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Realizing magnetic skyrmions in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) ferromagnets offers unparalleled prospects for future spintronic applications. The room-temperature ferromagnet Fe3GaTe2 provides an ideal platform for tailoring these magnetic solitons. Here, skyrmions of distinct topological charges are artificially introduced and spatially engineered using magnetic force microscopy (MFM). The skyrmion lattice is realized by specific field-cooling process, and can be further controllably erased and painted via delicate manipulation of tip stray field. The skyrmion lattice with opposite topological charges (S = +1 or -1) can be tailored at the target regions to form topological skyrmion junctions (TSJs) with specific configurations. The delicate interplay of TSJs and spin-polarized device current were finally investigated via the in-situ transport measurements, alongside the topological stability of TSJs. Our results demonstrate that Fe3GaTe2 not only serves as a potential building block for room-temperature skyrmion-based spintronic devices, but also presents promising prospects for Fe3GaTe2-based heterostructures with the engineered topological spin textures.

As a fundamental structural feature, the symmetry of materials determines the exotic quantum properties in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) with charge density wave (CDW). Breaking the inversion symmetry, the Janus structure, an artificially constructed lattice, provides an opportunity to tune the CDW states and the related properties. However, limited by the difficulties in atomic-level fabrication and material stability, the experimental visualization of the CDW states in 2D TMDs with Janus structure is still rare. Here, using surface selenization of VTe2, we fabricated monolayer Janus VTeSe. With scanning tunneling microscopy, an unusual root13-root13 CDW state with threefold rotational symmetry breaking was observed and characterized. Combined with theoretical calculations, we find this CDW state can be attributed to the charge modulation in the Janus VTeSe, beyond the conventional electron-phonon coupling. Our findings provide a promising platform for studying the CDW states and artificially tuning the electronic properties toward the applications.

Extremal elastic materials here refer to a specific class of elastic materials whose elastic matrices exhibit one or more zero eigenvalues, resulting in soft deformation modes that, in principle, cost no energy. They can be approximated through artificially designed solid microstructures. Extremal elastic materials have exotic bulk wave properties unavailable with conventional solids due to the soft modes, offering unprecedented opportunities for manipulating bulk waves, e.g., acting as phonon polarizers for elastic waves or invisibility cloaks for underwater acoustic waves. Despite their potential, Rayleigh surface waves, crucially linked to bulk wave behaviors of such extremal elastic materials, have largely remained unexplored so far. In this paper, we theoretically investigate the propagation of Rayleigh waves in extremal elastic materials based on continuum theory and verify our findings with designed microstructure metamaterials based on pantographic structures. Dispersion relations and polarizations of Rayleigh waves in extremal elastic materials are derived, and the impact of higher order gradient effects is also investigated by using strain gradient theory. This study provides a continuum model for exploring surface waves in extremal elastic materials and may stimulate applications of extremal elastic materials for controlling surface waves.

True random numbers are essential in various research and engineering problems. Their generation depends upon a robust physical entropy noise. Here, we present true random number generation by harnessing the conductance noise probed in structurally metastable 1T' molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2). The noise, well-fitting a Poisson process, is proved a robust physical entropy noise at low and even cryogenic temperatures. Noise characteristic analysis suggests the noise may originate from the polarization variations of the underlying ferroelectric dipoles in 1T' MoTe2. We demonstrate the noise allows for true random number generation, enabling their use as seed for generating high-throughput secure random numbers exceeding 1 Mbit/s, appealing for practical applications in, for instance, cryptography where data security is now a severe issue. As an example, we show biometric information safeguarding in neural networks by using the random numbers as mask, proving a promising data security measure in big data and artificial intelligence.

The exploration of topology in natural materials and metamaterials has garnered significant attention. Notably, the one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) model, assessed through tight-binding approximations, has been extensively investigated in both quantum and classical systems, encompassing general and higher-order topology. Despite these advancements, a comprehensive examination of these models from the perspective of wave physics, particularly the scattering view, remains underexplored. In this study, we systematically unveil the origin of the 1D and 2D Zak phases stemming from the zero-scattering point, termed the scattering singularity in k-space. Employing an expanded plane wave expansion, we accurately compute the reflective spectrum of an infinite 2D photonic crystal (2D-PhC). Analyzing the reflective spectrum reveals the presence of a zero-scattering line in the 2D-PhC, considered the topological origin of the non-trivial Zak phase. Two distinct models, representing omnidirectional non-trivial cases and directional non-trivial cases, are employed to substantiate these findings. Our work introduces a novel perspective for characterizing the nature of non-trivial topological phases. The identification of the zero-scattering line not only enhances our understanding of the underlying physics but also provides valuable insights for the design of innovative devices.

We investigate the noise in spin transport through a single quantum dot (QD) tunnel coupled to ferromagnetic electrodes with noncollinear magnetizations. Based on a spin-resolved quantum master equation, auto- and cross-correlations of spin-resolved currents are analyzed to reveal the underlying spin transport dynamics and characteristics for various polarizations. We find the currents of majority and minority spins could be strongly autocorrelated despite uncorrelated charge transfer. The interplay between tunnel coupling and the Coulomb interaction gives rise to an exchange magnetic field, leading to the precession of the accumulated spin in the QD. It strongly suppresses the bunching of spin tunneling events and results in a unique double-peak structure in the noise of the net spin current. The spin autocorrelation is found to be susceptible to magnetization alignments, which may serve as a sensitive tool to measure the magnetization directions between the ferromagnetic electrodes.

