Tuning the topological band gap of bismuthene with silicon-based substrates

Altres ajuts: We acknowledge computing resources on MareNostrum4 at Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), provided through the PRACE Project Access (OptoSpin Project 2020225411) and RES (Activity FI-2020-1-0014), resources of SURFsara the on National Supercomputer Snellius (EINF-1858 Project) and technical support provided by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center.Some metastable polymorphs of bismuth monolayers (bismuthene) can host non-trivial topological phases. However, it remains unclear whether these polymorphs can become stable through interaction with a substrate, whether their topological properties are preserved, and how to design an optimal substrate to make the topological phase more robust. Using first-principles techniques, we demonstrate that bismuthene polymorphs can become stable over silicon carbide (SiC), silicon (Si), and silicon dioxide (SiO) and that proximity interaction in these heterostructures has a significant effect on the electronic structure of the monolayer, even when bonding is weak. We show that van der Waals interactions and the breaking of the sublattice symmetry are the main factors driving changes in the electronic structure in non-covalently binding heterostructures. Our work demonstrates that substrate interaction can strengthen the topological properties of bismuthene polymorphs and make them accessible for experimental investigations and technological applications

Interference effects in one-dimensional moiré crystals

Interference effects in finite sections of one-dimensional moiré crystals are investigated using a Landauer-Büttiker formalism within the tight-binding approximation. We explain interlayer transport in double-wall carbon nanotubes and design a predictive model. Wave function interference is visible at the mesoscale: in the strong coupling regime, as a periodic modulation of quantum conductance and emergent localized states; in the localized-insulating regime, as a suppression of interlayer transport, and oscillations of the density of states. These results could be exploited to design quantum electronic devices. © 2021 The Author

Tuning the topological band gap of bismuthene with silicon-based substrates

Some metastable polymorphs of bismuth monolayers (bismuthene) can host non-trivial topological phases. However, it remains unclear whether these polymorphs can become stable through interaction with a substrate, whether their topological properties are preserved, and how to design an optimal substrate to make the topological phase more robust. Using first-principles techniques, we demonstrate that bismuthene polymorphs can become stable over silicon carbide (SiC), silicon (Si), and silicon dioxide (SiO2) and that proximity interaction in these heterostructures has a significant effect on the electronic structure of the monolayer, even when bonding is weak. We show that van der Waals interactions and the breaking of the sublattice symmetry are the main factors driving changes in the electronic structure in non-covalently binding heterostructures. Our work demonstrates that substrate interaction can strengthen the topological properties of bismuthene polymorphs and make them accessible for experimental investigations and technological applications

Low energy phases of bilayer Bi predicted by structure search in two dimensions

We employ an ab-initio structure search algorithm to explore the configurational space of Bi in quasi two dimensions. A confinement potential restricts the movement of atoms within a pre-defined thickness during structure search calculations within the minima hopping method to find the stable and metastable forms of bilayer Bi. In addition to recovering the two known low-energy structures (puckered monoclinic and buckled hexagonal), our calculations predict three new structures of bilayer Bi. We call these structures the $\alpha$, $\beta$, and $\gamma$ phases of bilayer Bi, which are, respectively, 63, 72, and 83 meV/atom higher in energy than that of the monoclinic ground state, and thus potentially synthesizable using appropriate substrates. We also compare the structural, electronic, and vibrational properties of the different phases. The puckered monoclinic, buckled hexagonal, and $\beta$ phases exhibit a semiconducting energy gap, whereas $\alpha$ and $\gamma$ phases are metallic. We notice an unusual Mexican-hat type band dispersion leading to a van Hove singularity in the buckled hexagonal bilayer Bi. Notably, we find symmetry-protected topological Dirac points in the electronic spectrum of the $\gamma$ phase. The new structures suggest that bilayer Bi provides a novel playground to study distortion-mediated metal-insulator phase transitions

Phonon-assisted luminescence in defect centers from many-body perturbation theory

Phonon-assisted luminescence is a key property of defect centers in semiconductors, and can be measured to perform the readout of the information stored in a quantum bit, or to detect temperature variations. The investigation of phonon-assisted luminescence usually employs phenomenological models, such as that of Huang and Rhys, with restrictive assumptions that can fail to be predictive. In this work, we predict luminescence and study exciton-phonon couplings within a rigorous many-body perturbation theory framework, an analysis that has never been performed for defect centers. In particular, we study the optical emission of the negatively-charged boron vacancy in 2D hexagonal boron nitride, which currently stands out among defect centers in 2D materials thanks to its promise for applications in quantum information and quantum sensing. We show that phonons are responsible for the observed luminescence, which otherwise would be dark due to symmetry. We also show that the symmetry breaking induced by the static Jahn-Teller effect is not able to describe the presence of the experimentally observed peak at 1.5 eV

