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In time-reversal invariant systems, all charge Hall effects predicted so far are extrinsic effects due to the dependence on the relaxation time. We explore intrinsic Hall signatures by studying quantum noise spectrum of the Hall current in time-reversal invariant systems, and discover intrinsic thermal Hall noises in both linear and nonlinear regimes. As the band geometric characteristics, quantum geometric tensor and Berry curvature play critical roles in various Hall effects, so are their quantum fluctuations. It is found that the thermal Hall noise in linear order of the electric field is purely intrinsic, and the second-order thermal Hall noise has both intrinsic and extrinsic contributions. In particular, the intrinsic part of the second-order thermal Hall noise is a manifestation of the quantum fluctuation of quantum geometric tensor, which widely exists as long as Berry curvature is nonzero. These intrinsic thermal Hall noises provide direct measurable means to band geometric information, including Berry curvature related quantities and quantum fluctuation of quantum geometric tensor.

Electrets are dielectric materials that have a quasi-permanent dipole polarization. A single-molecule electret is a long-sought-after nanoscale component because it can lead to miniaturized non-volatile memory storage devices. The signature of a single-molecule electret is the switching between two electric dipole states by an external electric field. The existence of these electrets has remained controversial because of the poor electric dipole stability in single molecules. Here we report the observation of a gate-controlled switching between two electronic states in Gd@C82. The encapsulated Gd atom forms a charged centre that sets up two single-electron transport channels. A gate voltage of ±11 V (corresponding to a coercive field of ~50 mV A–1) switches the system between the two transport channels with a ferroelectricity-like hysteresis loop. Using density functional theory, we assign the two states to two different permanent electrical dipole orientations generated from the Gd atom being trapped at two different sites inside the C82 cage. The two dipole states are separated by a transition energy barrier of 11 meV. The conductance switching is then attributed to the electric-field-driven reorientation of the individual dipole, as the coercive field provides the necessary energy to overcome the transition barrier. A Gd@C82 molecule shows electric polarization switching behaviour under a gate bias voltage, thus demonstrating a single-molecule electret device.

Kondo effect is a prominent quantum phenomenon describing the many-body screening of a local magnetic impurity. Here, we reveal a new type of non-magnetic Kondo behavior generated by gauge fluctuations in strongly-correlated baths. We show that a non-magnetic bond defect not only introduces the potential scattering but also locally enhances the gauge fluctuations. The local gauge fluctuations further mediate a pseudospin exchange interaction that produces an asymmetric Kondo fixed point in low-energy. The gauge-fluctuation-induced Kondo phenomena do not exhibit the characteristic resistivity behavior of conventional Kondo effect, but display a non-monotonous temperature dependence of thermal conductivity as well as an anisotropic pseudospin correlation. Moreover, with its origin from gauge fluctuations, the Kondo features can be regarded as promising indicators for identifying quantum spin liquids. Our work advances fundamental knowledge of novel Kondo phenomena in strongly-correlated systems, which have no counterparts in thermal baths within the single-particle description., 14 pages, 5 figures, PRL in press

Magnetic topological insulator, a platform for realizing quantum anomalous Hall effect, axion state, and other novel quantum transport phenomena, has attracted a lot of interest. Recently, it is proposed that MnBi2Te4 is an intrinsic magnetic topological insulator, which may overcome the disadvantages in the magnetic doped topological insulator, such as disorder. Here we report on the gate-reserved anomalous Hall effect (AHE) in the MnBi2Te4 thin film. By tuning the Fermi level using the top/bottom gate, the AHE loop gradually decreases to zero and the sign is reversed. The positive AHE exhibits distinct coercive fields compared with the negative AHE. It reaches a maximum inside the gap of the Dirac cone, and its amplitude exhibits a linear scaling with the longitudinal conductance. The positive AHE is attributed to the competition of the intrinsic Berry curvature and the extrinsic skew scattering. Its gate-controlled switching contributes a scheme for the topological spin field-effect transistors.

