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Despite belonging to a well-studied family of transition metal trihalides, VI_3 has received significant attention only recently. As a hard ferromagnetic van der Waals compound with a large coercivity, it attracted much attention because of its potential use in atomically thin spintronic and optoelectronic devices. However, practical exploration of VI_3 is challenging due to its instability under ambient conditions. Here, we present a comprehensive set of optical, x-ray diffraction, magnetization, and ellipsometric measurements of VI3 and demonstrate that, similarly to the related van der Waals ferromagnet CrI_3, the degradation process is accelerated by the presence of moisture. The VI_3 surface was covered by selected media commonly used in physical measurements to test its stability and lower the degradation rate three times or higher, providing practical information for experimentalists interested. The decomposition study at ambient conditions shows that the VI_3 single crystal can be used for most of the bulk, magnetization, and optical measurements without any noticeable change of physical properties, as the significant degradation appears first after ~ 2 hours of exposition as illustrated, e.g., by the evolution of the ferromagnetic T_1 and T_2 transitions. The ellipsometric measurement demonstrates that even the surface remains optically stable for at least 5 minutes., Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures

A comprehensive study of magnetocrystalline anisotropy of a layered van-der-Waals ferromagnet VI3 was performed. We measured angular dependences of the torque and magnetization with respect to the direction of the applied magnetic field within the "ac" plane perpendicular to and within the basal ab plane, respectively. A two-fold butterfly-like signal was detected by magnetization in the perpendicular "ac" plane. This signal symmetry remains conserved throughout all magnetic regimes as well as through the known structural transition down to the lowest temperatures. The maximum of the magnetization signal and the resulting magnetization easy axis is significantly tilted from the principal c axis by ~40{\deg}. The close relation of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy to the crystal structure was documented. In contrast, a two-fold-like angular signal was detected in the paramagnetic region within the ab plane in the monoclinic phase, which transforms into a six-fold-like signal below the Curie temperature TC. With further cooling, another six-fold-like signal with an angular shift of ~30{\deg} grows approaching TFM. Below TFM, in the triclinic phase, the original six-fold-like signal vanishes, being replaced by a secondary six-fold-like signal with an angular shift of ~30{\deg}., Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures

We report the observation of the resonant excitation of edge photocurrents in bilayer graphene subjected to terahertz radiation and a magnetic field. The resonantly excited edge photocurrent is observed for both inter-band (at low carrier densities) and intra-band (at high densities) transitions between Landau levels (LL). While the intra-band LL transitions can be traced to the classical cyclotron resonance (CR) and produce strong resonant features, the inter-band-LL resonances have quantum nature and lead to the weaker features in the measured photocurrent spectra. The magnitude and polarization properties of the observed features agree with the semiclassical theory of the intra-band edge photogalvanic effect, including its Shubnikov-de-Haas oscillations at low temperatures., Comment: 11 pages, 11 figures

Evolution of magnetism in single crystals of the van der Waals compound VI3 in external pressure up to 7.3 GPa studied by measuring magnetization and ac magnetic susceptibility is reported. Four magnetic phase transitions, at T1 = 54.5 K, T2 = 53 K, TC = 49.5 K, and TFM = 26 K, respectively have been observed at ambient pressure. The first two have been attributed to the onset of ferromagnetism in specific crystal-surface layers. The bulk ferromagnetism is characterized by the magnetic ordering transition at Curie temperature TC and the transition between two different ferromagnetic phases TFM, accompanied by a structure transition from monoclinic to triclinic symmetry upon cooling. The pressure effects on magnetic parameters were studied with three independent techniques. TC was found to be almost unaffected by pressures up to 0.6 GPa whereas TFM increases rapidly with increasing pressure and reaches TC at a triple point at ~ 0.85 GPa. At higher pressures, only one magnetic phase transition is observed moving to higher temperatures with increasing pressure to reach 99 K at 7.3 GPa. In contrast, the low-temperature bulk magnetization is dramatically reduced by applying pressure (by more than 50% at 2.5 GPa) suggesting a possible pressure-induced reduction of vanadium magnetic moment. We discussed these results in light of recent theoretical studies to analyze exchange interactions and provide how to increase the Curie temperature of VI3., Comment: 20 pages, 16 figures

