Search arXiv⌕ Search

arXiv subjects

Binghai Yan

Publications and source records attributed to Binghai Yan.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
arXiv2026

Electrically tunable superconducting dimensionality in stripe-ordered monolayer MoTe$_2$

Dimensionality governs the stability of collective quantum states, including whether Cooper pairs can establish the phase coherence required for superconductivity. In solids, however, electronic dimensionality is usually encoded in the crystal structure and is difficult to control reversibly. Here we show evidence that monolayer 1$T^{\prime}$-MoTe$_2$ develops a stripe charge-density wave that reorganizes its low-energy electronic states into quasi-one-dimensional channels. Raman spectroscopy and scanning tunneling microscopy identify the stripe order, whereas directional transport and tunneling spectroscopy reveal superconducting correlations confined to the stripe direction and insulating behavior perpendicular to it. Electrostatic doping weakens the transverse insulating response and drives the system into phase-coherent two-dimensional superconductivity. These results show that stripe charge order can reconfigure superconducting dimensionality and make it electrically tunable within a single crystalline layer.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2026

Excitonic-Superconducting Coexistence and Emergent Nematic Superconductivity Driven by Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

Excitonic insulating (EI) and superconducting (SC) orders are generally regarded as mutually exclusive electronic instabilities. Within a self-consistent microscopic theory, we study electronic systems hosting an EI phase in the presence of SC pairing and show that an intrinsic mismatch between electron and hole Fermi surfaces fundamentally reshapes this competition. This mismatch stabilizes FFLO-like electron-hole pairing and drives spontaneous symmetry breaking of the EI state. The resulting symmetry breaking reconstructs the pairing phase space for SC and EI state, such that different regions of the Fermi surface complementarily support either EI or SC correlations, leading to a natural coexistence of the two orders. Notably, the emergent SC state consequently breaks rotational symmetry and develops intrinsic nematic superconductivity, even in the absence of explicit symmetry-breaking fields (such as magnetic fields, spin-orbit coupling, or bare band-structure anisotropy). Our results suggest that candidate materials such as monolayer 1T$'$-MoTe$_2$ and the square-net semimetal NaAlSi may provide promising platforms for observing this phenomenon. More broadly, these findings reveal a unique mechanism by which competing many-body orders generate electronic nematicity, suggesting a broader route toward spontaneous anisotropic electronic states in correlated quantum materials.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2026

Giant third-order nonlinearity amplifies second-harmonic transport in Ca3Ru2O7

Nonlinear electrical transport enables the conversion and detection of electromagnetic signals, supporting wireless energy harvesting, sensing and frequency conversion. Achieving both a large response and electrical tunability remains a central materials challenge. Here we harness giant third-order nonlinearity to amplify and electrically control second-harmonic transport in the correlated polar metal Ca3Ru2O7. Superposing a dc bias on an ac excitation enhances the second-harmonic signal by more than an order of magnitude. The bias controls the polarity of the induced response and activates channels forbidden by symmetry at zero bias. Both transverse and longitudinal components scale quadratically with the ac excitation and are odd in the dc bias, with angular dependences consistent with third-order conductivity. The underlying third-harmonic electric-field responsivity reaches 4.5 \times 10-6 m2V-2 at 3 K, providing a quantitative measure of the strong nonlinearity. The induced response emerges below the spin-reorientation transition near 48 K, linking its enhancement to the reconstructed low-temperature electronic state. Theoretical calculations identify quantum-geometric contributions to the nonlinear conductivity and reproduce the observed response symmetry. These results demonstrate how strong higher-order nonlinearity can amplify an effective second-order response, providing a route to electrically tunable nonlinear transport in correlated materials.

cond-mat.other↗
arXiv2026

Evaluating the Structural Basis for Polar Altermagnet Candidate Ca$_{3}$(Ru,Ti)$_{2}$O$_{7}$

