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At least 1,009 records · Page 56
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Electrodynamics of Thin Sheets of Twisted Material

We construct a minimal theory describing the optical activity of a thin sheet of a twisted material, the simplest example of which is twisted bilayer graphene. We introduce the notion of "twisted electrical conductivity", which parametrizes the parity-odd response of a thin film to a perpendicularly falling electromagnetic waves with wavelength larger than the thickness of the sheet. Here, we show that the low-frequency Faraday rotation angle has different behaviors in different phases. For an insulator, the Faraday angle behaves as ω 2 at low frequencies, with the coefficient being determined by the linear relationship between a component of the electric quadrupole moment and the external electric field. For superconductors, the Faraday rotation angle is constant when the frequency of the incoming EM waves is below the superconducting gap and is determined by the coefficient of the Lifshitz invariant in the Ginzburg-Landau functional describing the superconducting state. In the metallic state, we show that the twisted conductivity is proportional to the "magnetic helicity" (scalar product of the velocity and the magnetic moment) of the quasiparticle, averaged around the Fermi surface. The theory is general and is applicable to strongly correlated phases.

Son, Dam Thanh↗
DOE OSTI2022

First Observation of Large Missing-Momentum (e,e'p) Cross-Section Scaling and the onset of Correlated-Pair Dominance in Nuclei

We report the first measurement of $x_B$-scaling in $(e,e'p)$ cross-section ratios off nuclei relative to deuterium at large missing-momentum of $350 \leq p_{miss} \leq 600$ MeV/c. The observed scaling extends over a kinematic range of $0.7 \leq x_B \leq 1.8$, which is significantly wider than $1.4 \leq x_B \leq 1.8$ previously observed for inclusive $(e,e')$ cross-section ratios. The $x_B$-integrated cross-section ratios become constant (i.e., scale) beginning at $p_{miss}\approx k_F$, the nuclear Fermi momentum. Comparing with theoretical calculations we find good agreement with Generalized Contact Formalism calculations for high missing-momentum ($> 375$ MeV/c), suggesting the observed scaling results from interacting with nucleons in short-range correlated (SRC) pairs. For low missing-momenta, mean-field calculations show good agreement with the data for $p_{miss}\le k_F$, and suggest that contributions to the measured cross-section ratios from scattering off single, un-correlated, nucleons are non-negligible up to $p_{miss}\approx 350$ MeV/c. Therefore, SRCs become dominant in nuclei at $p_{miss}\approx 350$ MeV/c, well above the nuclear Fermi Surface of $k_F \approx 250$ MeV/c.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fermi level pinning at the Ge(001) surface—A case for non-standard explanation

To explore the origin of the Fermi level pinning in germanium, we investigate the Ge(001) and Ge(001):H surfaces. The absence of relevant surface states in the case of Ge(001):H should unpin the surface Fermi level. This is not observed. For samples with donors as majority dopants, the surface Fermi level appears close to the top of the valence band regardless of the surface structure. Surprisingly, for the passivated surface, it is located below the top of the valence band allowing scanning tunneling microscopy imaging within the band gap. We argue that the well known electronic mechanism behind band bending does not apply and a more complicated scenario involving ionic degrees of freedom is therefore necessary. Experimental techniques involve four point probe electric current measurements, scanning tunneling microscopy, and spectroscopy.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Reduction of Fermi level pinning and recombination at polycrystalline CdTe surfaces by laser irradiation

Laser processing of polycrystalline CdTe is a promising approach that could potentially increase module manufacturing throughput while reducing capital expenditure costs. For these benefits to be realized, the basic effects of laser irradiation on CdTe must be ascertained. In this study, we utilize surface photovoltage spectroscopy (SPS) to investigate the changes to the electronic properties of the surface of polycrystalline CdTe solar cell stacks induced by continuous-wave laser annealing. The experimental data explained within a model consisting of two space charge regions, one at the CdTe/air interface and one at the CdTe/CdS junction, are used to interpret our SPS results. The frequency dependence and phase spectra of the SPS signal are also discussed. To support the SPS findings, low-temperature spectrally-resolved photoluminescence and time-resolved photoluminescence were also measured. The data show that a modest laser treatment of 250 W/cm{sup 2} with a dwell time of 20 s is sufficient to reduce the effects of Fermi level pinning at the surface due to surface defects.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1984

Manifestation of the Fermi resonance in surface polariton spectra

The method of disturbed full internal reflection (DFIR) is used to detect and interpret the resonance splitting of the surface polariton. The effect in the spectra of oscillatory SP which are reflected by the DFIR method in Otto geometry was experimentally recorded. It is concluded that the resonance splitting of the dispersion branch of SP may serve as an effective method for detecting weak oscillations and for measuring their parameters.

