Optoelectronic characterisation of twisted germanium sulfide nanowires with experimental observation of intrinsic ferroelectricity

We report the optoelectrical characterisation of Eshelby twisted Germanium sulfide (GeS) nanowires with first experimental observation of ferroelectric order at room temperature in GeS which is an otherwise centrosymmetric molecule. The chemical composition and structure of these nanowires were confirmed by various spectroscopic, microscopic and diffractive techniques. In addition, the nanowires were found to be stable over time. From the optoelectronic measurements we found that these p-type semiconducting GeS nanowires have up to two orders higher charge carrier mobility than GeS nanosheets and have sustainable, robust photo-switching property. The existence of room temperature ferroelectricity is confirmed by piezoresponse force microscopy which showed hysteresis and butterfly loop, characteristics of a ferroelectric material. Our observations reveal that the properties of twisted GeS nanowires can be harnessed in making efficient electric sensors, photodetectors, data memories and flexible electronics

Discovery of highly spin-polarized conducting surface states in the strong spin-orbit coupling semiconductor Sb2_2Se3_3

Majority of the A$_2$B$_3$ type chalcogenide systems with strong spin-orbit coupling, like Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Bi$_2$Te$_3$ and Sb$_2$Te$_3$ etc., are topological insulators. One important exception is Sb$_2$Se$_3$, where a topological non-trivial phase was argued to be possible under ambient conditions, but such a phase could be detected to exist only under pressure. In this Letter, we show that like Bi$_2$Se$_3$, Sb$_2$Se$_3$, displays generation of highly spin-polarized current under mesoscopic superconducting point contacts as measured by point contact Andreev reflection spectroscopy. In addition, we observe a large negative and anisotropic magnetoresistance in Sb$_2$Se$_3$, when the field is rotated in the basal plane. However, unlike in Bi$_2$Se$_3$, in case of Sb$_2$Se$_3$ a prominent quasiparticle interference (QPI) pattern around the defects could be obtained in STM conductance imaging. Thus, our experiments indicate that Sb$_2$Se$_3$ is a regular band insulator under ambient conditions, but due to it's high spin-orbit coupling, non-trivial spin-texture exists on the surface and the system could be on the verge of a topological insulator phase.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, supplemental material not include

Generation of strain-induced pseudo-magnetic field in a doped type-II Weyl semimetal

In Weyl semimetals, there is an intriguing possibility of realizing a pseudo-magnetic field in presence of small strain due to certain special cases of static deformations. This pseudo-magnetic field can be large enough to form quantized Landau levels and thus become observable in Weyl semimetals. In this paper, we experimentally show the emergence of a pseudo-magnetic field (~ 3 Tesla) by Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy (STS) on the doped Weyl semimetal Re-MoTe2, where distinct Landau level oscillations in the tunneling conductance are clearly resolved. The crystal lattice is intrinsically strained where large area STM imaging of the surface reveals differently strained domains where atomic scale deformations exist forming topographic ripples with varying periodicity in the real space. The effect of pseudo-magnetic field is clearly resolved in areas under maximum strain.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Local ferroelectric polarization switching driven by nanoscale distortions in thermoelectric Sn0.7Ge0.3Te{\text {Sn}}_{0.7}{\text {Ge}}_{0.3}{\text {Te}}

A remarkable decrease in the lattice thermal conductivity and enhancement of thermoelectric figure of merit were recently observed in rock-salt cubic SnTe, when doped with germanium (Ge). Primarily, based on theoretical analysis, the decrease in lattice thermal conductivity was attributed to local ferroelectric fluctuations induced softening of the optical phonons which may strongly scatter the heat carrying acoustic phonons. Although the previous structural analysis indicated that the local ferroelectric transition temperature would be near room temperature in ${\text {Sn}}_{0.7}{\text {Ge}}_{0.3}{\text {Te}}$, a direct evidence of local ferroelectricity remained elusive. Here we report a direct evidence of local nanoscale ferroelectric domains and their switching in ${\text {Sn}}_{0.7}{\text {Ge}}_{0.3}{\text {Te}}$ using piezoeresponse force microscopy(PFM) and switching spectroscopy over a range of temperatures near the room temperature. From temperature dependent (250–300 K) synchrotron X-ray pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, we show the presence of local off-centering distortion of Ge along the rhombohedral direction in global cubic ${\text {Sn}}_{0.7}{\text {Ge}}_{0.3}{\text {Te}}$. The length scale of the Ge$^{2+}$ off-centering is 0.25–0.10 Å near the room temperatures (250–300 K). This local emphatic behaviour of cation is the cause for the observed local ferroelectric instability, thereby low lattice thermal conductivity in ${\text {Sn}}_{0.7}{\text {Ge}}_{0.3}{\text {Te}}$