Two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnets host rich physics, including long-range ordering, high-$T_c$ superconductivity, quantum spin liquid behavior, topological ordering, a variety of other exotic phases, and quantum criticalities. Frustrating perturbations in antiferromagnets may give rise to strong quantum fluctuations, challenging the theoretical understanding of the many-body ground state. Here we develop a method to describe the quantum antiferromagnets using fermionic degrees of freedom. The method is based on a formally exact mapping between spin exchange models and theories describing fermionic matter with the emergent $U(1)$ Chern-Simons gauge field. For the planar N\'{e}el state, this mapping self-consistently generates the Chern-Simons superconductor mean-field ground state of introduced spinless fermions. We systematically compare the Chern-Simons superconductor state with the planar N\'{e}el state at the level of collective modes as well as order parameters. We reveal qualitative and quantitative correspondences between these two states. We demonstrate that such a construction using the fractionalized excitations and Chern-Simons gauge field can not only describe the N\'{e}el order but can also be applied to study quantum spin liquids. Furthermore, we show that the confinement-deconfinement transitions from the N\'{e}el order to quantum spin liquids are signaled and characterized by the instabilities of Chern-Simons superconductors, driven by strong frustration. The results suggest observing and classifying the descendants of antiferromagnets, including other ordered states and unconventional superconductors, as well as emergent quantum spin liquids., Comment: 38 pages, 12 figures, accepted version by PRB

In this paper, a terminal sliding mode adaptive control algorithm is proposed for the control of multiple mobile manipulators. Firstly, the model of each mobile manipulator is established, and the object model is built at the same time. In addition, the influence of the flexible joint is considered in each mobile manipulator model. Secondly, considering the uncertainty of the model, the adaptive algorithm is used to estimate the model error. Then, the terminal sliding mode control algorithm is used to design the controller, which makes the position tracking error asymptotically converge to 0 in finite time and the force error asymptotically converge to 0 in finite time. Finally, simulation example verifies the feasibility of the strategy.

Critical transition points between symmetry-broken phases are usually characterized as fixed points in the renormalization group (RG) theory. We show that, following the standard Wilsonian procedure that iteratively traces out the large-momentum modes, this well-known fact can easily break down in non-Hermitian systems under open boundary conditions. Based on non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger-type models, we propose a RG scheme based on real-space decimation. We provide concrete examples and an analytic proof to show that the real-space scheme always respects the critical points under RG transformations. We investigate the correlation length of order parameters in the vicinity of critical points. Its divergence and scaling behavior remain intact under the real-space decimation, indicating that our method can be successfully applied to study the critical phenomena in non-Hermitian systems. These results suggest that the real-space RG method will find versatile applications in interacting non-Hermitian quantum systems.

Electrets are dielectric materials that have a quasi-permanent dipole polarization. A single-molecule electret is a long-sought-after nanoscale component because it can lead to miniaturized non-volatile memory storage devices. The signature of a single-molecule electret is the switching between two electric dipole states by an external electric field. The existence of these electrets has remained controversial because of the poor electric dipole stability in single molecules. Here we report the observation of a gate-controlled switching between two electronic states in Gd@C

Magnetic topological insulator, a platform for realizing quantum anomalous Hall effect, axion state, and other novel quantum transport phenomena, has attracted a lot of interest. Recently, it is proposed that MnBi

In this paper, a robust adaptive position/force control strategy based on a terminal sliding-mode was designed for the constrained flexible-link and flexible-joint manipulator. At first, the dimensional reduced dynamic model of flexible link with flexible joint is obtained by coordinate transformation. Then, in order to guarantee the stability of the system, the controller design process is divided into three steps. Furthermore, by using the theory of finite-time, the controller can guarantee that the position error and force error asymptotic converge to zero in finite time. Finally, the simulation results illustrate the validity and the feasibility of the proposed method in this paper.

Excitons are spin integer particles that are predicted to condense into a coherent quantum state at sufficiently low temperature. Here by using photocurrent imaging we report experimental evidence of formation and efficient transport of non-equilibrium excitons in Bi2-xSbxSe3 nanoribbons. The photocurrent distributions are independent of electric field, indicating that photoexcited electrons and holes form excitons. Remarkably, these excitons can transport over hundreds of micrometers along the topological insulator (TI) nanoribbons before recombination at up to 40 K. The macroscopic transport distance, combined with short carrier lifetime obtained from transient photocurrent measurements, indicates an exciton diffusion coefficient at least 36 m2 s−1, which corresponds to a mobility of 6 × 104 m2 V−1 s−1 at 7 K and is four order of magnitude higher than the value reported for free carriers in TIs. The observation of highly dissipationless exciton transport implies the formation of superfluid-like exciton condensate at the surface of TIs., Exciton condensation may emerge at room temperature in topological materials with strong Coulomb interactions and vanishing electron effective mass. Here, Hou et al. report the formation of excitons in Bi2-xSbxSe3 nanoribbons, which can transport over hundreds of micrometres before recombination up to 40 K, further implying exciton condensation.

Magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) offer a combination of topologically nontrivial characteristics and magnetic order and show promise in terms of potentially interesting physical phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and topological axion insulating states. However, the understanding of their properties and potential applications have been limited due to a lack of suitable candidates for MTIs. Here, we grow two-dimensional single crystals of Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 bulk and exfoliate them into thin flakes in order to search for intrinsic MTIs. We perform angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, low-temperature transport measurements, and first-principles calculations to investigate the band structure, transport properties, and magnetism of this family of materials, as well as the evolution of their topological properties. We find that there exists an optimized MTI zone in the Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 phase diagram, which could possibly host a high-temperature QAH phase, offering a promising avenue for new device applications., Available intrinsic magnetic topological insulators are rare. Here, the authors study the electronic and magnetic properties of Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 bulks and thin flakes, revealing intrinsic magnetic topological insulator phase in the phase diagram.

Superconductors at the atomic two-dimensional limit are the focus of an enduring fascination in the condensed matter community. This is because, with reduced dimensions, the effects of disorders, fluctuations, and correlations in superconductors become particularly prominent at the atomic two-dimensional limit; thus such superconductors provide opportunities to tackle tough theoretical and experimental challenges. Here, based on the observation of ultrathin two-dimensional superconductivity in monolayer and bilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) with electric-double-layer gating, we found that the critical sheet carrier density required to achieve superconductivity in a monolayer MoS2 flake can be as low as 0.55 × 1014 cm−2, which is much lower than those values in the bilayer and thicker cases in previous report and also our own observations. Further comparison of the phonon dispersion obtained by ab initio calculations indicated that the phonon softening of the acoustic modes around the M point plays a key role in the gate-induced superconductivity within the Bardeen–Cooper–Schrieffer theory framework. This result might help enrich the understanding of two-dimensional superconductivity with electric-double-layer gating. Experiments show that a softening of phonon modes aids gate-induced superconductivity in two-dimensional materials. As a material’s dimensions are reduced, the role of disorder and electronic correlations in defining the electronic properties become more prominent, and as the density of charge carriers is much lower, superconductivity is less likely to emerge. An international team of researchers led by Feng Mio and Baigeng Wang from Nanjing University and Harold Hwang from SLAC National Accelerator laboratory and Stanford University use an ionic liquid-based setup, which allows for high gate voltages to be applied, to demonstrate gate-induced superconductivity in monolayers and bilayers of a transition metal dichalcogenide. They show that a softening of the acoustic phonon modes allows for superconductivity to be realized in single layers with a lower carrier density than that needed in multilayers.

The scaling physics of quantum Hall transport in optimized topological insulators with a plateau precision of $\ensuremath{\sim}1/1000\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}{e}^{2}/h$ is considered. Two exponential scaling regimes are observed in temperature-dependent transport dissipation, one of which accords with thermal-activation behavior with a gap of 2.8 meV (g20 K), the other being attributed to variable-range hopping (1--20 K). Magnetic-field-driven plateau-to-plateau transition gives scaling relations of ${(d{R}_{xy}/dB)}^{max}\ensuremath{\propto}{T}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\kappa}}$ and $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{B}^{\ensuremath{-}1}\ensuremath{\propto}{T}^{\ensuremath{-}\ensuremath{\kappa}}$ with a consistent exponent of \ensuremath{\kappa} \ensuremath{\sim} 0.2, which is half the universal value for a conventional two-dimensional electron gas. This is evidence of percolation assisted by quantum tunneling and reveals the dominance of electron-electron interaction of the topological surface states.