We present a comprehensive study of the short-ranged nuclear and magnetic order in the two-dimensional spin glass, Mn$_{0.5}$Fe$_{0.5}$PS$_3$. Nuclear neutron scattering data reveal a random distribution of Mn$^{2+}$ and Fe$^{2+}$ ions within the honeycomb layers, which gives rise to a spin glass state through inducing competition between neighbouring exchange interactions, indicated in magnetic susceptibility data by a cusp at the glass transition, $T_g = 35$ K. Analysis of magnetic diffuse neutron scattering data collected for both single crystal and polycrystalline samples gives further insight into the origin of the spin glass phase, with spin correlations revealing a mixture of satisfied and unsatisfied correlations between magnetic moments within the honeycomb planes, which can be explained by considering the magnetic structures of the parent compounds, MnPS$_3$ and FePS$_3$. We found that, on approaching $T_g$ from above, an ensemble-averaged correlation length of $\xi = 5.5(6)$ \r{A} developed between satisfied correlations, and below $T_g$, the glassy behaviour gave rise to a distance-independent correlation between unsatisfied moments. Correlations between the planes were found to be very weak, which mirrored our observations of rod-like structures parallel to the c* axis in our single crystal diffraction measurements, confirming the two-dimensional nature of Mn$_{0.5}$Fe$_{0.5}$PS$_3$., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, accepted manuscript in PRM

We report on the observation of edge electric currents excited in bi-layer graphene by terahertz laser radiation. We show that the current generation belongs to the class of second order in electric field phenomena and is controlled by the orientation of the THz electric field polarization plane. Additionally, applying a small magnetic field normal to the graphene plane leads to a phase shift in the polarization dependence. Increasing the magnetic field strength, the current starts to exhibit 1/B-magnetooscillations with a period consistent with that of the Shubnikov-de-Haas effect and amplitude by an order of magnitude larger as compared to the current at zero magnetic field measured under the same conditions. The microscopic theory developed shows that the current is formed in the edges vicinity limited by the mean-free path of carriers and the screening length of the high-frequency electric field. The current originates from the alignment of the free carrier momenta and dynamic accumulation of charge at the edges, where the P-symmetry is naturally broken. The observed magnetooscillations of the photocurrent are attributed to the formation of Landau levels.

A THz light amplifier and the corresponding methods are proposed, based on the Raman interaction between a THz light and visible light lasers. Two lasers, with their frequencies differing by that of a Langmuir wave, counter-propagate inside a background plasma, exciting a rather strong Langmuir wave. The THz light amplification occurs through the non-resonant Raman scattering between the THz light and one of the lasers in the presence of the mentioned Langmuir wave. It is normally the case that the non-resonant scattering does not exchange the energy between E \&M fields but the author demonstrates that it is possible under the pre-exciting Langmuir wave. In the presence of a pre-existing Langmuir wave, the ponderomotive density perturbation between the THz light and the visible-light laser is induced with the phase suitable for transferring the energy from the visible light laser to the THz light. The condition for achieving the favorable phase and the amplification strength, when the condition is met, is estimated as an mathematical formula. The gain is as high as or even higher than 100 per centimeter., Comment: 4 pages 1 figure. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2003.10233

A new x-ray amplification mechanism is considered in an interaction between a x-ray and an intense visible-light laser in a plasma. In normal circumstances, the x-ray amplification from this type of the physical processes is implausible because its phase, which is the \textbf{non-resonant} perturbation, is not suitable for transferring the energy from the visible light laser to the x-ray. As proposed in this paper, this undesirable phase can be manipulated into the desirable one. Two situations are considered. The first case is in the presence of the strong plasma density gradient. A lasting amplification is possible when a strong Langmuir wave, whose phase velocity matches with the x-ray group velocity, provides the density gradient along the way of the x-ray propagation. The second case is in the presence of a pre-excited Langmuir wave. The author considers two lasers, with their frequency differing by the Langmuir wave, counter-propagating and exciting a rather strong Langmuir wave. In the presence of the mentioned Langmuir wave, it is demonstrated that the ponderomotive interaction between the x-ray and one of the lasers excites the plasma density perturbation with a desired phase, resulting to amplify (decay) the x-ray (visible light laser). The condition for achieving the mentioned favorable phase and the amplification strength, when the condition is met, is estimated. The amplification strength is quite high, where the gain per length could reach 1000 per cm in both cases., Comment: 6 pages and two figures

