Condensed Matter Physics Commons^™

Structural And Electronic Properties Of Few-Layer Monochalcogenides, Brandon Joel Miller

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work discusses a new class of materials with novel properties that have only recently begun being studied. These materials are two-dimensional group IV-VI monochalcogenides, so named because they are formed from group IV (carbon group) and group VI (chalcogens) elements. These materials display several interesting physical properties such as ferroelasticity and ferroelectricity, and the contents within Chapters Two, Three, and Four concern a collaborative effort between theory and experiment between our group at the University of Arkansas and Dr. Kai Chang at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle, Germany in studying these properties. This thesis is …

Optical Phonon Modes, Static And High-Frequency Dielectric Constants, And Effective Electron Mass Parameter In Cubic In2O3, Megan Stokey, Rafal Korlacki, Sean Knight, Alexander Ruder, Matthew J. Hilfiker, Zbigniew Galazka, Klaus Irmscher, Yuxuan Zhang, Hongping Zhao, Vanya Darakchieva, Mathias Schubert

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

A complete set of all optical phonon modes predicted by symmetry for bixbyite structure indium oxide is reported here from a combination of far-infrared and infrared spectroscopic ellipsometry, as well as first principles calculations. Dielectric function spectra measured on high quality, marginally electrically conductive melt grown single bulk crystals are obtained on a wavelength-by-wavelength (also known as point-by-point) basis and by numerical reduction of a subtle free charge carrier Drude model contribution. A four-parameter semi-quantum model is applied to determine all 16 pairs of infrared-active transverse and longitudinal optical phonon modes, including the high-frequency dielectric constant, ε_∞=4.05±0.05. The …

Quantum Transport Of The 2d Surface State In A Nonsymmorphic Semimetal, Xue Liu, Jin Hu, Jiang Wei, Chunlei Yue, Sergey V. Erohin, Yanglin Zhu, Abin Joshy, Jinyu Liu, Ana M. Sanchez, David Graf, Pavel B. Sorokin, Zinqiang Mao

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

In a topological semimetal with Dirac or Weyl points, the bulk-boundary correspondence principle predicts a gapless edge mode if the essential symmetry is still preserved at the surface. The detection of such topological surface state has been considered as the fingerprint prove for crystals with nontrivial topological bulk band. On the contrary, it has been proposed that even with symmetry broken at the surface, a new surface band can emerge in nonsymmorphic topological semimetals. The symmetry reduction at the surface lifts the bulk band degeneracies and produces an unusual “floating” surface band with trivial topology. Here, we first report quantum …

Quantum Transport In Topological Magnets, Haiming Deng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the past several years, a new field of symmetry-protected topological materials has emerged in condensed matter physics, based on the wide range of consequences that result from the realization that certain properties of physical systems can be expressed as topological invariants, which are insensitive to local perturbations. This new class of materials hosts unique surface/edge states, such as the first known topological system – quantum Hall insulator with dissipationless chiral edge states, and massless spin-helical Dirac surface states in 3D topological insulators that are unlike any other known 1D or 2D electronic systems. In this thesis, to understand the …

Skyrmions And Biskyrmions In Magnetic Films, Daniel Capic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Skyrmions have garnered significant attention in condensed matter systems in recent years. In principle, they are topologically protected, so there is a large energy barrier preventing their annihilation. Furthermore, they can exist at the nanoscale, be manipulated with very small currents, and be created by a number of different methods. This makes them attractive for use in potential computing applications. This work studies ferromagnetic skyrmions. In particular, it highlights our small contributions to the field of skyrmions in condensed matter systems, specifically in thin-film ferromagnets.

Optimization Of Materials For Magnetic Refrigeration And Thermomagnetic Power Generation, Anthony N. Tantillo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The magnetocaloric effect, by which a magnetic material experiences a change in temperature due to an applied magnetic field, can be used for refrigeration. The corollary to the magnetocaloric effect -- known as the pyromagnetic effect -- is the phenomenon by which a magnetic material experiences a thermally-induced change in magnetization that can be used to harvest thermal energy. This dissertation has two main parts: one focusing on novel materials for energy harvesting; and another focusing on methods of materials discovery for refrigeration purposes. Thermomagnetic power generation (TMG) is the process by which magnetic flux, which comes from a temperature-driven …

Corrigendum: Surface Termination And Schottky-Barrier Formation Of In4Se3(001) [Semiconductor Science And Technology (2020) 35 (065009) Doi: 10.1088/1361-6641/Ab7e45], Archit Dhingra, Pavlo V. Galiy, Lu Wang, Nataliia S. Vorobeva, Alexey Lipatov, Angel Torres, Taras M. Nenchuk, Simeon J. Gilbert, Alexander Sinitskii, Andrew J. Yost, Wai-Ning Mei, Keisuke Fukutani, Jia Shiang Chen, Peter Dowben

Peter Dowben Publications

Through the description of various surface terminations, the chain direction of In4Se3 in this paper [1] is implied to be in the plane of its surface. Even though the common convention for photoemission spectroscopy is to place z-axis along the surface normal, the axis perpendicular to the growth direction for this indium selenide is the crystallographic a-axis (and not the c-axis) [2–4]. Therefore, in our work the surface of In4Se3 should have been labeled (100), and not (001), to prevent any confusion that may have resulted from a less than conventional index notation. Data availability statement The data that support …