Puchkovskaya, G. A.↗
DOE OSTI2017

“1$k_F$” singularities and finite density ABJM theory at strong coupling

We study non-analytic behavior in the static charge susceptibility in finite density states of the ABJM theory using its holographic dual. Emphasis is placed on a particular state characterized by vanishing entropy density at zero temperature, and Fermi surface-like singularities in various fermionic correlation functions. The susceptibility exhibits branch points in the complex momentum plane, with a real part quantitatively very similar to the location of the Fermi surface singularities.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Detecting Fermi-level shifts by Auger electron spectroscopy in Si and GaAs

In this paper, changes in surface Fermi-level of Si and GaAs, caused by doping and cleaning, are investigated by Auger electron spectroscopy. Based on the Auger voltage contrast, we compared the Auger transition peak energy but with higher accuracy by using a more accurate detector and an improved peak position determination method. For silicon, a peak shift as large as 0.46 eV was detected when comparing a cleaned p-type and n-type wafer, which corresponds rather well with the theoretical difference in Fermi-level. If no cleaning was applied, the peak position did not differ significantly for both wafer types, indicating Fermi-level pinning in the band gap. For GaAs, peak shifts were detected after cleaning with HF and (NH4)2S-solutions in an inert atmosphere (N2-gas). Although the (NH4)2S-cleaning in N2 is very efficient in removing the oxygen from the surface, the observed Ga- and As-peak shifts are smaller than those obtained after the HF-cleaning. It is shown that the magnitude of the shift is related to the surface composition. After Si-deposition on the (NH4)2S-cleaned surface, the Fermi-level shifts back to a similar position as observed for an as-received wafer, indicating that this combination is not successful in unpinning the Fermi-level of GaAs. This work has been funded by J.D.'s PhD fellowship of the Fund of Scientific Research-Flanders (FWO-V) (Dossier No. 11U4516N). P.H. acknowledges support from Becas Chile-CONICYT. This research was also supported by the FWO Odysseus Program, the Belgian Hercules Stichting with the Project No. Her/08/25 and AKUL/13/19 and the KU Leuven project GOA "Fundamental challenges in Semiconductor Research". The authors would also like to thank Bastiaan Opperdoes and Ludwig Henderix for technical support. The work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, and performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Battelle operates PNNL for the USDOE under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2014

Schottky contact formation on polar and non-polar AlN

The interfaces of m- and c-plane AlN with metals of different work functions and electro-negativities were characterized and the Schottky barrier heights were measured. The Schottky barrier height was determined by measuring the valence band maximum (VBM) with respect to the Fermi level at the surface (interface) before (after) metallization. VBM determination included accurate modeling and curve fitting of density of states at the valence band edge with the XPS data. The experimental behavior of the barrier heights could not be explained by the Schottky-Mott model and was modeled using InterFace-Induced Gap States (IFIGS). A slope parameter (S{sub X}) was used to incorporate the density of surface states and is a measure of Fermi level pinning. The experimental barriers followed theoretical predictions with a barrier height at the surface Fermi level (Charge neutrality level (CNL)) of ∼2.1 eV (∼2.7 eV) on m-plane (c-plane) and S{sub X} ∼ 0.36 eV/Miedema unit. Slope parameter much lower than 0.86 implied a surface/interface states dominated behavior with significant Fermi level pinning and the measured barrier heights were close to the CNL. Titanium and zirconium provided the lowest barriers (1.6 eV) with gold providing the highest (2.3 eV) among the metals analyzed on m-plane. It was consistently found that barrier heights decreased from metal polar to non-polar surfaces, in general, due to an increasing CNL. The data indicated that charged IFIGS compensate spontaneous polarization charge. These barrier height and slope parameter measurements provided essential information for designing Schottky diodes and other contact-based devices on AlN.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spin texture in type-II Weyl semimetal WTe 2

