Browsing by Author "Lei, Shiming"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    Domain-dependent strain and stacking in two-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectrics
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Shi, Chuqiao; Mao, Nannan; Zhang, Kena; Zhang, Tianyi; Chiu, Ming-Hui; Ashen, Kenna; Wang, Bo; Tang, Xiuyu; Guo, Galio; Lei, Shiming; Chen, Longqing; Cao, Ye; Qian, Xiaofeng; Kong, Jing; Han, Yimo
    Van der Waals (vdW) ferroelectrics have attracted significant attention for their potential in next-generation nano-electronics. Two-dimensional (2D) group-IV monochalcogenides have emerged as a promising candidate due to their strong room temperature in-plane polarization down to a monolayer limit. However, their polarization is strongly coupled with the lattice strain and stacking orders, which impact their electronic properties. Here, we utilize four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM) to simultaneously probe the in-plane strain and out-of-plane stacking in vdW SnSe. Specifically, we observe large lattice strain up to 4% with a gradient across ~50 nm to compensate lattice mismatch at domain walls, mitigating defects initiation. Additionally, we discover the unusual ferroelectric-to-antiferroelectric domain walls stabilized by vdW force and may lead to anisotropic nonlinear optical responses. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of in-plane and out-of-plane structures affecting domain properties in vdW SnSe, laying the foundation for domain wall engineering in vdW ferroelectrics.
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    Kramers nodal lines and Weyl fermions in SmAlSi
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Zhang, Yichen; Gao, Yuxiang; Gao, Xue-Jian; Lei, Shiming; Ni, Zhuoliang; Oh, Ji Seop; Huang, Jianwei; Yue, Ziqin; Zonno, Marta; Gorovikov, Sergey; Hashimoto, Makoto; Lu, Donghui; Denlinger, Jonathan D.; Birgeneau, Robert J.; Kono, Junichiro; Wu, Liang; Law, Kam Tuen; Morosan, Emilia; Yi, Ming
    Kramers nodal lines (KNLs) have recently been proposed theoretically as a special type of Weyl line degeneracy connecting time-reversal invariant momenta. KNLs are robust to spin orbit coupling and are inherent to all non-centrosymmetric achiral crystal structures, leading to unusual spin, magneto-electric, and optical properties. However, their existence in in real quantum materials has not been experimentally established. Here we gather the experimental evidence pointing at the presence of KNLs in SmAlSi, a non-centrosymmetric metal that develops incommensurate spin density wave order at low temperature. Using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, density functional theory calculations, and magneto-transport methods, we provide evidence suggesting the presence of KNLs, together with observing Weyl fermions under the broken inversion symmetry in the paramagnetic phase of SmAlSi. We discuss the nesting possibilities regarding the emergent magnetic orders in SmAlSi. Our results provide a solid basis of experimental observations for exploring correlated topology in SmAlSi
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    Spontaneous reversal of spin chirality and competing phases in the topological magnet EuAl4
    (Springer Nature, 2024) Vibhakar, Anuradha M.; Khalyavin, Dmitry D.; Orlandi, Fabio; Moya, Jamie M.; Lei, Shiming; Morosan, Emilia; Bombardi, Alessandro
    Materials exhibiting a spontaneous reversal of spin chirality have the potential to drive the widespread adoption of chiral magnets in spintronic devices. Unlike the majority of chiral magnets that require the application of an external field to reverse the spin chirality, we observe the spin chirality to spontaneously reverse in the topological magnet EuAl4. Using resonant elastic x-ray scattering we demonstrate that all four magnetic phases in EuAl4 are single-k, where the first two magnetic phases are characterized by spin density wave order and the last two by helical spin order. A single spin chirality was stabilised across the 1mm2 sample, and the reversal of spin chirality occurred whilst maintaining a helical magnetic structure. At the onset of the helical magnetism, the crystal symmetry lowers to a chiral monoclinic space group, explaining the asymmetry in the chiral spin order, and establishing a mechanism by which the spin chirality could reverse via magnetostructural coupling.
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    Weyl nodal ring states and Landau quantization with very large magnetoresistance in square-net magnet EuGa4
    (Springer Nature, 2023) Lei, Shiming; Allen, Kevin; Huang, Jianwei; Moya, Jaime M.; Wu, Tsz Chun; Casas, Brian; Zhang, Yichen; Oh, Ji Seop; Hashimoto, Makoto; Lu, Donghui; Denlinger, Jonathan; Jozwiak, Chris; Bostwick, Aaron; Rotenberg, Eli; Balicas, Luis; Birgeneau, Robert; Foster, Matthew S.; Yi, Ming; Sun, Yan; Morosan, Emilia; Rice Center for Quantum Materials
    Magnetic topological semimetals allow for an effective control of the topological electronic states by tuning the spin configuration. Among them, Weyl nodal line semimetals are thought to have the greatest tunability, yet they are the least studied experimentally due to the scarcity of material candidates. Here, using a combination of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and quantum oscillation measurements, together with density functional theory calculations, we identify the square-net compound EuGa4 as a magnetic Weyl nodal ring semimetal, in which the line nodes form closed rings near the Fermi level. The Weyl nodal ring states show distinct Landau quantization with clear spin splitting upon application of a magnetic field. At 2 K in a field of 14 T, the transverse magnetoresistance of EuGa4 exceeds 200,000%, which is more than two orders of magnitude larger than that of other known magnetic topological semimetals. Our theoretical model suggests that the non-saturating magnetoresistance up to 40 T arises as a consequence of the nodal ring state.