In Cooper pairs--pairs of electrons responsible for the exotic properties of superconductors--the two electrons' spins typically point in opposite directions. A strong-enough external magnetic field ...will destroy superconductivity by making the spins point in the same direction. Lu et al. observed a two-dimensional superconducting state in the material MoS2 that was surprisingly immune to a magnetic field applied in the plane of the sample (see the Perspective by Suderow). The band structure of MoS2 and its spin-orbit coupling conspired to create an effective magnetic field that reinforced the electron pairing, with spins aligned perpendicular to the sample. Science, this issue p. 1353; see also p. 1316 The Zeeman effect, which is usually detrimental to superconductivity, can be strongly protective when an effective Zeeman field from intrinsic spin-orbit coupling locks the spins of Cooper pairs in a direction orthogonal to an external magnetic field. We performed magnetotransport experiments with ionic-gated molybdenum disulfide transistors, in which gating prepared individual superconducting states with different carrier dopings, and measured an in-plane critical field Bc2 far beyond the Pauli paramagnetic limit, consistent with Zeeman-protected superconductivity. The gating-enhanced Bc2 is more than an order of magnitude larger than it is in the bulk superconducting phases, where the effective Zeeman field is weakened by interlayer coupling. Our study provides experimental evidence of an Ising superconductor, in which spins of the pairing electrons are strongly pinned by an effective Zeeman field.
We report a high-field magnetotransport study of an ultrahigh mobility (μover ¯≈25×10^{6} cm^{2} V^{-1} s^{-1}) n-type GaAs quantum well. We observe a strikingly large linear magnetoresistance (LMR) ...up to 33 T with a magnitude of order 10^{5}% onto which quantum oscillations become superimposed in the quantum Hall regime at low temperature. LMR is very often invoked as evidence for exotic quasiparticles in new materials such as the topological semimetals, though its origin remains controversial. The observation of such a LMR in the "simplest system"-with a free electronlike band structure and a nearly defect-free environment-excludes most of the possible exotic explanations for the appearance of a LMR and rather points to density fluctuations as the primary origin of the phenomenon. Both, the featureless LMR at high T and the quantum oscillations at low T follow the empirical resistance rule which states that the longitudinal conductance is directly related to the derivative of the transversal (Hall) conductance multiplied by the magnetic field and a constant factor α that remains unchanged over the entire temperature range. Only at low temperatures, small deviations from this resistance rule are observed beyond ν=1 that likely originate from a different transport mechanism for the composite fermions.
Room-Temperature Quantum Hall Effect in Graphene Novoselov, K.S; Jiang, Z; Zhang, Y ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
03/2007, Letnik:
315, Številka:
5817
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
The quantum Hall effect (QHE), one example of a quantum phenomenon that occurs on a truly macroscopic scale, has attracted intense interest since its discovery in 1980 and has helped elucidate many ...important aspects of quantum physics. It has also led to the establishment of a new metrological standard, the resistance quantum. Disappointingly, however, the QHE has been observed only at liquid-helium temperatures. We show that in graphene, in a single atomic layer of carbon, the QHE can be measured reliably even at room temperature, which makes possible QHE resistance standards becoming available to a broader community, outside a few national institutions.
The electronic reconstruction at the interface between two insulating oxides can give rise to a highly conductive interface. Here we show how, in analogy to this remarkable interface-induced ...conductivity, magnetism can be induced at the interface between the otherwise non-magnetic insulating perovskites SrTiO3 and LaAlO3. A large negative magnetoresistance of the interface is found, together with a logarithmic temperature dependence of the sheet resistance. At low temperatures, the sheet resistance reveals magnetic hysteresis. Magnetic ordering is a key issue in solid-state science and its underlying mechanisms are still the subject of intense research. In particular, the interplay between localized magnetic moments and the spin of itinerant conduction electrons in a solid gives rise to intriguing many-body effects such as Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions, the Kondo effect and carrier-induced ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductors. The conducting oxide interface now provides a versatile system to induce and manipulate magnetic moments in otherwise non-magnetic materials.