In the view of the rheonomic constraints problem of the mobile manipulator, the corrected orthogonalization method is adopted to solve the problem that velocity and force are not orthogonal under rheonomic constraints. By transforming the system with the designed transformation matrix, the velocity and the force are mapped to the orthogonal spaces. Then, a position/force strategy is designed, which drives the position and force converge to zero. Furthermore, we consider the situation where there is interference in the motor and propose the desired torque control strategy and the desired motor control strategy. The robustness of the system is enhanced. By selecting the proper Lyapunov function, the effectiveness of the proposed strategy is proved. Through simulation, the validity of the above conclusions are verified.

We develop an approach to describe antiferromagnetic magnons on a bipartite lattice supporting the N\'eel state using fractionalized degrees of freedom typically inherent to quantum spin liquids. In particular, we consider a long-range magnetically ordered state of interacting two-dimensional quantum spin-$1/2$ XY models using the Chern-Simons (CS) fermion representation of interacting spins. The interaction leads to Cooper instability and pairing of CS fermions, and to CS superconductivity which spontaneously violates the continuous $\mathrm{U}(1)$ symmetry generating a linearly dispersing gapless Nambu-Goldstone mode due to phase fluctuations. We evaluate this mode and show that it is in high-precision agreement with magnons of the corresponding N\'eel antiferromagnet irrespective to the lattice symmetry. Using the fermion formulation of the system with frustration, we show that the competing interactions emerge in the form of long-range interaction vertices mediated by the CS gauge field, which are responsible for restoring the continuous symmetry at sufficiently strong frustration. We identify these new interaction vertices and discuss their implications for unconventional phase transitions. We also apply the proposed theory to a model of anyons that can be tuned continuously from fermions to bosons, and discuss the results.

Ultraviolet (UV) Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique for applications in fundamental and applied sciences of condensed matter and material science. To investigate double-resonant Raman scattering processes of graphene, we study the characteristic 2D Raman mode profiles of 1–4 layer graphene (supported and suspended) and graphite using both UV and visible excitation lasers at room temperature. At UV excitation energy of 3.81 eV, we observe that three scattering processes contribute dominantly to 2D mode profiles, which is a general feature for all graphene samples, showing the intensity diminishing of other scattering processes as theoretically predicted. We also find the asymmetric G ∗ double resonant mode is sensitive to the high incident laser energy, and I(G)/I(2D) of monolayer graphene is most sensitive to UV laser energy due to near off resonant behavior of 2D modes at high excitation energy. Our results provide direct experimental evidences to further understand double-resonance scattering mechanism of few layer graphene.

Van der Waals junctions of two-dimensional materials with an atomically sharp interface open up unprecedented opportunities to design and study functional heterostructures. Semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides have shown tremendous potential for future applications due to their unique electronic properties and strong light-matter interaction. However, many important optoelectronic applications, such as broadband photodetection, are severely hindered by their limited spectral range and reduced light absorption. Here, we present a p-g-n heterostructure formed by sandwiching graphene with a gapless bandstructure and wide absorption spectrum in an atomically thin p-n junction to overcome these major limitations. We have successfully demonstrated a MoS2-graphene-WSe2 heterostructure for broadband photodetection in the visible to short-wavelength infrared range at room temperature that exhibits competitive device performance, including a specific detectivity of up to 1011 Jones in the near-infrared region. Our results pave the way toward the implementation of atomically thin heterostructures for broadband and sensitive optoelectronic applications., Submitted to Nano Letters; 25 pages, 4 figures, 7 supplementary figures

A lateral heterojunction of topological insulator Sb2Te3/Bi2Te3 was successfully synthesized using a two-step solvothermal method. The two crystalline components were separated well by a sharp lattice-matched interface when the optimized procedure was used. Inspecting the heterojunction using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy showed that epitaxial growth occurred along the horizontal plane. The semiconducting temperature-resistance curve and crossjunction rectification were observed, which reveal a staggered-gap lateral heterojunction with a small junction voltage. Quantum correction from the weak antilocalization reveals the well-maintained transport of the topological surface state. This is appealing for a platform for spin filters and one-dimensional topological interface states.