Thermophoresis is an effective method to drive the motion of nanoparticles in fluids. The transport of nanoparticles in polymer networks has significant fundamental and applied importance in biology and medicine, and can be described as Brownian particles crossing entropic barriers. This study proposes a novel extension of dissipative particle dynamics (DPD), called the single-particle energy-conserving dissipative particle dynamics (seDPD), which combines the features of single-particle dissipative particle dynamics (sDPD) and energy-conserving dissipative particle dynamics (eDPD) to simulate the thermophoresis of nanoparticles under temperature gradients. The reliability of the seDPD method is verified by considering the viscosity, thermal diffusivity, and hydrodynamic drag force on the nanoparticles. Using this method, the transport of nanoparticles driven by the thermophoretic force across the polymer network is simulated. The results show that the nanoparticles exhibit the phenomenon of giant acceleration of diffusion (GAD) in the polymer network, indicating that Brownian particles can exhibit GAD when crossing entropic barriers.

The demand for efficient edge vision has spurred the interest in developing stochastic computing approaches for performing image processing tasks. Memristors with inherent stochasticity readily introduce probability into the computations and thus enable stochastic image processing computations. Here, we present a stochastic computing approach for edge detection, a fundamental image processing technique, facilitated with memristor-enabled stochastic logics. Specifically, we integrate the memristors with logic circuits and harness the stochasticity from the memristors to realize compact stochastic logics for stochastic number encoding and processing. The stochastic numbers, exhibiting well-regulated probabilities and correlations, can be processed to perform logic operations with statistical probabilities. This can facilitate lightweight stochastic edge detection for edge visual scenarios characterized with high-level noise errors. As a practical demonstration, we implement a hardware stochastic Roberts cross operator using the stochastic logics, and prove its exceptional edge detection performance, remarkably, with 95% less computational cost while withstanding 50% bit-flip errors. The results underscore the great potential of our stochastic edge detection approach in developing lightweight, error-tolerant edge vision hardware and systems for autonomous driving, virtual/augmented reality, medical imaging diagnosis, industrial automation, and beyond.

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) has drawn great interest for tunable photonics and optoelectronics advancement. Its solution processing, though scalable, results in randomly networked ensembles of discrete nanosheets with compromised properties for tunable device fabrication. Here, we show via density-functional theory calculations that the electronic structure of the individual solution-processed nanosheets can be modulated by external electric fields collectively. Particularly, the nanosheets can form Stark ladders, leading to variations in the underlying optical transition processes and thus, tunable macroscopic optical properties of the ensembles. We experimentally confirm the macroscopic electro-optical modulation employing solution-processed thin-films of MoS2 and ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE), and prove that the localized polarization fields of P(VDF-TrFE) can modulate the optical properties of MoS2, specifically, the optical absorption and photoluminescence on a macroscopic scale. Given the scalability of solution processing, our results underpin the potential of electro-optical modulation of solution-processed MoS2 for scalable tunable photonics and optoelectronics. As an illustrative example, we successfully demonstrate solution-processed electro-absorption modulators.

We present AnisoGNNs -- graph neural networks (GNNs) that generalize predictions of anisotropic properties of polycrystals in arbitrary testing directions without the need in excessive training data. To this end, we develop GNNs with a physics-inspired combination of node attributes and aggregation function. We demonstrate the excellent generalization capabilities of AnisoGNNs in predicting anisotropic elastic and inelastic properties of two alloys.

We employ the eigen microstate approach to explore the self-organized criticality (SOC) in two celebrated sandpile models, namely, the BTW model and the Manna model. In both models, phase transitions from the absorbing-state to the critical state can be understood by the emergence of dominant eigen microstates with significantly increased weights. Spatial eigen microstates of avalanches can be uniformly characterized by a linear system size rescaling. The first temporal eigen microstates reveal scaling relations in both models. Furthermore, by finite-size scaling analysis of the first eigen microstate, we numerically estimate critical exponents i.e., $\sqrt{\sigma_0 w_1}/\tilde{v}_{1} \propto L^D$ and $\tilde{v}_{1} \propto L^{D(1-\tau_s)/2}$. Our findings could provide profound insights into eigen states of the universality and phase transition in non-equilibrium complex systems governed by self-organized criticality.

Increasing the efficiency of charge transfer and separation efficiency of photogenerated carriers are still the main challenges in the field of semiconductor-based photocatalysts. Herein, we synthesized g-C3N4@V2C MXene photocatalyst by modifying g-C3N4 using V2C MXene. The prepared photocatalyst exhibited outstanding photocatalytic performance under visible light. The degradation efficiency of methyl orange by g-C3N4@V2C MXene photocatalyst was as high as 94.5%, which is 1.56 times higher than that by g-C3N4. This was attributed to the V2C MXene inhibiting the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers and facilitating rapid transfer of photogenerated electrons (e) from g-C3N4 to MXene. Moreover, g-C3N4@V2C MXene photocatalyst showed good cycling stability. The photocatalytic performance was higher than 85% after three cycles. Experiments to capture free radicals revealed that superoxide radicals (02) are the main contributors to the photocatalytic activity. Thus, the proposed g-C3N4@V2C MXene photocatalyst is a promising visible-light catalyst.

Diffusion of Brownian particles in the tilted periodic potential, usually referred to the washboard potential (WBP), is a well-known model to describe physical systems out of equilibrium. Considering that the biological medium is flexible and thermally fluctuating, a new model, namely the soft matter potential (SMP), is proposed to describe the biological medium. Compared to the washboard potential (WBP), SMP allows Brownian particles to actively modify the structure of the biological medium. Brenner's homogenization theory is applied to predict the diffusivity and velocity of Brownian particles driven by external forces in SMP. Thermodynamic uncertainty relation (TUR) is analyzed for Brownian particles in SMP. It is found that, compared to WBP, Brownian particles in SMP require a lower energy cost $\langle q \rangle$ to achieve accuracy $\mathcal{A}$, i.e. Brownian particles in SMP have higher transport efficiency when driven by external forces.

