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Kagome lattice $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$ ($A$ = K, Rb, and Cs) superconductors without magnetism from vanadium $d$-electrons are intriguing because they have a novel charge density wave (CDW) order around 90 K and display superconductivity at $\sim$3 K that competes with the CDW order. Recently, CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$, isostructural to $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$, was found to have concurrent structural and magnetic phase transition at $T^{\ast}\approx$ 55 K that can be suppressed by pressure to induce superconductivity [Liu \textitet al., \hrefhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07761-xNature \textbf632, 1032 (2024)]. Here, we use elastic and inelastic X-ray scattering to study the microscopic origin of the structural transition in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$. Although our elastic measurements confirm the 4$\times$1$\times$1 superlattice order below $T^{\ast}$, its underlying correlation is rather short-ranged. Moreover, our inelastic measurements at the superlattice wavevectors around (3, 0, 0) find no evidence of a significant acoustic phonon anomaly below $T^{\ast}$, similar to the case of $A$V$_3$Sb$_5$. The absence of acoustic phonon anomaly indicates a weak electron-phonon coupling in CsCr$_3$Sb$_5$, suggesting that the structural transition is likely associated with an unconventional CDW order.

Semiconducting transitional metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) moiré superlattice provides an exciting platform for manipulating excitons. The in-situ control of moiré potential confined exciton would usher in unprecedented functions of excitonic devices but remains challenging. Meanwhile, as a dipolar composite boson, interlayer exciton in the type-II aligned TMDC moiré superlattice strongly interacts with fermionic charge carriers. Here, we demonstrate active manipulation of the exciton diffusivity by tuning their interplay with correlated carriers in moiré potentials. At fractional fillings where carriers are known to form generalized Wigner crystals, we observed suppressed diffusivity of exciton. In contrast, in Fermi liquid states where carriers dynamically populate all moiré traps, the repulsive carrier-exciton interaction can effectively reduce the moiré potential confinement seen by the exciton, leading to enhanced diffusivity with the increase of the carrier density. Notably, the exciton diffusivity is enhanced by orders of magnitude near the Mott insulator state, and the enhancement is much more pronounced for the 0-degree than the 60-degree aligned WS2/WSe2 heterobilayer due to the more localized nature of interlayer excitons. Our study inspires further engineering and controlling exotic excitonic states in TMDC moiré superlattices for fascinating quantum phenomena and novel excitonic devices.

This letter reports a time resolved pump-probe reflectance spectroscopic study on moiré excitons in a twisted monolayer WS2/WSe2 heterostructure. By probing at the resonant energies of intralayer excitons, we observed their distinct temporal tracks under the influence of interlayer excitons, which we attribute to the discrepancy in spatial distribution of the intralayer excitons in different layers. We also observed that intralayer moiré excitons in WSe2 layer differ at decay rate, which reflects different locations of Wannier-like and charge-transfer intralayer excitons in a moiré cell. We concluded that the interlayer moiré excitons form within a few picoseconds and have the lifetime exceeding five nanoseconds. Our results provide insights into the nature of moiré excitons and the strain's significant impact on their behaviour in twisted heterostructures, which could have important implications for the development of novel optoelectronic devices.

The quantum spin Hall effect has been predicted in twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) owing to the layer-pseudospin magnetic field. Recently, experimental observations have also confirmed such topological states of matter. However, the topological electronic properties in multilayer moiré superlattices remain to be further explored. In twisted TMDs heterotrilayers, the realization of moiré potential with various symmetries becomes feasible. Here, we demonstrate that twisted trilayer TMDs can enter a topological insulator phase under the influence of moiré potential with ${C_6}$ symmetry. Specifically, we built two types of trilayer heterostructures, where the low-energy valence band electrons are contributed by the middle layer. In the AA-stacked moiré WS$_2$/WSe$_2$/MoS$_2$ heterotrilayers where only the middle layer is twisted, the maxima of the moiré potential exhibits an approximate ${C_6}$ symmetry. The $C_6$ symmetry effectively compensates for the spatial inversion symmetry breaking in the WSe$_2$ layer, leading to a twist-angle-dependent topological phase transition. Leveraging a Green's function approach, we calculate the local state density of edge states at topological minigaps, confirming their nature as moiré edge states. In the helical twisted AA-stacked moiré MoS$_2$/WSe$_2$/MoS$_2$ heterotrilayers, we observed a mosaic pattern of topological and trivial insulators. The emergence of topological mosaic is attributed to the maxima of the local moiré potential possessing $C_6$ symmetry. The results provide a new way for the experimental realization of topological phases in TMDs heterojunctions.

Hybrid exciton in moiré superlattices of two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors inherits the electric dipole, strong moiré trapping, and stacking optical selection rules from its interlayer part, whereas the intralayer part is intended for enhancing optical coupling strength. Here, we show that electron-hole Coulomb exchange, or Förster coupling, within the intralayer component qualitatively alters the properties of moiré excitons, enabling their coherent hopping between moiré traps laterally separated over 10 nm and/or across layers, where their kinetic propagation is completely suppressed. Valley-flip hopping channels are found as significant as the valley-conserving ones, leading to rich possibilities to tailor valley-orbit-couplings and introduce non-trivial topology to the moiré exciton superlattice. In twisted MoTe$_2$ where hybrid moiré excitons feature a symmetry protection from radiative recombination, we show that Förster valley-orbit-coupling can give rise to a rich topological phase diagram.

We investigate the magnetic orders in a mixture of Boson (exciton) and Fermion (electron or hole) trapped in transition-metal dichalcogenides moiré superlattices. A sizable antiferromagnetic exchange interaction is found between a carrier and an interlayer exciton trapped at different high symmetry points of the moiré supercell. This interaction at a distance much shorter than the carrier-carrier separation dominates the magnetic order in the Bose-Fermi mixture, where the carrier sublattice develops ferromagnetism opposite to that in the exciton sublattice. We demonstrate the possibility of increasing the Curie temperature of moiré carriers through electrical tuning of the exciton density in the ground state. In a trilayer moiré system with a p-n-p type band alignment, the exciton-carrier interplay can establish a layered antiferromagnetism for holes confined in the two outer layers. We further reveal a spontaneous nematic order in the Bose-Fermi mixture, arising from the interference between the Coulomb interaction and p-wave interlayer tunneling dictated by the stacking registry.

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) twisted homobilayers have been established as an ideal platform for studying strong correlation phenomena, as exemplified by the recent discovery of fractional Chern insulator (FCI) states in twisted MoTe2 and Chern insulators (CI) and unconventional superconductivity in twisted WSe2. In these systems, nontrivial topology in the strongly layer-hybridized regime can arise from a spatial patterning of interlayer tunneling amplitudes and layer-dependent potentials that yields a lattice of layer skyrmions. Here we report the direct observation of skyrmion textures in the layer degree of freedom of Rhombohedral-stacked (R-stacked) twisted WSe2 homobilayers. This observation is based on scanning tunneling spectroscopy that separately resolves the \Gamma-valley and K-valley moiré electronic states. We show that \Gamma-valley states are subjected to a moiré potential with an amplitude of ~ 120 meV. At ~150 meV above the \Gamma-valley, the K-valley states are subjected to a weaker moiré potential of ~30 meV. Most significantly, we reveal opposite layer polarization of the K-valley at the MX and XM sites within the moiré unit cell, confirming the theoretically predicted skyrmion layer-texture. The dI/dV mappings allow the parameters that enter the continuum model for the description of moiré bands in twisted TMD bilayers to be determined experimentally, further establishing a direct correlation between the shape of LDOS profile in real space and topology of topmost moiré band.

In twisted bilayer semiconductors with arbitrary twisting angles, a chiral excitonic system can arise from the interlayer electron-hole Coulomb exchange interaction (Förster coupling) that hybridizes the anisotropic intralayer excitons from individual layers. We present a general framework for the effective exciton Hamiltonian taking into account the electron-hole Coulomb exchange, using twisted homobilayer systems composed of transition metal dichalcogenides or black phosphorus as examples. We demonstrate that such chiral excitonic systems can feature unconventional Hall (Nernst) effects arising from quantum geometric properties characteristic of the layer hybridized wavefunctions under the chiral symmetry, for example, the time-reversal even layer Hall counter flow and the crossed nonlinear dynamical Hall effect, when mechanical and statistical force (temperature or density gradient) drives the exciton flow.

