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We investigate the plasmonic excitations and the broadening functions of the plasmon dispersions in multilayer structures consisting of four parallel monolayer graphene (4-MLG) sheets on an inhomogeneous background dielectric within the random-phase approximation. By finding the zeroes of the frequency-dependent dielectric function, we determine one optical and three acoustic plasmon modes in the system. We observed that the dependence of plasmon properties in the inhomogeneous 4-MLG system on the parameters differs significantly from that in the homogeneous one. Once the inhomogeneity of the background dielectric is taken into account, the plasmon frequencies get smaller values, compared to those in the homogeneous situation as well as in the MLG at the same parameters. As the interlayer separation increases, the plasmon branches in the inhomogeneous system move downward while only the optical branch in the homogeneous one does this, the acoustic plasmon branches shift to the opposite direction. With the efficiently large separations, plasmon lines in the homogeneous case become identical while those in the inhomogeneous case separate from each other in the large momentum region. For homogeneous 4-MLG systems, the decrease in carrier density leads to the decrease in plasmon frequency, but for inhomogeneous 4-MLG structures, the decrease in the doping density of the first graphene layer increases remarkably the frequencies of all plasmon branches. Finally, the broadening function of the plasmon dispersions gets the larger values as plasmon lines go far away from the inter single-particle excitation boundary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topological Hall effect (THE) as a powerful probe for the experimental observation of topological spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, has been observed in a wide variety of distinct material systems. However, limited experimental observations have been reported for antiferromagnetic (AFM) materials. Here, the THE signals in the AFM state were observed in compensated ferrimagnetic thin films interfaced with heavy metals at the magnetization compensation temperature (TM). Ferrimagnetic CoTb thin films grown on Pt thin films were used in the experiments. The CoTb films exhibited a magnetization compensation point at which the moments of Co and Tb sublattices canceled each other, giving rise to the AFM state. The temperature (T)-dependent Hall measurements showed anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and THE responses at T ≠ TM but pure THE responses at T = TM. Control measurements and analyses suggest that the THE responses are associated with interfacial Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) rather than the overlapping of different AHE signals in the structure. This work presents the first-ever observation of interfacial DMI-induced THE in AFM metal trilayered systems and demonstrates a new approach for electrical reading of chiral spin textures in AFM thin film-based heterostructures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we consider the effect of out-plane strain on the electronic properties of AB-stacked bilayer armchair graphene nanoribbons (BAGNRs) using density functional theory. At equilibrium, the interlayer distance of BAGNRs is d0=3.326 Å. Our DFT calculations show that while the dependence of the band gap of 11-BAGNR on interlayer distance d is insignificant, especially in the case of the d, the band gap of 9- and 10-BAGNRs depends strongly on the interlayer distance d. The effect of out-plane strain on band structure, total energy, and total charge density of BAGNRs is also investigated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper theoretically investigates the peculiarities of energy diagram of asymmetric graded-band-gap superlattices with linear coordinate dependences of band gap and electron affinity. For calculating the energy diagram of asymmetric graded-band-gap superlattices, linearized Poisson's equation has been solved for the two layers forming a period of the superlattice. The obtained coordinate dependences of edges of the conduction and valence bands demonstrate substantial transformation of the shape of the energy diagram at changing the period of the lattice and the ratio of width of the adjacent layers. The most marked changes in the energy diagram take place when the period of lattice is comparable with the Debye screening length. In the case when the lattice period is much smaller that the Debye screening length, the energy diagram has the shape of a sawtooth-like pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Azobenzene is a prototypical molecular switch which can be interconverted with UV and visible light between a trans and a cis isomer in solution. While the ability to control their conformation with light is lost for many molecular photoswitches in the adsorbed state, there are some examples for successful photoisomerization in direct contact with a surface. However, there the process is often driven by a different mechanism than in solution. For instance, photoisomerization of a cyano-substituted azobenzene directly adsorbed on Bi(111) occurs via electronic excitations in the substrate and subsequent charge transfer. In the present study we observe two substrate-mediated trans – cis photoisomerization reactions of the same azobenzene derivative in two different environments within a multilayer thin film on Bi(111). Both processes are associated with photoisomerization and one is around two orders of magnitude more efficient than the other. Furthermore, the cis isomers perform a thermally induced reaction which may be ascribed to a back-isomerization in the electronic ground state or to a phenyl ring rotation of the cis isomer.