Solution-processed two-dimensional (2D) materials hold promise for their scalable applications. However, the random, fragmented nature of the solution-processed nanoflakes and the poor percolative conduction through their discrete networks limit the performance of the enabled devices. To overcome the problem, we report conduction modulation of the solution-processed 2D materials via the Stark effect. Using liquid-phase exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) as an example, we demonstrate nonlinear conduction modulation with a switching ratio of >105 by the local fields from the interfacial ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE). Through density-functional theory calculations and in situ Raman scattering and photoluminescence spectroscopic analysis, we understand the modulation arises from a charge redistribution in the solution-processed MoS2. Beyond MoS2, we show the modulation may be viable for the other solution-processed 2D materials and low-dimensional materials. The effective modulation can open their electronic device applications.

Stacking bilayer structures is an efficient way to tune the topology of polaritons in in-plane anisotropic films, e.g., by leveraging the twist angle (TA). However, the effect of another geometric parameter, film thickness ratio (TR), on manipulating the plasmon topology in bilayers is elusive. Here, we fabricate bilayer structures of WTe2 films, which naturally host in-plane hyperbolic plasmons in the terahertz range. Plasmon topology is successfully modified by changing the TR and TA synergistically, manifested by the extinction spectra of unpatterned films and the polarization dependence of the plasmon intensity measured in skew ribbon arrays. Such TR- and TA-tunable topological transitions can be well explained based on the effective sheet optical conductivity by adding up those of the two films. Our study demonstrates TR as another degree of freedom for the manipulation of plasmonic topology in nanophotonics, exhibiting promising applications in bio-sensing, heat transfer and the enhancement of spontaneous emission.

In this reply, we include new experimental results and verify that the observed non-linearity in rippled-MoS$_2$ (leading to mobility kink) is an intrinsic property of a disordered system, rather than contact effects (invasive probes) or other device issues. Noting that Peng Wu's hypothesis is based on a highly ordered ideal system, transfer curves are expected to be linear, and the carrier density is assumed be constant. Wu's model is therefore oversimplified for disordered systems and neglects carrier-density dependent scattering physics. Thus, it is fundamentally incompatible with our rippled-MoS$_2$, and leads to the wrong conclusion.

Microstructure--property relationships are key to effective design of structural materials for advanced applications. Advances in computational methods enabled modeling microstructure-sensitive properties using 3D models (e.g., finite elements) based on microstructure representative volumes. 3D microstructure data required as input to these models are typically obtained from either 3D characterization experiments or digital reconstruction based on statistics from 2D microstructure images. In this work, we present machine learning (ML) approaches to modeling effective properties of heterogeneous materials directly from 2D microstructure sections. To this end, we consider statistical learning models based on spatial correlations and convolutional neural networks as two distinct ML strategies. In both strategies, models are trained on a dataset of synthetically generated 3D microstructures and their properties obtained from micromechanical 3D simulations. Upon training, the models predict properties from 2D microstructure sections. The advantage of the presented models is that they only need 2D sections, whose experimental acquisition is more accessible compared to 3D characterization. Furthermore, the present models do not require digital reconstruction of 3D microstructures.

The thermal management have been widely focused due to broad applications. Generally, the deformation can largely tune the thermal transport. The main challenge of flexible electronics/ materials is to maintain thermal conductance under large deformation. This work investigates the thermal conductance of a nano-designed Si metamaterial constructed with curved nanobeams by molecular dynamics simulation. Interestingly, it shows that the thermal conductance of the nano-designed Si metamaterial is insensitive under a large deformation (strain~-41%). The new feature comes from the designed curved nanobeams which makes a quasi-zero stiffness. Further calculations show that, when under a large deformation, the average stress in nanobeam is ultra-small (<151 MPa) and its phonon density of states are little changed. This work provides valuable insights on multifunction, such as both stable thermal and mechanical properties, of nano-designed metamaterials.

Polaritons in polar biaxial crystals with extreme anisotropy offer a promising route to manipulate nanoscale light-matter interactions. The dynamical modulation of their dispersion is great significance for future integrated nano-optics but remains challenging. Here, we report a momentum-directed strategy, a coupling between the modes with extra momentum supported by the interface and in-plane hyperbolic polaritons, to tailor topological transitions of anisotropic polaritons in biaxial crystals. We experimentally demonstrate such tailored polaritons at the interface of heterostructures between graphene and \alpha-phase molybdenum trioxide (\alpha-MoO3). The interlayer coupling can be electrically modulated by changing the Fermi level in graphene, enabling a dynamic topological transition. More interestingly, we found that the topological transition occurs at a constant Fermi level when tuning the thickness of \alpha-MoO3. The momentum-directed strategy implemented by interface engineering offers new insights for optical topological transitions, which may shed new light for programmable polaritonics, energy transfer and neuromorphic photonics.

The transport of nanoparticles (NPs) in polymer networks, as a typical simplified model describing various structures in living systems, is profoundly important in biomedical engineering and nanotechnology. Predicting the effective diffusivity of NP confined in an ordered network has been an intriguing focus in this frontier field. In the present study, the diffusion of NPs in an unentangled polymer network for different NP radii and network stiffness is numerically investigated by single particle dissipative particle dynamics (DPD). It is found that, the deformation due to the junction deviation contributes significantly to the the potential barrier $U$ for the NP to overcome during hopping, and it is dominated over the strain energy induced by loop stretching for larger NPs and lower network rigidity. Analyses based on the theory of continuum mechanics reveal that the relation between this deformed energy and the junction deviation can be described by a non-linear spring. Taking into account both effects of the loop stretching and junction deviation, a double-spring model is proposed to characterize the diffusivity of the NPs in the ordered network. The theoretical prediction is in good agreement with our numerical simulations, and qualitatively consistent with the investigations available. This model is helpful to improve our understanding on the dynamic behavior of nanoparticle in complex biological environment, and provide theoretical guidance in designing biomedical applications.

