Significant efforts have focused on the magnetic excitations of relativistic Mott insulators, predicted to realize the Kitaev quantum spin liquid (QSL). This exactly solvable model involves a highly entangled state resulting from bond-dependent Ising interactions that produce excitations which are non-local in terms of spin flips. A key challenge in real materials is identifying the relative size of the non-Kitaev terms and their role in the emergence or suppression of fractional excitations. Here, we identify the energy and temperature boundaries of non-Kitaev interactions by direct comparison of the Raman susceptibility of α-RuCl3 with quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) results for the Kitaev QSL.  [ Read More ]

Gate-tunable quantum-mechanical tunneling of particles between a quantum confined state and a nearby Fermi reservoir of delocalized states has underpinned many advances in spintronics and solid-state quantum optics. The prototypical example is a semiconductor quantum dot separated from a gated contact by a tunnel barrier. This enables Coulomb blockade, the phenomenon whereby electrons or holes can be loaded one-by-one into a quantum dot. Depending on the tunnel-coupling strength, this capability facilitates single spin quantum bits or coherent many-body interactions between the confined spin and the Fermi reservoir. Van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, in which a wide range of unique atomic  [ Read More ]

Broadband, efficient and fast conversion of light to electricity is crucial for sensing and clean energy. The bulk photovoltaic effect (BPVE) is a second-order nonlinear optical effect that intrinsically converts light into electrical current. Here, we demonstrate a large mid-infrared BPVE in microscopic devices of the Weyl semimetal TaAs. This discovery results from combining recent developments in Weyl semimetals, focused-ion beam fabrication and theoretical works suggesting a connection between BPVE and topology. We also present a detailed symmetry analysis that allows us to separate the shift current response from photothermal effects. The magnitude and wavelength range of the assigned shift  [ Read More ]

News and Views: Electric switching of magnetism in 2D Combined electrostatic gating and magnetic fields switch a 2D atomic crystal from an antiferromagnetic to a ferromagnetic state.

A long-standing issue in topological insulator research has been to find a bulk single crystal material that provides a high-quality platform for characterizing topological surface states without interference from bulk electronic states. This material would ideally be a bulk insulator, have a surface state Dirac point energy well isolated from the bulk valence and conduction bands, display quantum oscillations from the surface state electrons and be growable as large, high-quality bulk single crystals. Here we show that this material obstacle is overcome by bulk crystals of lightly Sn-doped Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S grown by the vertical Bridgman method. We characterize Sn-BSTS via angle-resolved  [ Read More ]