We determine the band structure and spin texture of WTe 2 by spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SARPES). With the support of first-principles calculations, we reveal the existence of spin polarization of both the Fermi arc surface states and bulk Fermi pockets. Our results support WTe 2 to be a type-II Weyl semimetal candidate and provide important information to understand its extremely large and nonsaturating magnetoresistance.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Poole-Frenkel effect on electrical characterization of Al-doped ZnO films deposited on p-type GaN

This paper presents the electrical properties of Al-doped ZnO (AZO) films directly grown on two types of p-type GaN thin films. The low-pressure p-GaN thin films (LP-p-GaN) exhibited structural properties of high-density edge-type threading dislocations (TDs) and compensated defects (i.e., nitrogen vacancy). Compared with high-pressure p-GaN thin films (HP-p-GaN), X-ray photoemission spectroscopy of Ga 3d core levels indicated that the surface Fermi-level shifted toward the higher binding-energy side by approximately 0.7 eV. The high-density edge-type TDs and compensated defects enabled surface Fermi-level shifting above the intrinsic Fermi-level, causing the surface of LP-p-GaN thin films to invert to n-type semiconductor. A highly nonlinear increase in leakage current regarding reverse-bias voltage was observed for AZO/LP-p-GaN. The theoretical fits for the reverse-bias voltage region indicated that the field-assisted thermal ionization of carriers from defect associated traps, which is known as the Poole-Frenkel effect, dominated the I-V behavior of AZO/LP-p-GaN. The fitting result estimated the trap energy level at 0.62 eV below the conduction band edge. In addition, the optical band gap increased from 3.50 eV for as-deposited AZO films to 3.62 eV for 300 °C annealed AZO films because of the increased carrier concentration. The increasing Fermi-level of the 300 °C annealed AZO films enabled the carrier transport to move across the interface into the LP-p-GaN thin films without any thermal activated energy. Thus, the Ohmic behavior of AZO contact can be achieved directly on the low-pressure p-GaN films at room temperature.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Criterion for strong localization on a semiconductor surface in the Thomas–Fermi approximation

The localization behavior of a two-dimensional electron gas confined at the surface of a heavily doped semiconductor under conditions of the “natural” size effect in the space-charge region is investigated. The scattering of low-energy electrons by the chaotic potential formed at the surface by point charges of ionized impurities is analyzed and the electron mean free path is determined. A criterion for strong localization in this two-dimensional electron system is obtained on the basis of the Ioffe–Regel criterion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Topological surface states above the Fermi level in Hf 2 Te 2 P

We report a detailed experimental study of the band structure of the recently discovered topological material Hf 2 Te 2 P. Using the combination of scanning tunneling spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy with surface K doping, we probe the band structure of Hf 2 Te 2 P with energy and momentum resolution above the Fermi level. Our experiments show the presence of multiple surface states with a linear Dirac-like dispersion, consistent with the predictions from previously reported band-structure calculations. In particular, scanning tunneling spectroscopy measurements provide experimental evidence for the strong topological surface state predicted at 460 meV, which stems from the band inversion between Hf- d and Te- p orbitals. As a result, this band inversion comprised of more localized d states could result in a better surface-to-bulk conductance ratio relative to more traditional topological insulators.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Magnetic Weyl semimetal phase in a Kagomé crystal

Weyl semimetals are crystalline solids that host emergent relativistic Weyl fermions and have characteristic surface Fermi-arcs in their electronic structure. Weyl semimetals with broken time reversal symmetry are difficult to identify unambiguously. In this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we visualized the electronic structure of the ferromagnetic crystal Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 and discovered its characteristic surface Fermi-arcs and linear bulk band dispersions across the Weyl points. Here, these results establish Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 as a magnetic Weyl semimetal that may serve as a platform for realizing phenomena such as chiral magnetic effects, unusually large anomalous Hall effect and quantum anomalous Hall effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Observation of an electron band above the Fermi level in FeTe{sub 0.55}Se{sub 0.45} from in-situ surface doping

We used in-situ potassium (K) evaporation to dope the surface of the iron-based superconductor FeTe{sub 0.55}Se{sub 0.45}. The systematic study of the bands near the Fermi level confirms that electrons are doped into the system, allowing us to tune the Fermi level of this material and to access otherwise unoccupied electronic states. In particular, we observe an electron band located above the Fermi level before doping that shares similarities with a small three-dimensional pocket observed in the cousin, heavily electron-doped KFe{sub 2−x}Se{sub 2} compound.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