Colossal Intrinsic Exchange Bias From Interfacial Reconstruction In Epitaxial Cofe2 O4/Al2 O3 Thin Films, Detian Yang, Yu Yun, Arjun Subedi, Nicholas E. Rogers, David M. Cornelison, Peter Dowben, Xiaoshan Xu

Peter Dowben Publications

We have studied the epitaxial CoFe₂O₄ (111) films grown on Al₂O₃ (0001) substrates of different thickness at various temperature and discovered colossal intrinsic exchange bias up to 7 ± 2 kOe. X-ray and electron diffraction clearly indicate an interfacial layer about 2 nm of different crystal structure from the “bulk” part of the CoFe₂O₄ film. The thickness dependence of the exchange bias suggests a hidden antiferromagnetic composition in the interfacial layer that couples to the ferrimagnetic “bulk” part of the CoFe₂O₄ film as the origin of the exchange …

Novel Low Temperature Properties Of Filled And Unfilled Single Crystal Irsb3, Matthew Cook

Dissertations

The skutterudite family of materials has garnered a lot of attention in the condensed matter community and it persists to be an important system for exploring the fundamental physics of solids. The initial interest into compounds with this common structure was due to their promising thermoelectric properties giving the possibility of efficient energy harvesting. Since, there has been a huge effort to systematically synthesize new filled skutterudite compounds, as nearly every type of strongly correlated behavior has been found within this family. As the field of topological materials has gained momentum, these materials have also been given a renewed interest …

First-Principles Density Functional Theory Studies On Perovskite Materials, Aneer Lamichhane

Dissertations

Perovskites are a family of materials with a diverse combination of different elements. As a consequence, they exhibit numerous functionalities such as pyroelectric, piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and ferromagnetic with applications in photovoltaic cells, LEDs, superconductivity, colossal magneto-resistance, and topological insulators. After 2009, perovskites have gained notoriety as suitable materials for solar cells and alternative candidates to silicon-based conventional solar cells. Generally, oxide perovskites exhibit good dielectric properties, halide perovskites display good photonic qualities, and chalcogenide perovskites are used in applications in solid-state lighting, sensing, and energy harvesting. In this dissertation, various types of perovskites ranging from oxide to halide are investigated …

Investigation Of Topological Phonons In Discrete Mechanical Metamaterials, Kai Qian

Dissertations

The study of topological mechanical metamaterials is a new emerging field that focuses on the topological properties of artificial mechanical structures. Inspired by topological insulators, topological mechanism has attracted intensive attention in condensed matter physics and successfully connected the quantum mechanical descriptions of electrons with the classical descriptions of phonons. It has led to experiments of mechanical metamaterials possessing topological characteristics, such as topologically protected conducting edges or surfaces without back-scattering. This dissertation presents a new experimental approach for mechanically engineering topological metamaterials based on patterning magnetically coupled spinners in order to localize the propagation of vibrations and evaluate different …

Solid State Synthesis Of Polar Magnetic Oxides, Duy Pham

Symposium of Student Scholars

Non-centrosymmetric polar oxides are subjects of considerable interest due to varieties of important phenomena and associated functional properties. Magnetoelectric multiferroic oxides are one such system where the magnetic properties can be controlled by electric field or the electric properties can be controlled by the magnetic field. This cross tunability magnetic and electrical properties makes multiferroic materials ideal candidates for making actuators, field sensors and memory devices. Simultaneous presence of broken inversion symmetry (electric polarization) and magnetism are two key requirements for multiferroicity. Non-centrosymmetric polar magnetic oxides simultaneously offer both (polarization and magnetization) properties. Therefore, we are working toward synthesis and …

Development Of A Diamond Defect Quantum Sensing Platform For Probing Novel Quantum Magnetic Phases, Jeffrey Ahlers

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

Nitrogen vacancy centers in diamond are highly effective quantum sensors due to their high spatial resolution and high magnetic field sensitivity. We present the construction of an optically detected magnetic resonance platform in order to facilitate the probing of magnetic phases in two-dimensional heterostructures. This includes the characterization of the required microwave voltage controlled oscillator and amplifier. In the presence of crystal strain, we measure ensemble nitrogen vacancy spin transitions with and without an applied magnetic field, and observe frequency shifts consistent with sample heating.