Spin States Protected from Intrinsic Electron-Phonon-Coupling Reaching 100 ns Lifetime at Room Temperature in MoSe2_2

We present time-resolved Kerr rotation measurements, showing spin lifetimes of over 100 ns at room temperature in monolayer MoSe$_2$. These long lifetimes are accompanied by an intriguing temperature dependence of the Kerr amplitude, which increases with temperature up to 50 K and then abruptly switches sign. Using ab initio simulations we explain the latter behavior in terms of the intrinsic electron-phonon coupling and the activation of transitions to secondary valleys. The phonon-assisted scattering of the photo-excited electron-hole pairs prepares a valley spin polarization within the first few ps after laser excitation. The sign of the total valley magnetization, and thus the Kerr amplitude, switches as a function of temperature, as conduction and valence band states exhibit different phonon-mediated inter-valley scattering rates. However, the electron-phonon scattering on the ps time scale does not provide an explanation for the long spin lifetimes. Hence, we deduce that the initial spin polarization must be transferred into spin states which are protected from the intrinsic electron-phonon coupling, and are most likely resident charge carriers which are not part of the itinerant valence or conduction band states.Comment: 18 pages, 17 figure

Microscopic understanding of the in-plane thermal transport properties of 2H transition metal dichalcogenides

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a class of layered materials that hold great promise for a wide range of applications. Their practical use can be limited by their thermal transport properties, which have proven challenging to determine accurately, both from a theoretical and experimental perspective. We have conducted a thorough theoretical investigation of the thermal conductivity of four common TMDs, MoSe2, WSe2, MoS2, and WS2, at room temperature, to determine the key factors that influence their thermal behavior. We analyze these materials using ab initio calculations performed with the siesta program, anharmonic lattice dynamics and the Boltzmann transport equation formalism, as implemented in the temperature-dependent effective potentials method. Within this framework, we analyze the microscopic parameters influencing the thermal conductivity, such as the phonon dispersion and the phonon lifetimes. The aim is to precisely identify the origin of differences in thermal conductivity among these canonical TMD materials. We compare their in-plane thermal properties in monolayer and bulk form, and we analyze how the thickness and the chemical composition affect the thermal transport behavior. We showcase how bonding and the crystal structure influence the thermal properties by comparing the TMDs with silicon, reporting the cases of bulk silicon and monolayer silicene. We find that the interlayer bond type (covalent vs. van der Waals) involved in the structure is crucial in the heat transport. In two-dimensional silicene, we observe a reduction by a factor ∼15 compared to the Si bulk thermal conductivity due to the smaller group velocities and shorter phonon lifetimes. In the TMDs, where the group velocities and the phonon bands do not vary significantly passing from the bulk to the monolayer limit, we do not see as strong a decrease in the thermal conductivity: only a factor 2-3. Moreover, our analysis reveals that differences in the thermal conductivity arise from variations in atomic species, bond strengths, and phonon lifetimes. These factors are closely interconnected and collectively impact the overall thermal conductivity. We inspect each of them separately and explain how they influence the heat transport. We also study artificial TMDs with modified masses, in order to assess how the chemistry of the compounds modifies the microscopic quantities and thus the thermal conductivity.</p

Phonon-Assisted Luminescence in Defect Centers from Many-Body Perturbation Theory

Phonon-assisted luminescence is a key property of defect centers in semiconductors, and can be measured to perform the readout of the information stored in a quantum bit, or to detect temperature variations. The investigation of phonon-assisted luminescence usually employs phenomenological models, such as that of Huang and Rhys, with restrictive assumptions that can fail to be predictive. In this work, we predict luminescence and study exciton-phonon couplings within a rigorous many-body perturbation theory framework, an analysis that has never been performed for defect centers. In particular, we study the optical emission of the negatively charged boron vacancy in 2D hexagonal boron nitride, which currently stands out among defect centers in 2D materials thanks to its promise for applications in quantum information and quantum sensing. We show that phonons are responsible for the observed luminescence, which otherwise would be dark due to symmetry. We also show that the symmetry breaking induced by the static Jahn-Teller effect is not able to describe the presence of the experimentally observed peak at 1.5 eV

Electrical Control of Spin-polarized Topological Currents in Monolayer WTe2_2

We evidence the possibility for coherent electrical manipulation of the spin orientation of topologically protected edge states in a low-symmetry quantum spin Hall insulator. By using a combination of ab-initio simulations, symmetry-based modeling, and large-scale calculations of the spin Hall conductivity, it is shown that small electric fields can efficiently vary the spin textures of edge currents in monolayer 1T'-WTe2 by up to a 90-degree spin rotation, without jeopardizing their topological character. These findings suggest a new kind of gate-controllable spin-based device, topologically protected against disorder and of relevance for the development of topological spintronics