Related papers: Engineering interfacial quantum states and electro…
Heterogeneous interfaces are central to many energy-related applications in the nanoscale. From the first-principles electronic structure perspective, one of the outstanding problems is accurately and efficiently calculating how the…
Two-dimensional (2D) superconductors provide a powerful building block for engineering emergent quantum states shaped by reduced dimensionality, enhanced quantum fluctuations, and interfacial symmetry breaking. In van der Waals…
Topological quantum materials hold great promise for future technological applications. Their unique electronic properties, such as protected surface states and exotic quasiparticles, offer opportunities for designing novel electronic…
We describe a new class of nanoscale structured metals wherein the effects of quantum confinement are combined with dispersive metallic electronic states to induce modifications to the fundamental low-energy microscopic properties of a…
The success of topological insulators (TI) in creating devices with unique functionalities is directly connected to the ability of coupling their helical spin states to well defined perturbations. However, up to now, TI-based…
We address the co-existence of massless and massive topological edge states at the interface between two materials with different topological phases. We modify the well known Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model to introduce a smooth function…
Bound states of two interacting particles moving on a lattice can exhibit remarkable features that are not captured by the underlying single-particle picture. Inspired by this phenomenon, we introduce a novel framework by which genuine…
Characterized by bulk Dirac or Weyl cones and surface Fermi-arc states, topological semimetals have sparked enormous research interest in recent years. The nanostructures, with large surface-to-volume ratio and easy field-effect gating,…
Inserting molecular monolayers within metal / semiconductor interfaces provides one of the most powerful expressions of how minute chemical modifications can affect electronic devices. This topic also has direct importance for technology as…
Bismuth-chalchogenides are model examples of three-dimensional topological insulators. Their ideal bulk-truncated surface hosts a single spin-helical surface state, which is the simplest possible surface electronic structure allowed by…
Because of the potentially large number of important applications of nonlinear optics, researchers have expended a great deal of effort to optimize the second-order molecular nonlinear-optical response, called the hyperpolarizability. The…
Topological phases usually are unreachable in molecular solids, which are characteristic of weakly dispersed energy bands with a large gap, in contrast to topological materials. In this work, however, we propose that nontrivial electronic…
The surface properties of solid-state materials often dictate their functionality, especially for applications where nanoscale effects become important. The relevant surface(s) and their properties are determined, in large part, by the…
Surface energy is a fundamental property of materials and is particularly important in describing nanomaterials where atoms or molecules at the surface constitute a large fraction of the material. Traditionally, surface energy is considered…
A fascinating photonic platform with a small device scale, fast operating speed, as well as low energy consumption is two-dimensional (2D) materials, thanks to their in-plane crystalline structures and out-of-plane quantum confinement. The…
Van der Waals materials enable the construction of atomically sharp interfaces between compounds with distinct crystal and electronic properties. This is dramatically exploited in moir\'e systems, where a lattice mismatch or twist between…
The discrete and charge-separated nature of matter - electrons and nuclei - results in local electrostatic fields that are ubiquitous in nanoscale structures and are determined by their shape, material, and environment. Such fields are…
Topological invariants have proved useful for analyzing emergent function as they characterize a property of the entire system, and are insensitive to local details, disorder, and noise. They support boundary states, which reduce the system…
Nanomaterial surface states can effectively modify or even dominate their physical and chemical properties due to large surface-to-volume ratios. Such surface effects are highly dependent on particle size and ligand coverage, yet the…
Recent advances in nanofabrication technology now enable unprecedented control over 2D heterostructures, in which single- or few-atom thick materials with synergetic opto-electronic properties can be combined to develop next-generation…