The first magnetic 2D material discovered, monolayer (ML) CrI$_3$, is particularly fascinating due to its ground state ferromagnetism. Yet, because monolayer materials are difficult to probe experimentally, much remains unresolved about ML CrI$_{3}$'s structural, electronic, and magnetic properties. Here, we leverage Density Functional Theory (DFT) and high-accuracy Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) simulations to predict lattice parameters, magnetic moments, and spin-phonon and spin-lattice coupling of ML CrI$_{3}$. We exploit a recently developed surrogate Hessian DMC line search technique to determine CrI$_{3}$'s monolayer geometry with DMC accuracy, yielding lattice parameters in good agreement with recently-published STM measurements - an accomplishment given the $\sim 10$% variability in previous DFT-derived estimates depending upon the functional. Strikingly, we find previous DFT predictions of ML CrI$_3$'s magnetic spin moments are correct on average across a unit cell, but miss critical local spatial fluctuations in the spin density revealed by more accurate DMC. DMC predicts magnetic moments in ML CrI$_3$ are 3.62 $\mu_B$ per chromium and -0.145 $\mu_B$ per iodine; both larger than previous DFT predictions. The large disparate moments together with the large spin-orbit coupling of CrI$_3$'s I-$\textit{p}$ orbital suggests a ligand superexchange-dominated magnetic anisotropy in ML CrI$_3$, corroborating recent observations of magnons in its 2D limit. We also find ML CrI$_3$ exhibits a substantial spin-phonon coupling of $\sim$3.32 cm$^{-1}$. Our work thus establishes many of ML CrI$_{3}$'s key properties, while also continuing to demonstrate the pivotal role DMC can assume in the study of magnetic and other 2D materials.

The ability to readily design novel materials with chosen functional properties on-demand represents a next frontier in materials discovery. However, thoroughly and efficiently sampling the entire design space in a computationally tractable manner remains a highly challenging task. To tackle this problem, we propose an inverse design framework (MatDesINNe) utilizing invertible neural networks which can map both forward and reverse processes between the design space and target property. This approach can be used to generate materials candidates for a designated property, thereby satisfying the highly sought-after goal of inverse design. We then apply this framework to the task of band gap engineering in two-dimensional materials, starting with MoS2. Within the design space encompassing six degrees of freedom in applied tensile, compressive and shear strain plus an external electric field, we show the framework can generate novel, high fidelity, and diverse candidates with near-chemical accuracy. We extend this generative capability further to provide insights regarding metal-insulator transition, important for memristive neuromorphic applications among others, in MoS2 which is not otherwise possible with brute force screening. This approach is general and can be directly extended to other materials and their corresponding design spaces and target properties.

The mechanisms that drive metal-to-insulator transitions (MIT) in correlated solids are not fully understood. For example, the perovskite (PV) SrCoO3 is a FM metal while the oxygen-deficient (n-doped) brownmillerite (BM) SrCoO2.5 is an anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) insulator. Given the magnetic and structural transitions that accompany the MIT, the driver for such a MIT transition is unclear. We also observe that the perovskite metals LaNiO3, SrFeO3, and SrCoO3 also undergo MIT when n-doped via high-to-low valence compositional changes. Also, pressurizing the insulating BM SrCoO2.5 phase, drives a gap closing. Using DFT and correlated diffusion Monte Carlo approaches we demonstrate that the ABO3 perovskites most prone to MIT are self hole-doped materials, reminiscent of a negative charge-transfer system. Upon n-doping away from the negative-charge transfer metallic phase, an underlying charge-lattice (or e-phonon) coupling drives the system to a bond-disproportionated gapped state, thereby achieving ligand hole passivation at certain sites only, leading to charge-disproportionated states. The size of the gap opened is correlated with the size of the hole-filling at these ligand sites. This suggests that the interactions driving the gap opening to realize a MIT even in correlated metals is the charge-transfer energy, but it couples with the underlying phonons to enable the transition to the insulating phase. Other orderings (magnetic, charge, etc.) driven by weaker interactions are secondary and may assist gap openings at small dopings, but its the charge-transfer energy that predominantly determines the bandgap, with a negative energy preferring the metallic phase. This n-doping can be achieved by modulations in stoichiometry or composition or pressure. Hence, controlling the amount of the ligand-hole is key in controlling MIT. We compare our predictions to experiments where possible.

Exploration of new superconductors has always been one of the research directions in condensed matter physics. We report here a new layered heterostructure of [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2, which is synthesized by the hydrothermal ion-exchange technique. The structure is suggested by a combination of X-ray powder diffraction and the electron diffraction (ED). [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2 is composed of the alternating stacking of tetragonal FeSe layer and hexagonal (Fe,Al)(OH)2 layer. In [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2, there exists mismatch between the FeSe sub-layer and (Fe,Al)(OH)2 sub-layer, and the lattice of the layered heterostructure is quasi-commensurate. The as-synthesized [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2 is non-superconducting due to the Fe vacancies in the FeSe layer. The superconductivity with a Tc of 40 K can be achieved after a lithiation process, which is due to the elimination of the Fe vacancies in the FeSe layer. The Tc is nearly the same as that of (Li,Fe)OHFeSe although the structure of [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2 is quite different from that of (Li,Fe)OHFeSe. The new layered heterostructure of [(Fe,Al)(OH)2][FeSe]1.2 contains an iron selenium tetragonal lattice interleaved with a hexagonal metal hydroxide lattice. These results indicate that the superconductivity is very robust for FeSe-based superconductors. It opens a path for exploring super-conductivity in iron-base superconductors.

