Publications
Erratum: Topological excitations and the dynamic structure factor of spin liquids on the kagome lattice (Nature Physics (2014) 10 (289-293))
Vortex phase transitions in monolayer FeSe film on SrTiO3
The voltage-current (V-I) characteristics in superconducting monolayer FeSe film on SrTiO3 (100) under different magnetic fields are investigated. The zero-fieldV-I result exhibits signatures of a Berezinski-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition, a characteristic of two-dimensional (2D) superconductors.
Confinement transition to density wave order in metallic doped spin liquids
Insulating quantum spin liquids can undergo a confinement transition to a valence bond solid via the condensation of topological excitations of the associated gauge theory. We extend the theory of such transitions to fractionalized Fermi liquids (FL∗): These are metallic doped spin liquids in which the Fermi surfaces only have gauge neutral quasiparticles.
Detection of a Cooper-pair density wave in Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x
The quantum condensate of Cooper pairs forming a superconductor was originally conceived as being translationally invariant. In theory, however, pairs can exist with finite momentum Q, thus generating a state with a spatially modulated Cooper-pair density. Such a state has been created in ultracold 6 Li gas but never observed directly in any superconductor. It is now widely hypothesized that the pseudogap phase of the copper oxide superconductors contains such a 'pair density wave' state.
Efficient Heat-Bath Sampling in Fock Space
We introduce an algorithm for sampling many-body quantum states in Fock space. The algorithm efficiently samples states with probability approximately proportional to an arbitrary function of the second-quantized Hamiltonian matrix element connecting the sampled state to the current state. We apply the new sampling algorithm to the recently developed semistochastic full configuration interaction quantum Monte Carlo (S-FCIQMC) method, a semistochastic implementation of the power method for projecting out the ground state energy in a basis of Slater determinants.
Current control of magnetic anisotropy via stress in a ferromagnetic metal waveguide
We demonstrate that in-plane charge current can effectively control the spin precession resonance in an Al2O3/CoFeB/Ta heterostructure. Brillouin light scattering was used to detect the ferromagnetic resonance field under microwave excitation of spin waves at fixed frequencies. The current control of spin precession resonance originates from modification of the in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy field Hk, which changes symmetrically with respect to the current direction.
Weirdest Martensite: Smectic Liquid Crystal Microstructure and Weyl-Poincaré Invariance
Smectic liquid crystals are remarkable, beautiful examples of materials microstructure, with ordered patterns of geometrically perfect ellipses and hyperbolas. The solution of the complex problem of filling three-dimensional space with domains of focal conics under constraining boundary conditions yields a set of strict rules, which are similar to the compatibility conditions in a martensitic crystal. Here we present the rules giving compatible conditions for the concentric circle domains found at two-dimensional smectic interfaces with planar boundary conditions.
Photonics and optoelectronics of 2D semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides
Recent advances in the development of atomically thin layers of van der Waals bonded solids have opened up new possibilities for the exploration of 2D physics as well as for materials for applications. Among them, semiconductor transition metal dichalcogenides, MX 2 (M = Mo, W; X = S, Se), have bandgaps in the near-infrared to the visible region, in contrast to the zero bandgap of graphene. In the monolayer limit, these materials have been shown to possess direct bandgaps, a property well suited for photonics and optoelectronics applications.
Topological Mechanics of Origami and Kirigami
Origami and kirigami have emerged as potential tools for the design of mechanical metamaterials whose properties such as curvature, Poisson ratio, and existence of metastable states can be tuned using purely geometric criteria. A major obstacle to exploiting this property is the scarcity of tools to identify and program the flexibility of fold patterns. We exploit a recent connection between spring networks and quantum topological states to design origami with localized folding motions at boundaries and study them both experimentally and theoretically.
Optical Coherence in Atomic-Monolayer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides Limited by Electron-Phonon Interactions
We systematically investigate the excitonic dephasing of three representative transition-metal dichalcogenides, namely, MoS2, MoSe2, and WSe2 atomic monolayer thick and bulk crystals, in order to gain a proper understanding of the factors that determine the optical coherence in these materials. Coherent nonlinear optical spectroscopy and temperature dependent absorption, combined with theoretical calculations of the phonon spectra, indicate electron-phonon interactions, to be the limiting factor.