A topological insulator (TI) is a kind of novel material hosting a topological band structure and plenty of exotic topological quantum effects. Achieving quantized electrical transport, including the quantum Hall effect (QHE) and the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE), is an important aspect of realizing quantum devices based on TI materials. Intense efforts are made in this field, in which the most essential research is based on the optimization of realistic TI materials. Herein, the TI material development process is reviewed, focusing on the realization of quantized transport. Especially, for QHE, the strategies to increase the surface transport ratio and decrease the threshold magnetic field of QHE are examined. For QAHE, the evolution history of magnetic TIs is introduced, and the recently discovered magnetic TI candidates with intrinsic magnetizations are discussed in detail. Moreover, future research perspectives on these novel topological quantum effects are also evaluated.

To solve the positon/force control problem of multiple mobile manipulators with flexible joints, a robust adaptive strategy is given. Firstly, the dynamic model of multiple mobile manipulators with flexible joints is established considering the grasped objects. Then by using position/force error terms, a sliding mode adaptive controller is designed by decoupling the position and force. The controller have good robustness. It can guarantee the position error and force error converge to zero. The Lyapunov stability analysis demonstrates the effectiveness of the given strategy. At last, simulation results show the feasibility of the method vividly.

In this Letter, we first formulate an effective theory, which generally captures long-range proximity effects of a surface system weakly coupled to an s-wave superconductor. The long-range proximity effects include both the emergent long-range pairing and hopping interactions in the surface system. We then model the Rashba spin-orbit-coupled nanowire in proximity with an s-wave superconductor by taking into account the emergent nonlocal effects in the weak-coupling limit. In this limit the induced superconducting pair potential is found much smaller than that of the host superconductor, which is in good agreement with recent experiments. Compared with the previously considered strong coupling limit with local proximity effects, the long-range interactions can significantly modify the topological phase diagram, and considerably lower the threshold magnetic field for the emergence of Majorana zero modes., 9 pages, 3 figures

We fabricated nanodevices from Mo

Spin-valley and electronic band topological properties have been extensively explored in quantum material science, yet their coexistence has rarely been realized in stoichiometric two-dimensional (2D) materials. We theoretically predict the quantum spin Hall effect (QSHE) in the hydrofluorinated bismuth (Bi2HF) nanosheet where the hydrogen (H) and fluorine (F) atoms are functionalized on opposite sides of bismuth (Bi) atomic monolayer. Such Bi2HF nanosheet is found to be a 2D topological insulator with a giant band gap of 0.97 eV which might host room temperature QSHE. The atomistic structure of Bi2HF nanosheet is noncentrosymmetric and the spontaneous polarization arises from the hydrofluorinated morphology. The phonon spectrum and ab initio molecular dynamic (AIMD) calculations reveal that the proposed Bi2HF nanosheet is dynamically and thermally stable. The inversion symmetry breaking together with spin-orbit coupling (SOC) leads to the coupling between spin and valley in Bi2HF nanosheet. The emerging valley-dependent properties and the interplay between intrinsic dipole and SOC are investigated using first-principles calculations combined with an effective Hamiltonian model. The topological invariant of the Bi2HF nanosheet is confirmed by using Wilson loop method and the calculated helical metallic edge states are shown to host QSHE. The Bi2HF nanosheet is therefore a promising platform to realize room temperature QSHE and valley spintronics.

We address the long-term controversy on the fundamental question of the role of the surface state on the Kondo effect with Co adatoms on a Ag(111) surface. The width of the Kondo resonance oscillates with the same period of half Fermi wavelength of the surface state. But the amplitude increases for a Co adatom placed next to another Co adatom, at the vicinity of a step edge, and quantum confined within nanocorrals. A greater than three times enhancement of the resonance width can be achieved when quantum confinement is introduced. The experimental results are described quantitatively utilizing an analytical model where the contributions of the bulk and surface states are weighted by their exchange values with the magnetic impurity. These findings clarify the role of the surface state on the Kondo effect and pave a pathway to tailor the Kondo effect via quantum confinement of the surface state.