The interplay between polar and altermagnetic orders remains largely unexplored in the broader landscape of correlated electron systems. Density functional theory (DFT) within the PBEsol + $U$ treatment propose Ca$_{3}$Ru$_{2}$O$_{7}$ as a polar altermagnet, reliant on the transformation of the experimentally reported $Bb2_{1}m$ phase to a lower symmetry $Pn2_{1}a$ structure. Here, we perform a targeted search for the $Pn2_{1}a$ phase using synchrotron X-ray diffraction on single crystals of Ca$_{3}$Ru$_{2}$O$_{7}$ and Ca$_{3}$(Ru$_{0.99}$Ti$_{0.01}$)$_{2}$O$_{7}$. No diffraction signature of the $Pn2_{1}a$ structure is detected down to 20 K within experimental limits. Through diffraction simulations, we translate this result into a quantitative upper bound on the symmetry breaking distortion amplitude, which we find to be significantly smaller than the DFT predicted distortion. Our DFT calculations further motivate dilute Ti substitution ($\lesssim 2\%$) as an alternative route to stabilize the low symmetry phase, for which we again find no clear evidence for this putative $Pn2_{1}a$ structure that hosts altermagnetism. Our findings indicate that PBEsol + $U$ over-stabilizes a $Pn2_{1}a$ distortion, and the measured bounds provide benchmark for future calculations. Ti substitution exceeding $\sim$3% reveals a chemically tunable polar altermagnetic phase within the $Bb2_{1}m$ structure and we theoretically demonstrate that the spin-splitting can be tuned by Ti substitution. By combining DFT, diffraction simulations and synchrotron X-ray measurements, our study demonstrates a general methodology to quantify subtle structural distortions that underlie emergent electronic and magnetic phases.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2026

Direct Observation of Chirality-Dependent Berry Curvature Dipole via Cross-Axial Nonlinear Hall Effect in Trigonal Te

Quantum geometric quantities, such as Berry curvature (BC) and quantum metric, are known to govern the physical and topological properties of materials, making access to these quantities critically important for the comprehensive understanding of the materials. Chiral crystals offer a natural platform in which structural handedness can control quantum geometry and nonlinear transport, but direct experimental access to the quantum geometric quantities has remained elusive. Here, we show that trigonal tellurium (Te) hosts an enantiomer-dependent Berry curvature dipole (BCD) that can be accessed through the measurement of cross-axial nonlinear Hall effect (NHE), unlike previously studied in-plane configurations where the BCD contribution vanishes. Angle-resolved measurements on left- and right-handed Te devices reveal a second-order transverse response whose sign reverses with crystal chirality. The extracted cross-axial nonlinear susceptibility, $χ_{yxz}$, exceeds the in-plane susceptibility, $χ_{xxx}$, by more than two-folds, indicating a strong BCD-driven contribution. First-principles calculations attribute this behavior to a topologically nontrivial hedgehog-like BC texture near the H points and predict a BCD that reverses sign between opposite enantiomers, consistent with experiment. These results establish cross-axial nonlinear Hall transport as a symmetry-selective probe of chirality-controlled quantum geometry in tellurium and related chiral materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Imaging Surface Magnetization in Altermagnetic MnTe Films

Altermagnets with pronounced spin-splitting band structure, unconventional magnetic and crystal symmetries, and exotic magneto-transport properties have received immense interest in cutting-edge spintronics, materials science, and condensed matter physics research. Microscopic imaging of spontaneous magnetic domains and phases in altermagnets constitutes an important step for investigating their underlying material properties, mechanisms, and spin behaviors. Taking advantage of scanning-probe quantum microscopy, here we report nanoscale quantum sensing of a prototypical altermagnet candidate $α$-MnTe. We visualize evanescent magnetization and the associated magnetic domains in epitaxial MnTe films, which allows external magnetic fields to control the intrinsic altermagnetic order and configurations. By evaluating a series of MnTe films with different thicknesses down to the atomic scale, we further present evidence for the interfacial origin of the observed weak magnetization and show its correlation with the anomalous Hall effect in MnTe film. Our results advance the current understanding of emergent altermagnetism, providing insights into future material design of altermagnet-integrated spintronic devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2026

