the MCE. The nonreciprocity is enhanced below the magnetic ordering temperature and at higher ultrasound frequencies, which is quantitatively explained by a proposed magnon-phonon hybridization mechanism.

Spectral dynamics of shift current in ferroelectric semiconductor SbSI.

Photoexcitation in solids brings about transitions of electrons/holes between different electronic bands. If the solid lacks an inversion symmetry, these electronic transitions support spontaneous photocurrent due to the geometric phase of the constituting electronic bands: the Berry connection. This photocurrent, termed shift current, is expected to emerge on the timescale of primary photoexcitation process. We observe ultrafast evolution of the shift current in a prototypical ferroelectric semiconductor antimony sulfur iodide (SbSI) by detecting emitted terahertz electromagnetic waves. By sweeping the excitation photon energy across the bandgap, ultrafast electron dynamics as a source of terahertz emission abruptly changes its nature, reflecting a contribution of Berry connection on interband optical transition. The shift excitation carries a net charge flow and is followed by a swing over of the electron cloud on a subpicosecond timescale. Understanding these substantive characters of the shift current with the help of first-principles calculation will pave the way for its application to ultrafast sensors and solar cells.

Deformation of the moving magnetic skyrmion lattice in MnSi under electric current flow.

Topological defects are found ubiquitously in various kinds of matter, such as vortices in type-II superconductors, and magnetic skyrmions in chiral ferromagnets. While knowledge on the static behavior of magnetic skyrmions is accumulating steadily, their dynamics under forced flow is still a widely open issue. Here, we report the deformation of the moving magnetic skyrmion lattice in MnSi under electric current flow observed using small-angle neutron scattering. A spatially inhomogeneous rotation of the skyrmion lattice, with an inverse rotation sense for opposite sample edges, is observed for current densities greater than a threshold value j t ~ 1 MA m-2 (106 A m-2). Our result show that skyrmion lattices under current flow experience significant friction near the sample edges due to pinning, this being a critical effect that must be considered for anticipated skyrmion-based applications at the nanoscale.

Transformation between meron and skyrmion topological spin textures in a chiral magnet.

Crystal lattices with tetragonal or hexagonal structure often exhibit structural transitions in response to external stimuli1. Similar behaviour is anticipated for the lattice forms of topological spin textures, such as lattices composed of merons and antimerons or skyrmions and antiskyrmions (types of vortex related to the distribution of electron spins in a magnetic field), but has yet to be verified experimentally2,3. Here we report real-space observations of spin textures in a thin plate of the chiral-lattice magnet Co8Zn9Mn3, which exhibits in-plane magnetic anisotropy. The observations demonstrate the emergence of a two-dimensional square lattice of merons and antimerons from a helical state, and its transformation into a hexagonal lattice of skyrmions in the presence of a magnetic field at room temperature. Sequential observations with decreasing temperature reveal that the topologically protected skyrmions remain robust to changes in temperature, whereas the square lattice of merons and antimerons relaxes to non-topological in-plane spin helices, highlighting the different topological stabilities of merons, antimerons and skyrmions. Our results demonstrate the rich variety of topological spin textures and their lattice forms, and should stimulate further investigation of emergent electromagnetic properties.

Rapid change of superconductivity and electron-phonon coupling through critical doping in Bi-2212.

Electron-boson coupling plays a key role in superconductivity for many systems. However, in copper-based high-critical temperature (T c) superconductors, its relation to superconductivity remains controversial despite strong spectroscopic fingerprints. In this study, we used angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to find a pronounced correlation between the superconducting gap and the bosonic coupling strength near the Brillouin zone boundary in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ The bosonic coupling strength rapidly increases from the overdoped Fermi liquid regime to the optimally doped strange metal, concomitant with the quadrupled superconducting gap and the doubled gap-to-T c ratio across the pseudogap boundary. This synchronized lattice and electronic response suggests that the effects of electronic interaction and the electron-phonon coupling (EPC) reinforce each other in a positive-feedback loop upon entering the strange-metal regime, which in turn drives a stronger superconductivity.

Observation of anomalous Hall effect in a non-magnetic two-dimensional electron system.

