二维拓扑绝缘体退相干效应研究

拓扑绝缘体是当前凝聚态物理研究的热点.退相干效应对该体系的影响的研究不仅有重要的理论意义,而且也是实现未来量子器件的不可或缺的前期工作.文章作者从理论上研究了退相干对二维拓扑绝缘体特别是量子自旋霍尔效应的影响.研究结果表明,作为量子自旋霍尔效应的标志的量子化纵向电阻平台对不破坏自旋记忆的退相干效应（普通退相干）不敏感,但却对破坏自旋记忆的退相干效应（自旋退相干）非常敏感.因此,该量子化平台只能在尺寸小于自旋退相干长度的介观样品中存在,从而解释了量子自旋霍尔效应实验中所观测到的结果(见Science ,20     

超构材料中的光学量子自旋霍尔效应

电子的量子自旋霍尔效应的发现推进了当今凝聚态物理学的发展,它是一种电子自旋依赖的具有量子行为的输运效应.近年来,大量的理论和实验研究表明,描述电磁波场运动规律的麦克斯韦方程组内禀了光的量子自旋霍尔效应,存在于界面的倏逝波表现出强烈的自旋与动量关联性.得益于新兴的光学材料:超构材料(metamaterials)的发展,不仅能够任意设定光学参数,同时也能引入很多复杂的自旋-轨道耦合机理,让我们能够更加清晰地了解和验证其中的物理机理.本文对超构材料中量子自旋霍尔效应做了简要的介绍,内容主要包括真空中光的量子自旋霍尔效应的物理本质、电单负和磁单负超构材料能带反转导致的不同拓扑相的界面态、拓扑电路系统中光量子自旋霍尔效应等.     

半导体中自旋轨道耦合及自旋霍尔效应

本文主要评述和介绍半导体微结构中自旋轨道耦合的研究和最近的研究进展。我们细致地讨论了半导体微结构中自旋轨道耦合的物理起源和窄带隙半导体量子阱中的自旋霍尔效应。我们发现目前国际上广泛采用的线性Rashba模型在较大的电子平面波矢处失效:即自旋轨道耦合导致的能带自旋劈裂不再随电子波矢的增加而增加,而是开始下降,即出现强烈的非线性行为。这种非线性的行为起源于导带和价带间耦合的减弱。这种非线性行为还会导致电子的D’yakonov-Perel’自旋弛豫速率在较高能量处下降,与线性模型的结果完全相反。在此基础上,我们构造统一描述电子和空穴自旋霍尔效应的理论框架。我们的方法可以非微扰地计入自旋轨道耦合对本征自旋霍尔效应的影响。我们将此方法应用于强自旋轨道耦合的情形,即窄带隙CdHgTe/CdTe半导体量子阱。我们发现调节外电场或量子阱的阱宽可以作为导致量子相变和本征自旋霍尔效应的开关。我们的工作可能会为区别和实验验证本征自旋霍尔效应提供物理基础。     

Nondissipative spin Hall effect via quantized edge transport

The spin Hall effect in a two-dimensional electron system on honeycomb lattice with both intrinsic and Rashba spin-orbit couplings is studied numerically. Integer quantized spin Hall conductance is obtained at the zero Rashba coupling limit when electron Fermi energy lies in the energy gap created by the intrinsic spin-orbit coupling, in agreement with recent theoretical prediction. While nonzero Rashba coupling destroys electron spin conservation, the spin Hall conductance is found to remain near the quantized value, being insensitive to disorder scattering, until the energy gap collapses with increasing the Rashba coupling. We further show that the charge transport through counterpropagating spin-polarized edge channels is well quantized, which is associated with a topological invariant of the system.     

Anisotropic intrinsic spin Hall effect in quantum wires

We use numerical simulations to investigate the spin Hall effect in quantum wires in the presence of both Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling. We find that the intrinsic spin Hall effect is highly anisotropic with respect to the orientation of the wire, and that the nature of this anisotropy depends strongly on the electron density and the relative strengths of the Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit couplings. In particular, at low densities, when only one subband of the quantum wire is occupied, the spin Hall effect is strongest for electron momentum along the [N110] axis, which is the opposite of what is expected for the purely 2D case. In addition, when more than one subband is occupied, the strength and anisotropy of the spin Hall effect can vary greatly over relatively small changes in electron density, which makes it difficult to predict which wire orientation will maximize the strength of the spin Hall effect. These results help to illuminate the role of quantum confinement in spin-orbit-coupled systems, and can serve as a guide for future experimental work on the use of quantum wires for spin-Hall-based spintronic applications.     

Quantum anomalous hall effect in Hg1-yMnyTe quantum wells

The quantum Hall effect is usually observed when a two-dimensional electron gas is subjected to an external magnetic field, so that their quantum states form Landau levels. In this work we predict that a new phenomenon, the quantum anomalous Hall effect, can be realized in Hg{1-y}Mn{y}Te quantum wells, without an external magnetic field and the associated Landau levels. This effect arises purely from the spin polarization of the Mn atoms, and the quantized Hall conductance is predicted for a range of quantum well thickness and the concentration of the Mn atoms. This effect enables dissipationless charge current in spintronics devices.     