We report the study of a triaxial vector magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic (Bi

We report the study of a tri-axial vector magnetoresistance (MR) in nonmagnetic (Bi1-xInx)2Se3 nanodevices at the composition of x = 0.08. We show a dumbbell-shaped in-plane negative MR up to room temperature as well as a large out-of-plane positive MR. MR at three directions is about in a -3%: -1%: 225% ratio at 2 K. Through both the thickness and composition-dependent magnetotransport measurements, we show that the in-plane negative MR is due to the topological phase transition enhanced intersurface coupling near the topological critical point. Our devices suggest the great potential for room-temperature spintronic applications, for example, vector magnetic sensors., Comment: 23 pages, 12 figures

Van der Waals heterostructure based on layered two-dimensional (2D) materials offers unprecedented opportunities to create materials with atomic precision by design. By combining superior properties of each component, such heterostructure also provides possible solutions to address various challenges of the electronic devices, especially those with vertical multilayered structures. Here, we report the realization of robust memristors for the first time based on van der Waals heterostructure of fully layered 2D materials (graphene/MoS2-xOx/graphene) and demonstrate a good thermal stability lacking in traditional memristors. Such devices have shown excellent switching performance with endurance up to 107 and a record-high operating temperature up to 340oC. By combining in situ high-resolution TEM and STEM studies, we have shown that the MoS2-xOx switching layer, together with the graphene electrodes and their atomically sharp interfaces, are responsible for the observed thermal stability at elevated temperatures. A well-defined conduction channel and a switching mechanism based on the migration of oxygen ions were also revealed. In addition, the fully layered 2D materials offer a good mechanical flexibility for flexible electronic applications, manifested by our experimental demonstration of a good endurance against over 1000 bending cycles. Our results showcase a general and encouraging pathway toward engineering desired device properties by using 2D van der Waals heterostructures., To appear on Nature Electronics; 31 pages, 6 figures, 8 supplementary figures

We study the Kondo physics of a quantum magnetic impurity in two-dimensional topological superconductors (TSCs), either intrinsic or induced on the surface of a bulk topological insulator, using a numerical renormalization group technique. We show that, despite sharing the p + ip pairing symmetry, intrinsic and extrinsic TSCs host different physical processes that produce distinct Kondo signatures. Extrinsic TSCs harbor an unusual screening mechanism involving both electron and orbital degrees of freedom that produces rich and prominent Kondo phenomena, especially an intriguing pseudospin Kondo singlet state in the superconducting gap and a spatially anisotropic spin correlation. In sharp contrast, intrinsic TSCs support a robust impurity spin doublet ground state and an isotropic spin correlation. These findings advance fundamental knowledge of novel Kondo phenomena in TSCs and suggest experimental avenues for their detection and distinction.

Dirac Fermions with different helicities exist on the top and bottom surfaces of topological insulators, offering a rare opportunity to break the degeneracy protected by the no-go theorem. Through the application of Co clusters, quantum Hall plateaus were modulated for the topological insulator BiSbTeSe2, allowing an optimized surface transport. Here, using renormalization group flow diagrams, we show the extraction of two sets of converging points in the conductivity tensor space, revealing that the top surface exhibits an anomalous quantization trajectory, while the bottom surface retains the 1/2 quantization. Co clusters are believed to induce a sizeable Zeeman gap ( > 4.8 meV) through antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, which delays the Landau level hybridization on the top surface for a moderate magnetic field. A quasi-half-integer plateau also appears at −7.2 Tesla. This allows us to study the interesting physics of parity anomaly, and paves the way for further studies simulating exotic particles in condensed matter physics., The topological surface states usually appear in pairs in a topological insulator, with one on the top surface and the other on the bottom surface. Here, Zhang et al. utilize Co cluster to induce a Zeeman gap on one surface through antiferromagnetic exchange coupling, and observe a quasi-half-integer plateau, suggesting the parity anomaly of Dirac fermions.

High-mobility (Smx Bi1-x )2 Se3 topological insulators (with x = 0.05) show a Curie temperature of about 52 K, and the carrier concentration and Fermi wave vector can be manipulated by intentional Te introduction with no significant influence on the Curie temperature. The origin of the ferromagnetism is attributed to the trivalent Sm dopant, as confirmed by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism and first-principles calculations. The carrier concentration is on the order of 10(19) cm(-3) and the mobility can reach about 7200 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) with pronounced Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations.