Anomalous Hall effect, a manifestation of Hall effect occurring in systems without time-reversal symmetry, has been mostly observed in ferromagnetically ordered materials. However, its realization in high-mobility two-dimensional electron system remains elusive, as the incorporation of magnetic moments deteriorates the device performance compared to non-doped structure. Here we observe systematic emergence of anomalous Hall effect in various MgZnO/ZnO heterostructures that exhibit quantum Hall effect. At low temperatures, our nominally non-magnetic heterostructures display an anomalous Hall effect response similar to that of a clean ferromagnetic metal, while keeping a large anomalous Hall effect angle θAHE≈20°. Such a behaviour is consistent with Giovannini-Kondo model in which the anomalous Hall effect arises from the skew scattering of electrons by localized paramagnetic centres. Our study unveils a new aspect of many-body interactions in two-dimensional electron systems and shows how the anomalous Hall effect can emerge in a non-magnetic system.

Critical phenomena of emergent magnetic monopoles in a chiral magnet.

Second-order continuous phase transitions are characterized by symmetry breaking with order parameters. Topological orders of electrons, characterized by the topological index defined in momentum space, provide a distinct perspective for phase transitions, which are categorized as quantum phase transitions not being accompanied by symmetry breaking. However, there are still limited observations of counterparts in real space. Here we show a real-space topological phase transition in a chiral magnet MnGe, hosting a periodic array of hedgehog and antihedgehog topological spin singularities. This transition is driven by the pair annihilation of the hedgehogs and antihedgehogs acting as monopoles and antimonopoles of the emergent electromagnetic field. Observed anomalies in the magnetoresistivity and phonon softening are consistent with the theoretical prediction of critical phenomena associated with enhanced fluctuations of emergent field near the transition. This finding reveals a vital role of topology of the spins in strongly correlated systems.

Polaronic metal state at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface.

Interplay of spin, charge, orbital and lattice degrees of freedom in oxide heterostructures results in a plethora of fascinating properties, which can be exploited in new generations of electronic devices with enhanced functionalities. The paradigm example is the interface between the two band insulators LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 that hosts a two-dimensional electron system. Apart from the mobile charge carriers, this system exhibits a range of intriguing properties such as field effect, superconductivity and ferromagnetism, whose fundamental origins are still debated. Here we use soft-X-ray angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy to penetrate through the LaAlO3 overlayer and access charge carriers at the buried interface. The experimental spectral function directly identifies the interface charge carriers as large polarons, emerging from coupling of charge and lattice degrees of freedom, and involving two phonons of different energy and thermal activity. This phenomenon fundamentally limits the carrier mobility and explains its puzzling drop at high temperatures.

Quantum Hall states stabilized in semi-magnetic bilayers of topological insulators.

By breaking the time-reversal symmetry in three-dimensional topological insulators with the introduction of spontaneous magnetization or application of magnetic field, the surface states become gapped, leading to quantum anomalous Hall effect or quantum Hall effect, when the chemical potential locates inside the gap. Further breaking of inversion symmetry is possible by employing magnetic topological insulator heterostructures that host non-degenerate top and bottom surface states. Here we demonstrate the tailored-material approach for the realization of robust quantum Hall states in the bilayer system, in which the cooperative or cancelling combination of the anomalous and ordinary Hall responses from the respective magnetic and non-magnetic layers is exemplified. The appearance of quantum Hall states at filling factor 0 and +1 can be understood by the relationship of energy band diagrams for the two independent surface states. The designable heterostructures of magnetic topological insulator may explore a new arena for intriguing topological transport and functionality.

Magnetic Field-Induced Insulator-Semimetal Transition in a Pyrochlore Nd2Ir2O7.

We investigate magnetotransport properties in a single crystal of pyrochore-type Nd2Ir2O7. The metallic conduction is observed on the antiferromagnetic domain walls of the all-in-all-out-type Ir 5d moment ordered insulating bulk state that can be finely controlled by an external magnetic field along [111]. On the other hand, an applied field along [001] induces the bulk phase transition from insulator to semimetal as a consequence of the field-induced modification of the Nd 4f and Ir 5d moment configurations. A theoretical calculation consistently describing the experimentally observed features suggests a variety of exotic topological states as functions of electron correlation and Ir 5d moment orders, which can be finely tuned by the choice of rare-earth ion and magnetic field, respectively.

Large anisotropic deformation of skyrmions in strained crystal.