二维拓扑绝缘体退相干效应研究

拓扑绝缘体是当前凝聚态物理研究的热点.退相干效应对该体系的影响的研究不仅有重要的理论意义,而且也是实现未来量子器件的不可或缺的前期工作.文章作者从理论上研究了退相干对二维拓扑绝缘体特别是量子自旋霍尔效应的影响.研究结果表明,作为量子自旋霍尔效应的标志的量子化纵向电阻平台对不破坏自旋记忆的退相干效应(普通退相干)不敏感,但却对破坏自旋记忆的退相干效应(自旋退相干)非常敏感.因此,该量子化平台只能在尺寸小于自旋退相干长度的介观样品中存在,从而解释了量子自旋霍尔效应实验中所观测到的结果(见Science,2007,318:766).同时,文章作者还定义了一个新的物理量,即自旋霍尔电阻,并发现该自旋霍尔电阻也有量子化平台.特别是该量子化平台对两种类型的退相干都不敏感.这说明在宏观样品中也能观测到自旋霍尔电阻的量子化平台,因此更能全面地反映量子自旋霍尔效应的拓扑特性.     

Hysteresis, spin transitions, and magnetic ordering in the fractional quantum Hall effect

We have studied the development of metastable properties associated with a nearly spin-degenerate two-dimensional electron system. Application of large hydrostatic pressure significantly reduces the g-factor experienced by electrons in GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructure, and various fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) states are found to undergo transition to a spin-unpolarized ground state. In case of even numerator FQHE states, the spin transitions are accompanied by hysteresis and nonlinearity in the magnetotransport. These results strongly support a recent theory of quantum Hall magnetism in which competition between spin-polarized and spin-unpolarized ground states leads to an ordered phase that exhibits ferromagnetic correlation.     

Screening model of magnetotransport hysteresis observed in bilayer quantum Hall systems

We report on theoretical and experimental investigations of a novel hysteresis effect that has been observed on the magnetoresistance of quantum Hall bilayer systems. Extending to these system a recent approach, based on the Thomas–Fermi–Poisson nonlinear screening theory and a local conductivity model, we are able to explain the hysteresis as being due to screening effects such as the formation of “incompressible strips”, which hinder the electron density in a layer within the quantum Hall regime to reach its equilibrium distribution.     

从分数量子霍尔效应到拓扑量子计算

分数量子霍尔效应系统是奇异的量子液体,其中的准粒子激发可以带分数电荷,甚至具有非阿贝尔的统计性质。理论研究表明,这些准粒子可以用来实现在硬件上可容错的量子计算,即拓扑量子计算。文章在介绍分数量子霍尔效应及其在拓扑量子计算中的潜在应用基础上,重点回顾了近五年来对填充因子为5/2的分数量子霍尔态中非阿贝尔准粒子的实验探测和部分相关理论诠释。     

Multiple phases with the same quantized Hall conductance in a two-subband system

In a two-dimensional electron system with two occupied subbands, the experimentally determined phase diagram in the density-magnetic field plane exhibits rich topological features. Ringlike structures are observed at even integer filling factors in the phase diagram. Even with the identical quantized Hall resistance values as those given by the ordinary integer quantum Hall effect due to the Landau level quantization, the activation energies of these states within the rings are much smaller. These ring structures cannot be accounted for by the simple single particle picture. We argue that ferromagnetic quantum Hall states, due to the interaction of two energy levels with opposite spin and different subband indices, are responsible for these unusual structures.     

Spin hall effect associated with SU(2) gauge field

In this paper, we focus on the connection between spin Hall effect and spin force. Here we investigate that the spin force due to spin-orbit coupling, which, in two-dimensional system, is equivalent to forces of Hirsch and Chudnovsky besides constant factors 3 and $\frac{3}{2}$ respectively, is a part of classic Anandan force, and that the spin Hall effect is an anomalous Hall effect. Furthermore, we develop the method of AC phase to derive the expression for the spin force, and note that the most basic spin Hall effect indeed originate from the AC phase and is therefore an intrinsic quantum mechanical property of spin. This method differs from approach of Berry phase in the study of anomalous Hall effect , which is the intrinsic property of the perfect crystal. On the other hand, we use an elegant skill to show that the Chudnovsky-Drude model is reasonable. Here we have improved the theoretical values of spin Hall conductivity of Chudnovsky. Compared to the theoretical values of spin Hall conductivity in the Chudnovsky-Drude model, ours are in better agreement with experimentation. Finally, we discuss the relation between spin Hall effect and fractional statistics.     

