Unexpected Room‐Temperature Ferromagnetism in Nanostructured Bi2Te3

There is an urgent need for the development in the field of the magnetism of topological insulators, owing to the necessity for the realization of the quantum anomalous Hall effect. Herein, we discuss experimentally fabricated nanostructured hierarchical architectures of the topological insulator Bi₂Te₃ without the introduction of any exotic magnetic dopants, in which intriguing room‐temperature ferromagnetism was identified. First‐principles calculations demonstrated that the intrinsic point defect with respect to the antisite Te site is responsible for the creation of a magnetic moment. Such a mechanism, which is different from that of a vacancy defect, provides new insights into the origins of magnetism. Our findings may pave the way for developing future Bi₂Te₃‐based dissipationless spintronics and fault‐tolerant quantum computation.     

拓扑绝缘体表面态的STM研究

文章主要介绍了利用扫描隧道显微镜对拓扑绝缘体表面态进行的一系列研究工作,包括拓扑绝缘体表面态的电子驻波以及拓扑表面态的朗道量子化现象.这些工作对于拓扑绝缘体基本性质的确立以及深入理解具有十分重要的意义.     

Boundary-Connected Higher Order Weyl Semimetals in a Helix-Shaped Phononic Crystal

The proposal of higher-order topology leads to intriguing wave propagation properties beyond the conventional bulk-boundary principle in condensed matter physics. Theoretical and experimental models have been conducted to reveal exotic higher-order hinge and corner states in lower dimensions. Meanwhile, this concept is extended to semimetals and verified in platforms like acoustic and photonic systems. However, most existing schemes are confined to C_n-symmetric-like frameworks. Here a phononic higher-order Weyl semimetal (HOWSM) is put forward by introductions of artificial gauge flux shape. Distinguished from most existing schemes, the traditional two-dimensional lattice with a vertical screw-extending operation is deformed, which guarantees the emergence of higher-order Weyl points. The invariant index is utilized to measure different phases between non-trivial topological and normal insulators visibly. Simulation results indicate that the structure supports robust hinge wave transmission in a piling sample. This work brings new approaches for constructing HOWSMs and enriches the potential applications in manufacturing high-performance acoustic devices.     

拓扑绝缘体(Bi0.5Sb0.5)2Te3薄膜中的线性磁阻

本文报道了拓扑绝缘体(Bi_0.5Sb_0.5)₂Te₃薄膜中线性磁阻问题的系统性研究工作. 此体系中, 线性磁阻在很宽的温度和磁场范围内出现: 磁场高达18 T时磁阻仍没有饱和趋势, 并且当温度不高于50 K时, 线性磁阻的大小对温度的变化不敏感. 栅压调控化学势可明显改变线性磁阻的大小. 当化学势接近狄拉克点时, 线性磁阻最为显著. 这些结果说明电荷分布的不均匀性是引起该材料线性磁阻的根源.     

Energy loss measurements and electronic properties of thianthren

Summary The dielectric and electronic properties of thianthren (C₆H₄(S)₂H₄C₆) are determined by means of optical reflectivity, absorption measurements and reflection electron energy loss spectroscopy. The experimental results are interpreted on the basis of a Complete Neglect of Differential Overlap (CNDO) calculation used in three different parametrization schemes. Emphasis is laid on the discussion of the problems which generally affect the analysis of electron energy loss spectra, and a procedure to obtain the complex dielectric function from electron energy loss measurements performed in the reflection mode is suggested. Work partially supported by the MURST through the GNSM.     

The thermoelectric power in superlattices of III–V semiconductors with graded structures under strong magnetic quantization

Summary An attempt is made to formulate the thermoelectric power under strong magnetic quantization (TPM) in superlattices (SLS) of III–V semiconductors with graded structures and to compare the same with that of the forming materials. It is found, taking Ga_0.8In_0.14P_0.78Sb_0.22/GaAs SL as an example, that the TPM increases with increasing quantizing magnetic field and decreases with increasing electron concentration respectively in an oscillatory manner. The TPM in SL with graded structures is greater than that of the constituent bulk materials for III–V SL.     

Influence of radiation-induced clusters on transport properties of silicon

Summary A calculation method for the scattering cross-section σ of charged carriers on radiation-induced cluster defects has been developed using a spherical cluster model with rectangular potential barrier shape, of radius and height of 15 nm and 0.6 eV, respectively. Values of the cluster cross-section around 2·10⁻¹¹ cm² have been obtained for charged carrier energies from 10⁻⁴ eV to over 600 eV. Applying the relaxation-time approximation of the Boltzmann equation, the influence of clusters on silicon transport properties has been observed to be close to the acoustic-phonon one. The dependence of the Hall factor on radiation-induced clusters has been determined numerically for temperatures ranging from 5 K to 400 K. The results indicate that the presence of clusters of such dimensions would not change significantly the Hall coefficientR _H.     

Analysis of ALD-processed thin films by ion-beam techniques

This review introduces the possibilities of ion-beam techniques for the analysis of thin films and thin-film structures processed by atomic layer deposition (ALD). The characteristic features of ALD are also presented. The analytical techniques discussed include RBS, NRA and ERDA with its variants, viz. the TOF-ERDA and HI-ERDA. The thin film examples are taken from flat-panel display technology (TFEL structures) and the semiconductor industry (high-k insulators).Dedicated to the memory of Wilhelm Fresenius     

Effect of optical-phonon scattering on the energy distribution of hot electrons in semiconductors at low temperature

Summary The variational method is used in finding the solution of the transport equation for a system of hot electrons inn-Ge atT=20 K in the presence of high electric field. The role of the emission of optical phonons by hot electrons together with the effect of electron capture by repulsive centres on the formulation of the distribution function are studied. It is shown that the emission of optical phonons plays a dominant role in the formulation of the distribution. The influence of electron capture is very small, it may become appreciable at higher trap concentrations. The obtained distribution function is then used in calculating the capture rate of electrons by negatively charged centres. It is shown that the capture rate increases with electric field.

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Riassunto Il metodo variazionale è usato per trovare la soluzione dell'equazione di transporto per un sistema di elettroni caldi inn-Ge aT=20 K in presenza di grande campo elettrico. Si studiano il ruolo dell'emissione di fononi ottici da elettroni caldi insieme con l'effetto della cattura degli elettroni da centri di repulsione sulla formulazione della funzione di distribuzione. Si mostra che l'emissione di fononi ottici svolge un ruolo dominante nella formulazione della distribuzione. L'influenza della cattura degli elettroni è molto piccola, può diventare apprezzabile a piú grande concentrazione di trappole. La funzione di distribuzione ottenuta è quindi usata nel calcolare il rapporto di cattura degli elettroni da centri a carica negativa. Si mostra che il rapporto di cattura cresce col campo elettrico.

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Резюме Используется вариационный метод для нахождения решения транспортного уравнения для системы горячих электронов вn-Ge приT=20 К при наличии сильного электрического поля. Исследуется роля испускания оптических фононов горячими электронами и эффект эахвата электпонов отталкивающими центрами при определении функции распредения. Показывается, что испускание оптических фононов играет доминируюэую роль при образовании функции распределения. Влияние захвата электронов очень мало и становится существенным при более высоких концентрациях ловушек. Полученная функция распределения используется при вычис-лении интенсивности захвата злектпонов отрицательно заряженными центрами. Показывается, что интенсивность захвата увеличивается с возрастанием электрического поля.