Mechanical control of magnetism is an important and promising approach in spintronics. To date, strain control has mostly been demonstrated in ferromagnetic structures by exploiting a change in magnetocrystalline anisotropy. It would be desirable to achieve large strain effects on magnetic nanostructures. Here, using in situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we demonstrate that anisotropic strain as small as 0.3% in a chiral magnet of FeGe induces very large deformations in magnetic skyrmions, as well as distortions of the skyrmion crystal lattice on the order of 20%. Skyrmions are stabilized by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, originating from a chiral crystal structure. Our results show that the change in the modulation of the strength of this interaction is amplified by two orders of magnitude with respect to changes in the crystal lattice due to an applied strain. Our findings may provide a mechanism to achieve strain control of topological magnetic structures based on the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction.

Mobility of Holstein polaron at finite temperature: an unbiased approach.

We present the first unbiased results for the mobility µ of a one-dimensional Holstein polaron obtained by numerical analytic continuation combined with diagrammatic and worldline Monte Carlo methods in the thermodynamic limit. We have identified for the first time several distinct regimes in the λ-T plane including a band conduction region, incoherent metallic region, an activated hopping region, and a high-temperature saturation region. We observe that although mobilities and mean free paths at different values of λ differ by many orders of magnitude at small temperatures, their values at T larger than the bandwidth become very close to each other.

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.

Crossover from super- to subdiffusive motion and memory effects in crystalline organic semiconductors.

The transport properties at finite temperature of crystalline organic semiconductors are investigated, within the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, by combining an exact diagonalization technique, Monte Carlo approaches, and a maximum entropy method. The temperature-dependent mobility data measured in single crystals of rubrene are successfully reproduced: a crossover from super- to subdiffusive motion occurs in the range 150≤T≤200 K, where the mean free path becomes of the order of the lattice parameter and strong memory effects start to appear. We provide an effective model, which can successfully explain features of the absorption spectra at low frequencies. The observed response to slowly varying electric field is interpreted by means of a simple model where the interaction between the charge carrier and lattice polarization modes is simulated by a harmonic interaction between a fictitious particle and an electron embedded in a viscous fluid.

Thermally driven ratchet motion of a skyrmion microcrystal and topological magnon Hall effect.

Spontaneously emergent chirality is an issue of fundamental importance across the natural sciences. It has been argued that a unidirectional (chiral) rotation of a mechanical ratchet is forbidden in thermal equilibrium, but becomes possible in systems out of equilibrium. Here we report our finding that a topologically nontrivial spin texture known as a skyrmion--a particle-like object in which spins point in all directions to wrap a sphere--constitutes such a ratchet. By means of Lorentz transmission electron microscopy we show that micrometre-sized crystals of skyrmions in thin films of Cu2OSeO3 and MnSi exhibit a unidirectional rotation motion. Our numerical simulations based on a stochastic Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation suggest that this rotation is driven solely by thermal fluctuations in the presence of a temperature gradient, whereas in thermal equilibrium it is forbidden by the Bohr-van Leeuwen theorem. We show that the rotational flow of magnons driven by the effective magnetic field of skyrmions gives rise to the skyrmion rotation, therefore suggesting that magnons can be used to control the motion of these spin textures.

Detection of Berry's phase in a Bulk Rashba semiconductor.

The motion of electrons in a solid has a profound effect on its topological properties and may result in a nonzero Berry's phase, a geometric quantum phase encoded in the system's electronic wave function. Despite its ubiquity, there are few experimental observations of Berry's phase of bulk states. Here, we report detection of a nontrivial π Berry's phase in the bulk Rashba semiconductor BiTeI via analysis of the Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) effect. The extremely large Rashba splitting in this material enables the separation of SdH oscillations, stemming from the spin-split inner and outer Fermi surfaces. For both Fermi surfaces, we observe a systematic π-phase shift in SdH oscillations, consistent with the theoretically predicted nontrivial π Berry's phase in Rashba systems.

Strongly spin-orbit coupled two-dimensional electron gas emerging near the surface of polar semiconductors.

We investigate the two-dimensional highly spin-polarized electron accumulation layers commonly appearing near the surface of n-type polar semiconductors BiTeX (X=I, Br, and Cl) by angular-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Because of the polarity and the strong spin-orbit interaction built in the bulk atomic configurations, the quantized conduction-band subbands show giant Rashba-type spin splitting. The characteristic 2D confinement effect is clearly observed also in the valence bands down to the binding energy of 4 eV. The X-dependent Rashba spin-orbit coupling is directly estimated from the observed spin-split subbands, which roughly scales with the inverse of the band-gap size in BiTeX.