Quantum Hall effect in intentionally disordered two‐dimensional electron systems

In this work intentionally disordered two‐dimensional electron systems in modulation doped GaAs/GaAlAs heterostructures are studied by magnetotransport experiments. The disorder is provided by a δ‐doped layer of negatively charged beryllium acceptors. In low magnetic fields a strong negative magnetoresistance is observed that can be ascribed to magnetic‐field‐induced delocalization. At increased magnetic fields the quantum Hall effect exhibits broad Hall plateaus whose centers are shifted to higher magnetic fields, i.e. lower filling factors. This shift can be explained by an asymmetric density of states. Consistently, the transition into the insulating state of quantum Hall droplets in high magnetic fields occurs at critical filling factors around ν_c=0.4, i.e. well below the value 1/2 that is expected for symmetric disorder potentials. The insulator transition is characterized by the divergence of both the longitudinal resistance as well as the Hall resistance. This is contrary to other experiments which observe a finite Hall resistance in the insulating regime and has not been observed previously. According to recent theoretical studies the divergence of the Hall resistance points to quantum coherent transport via tunneling between quantum Hall droplets. The magnetotransport experiments are supplemented by simulations of potential landscapes for random and correlated distributions of repulsive scatterers, which enable the determination of percolation thresholds, densities of states, and oscillator strengths for far‐infrared excitations. These simulations reveal that the strong shift of the Hall plateaus and the observed critical filling factor for the insulator transition in high magnetic fields require an asymmetric density of states that can only be generated by a strongly correlated beryllium distribution. Cyclotron resonance on the same samples also indicates the possibility of correlations between the beryllium acceptors.     

Coherent ultrafast dynamics in the quantum Hall effect regime

We review recent investigations of the femtosecond non-linear optical response of the two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the quantum Hall effect regime. We find that the time and frequency profile of the four-wave-mixing non-linear optical spectrum is strongly influenced by Coulomb correlations between the photoexcited electron-hole pairs and the 2DEG collective excitations. We discuss experimental and theoretical results showing non-Markovian memory effects in the polarization dephasing, and an optically induced time-dependent coupling between the two lowest Landau level magnetoexcitons.     

Quantum phase transition of cold atoms trapped in optical lattices

We review our recent theoretical advances in phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices, such as triangular lattice, honeycomb lattice, and Kagomé lattice. By employing the new developed numerical methods called dynamical cluster approximation and cellular dynamical mean-field theory, the properties in different phases of cold atoms in optical lattices are studied, such as density of states, Fermi surface and double occupancy. On triangular lattice, a reentrant behavior of phase translation line between Fermi liquid state and pseudogap state is found due to the Kondo effect. We find the system undergoes a second order Mott transition from a metallic state into a Mott insulator state on honeycomb lattice and triangular Kagomé lattice. The stability of quantum spin Hall phase towards interaction on honeycomb lattice with spin-orbital coupling is systematically discussed. And we investigate the transition from quantum spin Hall insulator to normal insulator in Kagomé lattice which includes a nearest-neighbor intrinsic spin-orbit coupling and a trimerized Hamiltonian. In addition, we propose the experimental protocols to observe these phase transition of cold atoms in optical lattices.     

Half-polarized quantum hall states

We report a theoretical analysis of the half-polarized quantum Hall states observed in a recent experiment. Our numerical results indicate that the ground state energy of the quantum Hall nu = 2 / 3 and nu = 2 / 5 states versus spin polarization has a downward cusp at half the maximal spin polarization. We map the two-component fermion system onto a system of excitons and describe the ground state as a liquid state of excitons with nonzero values of exciton angular momentum.     

Helical nuclear spin order in a strip of stripes in the quantum Hall regime

We investigate nuclear spin effects in a two-dimensional electron gas in the quantum Hall regime modeled by a weakly coupled array of interacting quantum wires. We show that the presence of hyperfine interaction between electron and nuclear spins in such wires can induce a phase transition, ordering electrons and nuclear spins into a helix in each wire. Electron-electron interaction effects, pronounced within the one-dimensional stripes, boost the transition temperature up to tens to hundreds of millikelvins in GaAs. We predict specific experimental signatures of the existence of nuclear spin order, for instance for the resistivity of the system at transitions between different quantum Hall plateaus.     

Electron Spin Resonance in an AlAs Quantum Well near Filling Factor 1

JETP Letters - The phenomenon of spin resonance of two-dimensional electrons confined in a 16 nm AlAs quantum well is studied in the quantum Hall effect regime near filling factor 1. At a...     

Multiple coherence resonances by time-periodic coupling strength in scale-free networks of bursting neurons

We investigate the algebraic structure of flat energy bands a partial filling of which may give rise to a fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect (or a fractional Chern insulator) and a fractional quantum spin Hall effect. Both effects arise in the case of a sufficiently flat energy band as well as a roughly flat and homogeneous Berry curvature, such that the global Chern number, which is a topological invariant, may be associated with a local non-commutative geometry. This geometry is similar to the more familiar situation of the fractional quantum Hall effect in two-dimensional electron systems in a strong magnetic field.