Anomalous Hall Response Induced by Correlated Disorder in the Breathing Kagome Lattice Mn$_{3}$Sn

Macroscopic transport tensors are generally constrained by the average crystallographic and magnetic symmetries of a material. In the kagome antiferromagnetic Weyl semimetals Mn$_{3+δ}X$ ($X=$~Sn or Ge), previous studies showed that the anomalous Hall conductivity $σ_{yx}$ is forbidden by the average \hexsg{} structure and coplanar inverse-triangular magnetic order. Here we report that nearly stoichiometric Mn$_3$Sn nevertheless exhibits a finite $σ_{yx}$ with large hysteresis, together with enhanced $σ_{zx}$ and $σ_{yz}$, in the inverse-triangular phase below $T_{\mathrm{N1}}\approx 440~\mathrm{K}$, whereas all AHE components vanish in the amplitude-modulated conical phase below $T_{\mathrm{N2}}\approx 280~\mathrm{K}$. Total scattering and magnetic pair distribution function analysis reveal correlated orthorhombic distortions and noncoplanar Mn moments. First-principles calculations show that this coupled lattice-spin distortion activates the average symmetry forbidden $σ_{yx}$ within the inverse-triangular phase. Its disappearance below $T_{\mathrm{N2}}$ indicates that the correlated disorder must cooperate with a long-range inverse-triangular antiferromagnetic order capable of supporting Berry curvature. Our results establish correlated disorder as an active symmetry-breaking degree of freedom that enables topological transport inaccessible from the Bragg-average structure alone.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2026

Emergent spin-resolved electronic density waves from strong $d$-wave altermagnetism and pseudogap phenomena from phason fluctuations

Metallic $d$-wave altermagnets provide a unique setting in which strong spin-momentum locking can qualitatively reshape electronic instabilities. Here we develop a self-consistent microscopic theory beyond the mean-field approximation for density-wave order in $d$-wave altermagnetic metals. The altermagnetic band structure with strong spin-momentum locking reconstructs the Fermi surface into mutually orthogonal spin-selective quasi-1D sectors, whose strong nesting drives density-wave instabilities in the respective spin sectors. The resulting spin-resolved density-wave orders nevertheless share a common ordering wave vector and give rise to a distinct class of stripe states, accompanied by pronounced gap openings on the nested Fermi sheets. The relative phase between the two spin sectors controls the character of the collective order, allowing charge density wave, spin density wave, and mixed density-wave orders to emerge within the same ordered manifold. As temperature increases from zero, thermal excitation of the emergent phason mode induces strong phase fluctuations that destroy long-range density-wave order at $T_c$, while the single-particle gap remains finite, giving rise to a robust pseudogap regime that persists up to a higher temperature $T_g$. The theory reveals a density-wave mechanism unique to metallic $d$-wave altermagnets, rooted in strong spin-selective Fermi-surface reconstruction, and establishes a fluctuation-driven route to pseudogap phenomena governed by phason dynamics. Applied to the metallic $d$-wave altermagnet KV$_2$Se$_2$O, our simulations quantitatively reproduce the key spectroscopic features reported in recent experiments, providing a unified microscopic understanding of the underlying phenomena.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2026

Discovery of New Zintl Films and Nanowires Grown by Topotaxy Conversion of III-V Semiconductors