Spinless systems exhibit unique topological characteristics compared to spinful ones, stemming from their distinct algebra. Without chiral interactions typically linked to spin, an intriguing yet unexplored interplay between topological and structural chirality may be anticipated. Here we show examples of spinless topological chirality solely from structural chirality in two types of twisted graphite. In a 3D helical structure, we find a chiral Weyl semimetal phase where bulk topology and chiral surface states are both determined by the screw direction. And in a 3D periodic structure formed with alternating twisting angle signs, a higher-order Dirac semimetal with chiral hinge states is discovered. Underlying these novel topological states is the Umklapp scattering that captures the chirality of the twisted interfaces, leading effectively to a sign-flipped chiral interlayer hopping, thereby introducing $\mathbb{Z}_2$ lattice gauge field that alters the symmetry algebra. Our findings point to a new pathway for engineering topological chirality.

Semiconductor moiré systems, characterized by their periodic spatial light emission, unveil a new paradigm of active metasurfaces. Here, we show that ferroelectric moiré domains formed in a twisted hexagonal boron nitride (t-hBN) substrate can modulate light emission from an adjacent semiconductor MoSe$_2$ monolayer, enhancing its functionality as an active metasurface. The electrostatic potential at the surface of the t-hBN substrate provides a simple way to confine excitons in the MoSe$_2$ monolayer. The excitons confined within the domains and at the domain walls are spectrally separated due to a pronounced Stark shift. Moreover, the patterned light emission can be dynamically controlled by electrically gating the ferroelectric domains, introducing a novel functionality beyond conventional semiconductor moiré systems. Our findings chart an exciting pathway for integrating nanometer-scale moiré ferroelectric domains with various optically active functional layers, paving the way for advanced nanophotonic applications.

Moiré superlattices formed in stacks of two or more 2D crystals with similar lattice structures have recently become excellent platforms to reveal new physics in low-dimensional systems. They are, however, highly sensitive to the angle and lattice constant differences between the associated crystals, limiting the range of the material choice and the possible moiré patterns for a given 2D crystal. Here, we present a novel approach to realize an atomically flat substrate with a periodic moiré pattern that can induce the moiré potential on the material on top by van der Waals (vdW) interactions, without suffering from the lattice and angle mismatch. By constructing a twisted hBN (thBN) moiré substrate at an angle of about 1$^\circ$, we show that the graphene on top, aligned around 15$^\circ$ with the neighboring hBN layers, exhibits typical transport properties under a hexagonal moiré potential, including multiple satellite Dirac points (DPs), Hofstadter butterfly effect, and Brown-Zak oscillations. All features point to the existence of the moiré potential in graphene formed by thBN with $\sim$1$^\circ$ twist angle. Further statistical study shows that the twist from a parallel interface between the hBN layers is critical to induce the moiré potential. Our study demonstrates that the thBN moiré substrate can be used to investigate moiré physics in arbitrary materials without being constrained by their lattice constants.

In the search of fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) effect, the conventional wisdom is to start from a flat Chern band isolated from the rest of the Hilbert space by band gaps, so that many-body interaction can be projected to a landscape that mimics a Landau level. Singular flat bands (SFB), which share protected touching points with other dispersive bands, represent another type of flat landscapes differing from Landau levels and Chern bands in topological and geometric properties. Here we report the finding of FQAH phases in a SFB, which emerges in the bipartite limit of the nearest-neighbor tight-binding model of twisted bilayer MoTe$_2$. At 1/3 and 2/3 filling of the SFB, FQAH effects are demonstrated using density matrix renormalisation group calculations with all bands, as well as exact diagonalization calculations with the two touching bands. Gapping the band touching can turn the SFB into a nearly flat Chern band, but counter-intuitively this suppresses the FQAH effect, as the gap opening introduces strong inhomogeneity to the quantum geometry. An optical scheme to realize such SFB for cold atoms is provided. Our findings uncover a new arena for the exploration of fractional quantum Hall physics beyond the Landau level and Chern insulator paradigms.

We discover an intrinsic dipole Hall effect in a variety of magnetic insulating states at integer fillings of twisted MoTe$_2$ moiré superlattice, including topologically trivial and nontrivial ferro-, antiferro-, and ferri-magnetic configurations. The dipole Hall current, in linear response to in-plane electric field, generates an in-plane orbital magnetization $M_{\parallel}$ along the field, through which an AC field can drive magnetization oscillation up to THz range. Upon the continuous topological phase transitions from trivial to quantum anomalous Hall states in both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic configurations, the dipole Hall current and $M_{\parallel}$ have an abrupt sign change, enabling contact free detection of the transitions through the magnetic stray field. In configurations where the linear response is forbidden by symmetry, the dipole Hall current and $M_{\parallel}$ appear as a crossed nonlinear response to both in-plane and out-of-plane electric fields. These magnetoelectric phenomena showcase novel functionalities of insulators from the interplay between magnetism, topology and electrical polarization.

A hallmark of unconventional superconductors is their complex electronic phase diagrams where "intertwined orders" of charge-spin-lattice degrees of freedom compete and coexist as in copper oxides and iron pnictides. While the electronic phase diagram of kagome lattice superconductor such as CsV3Sb5 also exhibits complex behavior involving coexisting and competing charge density wave order and superconductivity, much is unclear about the microscopic origin of superconductivity. Here, we study the vortex lattice (VL) in superconducting state of Cs(V0.86Ta0.14)3Sb5, where the Ta-doping suppresses charge order and enhances superconductivity. Using small-angle neutron scattering, a strictly bulk probe, we show that the VL exhibits a strikingly conventional behavior. This includes a triangular VL with a period consistent with 2e-pairing, a field dependent scattering intensity that follows a London model, and a temperature dependence consistent with a uniform superconducting gap expected for s-wave pairing. These results suggest that optimal bulk superconductivity in Cs(V1-xTax)3Sb5 arises from a conventional Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer electron-lattice coupling, different from spin fluctuation mediated unconventional copper and iron based superconductors.

The intrinsic planar Hall effect has attracted intensive interest inspired by recent experiments. Existing theories of this effect require three dimensional orbital motion, or strong spin-orbit coupling of certain forms, which do not exist in van der Waals thin films. Here, we uncover a new origin of the planar Hall effect - as an intrinsic property of layer coherent electrons - that allows its presence even in bilayer and trilayer atomically thin limit. As examples, we show that the effect can be triggered by strain and interlayer sliding respectively in twisted bilayer graphene and trilayer transition metal dichalcogenides, where the effect features rich tunability and even stronger magnitude than those induced by topological nodal structures in bulk materials. The layer mechanism also provides a new route towards quantized Hall response upon a topological phase transition induced by in-plane magnetic field. These results unveil the unexplored potential of quantum layertronics and moiré flat band for planar Hall transport.

Supersymmetry (SUSY) of Hamiltonian dictates double degeneracy between a pair of superpartners (SPs) transformed by supercharge, except at zero energy where modes remain unpaired in many cases. Here we explore a SUSY of complete isospectrum between SPs -- with paired zero modes -- realized by 2D electrons in zero-flux periodic gauge fields, which can describe twisted or periodically strained 2D materials. We find their low-energy sector containing zero (or threshold) modes must be topologically non-trivial, by proving that Chern numbers of the two SPs have a finite difference dictated by the number of zero modes and energy dispersion in their vicinity. In $30^\circ$ twisted bilayer (double bilayer) transition metal dichalcogenides subject to periodic strain, we find one SP is topologically trivial in its lowest miniband, while the twin SP of identical dispersion has a Chern number of $1$ ($2$), in stark contrast to time-reversal partners that have to be simultaneously trivial or nontrivial. For systems whose physical Hamiltonian corresponds to the square root of a SUSY Hamiltonian, such as twisted or strained bilayer graphene, we reveal that topological properties of the two SUSY SPs are transferred respectively to the conduction and valence bands, including the contrasted topology in the low-energy sector and identical topology in the high-energy sector. This offers a unified perspective for understanding topological properties in many flat-band systems described by such square-root models. Both types of SUSY systems provide unique opportunities for exploring correlated and topological phases of matter.

