Experimental Realization of an Intrinsic Magnetic Topological Insulator

An intrinsic magnetic topological insulator(TI) is a stoichiometric magnetic compound possessing both inherent magnetic order and topological electronic states. Such a material can provide a shortcut to various novel topological quantum effects but remained elusive experimentally for a long time. Here we report the experimental realization of thin films of an intrinsic magnetic TI, MnBi_2Te_4, by alternate growth of a Bi_2Te_3 quintuple layer and a MnTe bilayer with molecular beam epitaxy. The material shows the archetypical Dirac surface states in angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and is demonstrated to be an antiferromagnetic topological insulator with ferromagnetic surfaces by magnetic and transport measurements as well as first-principles calculations. The unique magnetic and topological electronic structures and their interplays enable the material to embody rich quantum phases such as quantum anomalous Hall insulators and axion insulators at higher temperature and in a well-controlled way.     

Quantum Anomalous Hall Multilayers Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Quantum anomalous Hall(QAH) effect is a quantum Hall effect that occurs without the need of external magnetic field. A system composed of multiple parallel QAH layers is an effective high Chern number QAH insulator and the key to the applications of the dissipationless chiral edge channels in low energy consumption electronics. Such a QAH multilayer can also be engineered into other exotic topological phases such as a magnetic Weyl semimetal with only one pair of Weyl points. This work reports the first experimental realization of QAH multilayers in the superlattices composed of magnetically doped(Bi,Sb)_2Te_3 topological insulator and Cd Se normal insulator layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The obtained multilayer samples show quantized Hall resistance h/N_e~2, where h is Planck's constant, e is the elementary charge and N is the number of the magnetic topological insulator layers, resembling a high Chern number QAH insulator. The QAH multilayers provide an excellent platform to study various topological states of matter.     

FeSe/SrTiO3高温超导体中的电子条纹相

单层FeSe/SrTiO₃中的界面超导增强是近年来高温超导领域的重要发现.该体系中SrTiO₃衬底对FeSe的超导增强机制已被广泛研究,其调控作用主要表现为两个方面:电荷掺杂和界面电声耦合.然而,关于FeSe薄膜本身的电子特性研究还不够充分.本文介绍该体系超导增强机制的新进展:FeSe薄膜中的电子条纹相及其与超导的关联.通过扫描隧道显微镜结合分子束外延生长技术,对不同厚度的FeSe薄膜进行了系统研究.我们发现FeSe薄膜中电子倾向于排成条纹状结构,并观测到该条纹相随层厚变化显现出从短程到长程的演化.条纹相是一种电子液晶态,它源于薄层FeSe中被增强的电子关联作用.表面电子掺杂一方面会减弱FeSe薄膜中的电子关联作用,逐渐抑制条纹相;另一方面会诱导超导相变,而剩余的条纹相涨落会对超导电性带来额外增强.我们的结果加深了对低维界面超导体系的认识,也揭示了FeSe薄膜本征的特异性,完善了对FeSe/SrTiO₃超导增强机制的理解.     

Observation of Tunneling Gap in Epitaxial Ultrathin Films of Pyrite-Type Copper Disulfide

We report scanning tunneling microscopy investigation on epitaxial ultrathin films of pyrite-type copper disulfide.Layer-by-layer growth of CuS_(2 )films with a preferential orientation of(111)on SrTiO_3(001)and Bi_2Sr_2Ca Cu_2O_(8+)substrates is achieved by molecular beam epitaxy growth.For ultrathin films on both kinds of substrates,we observe symmetric tunneling gap around the Fermi level that persists up to~15 K.The tunneling gap degrades with either increasing temperature or increasing thickness,suggesting new matter states at the extreme twodimensional limit.     

Observation of Coulomb Gap and Enhanced Superconducting Gap in Nano-Sized Pb Islands Grown on SrTiO3

We report high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy(STM)study of nano-sized Pb islands grown on SrTiO3,where three distinct types of gaps with different energy scales are revealed.At low temperature,we find that the superconducting gap(△s)in nano-sized Pb islands is significantly enhanced from the one in bulk Pb,while there is no essential change in superconducting transition temperature Tc,giving rise to a larger BCS ratio 2△s/kBTc^8.31 and implying stronger electron-phonon coupling.The stronger coupling can originate from the interface electron-phonon interactions between Pb islands and SrTiO3.As the superconducting gap is totally suppressed under applied magnetic field,the Coulomb gap with apparent V-shape emerges.Moreover,the size of Coulomb gap(Ac)depends on the lateral size of Pb islands(R)with △c-1/R^035,indicating that quantum size effect can significantly influence electronic correlations.Our experimental results shall shed important light on the interplay among superconductivity,quantum size effect and correlations in nano-sized strong-coupling superconductors.     

单层FeSe薄膜/氧化物界面高温超导

单层FeSe/SrTiO₃界面增强超导的发现为理解高温超导机理提供了一个新的途径,也为实现新的高温超导体开拓了新思路.本文通过在SrTiO₃（001）表面高温沉积Mg进而沉积单层FeSe薄膜,制备出了FeSe/MgO双层/SrTiO₃异质结.利用扫描隧道显微镜研究了异质结的电学及超导特性,观测到约14–15 meV的超导能隙,比体相FeSe超导能隙值增大了5–6倍,与K掺杂双层FeSe/SrTiO₃的超导能隙值相当.这一结果可理解为能带弯曲造成的界面电荷转移和界面处电声耦合共同作用导致的超导增强.FeSe/MgO界面是继FeSe/TiO₂之后的一个新界面超导体系,为研究界面高温超导机理提供了新载体.