Zintl phases draw broad interest for their diverse structural, magnetic, thermoelectric, topological and optical properties. Recently, Zintl Eu$_3$In$_2$As$_4$ and Eu$_5$In$_2$As$_6$ nanowires with axion magneto-topology have been synthesized by molecular beam epitaxy via topotactic conversion of InAs wurtzite and zincblende nanowires. Here we extend this methodology, demonstrating that topotaxial mutual-exchange growth applies not only to a broader set of III-V semiconductors beyond InAs but also to three-dimensional substrates whose surfaces are converted into Zintl thin films, as well as to nanowires. We report the growth of two new compounds: Eu$_5$Ga$_2$As$_6$ thin films converted from GaAs substrates, and Eu$_5$Al$_2$As$_6$ thin films from AlAs films. We also convert GaAs nanowires of both wurtzite and zincblende structures into Eu$_5$Ga$_2$As$_6$ nanowires. Though the stoichiometry is the same as in the previously reported Eu$_5$In$_2$As$_6$ case, microscopy and diffraction reveal a single-phase Pnma symmetry group rather than Pbam, highlighting symmetry-guided topotactic pathways to new Zintl frameworks. The compounds host an intricate magnetic phase diagram with three magnetic transitions, including two distinct antiferromagnetic orders and a canted antiferromagnetic phase that evolves into another antiferromagnetic phase under applied field through a spin-flop transition. Ab initio calculations predict that both Zintls are semiconductors with gaps of 0.79 eV in Eu$_5$Ga$_2$As$_6$ and 0.90 eV in Eu$_5$Al$_2$As$_6$. The lower symmetry and increased structural complexity suggest suppressed lattice thermal conductivity, pointing to thermoelectric potential alongside prospects in spintronics and detector technologies. These results give an epitaxy-compatible route for discovering and integrating magnetic Zintl thin films and nanowires directly from relevant III-V semiconductors.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2026

Interface-Confined Superconductivity with Thickness-Independent Superfluid Stiffness in (Pb,Sn)Te/FeTe Bilayers

Interface-induced superconductivity in FeTe-based heterostructures provides a promising route toward topological superconductivity, yet the roles of the neighboring layers topology, symmetry, and electronic structure remain unresolved. In this work, we employ molecular beam epitaxy to grow Pb1-xSnxTe/FeTe bilayers and use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to track the evolution of the Pb1-xSnxTe layer from a trivial insulator to a topological crystalline insulator hosting multiple Dirac surface states. Electrical transport measurements reveal robust superconductivity throughout the entire composition range, with a nearly constant superconducting transition temperature of ~12 K despite substantial changes in the electronic structure and topology of Pb1-xSnxTe. Double-coil mutual-inductance measurements further reveal comparable superfluid stiffness across the topological phase transition and nearly thickness-independent superfluid stiffness despite large variations in the constituent-layer thicknesses, demonstrating that superconductivity is confined near the interface. These results establish that superconductivity in FeTe-based heterostructures is largely insensitive to the topology, crystal symmetry, and detailed electronic structure of the neighboring layer, supporting a primary origin in modifications to the FeTe layer. The coexistence of interface-confined superconductivity and tunable multiple Dirac surface states in Pb1-xSnxTe/FeTe bilayers provides a versatile platform for exploring topological superconductivity and interactions among multiple Majorana zero modes.

cond-mat.supr-con↗
arXiv2026

A d-Electron Heavy-Fermion-Like Superconductor with Frustration-Induced Flat Bands

Heavy-fermion superconductors are mostly associated with f-electron materials with Kondo lattices, while known d-electron heavy-fermion-like systems are often linked to orbital-selective local moments, Hund-metal physics, or a charge-density-wave mechanism. Here we report Mo4PtGa17, a noncentrosymmetric itinerant d-electron superconductor with a geometrically frustrated breathing-pyrochlore Mo lattice. Thermodynamic, transport and NMR measurements reveal heavy-fermion-like behavior superconductivity and dominant ferromagnetic spin fluctuations near a ferromagnetic instability. Theoretical calculations identify nearly flat bands, van Hove singularities and Kramers nodal lines near the Fermi energy, derived intrinsically from Mo-4d states and are robust against on-site electronic correlations. These results suggest that the geometrically frustrated lattice in Mo4PtGa17 generates an intriguing electronic structure that enhances the density of states, spin susceptibility and quasiparticle mass. Mo4PtGa17 therefore identifies a unique route to heavy-fermion-like superconductivity in d-electron materials through geometrical frustration, different from the previously reported systems.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2026