A new mechanism for the THz light amplification is identified ina non-resonant Raman scattering between the THz light and a visible light lasers. The non-resonant scattering normally does not exchange the energy between E \&M fields, but the presence of the plasma density gradientcreates an condition in which a visible light laser could transfer its energy into a tera-hertz (THz) light via the laser-plasma interaction. The gain per length could reach 100 (1000) per centimeter for the THz light (far infra-red light) amplification., Comment: 3 pages

A scheme of soft x-ray lasers is proposed. The backward Raman scattering between an intense visible-light laser and a relativistic electron beam results in sofr x-ray via the Doppler shift. One of the most intense soft x-ray light sources is contemplated., Comment: 5 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2003.02078

A scheme of THz radiation using two moderately intense lasers and a moderately relativistic electron beam is proposed. In the scheme, a laser encounters a co-propagating relativistic electron beam, and excites plasmons via the two-plasmon decay. The excited plasmons will emit the THz radiations, interacting with the second laser via the Raman scattering. Our estimation suggests that the mena-free-path of the pump laser to the THz radiation is much shorter than the Thomson scattering. The physical parametes for practical interests are presented., Comment: 4 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2003.02046; text overlap with arXiv:2003.02074

A new scheme of hard x-ray or gamma ray light is considered. The excitation of the Langmuir wave in an ultra dense electron beamm via the two-stream instabilities and the interaction of the excited Langmuir wave with the visible light-laser results in hard x-ray or gamma ray via three-wave interaction. The analysis suggests that the hard x-ray with the wave-lenght as small as 0.03 nm can be achieved. The plausible parameter for the practical use is proposed and the comparison with the conventional methods are provided., Comment: 4 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2003.02074

The non-linear convection for the THz generation from two-colored lasers are analyzed in the context of the forward Raman scattering. The energy transfer from the lasers to the THz light can be efficient. The possible peak intensity of the generated THz light is estimated and the optimal duration time is estimated., Comment: 4 pages

A new type of the THz laser is proposed. A coherent tera-hertz light is emitted through the backward Raman scattering between a visible light laser and a relativistic electron beam. The threshold conditions for the laser intensity and the electron beam density are identified. The scheme may lead to one of the most intense tera-hertz coherent light sources., Comment: 4 pages

A new scheme of the THz light source is proposed. The excitation of the Langmuir wave in a moderately relativistic electron beam via the two-stream instability and the subsequent interaction of the excited Langmuir wave with the visible light laser results in THz ligh via the Raman scattering. The cost of the current scheme could be cheaper than the conventional technologies by using the electron beam from cathodes and low-intensity infra-red laser., Comment: 5 pages

A scheme of soft-xray radiation is proposed. In the scheme, a moderately intense laser excites plasmons via the two-plasmon decay in a relativistic electron beam. As the second laser encounters the electron beam in the opposite direction, it emits soft x-rays via the backward Raman scattering. Our analysis suggests that the effective cross-section of this scattering is higher than the Thomson scattering and that the conversion efficiency from the pump laser to the soft x-ray could be very high in the optimal scenario. USing the plasmon pump with duration of 1-100 pico-second and the electron beam with density of 10^18-10^19 per cc and energy of 1-20 MeV, soft x-ray of 5 nm to 300 nm with the duration of 10 femto seconds to 1 pico-second can be emitted in the direction of the electron beam. Advantages of the scheme of other schemes are discussed., Comment: 5 page