Magnetic tunnel junctions operating in the superparamagnetic regime are promising devices in the field of probabilistic computing, which is suitable for applications like high-dimensional optimization or sampling problems. Further, random number generation is of interest in the field of cryptography. For such applications, a device's uncorrelated fluctuation time-scale can determine the effective system speed. It has been theoretically proposed that a magnetic tunnel junction designed to have only easy-plane anisotropy provides fluctuation rates determined by its easy-plane anisotropy field, and can perform on nanosecond or faster time-scale as measured by its magnetoresistance's autocorrelation in time. Here we provide experimental evidence of nanosecond scale fluctuations in a circular shaped easy-plane magnetic tunnel junction, consistent with finite-temperature coupled macrospin simulation results and prior theoretical expectations. We further assess the degree of stochasticity of such signal.

Magneto-optical effect refers to a rotation of polarization plane, which has been widely studied in traditional ferromagnetic metal and insulator films and scarcely in two-dimensional layered materials. Here we uncover a new nonreciprocal magneto-inelastic light scattering effect in ferromagnetic few-layer CrI3. We observed a rotation of the polarization plane of inelastic light scattering between -20o and +60o that are tunable by an out-of-plane magnetic field from -2.5 to 2.5 T. It is experimentally observed that the degree of polarization can be magnetically manipulated between -20% and 85%. This work raises a new magneto-optical phenomenon and could create opportunities of applying 2D ferromagnetic materials in Raman lasing, topological photonics, and magneto-optical modulator for information transport and storage.

Twisted two-dimensional bi-layers offer exquisite control on the electronic bandstructure through the interlayer rotation and coupling, enabling magic-angle flat-band superconductivity and moiré excitons. Here, we demonstrate how analogous principles, combined with large anisotropy, enable extreme control and manipulation of the photonic dispersion of phonon polaritons (PhPs) in van der Waals (vdW) bi-layers. We experimentally observe tunable topological transitions from open (hyperbolic) to closed (elliptic) dispersion contours in twisted bi-layered \alpha-MoO3 at photonic magic angles, induced by polariton hybridization and robustly controlled by a topological quantity. At these transitions the bilayer dispersion flattens, exhibiting low-loss tunable polariton canalization and diffractionless propagation with resolution below \lambda0/40. Our findings extend twistronics and moiré physics to nanophotonics and polaritonics, with great potential for nano-imaging, nanoscale light propagation, energy transfer and quantum applications.

We report on the fabrication of organic multiferroic tunnel junction (OMFTJ) based on an organic barrier of Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF):Fe3O4 nanocomposite. By adding Fe3O4 nanoparticles into the PVDF barrier, we found that the ferroelectric properties of the OMFTJ are considerably improved compared to that with pure PVDF barrier. It can lead to a tunneling electroresistance (TER) of about 450% at 10K and 100% at room temperature (RT), which is much higher than that of the pure PVDF based device (70% at 10K and 7% at RT). OMFTJs based on the PVDF:Fe3O4 nanocomposite could open new functionalities in smart multiferroic devices via the interplay of the magnetism of nanoparticle with the ferroelectricity of the organic barrier.

We carried out first-principles calculations to investigate the electronic properties of the monolayer blue phosphorene (BlueP) decorated by the group-IVB transition-metal adatoms (Cr, Mo and W), and found that the Cr-decorated BlueP is a magnetic half metal, while the Mo- and W-decorated BlueP are semiconductors with band gaps smaller than 0.2 eV. Compressive strains make the band gaps close and reopen and band inversions occur during this process, which induces topological transitions in the Mo-decorated BlueP (with strain of -5.75%) and W-decorated BlueP (with strain of -4.25%) from normal insulators to topological insulators (TIs). The TI gap is 94 meV for the Mo-decorated BlueP and 150~220 meV for the W-decorated BlueP. Our findings pave the way to engineer topological phases in the monolayer BlueP with transition-metal adatoms.

In a statistical ensemble with $M$ microstates, we introduce an $M \times M$ correlation matrix with the correlations between microstates as its elements. Using eigenvectors of the correlation matrix, we can define eigen microstates of the ensemble. The normalized eigenvalue by $M$ represents the weight factor in the ensemble of the corresponding eigen microstate. In the limit $M \to \infty$, weight factors go to zero in the ensemble without localization of microstate. The finite limit of weight factor when $M \to \infty$ indicates a condensation of the corresponding eigen microstate. This indicates a phase transition with new phase characterized by the condensed eigen microstate. We propose a finite-size scaling relation of weight factors near critical point, which can be used to identify the phase transition and its universality class of general complex systems. The condensation of eigen microstate and the finite-size scaling relation of weight factors have been confirmed by the Monte Carlo data of one-dimensional and two-dimensional Ising models.

Research on two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators (TIs) is obstructed due to the lack of feasible approaches to growing 2D TIs in experiments. Through systematic first-principles calculations and tight-binding simulations, we propose that alloying Os in 2D MoX2 (X = S, Se, Te) monolayers is an effective approach to inducing semiconductor-to-TI transitions, with sizable nontrivial gaps of 25-37 meV. Analysis of the electronic structures reveals that the topological property mainly originates from the 5d orbitals of the Os atom. Furthermore, the TI gaps can be modulated by external biaxial strain.

We propose the finite-size scaling of correlation function in a finite system near its critical point. At a distance ${\bf r}$ in the finite system with size $L$, the correlation function can be written as the product of $|{\bf r}|^{-(d-2+\eta)}$ and its finite-size scaling function of variables ${\bf r}/L$ and $tL^{1/\nu}$, where $t=(T-T_c)/T_c$. The directional dependence of correlation function is nonnegligible only when $|{\bf r}|$ becomes compariable with $L$. This finite-size scaling of correlation function has been confirmed by correlation functions of the Ising model and the bond percolation in two-diemnional lattices, which are calculated by Monte Carlo simulation. We can use the finite-size scaling of correlation function to determine the critical point and the critical exponent $\eta$.