Phase-shifted multicomponent spin-charge nematicity in an altermagnet

Altermagnets host spin-split Fermi surfaces without net magnetization. This intrinsically multicomponent electronic setting raises the possibility that familiar correlated electron phases acquire unconventional spin-charge structure. Here we report the discovery of altermagnetic nematicity in Co0.25NbSe2. Using spectroscopic-imaging scanning tunneling microscopy and spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy, we find that the three nominally C3-related directions lose rotational equivalence in the zero-field state, in both charge and spin-sensitive tunneling channels. Strikingly, the dominant spin-sensitive component is shifted by one C3 sector relative to the dominant charge component, revealing a phase-shifted spin-charge nematic response. A phenomenological theory shows that altermagnetic order favors a finite relative phase between the charge and spin-sensitive nematic components -- C3 lattice pinning frustrates this preferred offset and selects the observed phase locking. These results establish altermagnetic nematicity as a new form of multicomponent electronic liquid-crystal order and point to a potentially generic route by which altermagnets can transform conventional correlated phases into symmetry-engineered spin-charge orders.

cond-mat.str-el↗
arXiv2026

Defect-induced displacement of topological surface state in quantum magnet MnBi$_2$Te$_4$

The topological magnet MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ (MBT), with gapped topological surface state, is an attractive platform for realizing quantum anomalous Hall and Axion insulator states. However, the experimentally observed surface state gaps fail to meet theoretical predictions, although the exact mechanism behind the gap suppression has been debated. Recent theoretical studies suggest that intrinsic antisite defects push the topological surface state away from the MBT surface, closing its gap and making it less accessible to scanning probe experiments. Here, we report on the local effect of defects on the MBT surface states and demonstrate that high defect concentrations lead to a displacement of the surface states well into the MBT crystal, validating the theorized mechanism. The local and global influence of antisite defects on the topological surface states are studied with samples of varying defect densities by combining scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES), and density functional theory (DFT). Our findings identify a combination of increased defect density and reduced defect spacing as the primary factors underlying the displacement of the surface states and suppression of surface gap, guiding further development of topological quantum materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Retarded interaction between opposite chiral edges in anomalous Hall crystals

An anomalous Hall crystal combines spontaneous electronic crystallization with a Chern insulating gap, supporting both chiral edge modes and low-energy electronic phonons. We show that this coexistence produces a distinct dynamical effect from ordinary Chern insulators: transverse bulk phonons can mediate a retarded interaction between counterpropagating chiral edge modes on opposite sides of the sample, realizing a Luttinger-liquid variant with delayed inter-edge coupling. Using microscopic time-dependent Hartree--Fock calculations for rhombohedral pentalayer graphene, we find that lowering the carrier density softens the long-wavelength transverse phonon mode. Near this instability regime, the resulting boundary-projected phonon continuum inevitably overlaps with the edge dispersion, thereby enabling their coupling. A smoking-gun probe is a nonlocal measurement: a drive applied to one edge can induce a response on the other edge, delayed by the transverse phonon time of flight across the sample.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Residual orbital magnetization governs the anomalous Hall effect in altermagnets

In altermagnets that exhibit anomalous Hall effect, the small remanent magnetization exists but has been treated as too small to be relevant to the Hall response. In this work, we point out that this dismissal is incomplete because the generalized Středa relation ties the intrinsic anomalous Hall conductivity ($σ_{xy}$) to the orbital magnetization ($M_z$, the topological component from the modern orbital magnetization) by $σ_{xy}=-e\frac{\partial M_z}{\partial μ}$. We reveal a microscopic mechanism to generate net orbital moment from the interplay of local crystal field and spin-orbit coupling for MnTe-type altermagnets, in which the magnetic anisotropy generates weak net magnetization without invoking exchange between neighboring spins (e.g., Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction). Our work indicates that residual orbital and spin magnetization is an intrinsic thermodynamic property that governs anomalous transport in unconventional antiferromagnets, including altermagnets and noncollinear antiferromagnets.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗
arXiv2026