The Nernst effect is a fundamental thermoelectric conversion phenomenon that was deemed to be possible only in systems with magnetic field or magnetization. In this work, we propose a novel dynamical chiral Nernst effect that can appear in two-dimensional van der Waals materials with chiral structural symmetry in the absence of any magnetic degree of freedom. This unconventional effect is triggered by time variation of an out-of-plane electric field, and has an intrinsic quantum geometric origin linked to not only the intralayer center-of-mass motion but also the interlayer coherence of electronic states. We demonstrate the effect in twisted homobilayer and homotrilayer transition metal dichalcogenides, where the strong twisted interlayer coupling leads to sizable intrinsic Nernst conductivities well within the experimental capacity. This work suggests a new route for electric control of thermoelectric conversion.

Fluctuations of quantum spins play a crucial role in the emergence of exotic magnetic phases and excitations. The lack of the charge degree of freedom in insulating quantum magnets, however, precludes such fluctuations from mediating electronic transport. Here we show that the quantum fluctuations of a localized frustrated magnet induce strong proximitized charge transport of the conduction electrons in a synthetic heterostructure comprising an epitaxial $\rm{Bi_{2}Ir_{2}O_{7}}$ ultrathin film on the single crystal of $\rm{Yb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}}$. The proximity effects are evidenced by the scaling behavior of the $\rm{Bi_{2}Ir_{2}O_{7}}$ resistance in correspondance with the dynamic scaling of the dynamic spin correlation function of $\rm{Yb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}}$, which is a result of quantum fluctuations near a multi-phase quantum critical point. The proximitized transport in $\rm{Bi_{2}Ir_{2}O_{7}}$ can be effectively tuned by magnetic field through suppressing the quantum spin fluctuations as well as inducing transitions via magnetic anisotropy in $\rm{Yb_{2}Ti_{2}O_{7}}$. Our work establishes a new pathway for harnessing quantum spin fluctuations in magnetic insulators with electric transport, offering exciting prospects for potential applications in the realm of quantum spintronics.

This paper presents a new technique to study the adsorption and desorption of ions and electrons on insulating surfaces in the presence of strong electric fields in cryoliquids. The experimental design consists of a compact cryostat coupled with a sensitive electro-optical Kerr device to monitor the stability of the electric fields. The behavior of nitrogen and helium ions on a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surface was compared to a PMMA surface coated with a mixture of deuterated polystyrene and deuterated polybutadiene. Ion accumulation and removal on these surfaces were unambiguously observed. Within the precision of the data, both surfaces behave similarly for the physisorbed ions. The setup was also used to measure the (quasi-)static dielectric constant of PMMA at T = 70 K. The impact of the ion adsorption on the search for a neutron permanent electric dipole moment in a cryogenic environment, like the nEDM@SNS experiment, is discussed.

The recent constructions of flat moiré minibands in specifically twisted multilayer graphene and twisted transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have facilitated the observation of strong correlations with a convenient tunability. These correlations in flat bands result in the band dispersion heavily influenced by carrier densities, leading to filling-dependent quasiparticle band renormalizations. Particularly, in magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene (MATBG), the band structure--including the quasiparticle energy and wavefunction--is crucial in understanding the correlated properties. Previous theoretical studies have demonstrated the presence of a time-reversal-even charge Hall counterflow in response to a direct current (DC) electric field in twisted bilayers as chiral structures. In this study, we show that such layer Hall counterflow can serve as a sensitive probe for MATBG model parameters, which are currently ambiguous as a result of unavoidable structural relaxation and twist-angle disorder. We present the layer Hall counterflow and the associated in-plane magnetization for three different MATBG continuum models, based on which many-body interacting models have been widely applied to study strong correlations in MATBG. At the single-particle level, our findings indicate notable differences in layer-projected Hall conductivity, both in magnitude and sign, between different MATBG continuum models. Furthermore, our self-consistent Hartree calculations, performed on each of these single-particle continuum models, reveal renormalized layer-projected Hall conductivity by the self-consistent Hartree field.

We show that interlayer charge transfer in 2D materials can be driven by an in-plane electric field, giving rise to electrical multipole generation in linear and second order of in-plane field. The linear and nonlinear effects have quantum geometric origins in the Berry curvature and quantum metric respectively, defined in extended parameter spaces characteristic of layered materials. We elucidate their symmetry characters, and demonstrate sizable dipole and quadrupole polarizations respectively in twisted bilayers and trilayers of transition metal dichalcogenides. Furthermore, we show that the effect is strongly enhanced during the topological phase transition tuned by interlayer translation. The effects point to a new electric control on layer quantum degree of freedom.

Kitaev materials are a promising platform for the realization of quantum spin liquid states. The thermal Hall effect has emerged as a potential probe of exotic excitations within such states. In the Kitaev candidate material $\alpha$-RuCl$_{3}$, however, the thermal Hall conductivity $\kappa_{xy}$ has been attributed not only to exotic Majorana fermions or chiral magnons, but also to phonons. It has been shown theoretically that the former two types of heat carriers can generate a "planar" thermal Hall effect, whereby the magnetic field is parallel to the heat current, as observed experimentally, but it is unknown whether phonons also could. Here we show that a planar thermal Hall effect is present in another Kitaev candidate material, Na$_{2}$Co$_{2}$TeO$_{6}$. On the basis of a striking similarity between the temperature and field dependence of $\kappa_{xy}$ and that of the phonon-dominated thermal conductivity $\kappa_{xx}$, we argue that the planar thermal Hall effect in Na$_{2}$Co$_{2}$TeO$_{6}$ is generated by phonons. The phonon contributed planar $\kappa_{xy}$ also shows a strong sample dependence, which indicates an extrinsic origin of the mechanism. By conducting a complete study with different in-plane configurations of heat current $J$ and magnetic field $H$, $i.e.$ $H$ $\|$ $J$ and $H$ $\bot$ $J$, we observe a large difference in $\kappa_{xy}$ between these two configurations, which reveals that the direction of the heat current $J$ may play an important role in determining the planar thermal Hall effect. Our observation calls for a re-evaluation of the planar thermal Hall effect observed in $\alpha$-RuCl$_{3}$.

Bilayer moiré structures have attracted significant attention recently due to their spatially modulated layer degrees of freedom. However, the layer-dependent transport mechanism in the moiré structures is still a problem to be explored. Here we investigate the layer-dependent transport properties regulated by the strain, the interlayer bias and the number of moiré periods in a strained moiré homobilayer TMDs nanoribbon based on low-energy efficient models. The charge carriers can pass perfectly through the scattering region with the moiré potential. While, it is noted that the overall transmission coefficient is mainly contributed from either intralayer or interlayer transmissions. The transition of transport mechanism between intralayer and interlayer transmissions can be achieved by adjusting the strain. The intralayer transmissions are suppressed and one of the interlayer transmissions can be selected by a vertical external electric field, which can cause a controllable layer polarization. Moreover, the staggered intralayer and interlayer minigaps are formed as the number of moiré periods increases in the scattering region due to the overlap of the wave functions in two adjacent moiré periods. Our finding points to an opportunity to realize layer functionalities by the strain and electric field.

Topological insulators and semimetals have been shown to possess intriguing thermoelectric properties promising for energy harvesting and cooling applications. However, thermoelectric transport associated with the Fermi arc topological surface states on topological Dirac semimetals remains less explored. In this work, we systematically examine thermoelectric transport in a series of topological Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 thin films grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Surprisingly, we find significantly enhanced Seebeck effect and anomalous Nernst effect at cryogenic temperatures when the Cd3As2 layer is thin. Combining angle-dependent quantum oscillation analysis, magnetothermoelectric measurement, transport modelling and first-principles simulation, we isolate the contributions from bulk and surface conducting channels and attribute the unusual thermoeletric properties to the topological surface states. Our analysis showcases the rich thermoelectric transport physics in quantum-confined topological Dirac semimetal thin films and suggests new routes to achieving high thermoelectric performance at cryogenic temperatures.

The potential for low-threshold optical nonlinearity has received significant attention in the fields of photonics and conceptual optical neuron networks. Excitons in two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors are particularly promising in this regard as reduced screening and dimensional confinement foster their pronounced many-body interactions towards nonlinearity. However, experimental determination of the interactions remains ambiguous, as optical pumping in general creates a mixture of excitons and unbound carriers, where the impacts of band gap renormalization and carrier screening on exciton energy counteract each other. Here by comparing the influences on exciton ground and excited states energies in the photoluminescence spectroscopy of monolayer MoSe$_2$, we are able to identify separately the screening of Coulomb binding by the neutral excitons and by charge carriers. The energy difference between exciton ground state (A-1s) and excited state (A-2s) red-shifts by 5.5 meV when the neutral exciton density increases from 0 to $4\times 10^{11}$ cm$^{-2}$, in contrast to the blue shifts with the increase of either electron or hole density. This energy difference change is attributed to the mutual screening of Coulomb binding of neutral excitons, from which we extract an exciton polarizability of $\alpha_{2D}^{\rm exciton} = 2.55\times 10^{-17}$ eV(m/V)$^2$. Our finding uncovers a new mechanism that dominates the repulsive part of many-body interaction between neutral excitons.