A Quantum Spin-Hall Insulator (QSHI) is implemented into a simple mass-spring Kagome lattice. The transition from the trivial state to the topological one is described by an invariant Chern number function of a contrast parameter. The band diagram and helical edge states characteristic of QSHI are obtained by a combination of numerical and analytical methods. In particular, these states are shown to be Stoneley wave solutions to a set of asymptotic continuous motion equations. Last, scatterless propagation of polarized topological edge waves around sharp corners is demonstrated and robustness is assessed through a parametric study.

An incremental wave superimposed on a pre-deformed hyper-elastic material perceives an elastic media with the instantaneous modulus of the current material. This offers a new route with a broadband feature to control elastic waves by purposely creating finite deformation field. This study proves that the governing equation of a semi-linear material under a symmetric pre-deformation condition maintains the form invariance for longitudinal wave, so the longitudinal wave control can be made by transformation method without the constraint condition on principle stretches, but this is not the case for shear waves. Therefore pre-deforming a semi-linear material provides a potential method for treating longitudinal and shear waves differently. Examples with elastic wave control and band structure shift through pre-deforming a semi-linear material are provided to illustrate this finding. Finally, a one-dimensional spring lattice is proposed to mimic a semi-linear material, and the dispersion relation for longitudinal waves in a sandwich structure with such spring lattice is shown to be invariant during elongation, confirming the result found based on a homogeneous semi-linear material. These results may stimulate researches on designing new hyper-elastic microstructures as well as designing new devices based on pre-deformed hyper-elastic materials.

For vertical velocity field $v_{\rm z} (r,z;R)$ of granular flow through an aperture of radius $R$, we propose a size scaling form $v_{\rm z}(r,z;R)=v_{\rm z} (0,0;R)f (r/R_{\rm r}, z/R_{\rm z})$ in the region above the aperture. The length scales $R_{\rm r}=R- 0.5 d$ and $R_{\rm z}=R+k_2 d$, where $k_2$ is a parameter to be determined and $d$ is the diameter of granule. The effective acceleration, which is derived from $v_{\rm z}$, follows also a size scaling form $a_{\rm eff} = v_{\rm z}^2(0,0;R)R_{\rm z}^{-1} \theta (r/R_{\rm r}, z/R_{\rm z})$. For granular flow under gravity $g$, there is a boundary condition $a_{\rm eff} (0,0;R)=-g$ which gives rise to $v_{\rm z} (0,0;R)= \sqrt{ \lambda g R_{\rm z}}$ with $\lambda=-1/\theta (0,0)$. Using the size scaling form of vertical velocity field and its boundary condition, we can obtain the flow rate $W =C_2 \rho \sqrt{g } R_{\rm r}^{D-1} R_{\rm z}^{1/2} $, which agrees with the Beverloo law when $R \gg d$. The vertical velocity fields $v_z (r,z;R)$ in three-dimensional (3D) and two-dimensional (2D) hoppers have been simulated using the discrete element method (DEM) and GPU program. Simulation data confirm the size scaling form of $v_{\rm z} (r,z;R)$ and the $R$-dependence of $v_{\rm z} (0,0;R)$.

Sound absorption or dissipation principally involves joint interactions between sound waves, material morphology and the air medium. How these elements work most efficiently for sound absorption remains elusive to date. In this paper, we suggest a fundamental relation concisely cross-linking the three elements, which reveals that optimal sound absorption efficiency occurs when the pore size of the material is twice the thickness of the viscous boundary layer of the acoustic air medium. The study is validated by microlattice materials comprising of well-controlled regular structures that absorb sound in a tunable manner. Optimized material morphology in terms of pore size and porosity is determined to provide a robust guidance for optimizing sound absorbing materials.

Reconstructing noise-driven nonlinear networks from time series of output variables is a challenging problem, which turns to be very difficult when nonlinearity of dynamics, strong noise impacts and low measurement frequencies jointly affect. In this Letter, we propose a general method that introduces a number of nonlinear terms of the measurable variables as artificial and new variables, and uses the expanded variables to linearize nonlinear differential equations. Moreover, we use two-time correlations to decompose effects of system dynamics and noise driving. With these transformations, reconstructing nonlinear dynamics of the original system is equivalent to solving linear dynamics of the expanded system at the least squares approximations. We can well reconstruct nonlinear networks, including all dynamic nonlinearities, network links, and noise statistical characteristics, as sampling frequency is rather low. Numerical results fully verify the validity of theoretical derivations.

Application of transformation theory to underwater acoustics has been a challenging task because highly anisotropic density is unachievable in water. A possible strategy is to exploit anisotropic modulus rather than density, while has not been experimentally demonstrated. We present an annular underwater acoustic cloak designed from particular graded solid microstructures. The geometry tailored microstructures mimics meta-fluid with highly anisotropic modulus through substantially suppressed shear wave. Transient wave experiments are conducted with the cloak in a designed 2D underwater waveguide system and proved excellent cloaking performance for enclosed target over broadband frequency 9-15 kHz. This finding paves the way for controlling underwater acoustics using the structured anisotropic modulus meta-fluid.

Many practical systems can be described by dynamic networks, for which modern technique can measure their output signals, and accumulate extremely rich data. Nevertheless, the network structures producing these data are often deeply hidden in these data. Depicting network structures by analysing the available data, i.e., the inverse problems turns to be of great significant. On one hand, dynamics are often driven by various unknown facts, called noises. On the other hand, network structures of practical systems are commonly nonlinear, and different nonlinearities can provide rich dynamic features and meaningful functions of realistic networks. So far, no method, both theoretically or numerically, has been found to systematically treat the both difficulties together. Here we propose to use high-order correlation computations (HOCC) to treat nonlinear dynamics; use two-time correlations to treat noise effects; and use suitable basis and correlator vectors to unifiedly depict all dynamic nonlinearities and topological interaction links and noise statistical structures. All the above theoretical frameworks are constructed in a closed form and numerical simulations fully verify the validity of theoretical predictions.

We use liquid phase exfoliation to produce dispersions of molybdenum disulphide (MoS2) nanoflakes in aqueous surfactant solutions. The chemical structures of the bile salt surfactants play a crucial role in the exfoliation and stabilization of MoS2. The resultant MoS2 dispersions are heavily enriched in single and few (<6) layer flakes with large edge to surface area ratio. We use the dispersions to fabricate free-standing polymer composite wide-band saturable absorbers to develop mode-locked and Q- switched fibre lasers, tunable from 1535-1565 and 1030-1070 nm, respectively. We attribute this sub-bandgap optical absorption and its nonlinear saturation behaviour to edge-mediated states introduced within the material band-gap of the exfoliated MoS2 nanoflakes.

We report unconventional thermoelectric power (Seebeck coefficient, S) in L10 structured FePt films. The temperature dependence of S can be well fitted by a phenomenological expression consisting of electron diffusion and magnon-drag contributions. Interestingly, the magnon drag coefficient carries an opposite sign to that of electron diffusion, revealing a dominant contribution from the elusive electron-magnon Umklapp scattering. DFT calculations identify several bands crossing the Brillouin zone boundaries, facilitating the Umklapp process. The large spin-orbit coupling in FePt results in strong mixing of majority and minority spins among some of those bands, greatly enhancing the electron-magnon scattering.

Membrane-type Acoustic Metamaterials (MAMs) have demonstrated unusual capacity in controlling low-frequency sound transmission/reflection. In this paper, an analytical vibroacoustic membrane model is developed to study sound transmission behavior of the MAM under a normal incidence. The MAM is composed of a prestretched elastic membrane with attached rigid masses. To accurately capture finite-dimension rigid mass effects on the membrane deformation, the point matching approach is adopted by applying a set of distributed point forces along the interfacial boundary between masses and the membrane. The accuracy and capability of the theoretical model is verified through the comparison with the finite element method. In particular, microstructure effects such as weight, size and eccentricity of the attached mass, pretension and thickness of the membrane on the resulting transmission peak and dip frequencies of the MAM are quantitatively investigated. New peak and dip frequencies are found for the MAM with one and multiple eccentric attached masses. The developed model can be served as an efficient tool for design of such membrane-type metamaterials.

By considering the membrane's dissipation, the membrane-type acoustic metamaterial (MAM) has been demonstrated as a super absorber for low-frequency sound. In the paper, a theoretical vibroacoustic plate model is developed to reveal sound energy absorption mechanism within the MAM under a plane normal incidence. Based on the plate model in conjunction with the point matching method, the in-plane strain energy of the membrane due to the resonant and antiresonant motion of the attached masses can be accurately captured by solving the coupled vibroacoustic integrodifferential equation. Therefore, the sound absorption of the MAM is obtained and discussed, which is also in good agreement with the prediction from the finite element method. In particular, microstructure effects including eccentricity of the attached masses, the depth, thickness and loss factor of the membrane on sound absorption peak values are quantitatively investigated.

We consider voltage-driving DNA translocation through a nanopore in the present study. By assuming the DNA is coaxial with the cylindrical nanopore, a hydrodynamic model for determining effective force on a single DNA molecule in a nanopore was presented, in which density functional theory (DFT) combined with the continuum Navier-Stokes (NS) equations is utilized to investigate electro-osmotic flow and the viscous drag force acting on the DNA inside a nanopore. Surface charge on the walls of the nanopore is also taken into account in our model. The consistence between our calculation and the previous experimental measurement indicates that the present theoretical model is an effective tool to predict the hydrodynamic resistance on DNA. Results show that charge inversion, which cannot be obtained by the Poisson-Boltzmann (PB) model, will reduce electro-osmotic velocity, or even lead to flow reversal for higher salt concentration. This is helpful to raise the effective force profoundly in the overscreening region.

Polaron formation in quasi-one-dimensional organic ferromagnets is studied based on an extended Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model combined with a Kondo term. The charge distribution of the polaron is found to be highly asymmetric under spatial reflection, due to the spin radicals. On the contrary, the spin density is nearly symmetric; the spin asymmetry introduced by the extra electron inducing the polaron formation is nearly compensated by the spin polarization of the lower-energy states. We discuss these results on the basis of real-space mean-field calculations and symmetry arguments.

Continuum simulation is employed to study ion transport and fluid flow through a nanopore in a solid-state membrane under an applied potential drop. Results show the existence of concentration polarization layers on the surfaces of the membrane. The nonuniformity of the ionic distribution gives rise to an electric pressure that drives vortical motion in the fluid. There is also a net hydrodynamic flow through the nanopore due to an asymmetry induced by the membrane surface charge. The qualitative behavior is similar to that observed in a previous study using molecular dynamic simulations. The current--voltage characteristics show some nonlinear features but are not greatly affected by the hydrodynamic flow in the parameter regime studied. In the limit of thin Debye layers, the electric resistance of the system can be characterized using an equivalent circuit with lumped parameters. Generation of vorticity can be understood qualitatively from elementary considerations of the Maxwell stresses. However, the flow strength is a strongly nonlinear function of the applied field. Combination of electrophoretic and hydrodynamic effects can lead to ion selectivity in terms of valences and this could have some practical applications in separations.

In continuum mechanics, the non-centrosymmetric micropolar theory is usually used to capture the chirality inherent in materials. However when reduced to a two dimensional (2D) isotropic problem, the resulting model becomes non-chiral. Therefore, influence of the chiral effect cannot be properly characterized by existing theories for 2D chiral solids. To circumvent this difficulty, based on reinterpretation of isotropic tensors in a 2D case, we propose a continuum theory to model the chiral effect for 2D isotropic chiral solids. A single material parameter related to chirality is introduced to characterize the coupling between the bulk deformation and the internal rotation which is a fundamental feature of 2D chiral solids. Coherently, the proposed continuum theory is also derived for a triangular chiral lattice from a homogenization procedure, from which the effective material constants of the lattice are analytically determined. The unique behavior in the chiral lattice is demonstrated through the analyses of a static tension problem and a plane wave propagation problem. The results, which cannot be predicted by the non-chiral model, are validated by the exact solution of the discrete model.

Typical characteristics of aging effect, double hysteresis loops, were observed in (100)-oriented Bi0.95Ca0.05FeO3 (BCFO) and BiFe0.95Ni0.05O3 (BFNO) films grown on LaNiO3(100)/Si substrates. The double hysteresis loops for BCFO film become less "constrained" with increasing applied voltage compared to that for BFNO, indicating that the aging effect is more severe in the latter. This can be demonstrated by the lower leakage current and smaller dielectric constant for BFNO. These phenomena are explained based on the crystal structure and defect chemistry. The defect states of the Bi, Ca, Fe, Ni and O ions were clarified by the XPS data.

A (124)-oriented SrBi4Ti4O15 (SBTi) ferroelectric thin film with high volume fraction of \alphaSBTi(124)=97% was obtained using a metal organic decomposition process on SiO2/Si substrate coated by (110)-oriented LaNiO3 (LNO) thin film. The remanent polarization and coercive field for (124)-oriented SBTi film are 12.1 \muC/cm2 and 74 kV/cm, respectively. No evident fatigue of (124)-oriented SBTi thin film can be observed after 1\times10e9 switching cycles. Besides, the (124)-oriented SBTi film can be uniformly polarized over large areas using a piezoelectric-mode atomic force microscope. Considering that the annealing temperature was 650\degC and the thickness of each deposited layer was merely 30 nm, a long-range epitaxial relationship between SBTi(124) and LNO(110) facets was proposed. The epitaxial relationship was demonstrated based on the crystal structures of SBTi and LNO.

A metamaterial slab of anisotropic mass with one diagonal component being infinity and the other being zero is demonstrated to behave as a superlens for acoustic imaging beyond the diffraction limit. The underlying mechanism for extraordinary transmission of evanescent waves is attributed to the zero mass effect. Microstructure design for such anisotropic lens is also presented. In contrast to the anisotropic superlens based on Fabry-Pérot resonant mechanism, the proposed lens operates without the limitation on lens thickness, thus more flexible in practical applications. Numerical modeling is performed to validate the proposed ideas.

Waves propagating inwardly to the wave source are called antiwaves which have negative phase velocity. In this paper the phenomenon of negative phase velocity in oscillatory systems is studied on the basis of periodically paced complex Ginzbug-Laundau equation (CGLE). We figure out a clear physical picture on the negative phase velocity of these pacing induced waves. This picture tells us that the competition between the frequency $\omega_{out}$ of the pacing induced waves with the natural frequency $\omega_{0}$ of the oscillatory medium is the key point responsible for the emergence of negative phase velocity and the corresponding antiwaves. $\omega_{out}\omega_{0}>0$ and $|\omega_{out}|<|\omega_{0}|$ are the criterions for the waves with negative phase velocity. This criterion is general for one and high dimensional CGLE and for general oscillatory models. Our understanding of antiwaves predicts that no antispirals and waves with negative phase velocity can be observed in excitable media.

People have been familiar with the phenomenon of wave refraction for several centuries. Recently, a novel type of refraction, i.e., negative refraction, where both incident and refractory lines locate on the same side of the normal line, has been predicted and realized in the context of linear optics in the presence of both right- and left-handed materials. In this work, we reveal, by theoretical prediction and numerical verification, negative refraction in nonlinear oscillatory systems. We demonstrate that unlike what happens in linear optics, negative refraction of nonlinear waves does not depend on the presence of the special left-handed material, but depends on suitable physical condition. Namely, this phenomenon can be observed in wide range of oscillatory media under the Hopf bifurcation condition. The complex Ginzburg-Landau equation and a chemical reaction-diffusion model are used to demonstrate the feasibility of this nonlinear negative refraction behavior in practice.

Turbulence control in the two-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation is investigated. A new approach is proposed for the control purpose. In the presence of a small spiral wave seed initiation, a fully developed turbulence can be completely annihilated by injecting a single periodic signal to a small fixed space area around the spiral wave tip. The control is achieved in a parameter region where the spiral wave of the uncontrolled system is absolutely unstable. The robustness, convenience and high control efficiency of this method is emphasized, and the mechanism underlying these practical advantages are intuitively understood.

Brownian motion of an array of harmonically coupled particles subject to a periodic substrate potential and driven by an external bias is investigated. In the linear response limit (small bias), the coupling between particles may enhance the diffusion process, depending on the competition between the harmonic chain and the substrate potential. An analytical formula of the diffusion rate for the single-particle case is also obtained. In the nonlinear response regime, the moving kink may become phase-locked to its radiated phonon waves, hence the mobility of the chain may decrease as one increases the external force.

Kink dynamics of the damped Frenkel-Kontorova (discrete sine-Gordon) chain driven by a constant external force are investigated. Resonant steplike transitions of the average velocity occur due to the competitions between the moving kinks and their radiated phasonlike modes. A mean-field consideration is introduced to give a precise prediction of the resonant steps. Slip-stick motion and spatiotemporal dynamics on those resonant steps are discussed. Our results can be applied to studies of the fluxon dynamics of 1D Josephson-junction arrays and ladders, dislocations, tribology and other fields.

The spatiotemporal dynamics of a damped sine-Gordon chain with sinusoidal nearest-neighbor couplings driven by a constant uniform force are discussed. The velocity characteristics of the chain versus the external force is shown. Dynamics in the high- and low-velocity regimes are investigated. It is found that in the high-velocity regime, the dynamics is dominated by rotating modes, the velocity shows a branching bifurcation feature, while in the low-velocity regime, the velocity exhibits step-like dynamical transitions, broken by the destruction of strong resonances.