We present the observation of an isostructural Mott insulator-metal transition in van-der-Waals honeycomb antiferromagnet V$_{0.9}$PS$_3$ through high-pressure x-ray diffraction and transport measurements. The MPX$_3$ family of magnetic van-der-Waals materials (M denotes a first row transition metal and X either S or Se) are currently the subject of broad and intense attention, but the vanadium compounds have until this point not been studied beyond their basic properties. We observe insulating variable-range-hopping type resistivity in V$_{0.9}$PS$_3$, with a gradual increase in effective dimensionality with increasing pressure, followed by a transition to a metallic resistivity temperature dependence between 112 and 124 kbar. The metallic state additionally shows a low-temperature upturn we tentatively attribute to the Kondo Effect. A gradual structural distortion is seen between 26-80 kbar, but no structural change at higher pressures corresponding to the insulator-metal transition. We conclude that the insulator-metal transition occurs in the absence of any distortions to the lattice - an isostructural Mott transition in a new class of two-dimensional material, and in strong contrast to the behavior of the other MPX$_3$ compounds., Comment: 12 pages, including appended supplementary section. Manuscript submitted to NPJ Quantum Materials

Since the discovery a half century ago that 1/r^2-type long-range interactions in the one-dimensional Ising model change the phase transition type, long-range interactions in diverse systems have received considerable attention. Recently, this interest extended to global suppression dynamics in the percolation transition, which changes a second-order transition to first order. Here, we investigate how the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless (BKT) transition is changed by the global suppression effect. In fact, this effect often arises in real-world complex systems, yet it is not appropriately accounted for in models. We find that the BKT transition breaks down, but the features of infinite-, second-, and first-order transitions all emerge as the link occupation probability is controlled. Moreover, we find that such growing networks exhibit maximum diversity, causing the mean cluster size to diverge without formation of a giant cluster. We elucidate the underlying mechanisms and show that such anomalous transitions are universal.

Fully exploiting the properties of 2D crystals requires a mass production method able to produce heterostructures of arbitrary complexity on any substrate, including plastic. Solution processing of graphene allows simple and low-cost techniques such as inkjet printing to be used for device fabrication. However, available inkjet printable formulations are still far from ideal as they are either based on toxic solvents, have low concentration, or require time-consuming and expensive formulation processing. In addition, none of those formulations are suitable for thin-film heterostructure fabrication due to the re-mixing of different 2D crystals, giving rise to uncontrolled interfaces, which results in poor device performance and lack of reproducibility. In this work we show a general formulation engineering approach to achieve highly concentrated, and inkjet printable water-based 2D crystal formulations, which also provides optimal film formation for multi-stack fabrication. We show examples of all-inkjet printed heterostructures, such as large area arrays of photosensors on plastic and paper and programmable logic memory devices, fully exploiting the design flexibility of inkjet printing. Finally, dose-escalation cytotoxicity assays in vitro also confirm the inks biocompatible character, revealing the possibility of extending use of such 2D crystal formulations to drug delivery and biomedical applications.

The response of dense quantum plasmas in the backward Raman scattering is studied. The coefficients in the backward Raman scattering is found to be underestimated (overestimated) in the classical theory if the excited Langmuir wave has low-wave vector (high-wave vector). The second order quantum perturbation theory shows that the second harmonic of the pondermotive potential arises naturally even in a single particle motion contrary to the classical plasmas.

The quantum mechanical effect on the plasma two-stream instability is studied based on the dielectric function approach. The analysis suggests that the degenerate plasma relevant to the inertial confinement fusion behaves differently from classical plasmas when the electron drift velocity is comparable to the Fermi velocity. For high wave vector comparable to the Fermi wave vector, the degenerate quantum plasma has larger regime of the two-stream instabilities than the classical plasma. A regime, where the plasma waves with the frequency larger than 1.5 times of the Langmuir wave frequency become unstable to the two-stream instabilities, is identified.

An intense terahertz (THz) radiation generated by the beating of two Langmuir waves, which are excited by the forward Raman scattering, is analyzed theoretically. The radiation energy per shot can be as high as 0.1 J, with the duration of 10 pico-second. Appropriate plasma density and the laser characteristics are examined.