Topological Surface States of Dirac Fermions in n-Bi 2 Te 3-y Se y Thermoelectrics

In n-Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and n-Bi 2 Te 3-y Se y thermoelectrics, the surface states of Dirac fermions of the interlayer Van der Waals surface (0001) are studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The surface morphology and modulated line profiles of the tunneling microscopy images are determined by local distortions of the surface density of electronic states and depend on the composition. The Dirac point E D in the studied compositions is localized in the band gap and shifts to the top of the valence band with increasing Se content in n-Bi 2 Te 3-y Se y alloys. The dependence between the parameters of the surface states of Dirac fermions (Dirac-point position, Fermi velocity, surface fermion concentration) and thermoelectric properties (Seebeck coefficient and power parameter) in the thermoelectrics under study is determined.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2016

Spin Polarization and Texture of the Fermi Arcs in the Weyl Fermion Semimetal TaAs

A Weyl semimetal is a new state of matter that hosts Weyl fermions as quasiparticle excitations. The Weyl fermions at zero energy correspond to points of bulk-band degeneracy, called Weyl nodes, which are separated in momentum space and are connected only through the crystal’s boundary by an exotic Fermi arc surface state. Here, we experimentally measure the spin polarization of the Fermi arcs in the first experimentally discovered Weyl semimetal TaAs. Our spin data, for the first time, reveal that the Fermi arcs’ spin-polarization magnitude is as large as 80% and lies completely in the plane of the surface. Moreover, we demonstrate that the chirality of the Weyl nodes in TaAs cannot be inferred by the spin texture of the Fermi arcs. The observed nondegenerate property of the Fermi arcs is important for establishing its exact topological nature, which reveals that spins on the arc form a novel type of 2D matter. In addition, the nearly full spin polarization we observed (~80%) may be useful in spintronic applications.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Altermagnetism, kagome flat band, and Weyl fermion states in magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides

Altermagnetic (AM) compounds have recently emerged as a promising platform for realizing unconventional quantum phases, enabled by their unique spin-split band structure at zero net magnetization. Here, we present a first-principles investigation of magnetically intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) of the form XY 4 Z 8 (X = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cr, or V; Y = Nb or Ta; and Z = Se or S), identifying a subset of new versatile AM candidates. Our results establish a systematic correlation between interatomic geometry, quantified by the ratio of interlayer to intralayer spacing, and the magnetic ground states. Systems with A-type antiferromagnetic order exhibit momentum-dependent spin splitting consistent with AM behavior. The combination of the AM spin-splitting and the spin-orbit coupling leads to the emergence of Weyl nodes together with the corresponding topological Fermi arc surface states. Moreover, we identify flat bands near the Fermi level that originate from the intercalant-induced formation of an effective kagome-like sublattice in the TMD layer. These results collectively establish magnetically intercalated TMDs as a promising platform for engineering altermagnetism, flat bands, and Weyl fermions within a single material family, facilitating the development of topological and spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Experimental discovery of a topological Weyl semimetal state in TaP

Here, Weyl semimetals are expected to open up new horizons in physics and materials science because they provide the first realization of Weyl fermions and exhibit protected Fermi arc surface states. However, they had been found to be extremely rare in nature. Recently, a family of compounds, consisting of tantalum arsenide, tantalum phosphide (TaP), niobium arsenide, and niobium phosphide, was predicted as a Weyl semimetal candidates. We experimentally realize a Weyl semimetal state in TaP. Using photoemission spectroscopy, we directly observe the Weyl fermion cones and nodes in the bulk, and the Fermi arcs on the surface. Moreover, we find that the surface states show an unexpectedly rich structure, including both topological Fermi arcs and several topologically trivial closed contours in the vicinity of the Weyl points, which provides a promising platform to study the interplay between topological and trivial surface states on a Weyl semimetal’s surface. We directly demonstrate the bulk-boundary correspondence and establish the topologically nontrivial nature of the Weyl semimetal state in TaP, by resolving the net number of chiral edge modes on a closed path that encloses the Weyl node. This also provides, for the first time, an experimentally practical approach to demonstrating a bulk Weyl fermion from a surface state dispersion measured in photoemission.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