In twisted MoTe$_{2}$, latest transport measurement has reported observation of quantum anomalous Hall effect at hole filling $\nu=-1$, which undergoes a topological phase transition to a trivial ferromagnet as layer hybridization gets suppressed by interlayer bias $D$. Here we show that this underlies the existence of an orbital Chern insulating state with gate ($D$) switchable sign in an antiferromagtic spin background at hole filling $\nu=-2$. From momentum-space Hartree Fock calculations, we find this state has a topological phase diagram complementary to that of the $\nu=-1$ one: by sweeping $D$ from negative to positive, the Chern number of this $\nu=-2$ state can be switched between $+1$, $0$, and $-1$, accompanied by a sign change of a sizable orbital magnetization. In range of $D$ where this antiferronagnet is the ground state, the orbital magnetization allows magnetic field initialization of the spin antiferromagnetic order and the Chern number.

In the quest to find quantum spin liquids, layered cobalt oxides Na2Co2TeO6 and Na3Co2SbO6 have been proposed as promising candidates for approximating the Kitaev honeycomb model. Yet, their suitability has been thrown into question due to observed long-range magnetic order at low temperatures and indications of easy-plane, rather than Kitaev-type, spin anisotropy. Here we use muon spin relaxation to reveal an unexpected picture: contrary to the anticipated static nature of the long-range order, the systems show prevalent spin dynamics with spatially uneven distribution and varied correlation times. This underlines that the magnetic ground states cannot be solely described by the long-range order, suggesting a significant role of quantum fluctuations. Our findings not only shed new light on the complex physics of these systems but also underscore the need for a refined approach in the search for realizable quantum spin liquids.

Two-dimensional organic porous networks (2DOPNs) have opened new vistas for tailoring the physicochemical characteristics of metallic surfaces. These typically chemically bound nanoporous structures act as periodical quantum wells leading to the 2D confinements of surface electron gases, adatoms and molecular guests. Here we propose a new type of porous network with weakly interacting 2,4,6-triphenyl-1,3,5-triazine (TPT) molecules on a Cu(111) surface, in which a temperature-driven (T-driven) phase transition can reversibly alter the supramolecular structures from a close-packed (CP-TPT) phase to a porous-network (PN-TPT) phase. Crucially, only the low-temperature PN-TPT exhibits subnano-scale cavities that can confine the surface state electrons and metal adatoms. The confined surface electrons undergo a significant electronic band renormalization. To activate the spin degree of freedom, the T-driven PN-TPT structure can additionally trap Co atoms within the cavities, forming highly ordered quantum dots. Our theoretical simulation reveals a complex spin carrier transfer from the confined Co cluster to the neighbouring TPT molecules via the underlying substrate. Our results demonstrate that weakly interacting 2DOPN offers a unique quantum switch capable of steering and controlling electrons and spin at surfaces via tailored quantum confinements.

Two-dimensional metal-organic porous networks (2D-MOPNs) are highly ordered quantum boxes for exploring surface confinements. In this context, the electron confinement from occupied Shockley-type surface states (SS) has been vigorously studied in 2D-MOPNs. In contrast, the confinement of excited surface states, such as image potential states (IPSs), remains elusive. In this work, we apply two-photon photoemission to investigate the confinement exemplarily for the first image state in a Cu-coordinated T4PT porous network (Cu-T4PT). Due to the lateral potential confinement in the Cu-T4PT, periodic replicas of the IPS as well as the SS are present in a momentum map. Surprisingly, the first IPS transforms into a nearly flat band with a substantial increase of the effective mass (> 150 %), while the band dispersion of the SS is almost unchanged. The giant confinement effect of the excited electrons can be attributed to the wavefunction location of the first IPS perpendicular to the surface, where the majority probability density mainly resides at the same height as repulsive potentials formed by the Cu-T4PT network. This coincidence leads to a more effective scattering barrier to the IPS electrons, which is not observed in the SS. Our findings demonstrate that the vertical potential landscape in a porous architecture also plays a crucial role in surface electron confinement.

The recent report of a half-quantized thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ has sparked a strong debate on whether it is generated by Majorana fermion edge currents or whether other more conventional mechanisms involving magnons or phonons are at its origin. A more direct evidence for Majorana fermions which could be expected to arise from a contribution to the longitudinal heat conductivity $\kappa_{xx}$ at $T\rightarrow0$ is elusive due to a very complex magnetic field dependence of $\kappa_{xx}$. Here, we report very low temperature (below 1~K) thermal conductivity ($\kappa$) of another candidate Kitaev material, Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$. The application of a magnetic field along different principal axes of the crystal reveals a strong directional-dependent magnetic-field ($\bf B$) impact on $\kappa$. We show that no evidence for mobile quasiparticles except phonons can be concluded at any field from 0~T to the field polarized state. In particular, severely scattered phonon transport is observed across the $B-T$ phase diagram, which is attributed to prominent magnetic fluctuations. Cascades of phase transitions are uncovered for all $\bf B$ directions by probing the strength of magnetic fluctuations via a precise record of $\kappa$($B$). Our results thus rule out recent proposals for itinerant magnetic excitations in Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$, and emphasise the importance of discriminating true spin liquid transport properties from scattered phonons in candidate materials.

Moiré superlattices formed by vertically stacking van der Waals layers host a rich variety of correlated electronic phases and function as novel photonic materials. The moiré potential of the superlattice, however, is fixed by the interlayer coupling of the stacked functional layers (e.g. graphene) and dependent on carrier types (e.g. electrons or holes) and valleys (e.g. \Gamma vs. K). In contrast, twisted hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) layers are predicted to impose a periodic electrostatic potential that may be used to engineer the properties of an adjacent functional thin layer. Here, we show that this potential is described by a simple theory of electric polarization originating from the interfacial charge redistribution, validated by its dependence on supercell sizes and distance from the twisted interfaces. We demonstrate that the potential depth and profile can be further controlled by assembling a double moiré structure. When the twist angles are similar at the two interfaces, the potential is deepened by adding the potential from the two twisted interfaces, reaching ~ 400 meV. When the twist angles are dissimilar at the two interfaces, multi-level polarization states are observed. As an example of controlling a functional layer, we demonstrate how the electrostatic potential from a twisted hBN substrate impedes exciton diffusion in a semiconductor monolayer. These findings suggest exciting opportunities for engineering properties of an adjacent functional layer using the surface potential of a twisted hBN substrate.

Van der Waals superlattices are important for tailoring the electronic structures and properties of layered materials. Here we report the superconducting properties and electronic structure of a natural van der Waals superlattice (PbSe)$_{1.14}$NbSe$_2$. Anisotropic superconductivity with a transition temperature $T_c$ = 5.6 $\pm$ 0.1 K, which is higher than monolayer NbSe$_2$, is revealed by transport measurements on high-quality samples. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements reveal the two-dimensional electronic structure and a charge transfer of 0.43 electrons per NbSe$_2$ unit cell from the blocking PbSe layer. In addition, polarization-dependent ARPES measurements reveal a significant circular dichroism with opposite contrast at K and K' valleys, suggesting a significant spin-orbital coupling and distinct orbital angular momentum. Our work suggests natural van der Waals superlattice as an effective pathway for achieving intriguing properties distinct from both the bulk and monolayer samples.

The interplay between spontaneous symmetry breaking and topology can result in exotic quantum states of matter. A celebrated example is the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) state, which exhibits an integer quantum Hall effect at zero magnetic field thanks to its intrinsic ferromagnetism. In the presence of strong electron-electron interactions, exotic fractional-QAH (FQAH) states at zero magnetic field can emerge. These states could host fractional excitations, including non-Abelian anyons - crucial building blocks for topological quantum computation. Flat Chern bands are widely considered as a desirable venue to realize the FQAH state. For this purpose, twisted transition metal dichalcogenide homobilayers in rhombohedral stacking have recently been predicted to be a promising material platform. Here, we report experimental signatures of FQAH states in 3.7-degree twisted MoTe2 bilayer. Magnetic circular dichroism measurements reveal robust ferromagnetic states at fractionally hole filled moiré minibands. Using trion photoluminescence as a sensor, we obtain a Landau fan diagram which shows linear shifts in carrier densities corresponding to the v=-2/3 and -3/5 ferromagnetic states with applied magnetic field. These shifts match the Streda formula dispersion of FQAH states with fractionally quantized Hall conductance of -2/3$e^2/h$ and -3/5$e^2/h$, respectively. Moreover, the v=-1 state exhibits a dispersion corresponding to Chern number -1, consistent with the predicted QAH state. In comparison, several non-ferromagnetic states on the electron doping side do not disperse, i.e., are trivial correlated insulators. The observed topological states can be further electrically driven into topologically trivial states. Our findings provide clear evidence of the long-sought FQAH states, putting forward MoTe2 moiré superlattices as a fascinating platform for exploring fractional excitations.

Understanding quantum many-body systems is at the heart of condensed matter physics. The ability to control the underlying lattice geometry of a system, and thus its many-body interactions, would enable the realization of and transition between emergent quantum ground states. Here, we report in-situ gate switching between honeycomb and triangular lattice geometries of an electron many-body Hamiltonian in R-stacked MoTe2 moiré bilayers, resulting in switchable magnetic exchange interactions. At zero electric field, we observe a correlated ferromagnetic insulator near one hole per moiré unit cell (\nu=-1), i.e., a quarter-filled honeycomb lattice, with a widely tunable Curie temperature up to 14K. Fully polarizing layer pseudospin via electric field switches the system into a half-filled triangular lattice with antiferromagnetic interactions. Further doping this layer-polarized superlattice introduces carriers into the empty layer, tuning the antiferromagnetic exchange interaction back to ferromagnetic. Our work demonstrates R-stacked MoTe2 moirés to be a new laboratory for engineering correlated states with nontrivial topology.

Continuous spin excitations are widely recognized as one of the hallmarks of novel spin states in quantum magnets, such as quantum spin liquids (QSLs). Here, we report the observation of such kind of excitations in K2Ni2(SO4)3, which consists of two sets of intersected spin-1 Ni2+ trillium lattices. Our inelastic neutron scattering measurement on single crystals clearly shows a dominant excitation continuum, which exhibits a distinct temperature-dependent behavior from that of spin waves, and is rooted in strong quantum spin fluctuations. Further using the self-consistent-gaussian-approximation method, we determined the fourth- and fifth-nearest neighbor exchange interactions are dominant. These two bonds together form a unique three-dimensional network of corner-sharing tetrahedra, which we name as ''hyper-trillium'' lattice. Our results provide direct evidence for the existence of QSL features in K2Ni2(SO4)3 and highlight the potential for the hyper-trillium lattice to host frustrated quantum magnetism.

We propose a novel nonlinear dynamical Hall effect characteristic of layered materials with chiral symmetry, which is driven by the joint action of in-plane and time variation of out-of-plane ac fields $\boldsymbol{j}_{\text{H}}\sim\boldsymbol{\dot{E}_{\perp}}\times\boldsymbol{E}_{\parallel}$. A new band geometric quantity -- interlayer Berry connection polarizability, which probes a mixed quantum metric characteristic of layer hybridized electrons by twisted interlayer coupling, underlies this effect. When the two orthogonal fields have common frequency, their phase difference controls the on/off, direction and magnitude of the rectified Hall current. We show sizable effects in twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides and twisted bilayer graphene over broad range of twist angles. Our work opens the door to discovering mixed quantum metric responses unique to van der Waals stacking and concomitant applications under the nonlinear spotlight.

Moiré excitons are emergent optical excitations in 2D semiconductors with deep moiré superlattice potentials. While these excitations have been realized in several platforms, a system with dynamically tunable moiré potential to tailor the moiré exciton properties is yet to be realized. Here, we present a continuously tunable moiré potential in a monolayer WSe2 that is enabled by its proximity to twisted bilayer graphene (TBG) near the magic-angle. Due to its flat electronic bands, charge distribution is highly localized and forms a triangular lattice in TBG. Tuning the local charge density via electrostatic gating, TBG thus provides a spatially varying and dynamically tunable dielectric superlattice for modulating monolayer exciton wavefunctions. By performing optical reflection spectroscopy, we observe emergent moiré exciton Rydberg branches in monolayer WSe2 with increased energy splitting upon doping TBG. The twist-angle dependence reveals that the observation is due to a hybridization between bright and dark Rydberg states enabled by the moiré potential. Further, at the magic-angle near 1.1\deg, the moiré Rydberg excitons form a sawtooth pattern with doping owing to the formation of strongly correlated states in the TBG. Our study provides a new platform for engineering moiré excitons as well as optical accessibility to the electronic states with small correlation gaps in TBG.

Placed in cavity resonators with three-dimensionally confined electromagnetic wave, the interaction between quasiparticles in solids can be induced by exchanging virtual cavity photons, which can have a non-local characteristic. Here we investigate the possibility of utilizing this nonlocality to realize the remote control of the topological transition in mesoscopic moiré superlattices at full filling (one electron/hole per supercell) embedded in a split-ring terahertz electromagnetic resonator. We show that gate tuning one moiré superlattice can remotely drive a topological band inversion in another moiré superlattice not in contact but embedded in the same cavity. Our study of remote on/off switching of a topological transition provides a novel paradigm for the control of material properties via cavity vacuum fields.

Majorana fermions as emergent excitations of the Kitaev quantum spin liquid ground state constitute a promising concept in fault tolerant quantum computation. Experimentally, the recently reported topological half-quantized thermal Hall effect in the Kitaev material $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ seems to confirm the Majorana nature of the material's magnetic excitations. It has been argued, however, that the thermal Hall signal in $\alpha$-RuCl$_3$ rather stems from phonons or topological magnons than from Majorana fermions. Here we investigate the thermal Hall effect of the closely related Kitaev quantum material Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$, and we show that the thermal Hall signal emerges from at least two components, phonons and magnetic excitations. This dichotomy results from our discovery that the transversal heat conductivity $\kappa_{xy}$ carries clear signatures of the phononic $\kappa_{xx}$, but changes sign upon entering the low-temperature, magnetically ordered phase. We systematically resolve the two components by considering the detailed temperature and field dependence of both $\kappa_{xy}$ and $\kappa_{xx}$. Our results demonstrate that uncovering a genuinely quantized magnetic thermal Hall effect in a Kitaev topological quantum spin liquid requires to disentangle phonon vs. magnetic contributions where the latter include potentially fractionalized excitations such as the expected Majorana fermions.

Excitons in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide are endowed with intrinsic valley-orbit coupling between their center-of-mass motion and valley pseudospin. When trapped in a confinement potential, e.g., generated by strain field, we find that intralayer excitons are valley and orbital angular momentum (OAM) entangled. By tuning trap profile and external magnetic field, one can engineer the exciton states at ground state, and realize a series of valley-OAM entangled states. We further show that the OAM of excitons can be transferred to emitted photons, and these novel exciton states can naturally serve as polarization-OAM locked single photon emitters, which under certain circumstance become polarization-OAM entangled, highly tunable by strain trap and magnetic field. Our proposal demonstrates a novel scheme to generate polarization-OAM locked/entangled photons at nanoscale with high degree of integrability and tunability, pointing to exciting opportunities for quantum information applications.

Abstract: We report on emergence of an abnormal electronic polarization in twisted double bilayer WSe2 in antiparallel interface stacking geometry, where local centrosymmetry of atomic registries at the twist interface does not favor the spontaneous electronic polarizations as recently observed in the parallel interface stacking geometry. The unconventional ferroelectric behaviors probed by electronic transport measurement occur at half filling insulating states at 1.5 K and gradually disappear at about 40 K. Single band Hubbard model based on the triangular moiré lattice and the interlayer charge transfer controlled by insulating phase transition are proposed to interpret the formation of electronic polarization states near half filling in twisted WSe2 devices. Our work highlights the prominent role of many-body electronic interaction in fostering novel quantum states in moiré-structured systems.

Monolayer semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides possess broken inversion symmetry and strong spin-orbit coupling, which leads to unique spin-valley locking effect. In 2H stacked pristine multilayers, the spin-valley locking yields an electronic superlattice structure, where alternating layers correspond to barrier and quantum well respectively, conditioned on the spin-valley indices. Here, we show that the spin-valley locked superlattice hosts a new kind of dipolar excitons with the electron and hole constituents separated in an every-other-layer configuration, i.e., either in two even or two odd layers. Such excitons become optically bright via hybridization with intralayer excitons, displaying multiple anti-crossing patterns in optical reflection spectrum as the dipolar exciton is tuned through the intralayer resonance by electric field. The reflectance spectra also reveal an excited state orbital of the every-other-layer exciton, pointing to a sizable binding energy in the same order of magnitude as the intralayer exciton. As layer thickness increases, the dipolar exciton can form one-dimensional Bose-Hubbard chain displaying a layer number dependent fine-structures in the reflectance spectra. Our work reveals a distinct valleytronic superlattice with highly tunable dipolar excitons for exploring light-matter interactions.

Stacking transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) to form moiré superlattices has provided exciting opportunities to explore many-body correlation phenomena of the moiré trapped carriers. TMDs bilayers, on the other hand, host long-lived interlayer exciton (IX), an elementary excitation of long spin-valley lifetime that can be optically or electrically injected. Here we find that, through the Coulomb exchange between mobile IXs and carriers, the IX bath can mediate both Heisenberg and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya type spin interactions between moiré trapped carriers, controllable by exciton density and exciton spin current respectively. We show the strong Heisenberg interaction, and the extraordinarily long-ranged Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction here can jointly establish robust spin spiral magnetic orders in Mott-Wigner crystal states at various filling factors, with spiral direction controlled by exciton current.

In stacks of transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers with arbitrary twisting angles, we explore a new class of bright excitons arising from the pronounced Förster coupling, whose dimensionality is tuned by its in-plane momentum. The low energy sector at small momenta is two-dimensional, featuring a Mexican Hat dispersion, while the high energy sector at larger momenta becomes three-dimensional (3D) with sizable group velocity both in-plane and out-of-plane. By choices of the spacer thickness, interface exciton mode strongly localized at designated layers can emerge out of the cross-dimensional bulk dispersion for a topological origin. Step-edges in spacers can be exploited for engineering lateral interfaces to enable interlayer communication of the topological interface exciton. Combined with the polarization selection rule inherited from the monolayer building block, these exotic exciton properties open up new opportunities for multilayer design towards 3D integration of valley exciton optoelectronics.

As a candidate Kitaev material, Na$_2$Co$_2$TeO$_6$ exhibits intriguing magnetism on a honeycomb lattice that is believed to be $C_3$-symmetric. Here we report a neutron diffraction study of high quality single crystals under $a$-axis magnetic fields. Our data support the less common notion of a magnetic ground state that corresponds to a triple-$\mathbf{q}$ magnetic structure with $C_3$ symmetry, rather than the multi-domain zigzag structure typically assumed in prototype Kitaev spin liquid candidates. In particular, we find that the field is unable to repopulate the supposed zigzag domains, where the only alternative explanation is that the domains are strongly pinned by hitherto unidentified structural reasons. If the triple-$\mathbf{q}$ structure is correct then this requires reevaluation of many candidate Kitaev materials. We also find that fields beyond about 10 Tesla suppress the long range antiferromagnetic order, allowing new magnetic behavior to emerge different from that expected for a spin liquid.

In binary compound 2D insulators/semiconductors such as hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), the different electron affinities of atoms can give rise to out-of-plane electric polarizations across inversion asymmetric van der Waals interface of near 0-degree twist angles. Here we show that at a general stacking order where sliding breaks the in-plane C3 rotational symmetry, the interfacial charge redistribution also leads to an in-plane electric polarization, with a comparable magnitude to that of the out-of-plane ones. The effect is demonstrated in hBN bilayers, as well as in biased graphene bilayers with the gate-controlled interlayer charge redistribution. In long wavelength moiré patterns, the in-plane electric polarizations determined by the local interlayer stacking registries constitute topologically nontrivial spatial textures. We show that these textures can distinguish moiré patterns of different origins from twisting, biaxial- and uniaxial-heterostrain, where vector fields of the electric polarizations feature Bloch-type merons, Néel-type merons, and anti-merons, respectively. Combinations of twisting and heterostrain can further be exploited for engineering various electric polarization textures including 1D quasiperiodic lattices.

Under time-reversal symmetry, a linear charge Hall response is usually deemed to be forbidden by the Onsager relation. In this work, we discover a scenario for realizing a time-reversal even linear charge Hall effect in a non-isolated two-dimensional crystal allowed by time reversal symmetry. The restriction by Onsager relation is lifted by interfacial coupling with an adjacent layer, where the overall chiral symmetry requirement is fulfilled by a twisted stacking. We reveal the underlying band geometric quantity as the momentum-space vorticity of layer current. The effect is demonstrated in twisted bilayer graphene and twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides with a wide range of twist angles, which exhibit giant Hall ratios under experimentally practical conditions, with gate voltage controlled on-off switch. This work reveals intriguing Hall physics in chiral structures, and opens up a research direction of layertronics that exploits the quantum nature of layer degree of freedom to uncover exciting effects.

Superstatistics generalizes Boltzmann statistics by assuming spatio-temporal fluctuations of the intensive variables. It has many applications in the analysis of experimental and simulated data. The fluctuation of the intensity variable is the key to the validity of superstatistical theory, but the law of its distribution is still unclear. In the framework of large deviation theory, we show that the fluctuation of the intensive variable of superstatistics emerges naturally from measurements in the large data limit. Combining Bayes' theorem, we demonstrate the conditional probability distribution of the intensity variable also follows the Boltzmann statistics and the conjugate variable of the intensive variable is the extensive variable, indicating a thermodynamic duality symmetry between conjugate variables in the superstatistical systems. A new thermodynamic relation between the entropy functions of conjugate variables is obtained. We utilized a simple Ising model with fluctuating temperature to verify the dual relationship between temperature and energy. Our work may contribute to the understanding of statistical physics in complex systems and Bayesian inference.

Excitons, Coulomb-bound electron-hole pairs, play a fundamental role in both optical excitation and correlated phenomena in solids. When an exciton interacts with other quasi-particles, few- and many-body excited states, such as trions, exciton Fermi-polarons, Mahan excitons can appear. Here, we report a new interaction between exciton and charges enabled by unusual quantum confinement in 2D moiré superlattices, which results in novel exciton many-body ground states composed of moiré excitons and correlated electron lattices. Unique to H-stacked (or 60o-twisted) WS2/WSe2 heterobilayer, we found that the interlayer atomic registry and moiré structural reconstruction leads to an interlayer moiré exciton (IME) whose hole in one layer is surrounded by its partner electron's wavefunction spread among three adjacent moiré traps in the other layer. This 3D excitonic structure can enable large in-plane electrical quadrupole moments in addition to the vertical dipole. Upon doping, the electric quadrupole facilitates the binding of IME to the charges in neighboring moiré cells, forming an intercell charged exciton complex. The exciton complex is unveiled by the IME photoluminescence energy jumps when the electron lattices form at both fractional and integer-filled moiré minibands, with replica-like spectral features between successive integer moiré fillings. Our work provides the framework in understanding and engineering emergent exciton many-body states in correlated moiré charge orders.

We theoretically investigate possible effects of electric current on the spin wave dynamics for the Néel-type antiferromagnetic order in a honeycomb lattice. Based on a general vector decomposition of the spin polarization of conduction electrons, we find that there can exist reciprocal and nonreciprocal terms in the current-induced torque acting on the local spins in the system. Furthermore, we show that the reciprocal terms will cause the spin wave Doppler effect, while the nonreciprocal terms can induce rich non-Hermitian topological phenomena in the spin wave dynamics, including exceptional points, bulk Fermi arc, non-Hermitian skin effect, etc. Our results indicate the capability to manipulate non-Hermitian magnons in magnetic materials by electric current, which could be important for both fundamental physics and technology applications.

Lithium (Li) metal anodes are essential for developing next-generation high-energy-density batteries. However, Li dendrite/whisker formation caused short-circuiting issue and short cycle life have prevented lithium metal from being viably used in rechargeable batteries. Numerous works have been done to study how to regulate the Li growth in electrochemical cycling by using external stacking forces. While it is widely agreed that stack pressure positively affects the lithium plating/stripping process, the optimized pressure range provided by different works varies greatly because of the difference in the pressure control setup. In this work, a pressure control apparatus is designed for Li metal batteries with liquid and solid-state electrolytes (SSE). With considerations of minimizing cell to cell variation, a reusable split cell and pressure load cell are made for testing electrochemical cells with high precision pressure control. The capability of the designed setup is demonstrated by studying the pressure effect on the Li plating/stripping process.

Many-body interactions between carriers lie at the heart of correlated physics. The ability to tune such interactions would open the possibility to access and control complex electronic phase diagrams on demand. Recently, moiré superlattices formed by two-dimensional materials have emerged as a promising platform for quantum engineering such phenomena. The power of the moiré system lies in the high tunability of its physical parameters by tweaking layer twist angle, electrical field, moiré carrier filling, and interlayer coupling. Here, we report that optical excitation can drastically tune the spin-spin interactions between moiré trapped carriers, resulting in ferromagnetic order in WS2/WSe2 moiré superlattices over a small range of doping at elevated temperatures. Near the filling factor v = -1/3 (i.e., one hole per three moiré unit cells), as the excitation power at the exciton resonance increases, a well-developed hysteresis loop emerges in the reflective magnetic circular dichroism (RMCD) signal as a function of magnetic field, a hallmark of ferromagnetism. The hysteresis loop persists down to charge neutrality, and its shape evolves as the moiré superlattice is gradually filled, indicating changes of magnetic ground state properties. The observed phenomenon points to a mechanism in which itinerant photo-excited excitons mediate exchange coupling between moiré trapped holes. This exciton-mediated interaction can be of longer range than direct coupling between moiré trapped holes, and thus magnetic order can arise even in the dilute hole regime under optical excitation. This discovery adds a new and dynamic tuning knob to the rich many-body Hamiltonian of moiré quantum matter.

An anomalous magneto-optical spectrum is discovered for dipolar valley excitons in twisted double layer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMD), where in-plane magnetic field induces a sizable multiplet splitting of exciton states inside the light cone. Chiral dispersions of the split branches make possible efficient optical injection of unidirectional exciton current. We also find an analog effect with a modest heterostrain replacing the magnetic field for introducing large splitting and chiral dispersions in the light cone. Angular orientation of photo-injected exciton flow can be controlled by strain, with left-right unidirectionality selected by circular polarisation.

In long-wavelength moiré patterns of homobilayer semiconductors, the layer pseudospin of electrons is subject to a sizable Zeeman field that is spatially modulated from the interlayer coupling in moiré. By interference of this spatial modulation with a homogeneous but dynamically tunable component from out-of-plane electric field, we show that the spatial-temporal profile of the overall Zeeman field therefore features a topological texture that can be controlled in an ultrafast timescale by a terahertz field or an interlayer bias. Such dynamical modulation leads to the emergence of an in-plane electric field for low energy carriers, which is related to their real space Berry curvature -- the moiré magnetic field -- through the Faraday's law of induction. These emergent electromagnetic fields, having opposite signs at the time reversal pair of valleys, can be exploited to manipulate valley and spin in the moiré landscape under the control by a bias pulse or a terahertz irradiation.

Na2Co2TeO6 is a proposed approximate Kitaev magnet, yet its actual magnetic interactions are elusive due to a lack of knowledge on the full excitation spectrum. Here, using inelastic neutron scattering and single crystals, we determine the system's temperature-dependent magnetic excitations over the entire Brillouin zone. Without committing to specific models, we unveil a distinct signature of the third-nearest-neighbor coupling in the spin waves, which signifies the associated distance as an emerging "soft link" in the ordered state. The presence of at least six non-overlapping spin-wave branches is at odds with all models proposed to date. Above the ordering temperature, persisting dynamic correlations can be described by equal-time magnetic structure factors of a hexagonal cluster, which reveal the leading instabilities. Our result sets definitive constraint on theoretical models for Na2Co2TeO6 and provides new insight for the materialization of the Kitaev model.

Graphene features topological edge bands that connect the pair of Dirac points through either sectors of the 1D Brillouin zone depending on edge configurations (zigzag or bearded). Because of their flat dispersion, spontaneous edge magnetisation can arise from Coulomb interaction in graphene nanoribbons, which has caught remarkable interest. We find an anomalous Bloch oscillation in such edge bands, in which the flat dispersion freezes electron motion along the field direction, while the topological connection of the bands through the bulk leads to electron oscillation in the transverse direction between edges of different configurations on opposite sides/layers of a bilayer ribbon. Our Hubbard-model mean-field calculation shows that this phenomenon can be exploited for electrical switching of edge magnetisation configurations.

Discovery of intrinsic two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials is crucial for understanding the fundamentals of 2D magnetism and realizing next-generation magnetoelectronic and magneto-optical devices. Although significant efforts have been devoted to identifying 2D magnetism by exfoliating bulk magnetic layered materials, seldom studies are performed to synthesize ultra-thin magnetic materials directly for non-layered magnetic materials. Here, we report the successful synthesis of a new type of theoretically proposed 2D metallic ferromagnet 1T FeS2, through the molten-salt-assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The long-range 2D ferromagnetic order is confirmed by the observation of a large anomalous Hall effect (AHE) and a hysteretic magnetoresistance. The experimentally detected out-of-plane ferromagnetic ordering is theoretically suported with Stoner criterion. Our findings open up new possibilities to search novel 2D ferromagnets in non-layered compounds and render opportunities for realizing realistic ultra-thin spintronic devices.

Phase separation in the nanometer- to micrometer-scale is characteristic for correlated materials, for example, high temperature superconductors, colossal magnetoresistance manganites, Mott insulators, etc. Resolving the electronic structure with spatially-resolved information is critical for revealing the fundamental physics of such inhomogeneous systems yet this is challenging experimentally. Here by using nanometer- and micrometer-spot angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopies (NanoARPES and MicroARPES), we reveal the spatially-resolved electronic structure in the stripe phase of IrTe$_2$. Each separated domain shows two-fold symmetric electronic structure with the mirror axis aligned along 3 equivalent directions, and 6$\times$1 replicas are clearly identified. Moreover, such electronic structure inhomogeneity disappears across the stripe phase transition, suggesting that electronic phase with broken symmetry induced by the 6$\times$1 modulation is directly related to the stripe phase transition of IrTe$_2$. Our work demonstrates the capability of NanoARPES and MicroARPES in elucidating the fundamental physics of phase-separated materials.

In monolayers of the semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, the electron-hole exchange interaction splits the exciton dispersion into a massive transverse branch, and a longitudinal branch that has very light or even zero mass depending on the form of screened Coulomb interaction. The group velocity of the longitudinal branch is sensitive to the strength of electron-hole exchange, which can be engineered through the dielectric environment. Here we show that dielectric patterning of the substrate can be exploited to realize waveguide of the exciton in the longitudinal branch in a homogeneous monolayer, leaving the massive transverse branch unaffected. At a lateral interface of different dielectric constant in the substrate, the transmission and reflection of exciton in the longitudinal branch obey the Snell-Descartes law of optical system, and total reflection can be exploited to realize excitonic waveguide using two parallel interfaces. The same dielectric pattern of the substrate appears to be completely transparent for the massive transverse branch exciton, which has no interface scattering. When the monolayer is placed on a one-dimensional dielectric superlattice, the dispersion of the longitudinal branch is strongly renormalized, and the wavefunctions exhibit one-dimensional features, confined to either the low-dielectric or high-dielectric regions. In contrast, the massive transverse branch excitons are not affected by the substrate dielectric pattern, exhibiting pristine properties as in a freestanding monolayer.

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides feature tightly bound bright excitons at the degenerate valleys, where electron-hole Coulomb exchange interaction strongly couples the valley pseudospin to the momentum of exciton. Placed on periodically structured dielectric substrate, the spatial modulation of the Coulomb interaction leads to the formation of exciton Bloch states with real-space valley pseudospin texture displayed in a mesoscopic supercell. We find this spatial valley texture in the exciton Bloch function is pattern-locked to the propagation direction, enabling nano-optical excitation of directional exciton flow through the valley selection rule. The left-right directionality of the injected exciton current is controlled by the circular polarization of excitation, while the angular directionality is controlled by the excitation location, exhibiting a vortex pattern in a supercell. The phenomenon is reminiscent of the chiral light-matter interaction in nano-photonics structures, with the role of the guided electromagnetic wave now replaced by the valley-orbit coupled exciton Bloch wave in a uniform monolayer, which points to new excitonic devices with non-reciprocal functionalities.

Electron-electron interaction is fundamental in condensed matter physics and can lead to composite quasiparticles called plasmarons, which strongly renormalize the dispersion and carry information of electron-electron coupling strength as defined by the effective fine structure constant $\alpha_{ee}^*$. Although h-BN with unique dielectric properties has been widely used as an important substrate for graphene, so far there is no experimental report of plasmarons in graphene/h-BN yet. Here, we report direct experimental observation of plasmaron dispersion in graphene/h-BN heterostructures through angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements upon \it in situ electron doping. Characteristic diamond-shaped dispersion is observed near the Dirac cone in both 0$^\circ$ (aligned) and 13.5$^\circ$ (twisted) graphene/h-BN, and the electron-electron interaction strength $\alpha_{ee}^*$ is extracted to be $\alpha_{ee}^*\approx0.9\pm 0.1$, highlighting the important role of electron-electron interaction. Our results suggest graphene/h-BN as an ideal platform for investigating strong electron-electron interaction with weak dielectric screening, and lays fundamental physics for gate-tunable nano-electronics and nano-plasmonics.

We investigate the optical properties of interlayer excitons in heterobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides where moiré pattern is introduced by heterostrain, in comparison with that introduced by twisting (and/or lattice mismatch). Besides being a cause of the moiré texture, strain also effectively introduces a constant gauge potential on either electron or hole, which shifts the dispersion of kinetic energy with respect to the excitonic crystal momenta in the moiré superlattices.This leads to distinct exciton mini-band dispersions and light coupling properties from the twisting induced moiré, even if the excitonic moiré superlattice potentials have the similar real-space profile for the two cases. For strain that breaks the three-fold rotational symmetry at the atomic scale,the exciton wave packets trapped at the superlattice potential minima have elliptically polarized valley optical selection rules, in contrast to the circularly polarized ones in the twisting moiré. We investigate the evolution of the excitonic mini-bands and the optical dipoles of the bright states inside the light cones with the decrease of the moiré periodicity, upon which the excitonic wavefunctions evolve from localized wave packets to the extended Bloch states. Furthermore, moiré exciton properties under the interplay of twisting and heterostrain are also discussed.

We study edge states in AB-stacked bilayer graphene (BLG) ribbon where the Chern number of the corresponding two-dimensional (2D) bulk Hamiltonian is zero. The existence and topological features of edge states when two layers ended with the same or different edge terminations (zigzag, bearded, armchair) are discussed. The edge states (non-dispersive bands near the Fermi level) are states localized at the edge of graphene nanoribbon that only exists in certain range of momentum $k_y$. Their existence near the Fermi level are protected by the chiral symmetry with topology well described by coupled Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) chains model, i.e., SSH ladder, based on the bulk-edge correspondence of one-dimensional (1D) systems. These zero-energy edge states can exist in the whole $k_y$ region when two layers have zigzag and bearded edges, respectively. Winding number calculation shows a topological phase transition between two distinct non-trivial topological phases when crossing the Dirac points. Interestingly, we find the stacking configuration of BLG ribbon is important since they can lead to unexpected edge states without protection from the chiral symmetry both near the Fermi level in armchair-armchair case and in the gap within bulk bands that are away from Fermi level in the general case. The influence of interlayer next nearest neighbor (NNN) interaction and interlayer bias are also discussed to fit the realistic graphene materials, which suggest the robust topological features of edge states in BLG systems.

X-ray Computed Tomography (X-ray CT) is a well-known non-destructive imaging technique where contrast originates from the materials' absorption coefficients. Novel battery characterization studies on increasingly challenging samples have been enabled by the rapid development of both synchrotron and laboratory-scale imaging systems as well as innovative analysis techniques. Furthermore, the recent development of laboratory nano-scale CT (NanoCT) systems has pushed the limits of battery material imaging towards voxel sizes previously achievable only using synchrotron facilities. Such systems are now able to reach spatial resolutions down to 50 nm. Given the non-destructive nature of CT, in-situ and operando studies have emerged as powerful methods to quantify morphological parameters, such as tortuosity factor, porosity, surface area, and volume expansion during battery operation or cycling. Combined with powerful Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) analysis techniques, extracted 3D tomograms and battery-specific morphological parameters enable the development of predictive physics-based models that can provide valuable insights for battery engineering. These models can predict the impact of the electrode microstructure on cell performances or analyze the influence of material heterogeneities on electrochemical responses. In this work, we review the increasing role of X-ray CT experimentation in the battery field, discuss the incorporation of AI/ML in analysis, and provide a perspective on how the combination of multi-scale CT imaging techniques can expand the development of predictive multiscale battery behavioral models.

Electron-phonon interaction and related self-energy are fundamental to both the equilibrium properties and non-equilibrium relaxation dynamics of solids. Although electron-phonon interaction has been suggested by various time-resolved measurements to be important for the relaxation dynamics of graphene, the lack of energy- and momentum-resolved self-energy dynamics prohibits direct identification of the role of specific phonon modes in the relaxation dynamics. Here by performing time- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements on a Kekulé-ordered graphene with folded Dirac cones at the $\Gamma$ point, we have succeeded in resolving the self-energy effect induced by coupling of electrons to two phonons at $\Omega_1$ = 177 meV and $\Omega_2$ = 54 meV and revealing its dynamical change in the time domain. Moreover, these strongly coupled phonons define energy thresholds, which separate the hierarchical relaxation dynamics from ultrafast, fast to slow, thereby providing direct experimental evidence for the dominant role of mode-specific phonons in the relaxation dynamics

The low-energy excitations of graphene are relativistic massless Dirac fermions with opposite chiralities at valleys K and K'. Breaking the chiral symmetry could lead to gap opening in analogy to dynamical mass generation in particle physics. Here we report direct experimental evidences of chiral symmetry breaking (CSB) from both microscopic and spectroscopic measurements in a Li-intercalated graphene. The CSB is evidenced by gap opening at the Dirac point, Kekulé-O type modulation, and chirality mixing near the gap edge. Our work opens up opportunities for investigating CSB related physics in a Kekulé-ordered graphene.

Many quantum materials of interest, ex., bilayer graphene, possess a number of closely spaced but not fully degenerate bands near the Fermi level, where the coupling to the far detuned remote bands can induce Berry curvatures of the non-Abelian character in this active multiple-band manifold for transport effects. Under finite electric fields, non-adiabatic interband transition processes are expected to play significant roles in the associated Hall conduction. Here through an exemplified study on the valley Hall conduction in AB-stacked bilayer graphene, we show that the contribution arising from non-adiabatic transitions around the bands near the Fermi energy to the Hall current is not only quantitatively about an order-of-magnitude larger than the contribution due to adiabatic inter-manifold transition with the non-Abelian Berry curvatures. Due to the trigonal warping, the former also displays an anisotropic response to the orientation of the applied electric field that is qualitatively distinct from that of the latter. We further show that these anisotropic responses also reveal the essential differences between the diagonal and off-diagonal elements of the non-Abelian Berry curvature matrix in terms of their contributions to the Hall currents. We provide a physically intuitive understanding of the origin of distinct anisotropic features from different Hall current contributions, in terms of band occupations and interband coherence. This then points to the generalization beyond the specific example of bilayer graphenes.

In twisted homobilayer transition metal dichalcogenides, intra- and inter-layer valley excitons hybridize with the layer configurations spatially varying in the moiré. The ground state valley excitons are trapped at two high-symmetry points with opposite electric dipoles in a moiré supercell, forming a honeycomb superlattice of nearest-neighbor dipolar attraction. We find that the spatial texture of layer configuration results in a luminescence anomaly of the moiré trapped excitons, where a tiny displacement by interactions dramatically increases the brightness and changes polarization from circular to linear. At full filling, radiative recombination predominantly occurs at edges and vacancies of the exciton superlattice. The anomaly also manifests in the cascaded emission of small clusters, producing chains of polarization entangled photons. An interlayer bias can switch the superlattice into a single-orbital triangular lattice with repulsive interactions only, where the luminescence anomaly can be exploited to distinguish ordered states and domain boundaries at fractional filling.