The interaction between an intense laser and a relativistic dense electron beam propagating in the same direction could down-shift the laser frequency. This process, which can be used to generate a coherent THz radiation, is theoretically analyzed. With a set of practically relevant parameters, it is suggested that the radiation energy could reach the order of 1 mJ per shot in the duration of 100 pico-second, or the temporal radiation power of 10 MW.

We have investigated multiphoton multiple ionization dynamics of argon and xenon atoms using a new x-ray free electron laser (XFEL) facility, SPring-8 Angstrom Compact free electron LAser (SACLA) in Japan, and identified that highly charged Xe ions with the charge state up to +26 are produced predominantly via four-photon absorption as well as highly charged Ar ions with the charge state up to +10 are produced via two-photon absorption at a photon energy of 5.5 keV. The absolute fluence of the XFEL pulse, needed for comparison between theory and experiment, has been determined using two-photon processes in the argon atom with the help of benchmark ab initio calculations. Our experimental results, in combination with a newly developed theoretical model for heavy atoms, demonstrate the occurrence of multiphoton absorption involving deep inner shells., Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures

The maximum current in a vacuum tube prescribed by the classical Child-Langmuir law can be overcome, when the space-charge effect of the induced potential is mitigated by the mirror effect in a spatially varying magnetic field. The current could exceed the Child-Langmuir value by as much as a few factors. The regime of practical interest is examined.

A regime where a uniformly magnetized plasma could be unstable to a spatial perturbation in the magnetic field is explored. In this regime, a uniformly magnetized state does not maximize the entropy. The physical implication is discussed in the context of the current generation, the magnetic reconnection, and the dynamo effect.

A plausible scenario for the gamma ray and the hard x-ray burst in a strongly magnetized plasma, based on the collective plasma maser instability, is proposed. The physical parameters with which this scenario becomes relevant are estimated. The attractive feature of this scenario over the conventional cyclotron radiation theory is discussed.

The electromagnetic modes possibly unstable in strongly magnetized plasmas are identified. The regime where this instability might stand out compared to the incoherent electron-cyclotron radiation is explored. These modes are relevant to the inertial confinement fusion and the gamma ray burst.

A THz laser generation utilizing a helical relativistic electron beam propagating through a strong magnetic field is discussed. The initial amplification rate in this scheme is much stronger than that in the conventional free electron laser. A magnetic field of the order of Tesla can yield a radiation in the range of 0.5 to 3 THz, corresponding to the total energy of mJ and the duration of tens of pico-second, or the temporal power of the order of GW.

A coherent x-ray or gamma ray can be created from a dense electron beam propagating through an intense laser undulator. It is analyzed by using the Landau damping theory which suits better than the conventional linear analysis for the free electron laser, as the electron beam energy spread is high. The analysis suggests that the currently available physical parameters would enable the generation of the coherent gamma ray of up to 100 keV. The electron quantum diffraction suppresses the FEL action, by which the maximum radiation energy to be generated is limited.

The maximum current that could be carried in a vacuum tube is given by the so-called Child Langmuir law. A scheme where this limit could be overcome via the pondermotive potential is proposed. The estimation shows that the limit could be overcome by a couple of hundred percents.

A Raman compression scheme suitable for x-rays, where the Langmuir wave is created by an intense beam rather than the pondermotive potential between the seed and pump pulses, is proposed. The required intensity of the seed and pump pulses enabling the compression could be mitigated by more than a factor of 100, compared to conventionally available other Raman compression schemes. The relevant wavelength of x-rays ranges from 1 to 10 nm.

We prove that among all triangles of given diameter, the equilateral triangle minimizes the sum of the first $n$ eigenvalues of the Neumann Laplacian, when $n \geq 3$. The result fails for $n=2$, because the second eigenvalue is known to be minimal for the degenerate acute isosceles triangle (rather than for the equilateral) while the first eigenvalue is 0 for every triangle. We show the third eigenvalue is minimal for the equilateral triangle., Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables