Search arXivSearch

arXiv · 1706.02306

Charge density wave instabilities of type-II Weyl semimetals in a strong magnetic field

Abstract

Shortly after the discovery of Weyl semimetals properties related to the topology of their bulk band structure have been observed, e.g. signatures of the chiral anomaly and Fermi arc surface states. These essentially single particle phenomena are well understood but whether interesting many-body effects due to interactions arise in Weyl systems remains much less explored. Here, we investigate the effect of interactions in a microscopic model of a type-II Weyl semimetal in a strong magnetic field. We identify a charge density wave (CDW) instability even for weak interactions stemming from the emergent nesting properties of the type-II Weyl Landau level dispersion. We map out the dependence of this CDW on magnetic field strength. Remarkably, as a function of decreasing temperature a cascade of CDW transitions emerges and we predict characteristic signatures for experiments.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

Maximilian Trescher, Emil J. Bergholtz, Masafumi Udagawa, Johannes Knolle. 2017-11-23. Charge density wave instabilities of type-II Weyl semimetals in a strong magnetic field. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.96.201101

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

Benzo-bis(imidazole) self-assembled monolayers molecular junctions in meta or para conformation: effects of protonation on the electrical and thermal conductances

We report the thermal conductances of molecular junctions made of self-assembled monolayers of benzo-bis(imidazole) molecules, without side groups or functionalized with two phenylamine side groups. In the two cases, when the molecules are connected to the electrodes by thiol anchoring groups in the meta-position, the thermal conductance is decreased compared to the same molecules connected in the para-position (ca. 16-29 nW/K and ca. 37-40 nW/K, respectively) in agreement with the theoretically predicted phonon interference effect in molecular junctions. Upon protonation, the thermal conductances of the meta-connected molecular junction increase by about 50% (reversible behavior upon deprotonation). The fact that only the thermal conductance of the meta-connected molecular junction is sensitive to the protonation/deprotonation is tentatively related to modifications of the structural organization of the molecules in the monolayer, which modifies the thermal conductance at the molecule/electrode interfaces. The electrical conductance is lower for the meta-connected molecule than for the para-connected one, due to destructive quantum interferences, as expected and reported for other molecular junctions. The conductance further decreases (reversibly) upon protonation. The energy position of the molecular orbital involved in the electron transport is not modified by the protonation and the decrease in current is related to changes in the molecule organization in the monolayer, which modulate the electronic coupling energy at the molecule/electrode interfaces.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Scaling behavior of eigenspectrum for entanglement from correlation matrices

We study the scaling behavior of the eigenvalues of correlation matrices, which characterize the entanglement of a subsystem with its complement part of a total pure state. A most distinguishing feature of entanglement entropy is its logarithmic dependence on the subsystem size for the groundstate of one-dimensional critical systems. Despite its robust universal character and relevance to a wide range of topics, a thorough understanding of this result requires sophisticated mathematical physics techniques or conformal field theory. The aim of our work is to shed light on this from the underlying eigenvalue distribution perspective. The central object is the correlation matrix, which takes the form of Toeplitz or block-Toeplitz matrix. We develop a circulant matrix approximation in the large matrix dimension limit, thus allowing for the individual eigenvalues behavior to be analysed analytically. We find that for both free lattice fermions and transverse field Ising chain, eigenvalues in the bulk of the eigenspectrum scales as $1/L_A$ with the subsystem size. Together with the extensivity of the entropy function, it explains the robust $\log_2 L_A$ scaling of entanglement at criticality. Perturbing from the entanglement-free limit of the Ising chain, we find a smooth crossover behavior to `non-critical' scaling that is characterized by a very slow logarithmic dependence rendering it seemingly a constant entanglement value expected of non-critical systems.

cond-mat.mes-hall

Cryogenic Voltage Control of Magnetism in Silicon-Integrated \newline SrTiO$_3$/Fe Heterostructures

Cryogenic electronics forms a rapidly emerging research domain for high-performance and power-efficient computing applications. Incorporating nanomagnetic components in cryogenic circuitry adds highly valuable functionality, facilitating downscaling, reducing energy consumption and introducing time-reversal symmetry breaking. Furthermore, low-temperature environments enhance magnetic stability and switching efficiency at nanoscale dimensions, reinforcing the potential of cryogenic nanomagnets. To fully leverage these opportunities, magnetic control schemes require alternative options to current-based writing, which is the main bottleneck regarding power consumption and downscaling. In this regard, voltage-based gating of the magnetic state could drastically enhance operational efficiency and integration density. In this work, we investigate cryogenic Voltage Control of Magnetism (VCM) in epitaxial SrTiO$_3$/Fe thin film heterostructures on a CMOS compatible Si substrate. We demonstrate and quantify voltage-controlled modifications of the magnetic domain structure, consistent with electric field-controlled magnetic anisotropy at the Fe/SrTiO$_3$ interface. These findings provide a viable material system for the development of next-generation magnetic domain-based devices for classical and quantum computing.

cond-mat.mes-hall