Nonequilibrium charge dynamics of light-driven rings threaded by a magnetic flux

We study theoretically the charge polarization and the charge current dynamics of a mesoscopic ring driven by short asymmetric electromagnetic pulses and threaded by an external static magnetic flux. It is shown that the pulse-induced charge polarization and the associated light-emission is controllable by tuning the external magnetic flux. Applying two mutually perpendicular pulses triggers a charge current in the ring. The interplay between this nonequilibrium and the persistent currents is investigated and the conditions under which the pulses stop the persistent current are identified.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures; submitted to EP

Pseudo-magnetic field distribution and pseudo-Landau levels in suspended graphene flakes

Combining the tight-binding approximation and linear elasticity theory for a planar membrane, we investigate stretching of a graphene flake assuming that two opposite edges of the sample are clamped by the contacts. We show that, depending on the aspect ratio of the flake and its orientation, gapped states may form in the membrane in the vicinity of the contacts. This gap in the pre-contact region should be biggest for the armchair orientation of the flake and width to length ratio of around 1.Comment: 7 pages + 3 figure

Electrons and phonons in single layers of hexagonal indium chalcogenides from ab initio calculations

We use density functional theory to calculate the electronic band structures, cohesive energies, phonon dispersions, and optical absorption spectra of two-dimensional In$_2$X$_2$ crystals, where X is S, Se, or Te. We identify two crystalline phases (alpha and beta) of monolayers of hexagonal In$_2$X$_2$, and show that they are characterized by different sets of Raman-active phonon modes. We find that these materials are indirect-band-gap semiconductors with a sombrero-shaped dispersion of holes near the valence-band edge. The latter feature results in a Lifshitz transition (a change in the Fermi-surface topology of hole-doped In$_2$X$_2$) at hole concentrations $n_{\rm S}=6.86\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, $n_{\rm Se}=6.20\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, and $n_{\rm Te}=2.86\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ for X=S, Se, and Te, respectively, for alpha-In$_2$X$_2$ and $n_{\rm S}=8.32\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, $n_{\rm Se}=6.00\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$, and $n_{\rm Te}=8.14\times 10^{13}$ cm$^{-2}$ for beta-In$_2$X$_2$.Comment: 9 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1302.606

Electrically Tunable Band Gap in Silicene

We report calculations of the electronic structure of silicene and the stability of its weakly buckled honeycomb lattice in an external electric field oriented perpendicular to the monolayer of Si atoms. We find that the electric field produces a tunable band gap in the Dirac-type electronic spectrum, the gap being suppressed by a factor of about eight by the high polarizability of the system. At low electric fields, the interplay between this tunable band gap, which is specific to electrons on a honeycomb lattice, and the Kane-Mele spin-orbit coupling induces a transition from a topological to a band insulator, whereas at much higher electric fields silicene becomes a semimetal

Thermally excited spin-current in metals with embedded ferromagnetic nanoclusters

We show that a thermally excited spin-current naturally appears in metals with embedded ferromagnetic nanoclusters. When such materials are subjected to a magnetic field, a spin current can be generated by a temperature gradient across the sample as a signature of electron-hole symmetry breaking in a metal due to the electron spin-flip scattering from polarised magnetic moments. Such a spin current can be observed via a giant magneto-thermopower which tracks the polarisation state of the magnetic subsystem and is proportional to the magnetoresistance. Our theory explains the recent experiment on Co clusters in copper by S. Serrano-Guisan \textit{et al} [Nature Materials AOP, doi:10.1038/nmat1713 (2006)

Multifractality: generic property of eigenstates of 2D disordered metals.

The distribution function of local amplitudes of eigenstates of a two-dimensional disordered metal is calculated. Although the distribution of comparatively small amplitudes is governed by laws similar to those known from the random matrix theory, its decay at larger amplitudes is non-universal and much slower. This leads to the multifractal behavior of inverse participation numbers at any disorder. From the formal point of view, the multifractality originates from non-trivial saddle-point solutions of supersymmetric $\sigma$-model used in calculations.Comment: 4 two-column pages, no figures, submitted to PRL

Silicane and germanane: tight-binding and first-principles studies

We present a first-principles and tight-binding model study of silicane and germanane, the hydrogenated derivatives of two-dimensional silicene and germanene. We find that the materials are stable in freestanding form, analyse the orbital composition, and derive a tight-binding model using first-principles calculations to fit the parameters.Comment: Published in "2D Materials

Quantum Monte Carlo Calculation of the Binding Energy of Bilayer Graphene

We report diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations of the interlayer binding energy of bilayer graphene. We find the binding energies of the AA- and AB-stacked structures at the equilibrium separation to be 11.5(9) and 17.7(9) meV/atom, respectively. The out-of-plane zone-center optical phonon frequency predicted by our binding-energy curve is consistent with available experimental results. As well as assisting the modeling of interactions between graphene layers, our results will facilitate the development of van der Waals exchange-correlation functionals for density functional theory calculations.Comment: 5 pages and 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.; supplemental material is available on arXiv via the ancillary files attached to this submissio