Confined Oxygen-Vacancy Migration Drives Ferroelectric Switching

Conventional ferroelectricity arises from intrinsic lattice distortions, whereas oxygen vacancies are generally regarded as detrimental because their migration induces leakage currents and polarization degradation. However, the recently discovered ultrathin van der Waals ferroelectric Bi2SeO5 exhibits robust out-of-plane polarization switching despite its pristine crystal symmetry forbidding the corresponding displacive ferroelectric instability. Here we show that this apparent contradiction originates from confined oxygen-vacancy migration. We find that oxygen vacancies preferentially form within SeO3 units and undergo reversible low-barrier rearrangements between nearly degenerate configurations. These localized vacancy dynamics generate a large switchable out-of-plane polarization, while long-range vacancy diffusion is suppressed by substantially higher migration barriers. At a representative vacancy concentration of 2.5%, the resulting polarization reaches approximately 16 uC cm^-2, consistent with experiment. Our results identify confined oxygen-vacancy migration as the microscopic origin of ferroelectric switching in Bi2SeO5 and establish defect-enabled ferroelectricity as a general mechanism for layered van der Waals oxides.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2026

Designing Strong and Broadband Nonreciprocal Thermal Radiation in Magnetic Topological Materials

Breaking reciprocity in thermal radiation opens opportunities for energy harvesting, sensing, and thermal management. Traditional nonreciprocal radiative semiconductor devices need external magnetic field. In this work, we predict a series of magnetic topological materials for magnetic-field-free nonreciprocal thermal radiation in the infrared regime, by combining first-principles calculations with Maxwell electrodynamics. We find strong and broadband nonreciprocity in magnetic Weyl semimetals (e.g., Co$_3$Sn$_2$S$_2$), outperforming the conventional semiconductor such as InAs. Furthermore, we propose universal material design recipes: strong nonreciprocity requires a large anomalous Hall response relative to the optical loss, whereas the broadband response favors large optical loss and small dielectric dispersion. Our work establishes a predictive materials-discovery framework and quantitative design rules for next-generation magnet-free nonreciprocal thermal devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗
arXiv2026

Anomalous Crystallinity and Magnetism in Chemically Disordered Coherent Heterostructures

High-entropy oxide (HEO) thin films uniquely superimpose exceptional chemical disorder with exceptional crystalline quality and coherence - an intersection we term anomalous crystallinity that arises from coupled structural, chemical, and valence degrees of freedom unique to the entropy-stabilized condition. Here, we demonstrate unexpected and predictive control of this state using formulation, epitaxial constraints, and kinetic arrest of metastable macrostates. Specifically, aliovalent cation substitutions, tightly controlled substrate temperatures, and conditions favoring significant adatom kinetic energy, can program the out-of-plane lattice parameter of coherent rock salt HEOs while preserving in-plane epitaxial pinning to MgO. Lattice strains exceeding 5% can be stabilized in multilayer heterostructures using this approach, where 3+ cations compensated by cation vacancies predominate the defect chemistry landscape. We highlight the exemplar (Sc,Mg,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn)O/(Cr,Mg,Co,Ni,Cu,Zn)O (JSc/JCr) system where Sc and Cr substitution into the rock salt structure produces pseudomorphic heterostructures between individual antiferromagnets exhibiting exceptional strain and abrupt interfaces across which the Co valence switches from mostly 2+ to an even 2+/3+ mixture. These unprecedented valence interfaces are accompanied by a 2x exchange bias boost compared to single-layer constituents, that could be attributed to enhanced uncompensated spins in the layers themselves or around the buried JSc/JCr interface. These results establish pseudomorphic valence interfaces with anomalous crystallinity as a source of new magnetic macrostates that host emergent magnetic and spintronic functionality.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