Recently, the Majorana fermion has received great attentions due to its promising application in the fault-tolerant quantum computation. This application requires more accessible methods to detect the motion and braiding of the Majorana fermions. We use a Luttinger liquid ring to achieve this goal, where the ring geometry is nontrivial in the sense that it leads to fermion-parity-dependent topological excitations. First, we briefly review the essential physics of the Luttinger liquid and the Majorana fermion, in order to give an introduction of the general framework used in the following main work. Then, we theoretically investigated the DC Josephson effect between two topological superconductors via a Luttinger liquid ring. A low-energy effective Hamiltonian is derived to show the existence of the fractional Josephson current. Also, we find that the amplitude of the Josephson current, which is determined by the correlation function of Luttinger liquid, exhibits different behaviors in terms of the parity of Luttinger liquid due to the topological excitations. Our results suggest a possible method to detect the Majorana fermions and their tunneling process.

Most of the potential applications of memristive devices adopt crossbar architecture for ultra-high density. One of the biggest challenges of the crossbar architecture is severe residue leakage current (sneak path) issue. A possible solution is introducing a selector device with strong nonlinear current–voltage (I–V) characteristics in series with each memristor in crossbar arrays. Here, we demonstrate a novel selector device based on graphene–oxide heterostructures, which successfully converts a typical linear TaO x memristor into a nonlinear device. The origin of the nonlinearity in the heterostructures is studied in detail, which highlights an important role of the graphene–oxide interfaces.

Using a succession of 24 h Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) simulations, we investigate the sensitivity to initial soil moisture of a short-range high-temperature weather event that occurred in late July 2003 in East China. The initial soil moisture (SMOIS) in the Noah land surface scheme is adjusted (relative to the control run, CTL) for four groups of simulations: DRY25 (−25%), DRY50 (−50%), WET25 (+25%) and WET50 (+50%). Ten 24 h integrations are performed in each group. We focus on 2 m surface air temperature (SAT) greater than 35 °C (the threshold of "high-temperature" events in China) at 06:00 UTC (roughly 14:00 LT in the study domain) to analyse the occurrence of the high-temperature event. The 10-day mean results show that the 06:00 UTC SAT (SAT06) is sensitive to the SMOIS change; specifically, SAT06 exhibits an apparent increase with the SMOIS decrease (e.g. compared with CTL, DRY25 generally results in a 1 °C SAT06 increase over the land surface of East China), areas with 35 °C or higher SAT06 are the most affected, and the simulations are more sensitive to the SMOIS decrease than to the SMOIS increase, which suggests that hot weather can be amplified under low soil moisture conditions. Regarding the mechanism underlying the extremely high SAT06, sensible heat flux has been shown to directly heat the lower atmosphere, and latent heat flux has been found to be more sensitive to the SMOIS change, resulting in an overall increase in surface net radiation due to the increased greenhouse effect (e.g. with the SMOIS increase from DRY25 to CTL, the 10-day mean net radiation increases by 5 W m−2). Additionally, due to the unique and dynamic nature of the western Pacific subtropical high, negative feedback occurs between the regional atmospheric circulation and the air temperature in the lower atmosphere while positive feedback occurs in the mid-troposphere. Using a method based on an analogous temperature relationship, a detailed analysis of the physical processes shows that for the SAT change, the SMOIS change affects diabatic processes (e.g. surface fluxes) more strongly than the adiabatic process of subsidence in the western Pacific subtropical high in the five groups of simulations. Interestingly, although diabatic processes dominate subsidence during the daytime and night-time separately, they do not necessarily dominate during the 24 h periods (e.g. they are dominant in the WET and CTL simulations only). Further, as the SMOIS decreases, the SAT06 increases, which is largely due to the reduced cooling effect of the diabatic processes, rather than the warming effect of subsidence. Unlike previous studies on heatwave events at climate timescales, this paper presents the sensitivity of simulated short-term hot weather to initial soil moisture and emphasises the importance of appropriate soil moisture initialization when simulating hot weather.

Single-particle sequential tunneling is studied through a negative-U center hybridized with a superconducting, a ferromagnetic, and a normal metal electrodes. In stark contrast to the case of positive U, the single-particle tunneling in attractive charging energy is usually prohibited by ground states with electrons in pairs. We find a microscopic mechanism to induce single-particle sates from pair states. As a consequence, in the nonpolarized metal terminal a remarkable pure spin current with no charge currents survives over a wide range of gate- and bias-voltages, which is rather crucial for experimental observation and design of spintronic devices. In addition, a significant spin-filter effect is presented in certain bias regime.