High-order fractal states in graphene superlattices Kumar, R. Krishna; Mishchenko, A.; Chen, X. ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
05/2018, Letnik:
115, Številka:
20
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Graphene superlattices were shown to exhibit high-temperature quantum oscillations due to periodic emergence of delocalized Bloch states in high magnetic fields such that unit fractions of the flux ...quantum pierce a superlattice unit cell. Under these conditions, semiclassical electron trajectories become straight again, similar to the case of zero magnetic field. Here, we report magnetotransport measurements that reveal second-, third-, and fourth-order magnetic Bloch states at high electron densities and temperatures above 100 K. The recurrence of these states creates a fractal pattern intimately related to the origin of Hofstadter butterflies. The hierarchy of the fractal states is determined by the width of magnetic minibands, in qualitative agreement with our band-structure calculations.
Chirality is a fundamental property of electrons with the relativistic spectrum found in graphene and topological insulators. It plays a crucial role in relativistic phenomena, such as Klein ...tunneling, but it is difficult to visualize directly. Here, we report the direct observation and manipulation of chirality and pseudospin polarization in the tunneling of electrons between two almost perfectly aligned graphene crystals. We use a strong in-plane magnetic field as a tool to resolve the contributions of the chiral electronic states that have a phase difference between the two components of their vector wave function. Our experiments not only shed light on chirality, but also demonstrate a technique for preparing graphene's Dirac electrons in a particular quantum chiral state in a selected valley.
The long-sought yet elusive Majorana fermion is predicted to arise from a combination of a superconductor and a topological insulator. An essential step in the hunt for this emergent particle is the ...unequivocal observation of supercurrent in a topological phase. Here, direct evidence for Josephson supercurrents in superconductor (Nb)-topological insulator (Bi(2)Te(3))-superconductor electron-beam fabricated junctions is provided by the observation of clear Shapiro steps under microwave irradiation, and a Fraunhofer-type dependence of the critical current on magnetic field. Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations in magnetic fields up to 30 T reveal a topologically non-trivial two-dimensional surface state. This surface state is attributed to mediate the ballistic Josephson current despite the fact that the normal state transport is dominated by diffusive bulk conductivity. The lateral Nb-Bi(2)Te(3)-Nb junctions hence provide prospects for the realization of devices supporting Majorana fermions.
Interactions between the constituents of a condensed matter system can drive it through a plethora of different phases due to many-body effects. A prominent platform for it is a dilute ...two-dimensional electron system in a magnetic field, which evolves intricately through various gaseous, liquid and solid phases governed by Coulomb interaction. Here we report on the experimental observation of a phase transition between the composite fermion liquid and adjacent magnetic field induced phase with a character of Wigner solid. The experiments are performed in the lowest Landau level of a MgZnO/ZnO two-dimensional electron system with attributes of both a liquid and a solid. An in-plane magnetic field component applied on top of the perpendicular magnetic field extends the Wigner-like phase further into the composite fermion liquid phase region. Our observations indicate the direct competition between a composite fermion liquid and a Wigner solid formed either by electrons or composite fermions.
There are two known distinct types of the integer quantum Hall effect. One is the conventional quantum Hall effect, characteristic of two-dimensional semiconductor systems, and the other is its ...relativistic counterpart observed in graphene, where charge carriers mimic Dirac fermions characterized by Berry's phase π, which results in shifted positions of the Hall plateaus. Here we report a third type of the integer quantum Hall effect. Charge carriers in bilayer graphene have a parabolic energy spectrum but are chiral and show Berry's phase 2π affecting their quantum dynamics. The Landau quantization of these fermions results in plateaus in Hall conductivity at standard integer positions, but the last (zero-level) plateau is missing. The zero-level anomaly is accompanied by metallic conductivity in the limit of low concentrations and high magnetic fields, in stark contrast to the conventional, insulating behaviour in this regime. The revealed chiral fermions have no known analogues and present an intriguing case for quantum-mechanical studies.
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