Magnetism And Topological Hall Effect In Antiferromagnetic Ru2Mnsn-Based Heusler Compounds, Wenyong Zhang, Balamurugan Balasubramanian, Yang Sun, Ahsan Ullah, Ralph Skomski, Rabindra Pahari, Shah R. Valloppilly, Xingzhong Li, Cai-Zhuang Wang, Kai-Ming Ho, David J. Sellmyer

Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience: Faculty Publications

Heusler compounds and alloys based on them are of great recent interest because they exhibit a wide variety of spin structures, magnetic properties, and electron-transport phenomena. Their properties are tunable by alloying and we have investigated L2₁-ordered compound Ru₂MnSn and its alloys by varying the atomic Mn:Sn composition. While antiferromagnetic ordering with a Néel temperature of 361 K was observed in Ru₂MnSn, the Mn-poor Ru₂Mn_0.8Sn_1.2 alloy exhibits properties of a diluted antiferromagnet in which there are localized regions of uncompensated Mn spins. Furthermore, a noncoplanar spin structure, evident from …

Influence Of Mechanical Deformation On The Photo-Voltaic Properties Of Thin Polycrystalline Cdte, Cdse, Cds Films Manufactured By Portional Evaporation In Vacuum, T I. Rakhmonov, R U. Siddikov, A Mirzaaxmedov

Scientific-technical journal

Some issues of improving the technology of obtaining thin-film (d»1.0 μm) elements with anomalous photovoltaic properties from cadmium chalcogenides by thermal evaporation in vacuum in separate portions on transparent dielectric substrates are considered. The experimental results of studying the current-voltage, lux-ampere, lux-voltage and deformation characteristics of CdTe, CdSe, CdS polycrystalline films are analyzed. It is shown that the obtained samples have linear I - V, L - A, temperature (T≈120-320 K) and deformation characteristics (ε≈-3‧10^-5-3‧10^-3 arb. units). Therefore, they can serve as promising photocells for the producing of film photodetectors sensitive to mechanical deformation in the visible …

Spirals And Skyrmions In Antiferromagnetic Triangular Lattices, Wuzhang Fang, Aldo Raeliarijaona, Po-Hao Chang, Alexey Kovalev, Kirill Belashchenko

Department of Physics and Astronomy: Faculty Publications

We study realizations of spirals and skyrmions in two-dimensional antiferromagnets with a triangular lattice on an inversion-symmetry-breaking substrate. As a possible material realization, we investigate the adsorption of transition-metal atoms (Cr, Mn, Fe, or Co) on a monolayer of MoS2, WS2, or WSe2 and obtain the exchange, anisotropy, and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction parameters using first-principles calculations. Using energy minimization and parallel-tempering Monte Carlo simulations, we determine the magnetic phase diagrams for a wide range of interaction parameters. We find that skyrmion lattices can appear even with weak Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, but their stability is hindered by magnetic anisotropy. However, a weak easy …

Multi-Scale Computational Modeling Of Metal/Ceramic Interfaces, Abu Shama Mohammad Miraz

Master's Theses

Multi-scale atomistic calculations were carried out to understand the interfacial features that dictate the mechanical integrity of the metal/ceramic nanolaminates. As such, first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to understand the electronic and atomistic factors governing adhesion and resistance to shear for simple metal/ceramic interfaces, whereas molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to observe the impact of interfacial structures, such as misfit dislocation network geometries and orientation relationships, on interfacial mechanical properties.

For the DFT investigation, we choose metals with different crystal structures, namely - Cu (fcc), Cr (bcc) and Ti (hcp) along with a variety of …

Data-Driven Approaches To Complex Materials: Applications To Amorphous Solids, Dil Kumar Limbu

Dissertations

While conventional approaches to materials modeling made significant contributions and advanced our understanding of materials properties in the past decades, these approaches often cannot be applied to disordered materials (e.g., glasses) for which accurate total-energy functionals or forces are either not available or it is infeasible to employ due to computational complexities associated with modeling disordered solids in the absence of translational symmetry. In this dissertation, a number of information-driven probabilistic methods were developed for the structural determination of a range of materials including disordered solids to transition metal clusters. The ground-state structures of transition-metal clusters of iron, nickel, and …

Voltage-Controlled Magnetic Anisotropy In Antiferromagnetic Mgo-Capped Mnpt Films, P. H. Chang, Wuzhang Fang, T. Ozaki, Kirill Belashchenko

Kirill Belashchenko Publications

The magnetic anisotropy in MgO-capped MnPt films and its voltage control are studied using first-principles calculations. Sharp variation of the magnetic anisotropy with film thickness, especially in the Pt-terminated film, suggests that it may be widely tuned by adjusting the film thickness. In thick films the linear voltage control coefficient is as large as 1.5 and -0.6 pJ/Vm for Pt-terminated and Mn-terminated interfaces, respectively. The combination of a widely tunable magnetic anisotropy energy and a large voltage-control coefficient suggest that MgO-capped MnPt films can serve as a versatile platform for magnetic memory and antiferromagnonic applications.

Multi-Scale Computational Modeling Of Metal/Ceramic Interfaces, Abu Shama Mohammad Miraz

Doctoral Dissertations

Multi-scale atomistic calculations were carried out to understand the interfacial features that dictate the mechanical integrity of the metal/ceramic nanolaminates. As such, first principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to understand the electronic and atomistic factors governing adhesion and resistance to shear for simple metal/ceramic interfaces, whereas molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to observe the impact of interfacial structures, such as misfit dislocation network geometries and orientation relationships, on interfacial mechanical properties.

For the DFT investigation, we choose metals with different crystal structures, namely - Cu (fcc), Cr (bcc) and Ti (hcp) along with a variety of …