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1. Low-Temperature 2D/2D Ohmic Contacts in WSe ₂ Field-Effect Transistors as a Platform for the 2D Metal–Insulator Transition

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c21440  

   Stanley, Lily J. ; Chuang, Hsun-Jen ; Zhou, Zhixian ; Koehler, Michael R. ; Yan, Jiaqiang ; Mandrus, David G. ; Popović, Dragana ( February 2021 , ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces)

   We report the fabrication of hexagonal-boron-nitride (hBN) encapsulated multi-terminal WSe_2 Hall bars with 2D/2D low-temperature Ohmic contacts as a platform for investigating the two-dimensional (2D) metal-insulator transition. We demonstrate that the WSe_2 devices exhibit Ohmic behavior down to 0.25 K and at low enough excitation voltages to avoid current-heating effects. Additionally, the high-quality hBN-encapsulated WSe_2 devices in ideal Hall-bar geometry enable us to accurately determine the carrier density. Measurements of the temperature (T) and density (n_s) dependence of the conductivity \sigma(T,n_s) demonstrate scaling behavior consistent with a metal-insulator quantum phase transition driven by electron-electron interactions, but where disorder-induced local magneticmore »moments are also present. Our findings pave the way for further studies of the fundamental quantum mechanical properties of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides using the same contact engineering.« less
2. Dynamics of QCD matter — current status

   https://doi.org/10.1142/S0218301321300010  

   Jaiswal, Amaresh ; Haque, Najmul ; Abhishek, Aman ; Abir, Raktim ; Bandyopadhyay, Aritra ; Banu, Khatiza ; Bhadury, Samapan ; Bhattacharyya, Sumana ; Bhattacharyya, Trambak ; Biswas, Deeptak ; et al ( February 2021 , International Journal of Modern Physics E)

   In this article, there are 18 sections discussing various current topics in the field of relativistic heavy-ion collisions and related phenomena, which will serve as a snapshot of the current state of the art. Section 1 reviews experimental results of some recent light-flavored particle production data from ALICE collaboration. Other sections are mostly theoretical in nature. Very strong but transient magnetic field created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions could have important observational consequences. This has generated a lot of theoretical activity in the last decade. Sections 2, 7, 9, 10 and 11 deal with the effects of the magnetic field onmore »the properties of the QCD matter. More specifically, Sec. 2 discusses mass of [Formula: see text] in the linear sigma model coupled to quarks at zero temperature. In Sec. 7, one-loop calculation of the anisotropic pressure are discussed in the presence of strong magnetic field. In Sec. 9, chiral transition and chiral susceptibility in the NJL model is discussed for a chirally imbalanced plasma in the presence of magnetic field using a Wigner function approach. Sections 10 discusses electrical conductivity and Hall conductivity of hot and dense hadron gas within Boltzmann approach and Sec. 11 deals with electrical resistivity of quark matter in presence of magnetic field. There are several unanswered questions about the QCD phase diagram. Sections 3, 11 and 18 discuss various aspects of the QCD phase diagram and phase transitions. Recent years have witnessed interesting developments in foundational aspects of hydrodynamics and their application to heavy-ion collisions. Sections 12 and 15–17 of this article probe some aspects of this exciting field. In Sec. 12, analytical solutions of viscous Landau hydrodynamics in 1+1D are discussed. Section 15 deals with derivation of hydrodynamics from effective covariant kinetic theory. Sections 16 and 17 discuss hydrodynamics with spin and analytical hydrodynamic attractors, respectively. Transport coefficients together with their temperature- and density-dependence are essential inputs in hydrodynamical calculations. Sections 5, 8 and 14 deal with calculation/estimation of various transport coefficients (shear and bulk viscosity, thermal conductivity, relaxation times, etc.) of quark matter and hadronic matter. Sections 4, 6 and 13 deal with interesting new developments in the field. Section 4 discusses color dipole gluon distribution function at small transverse momentum in the form of a series of Bells polynomials. Section 6 discusses the properties of Higgs boson in the quark–gluon plasma using Higgs–quark interaction and calculate the Higgs decays into quark and anti-quark, which shows a dominant on-shell contribution in the bottom-quark channel. Section 13 discusses modification of coalescence model to incorporate viscous corrections and application of this model to study hadron production from a dissipative quark–gluon plasma.« less
3. Effects of charge fluctuation and charge regulation on the phase transitions in stoichiometric VO2

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-73447-9  

   Joshi, Siddharth ; Smieszek, Nicholas ; Chakrapani, Vidhya ( October 2020 , Scientific Reports)

   Detailed electrical and photoemission studies were carried out to probe the chemical nature of the insulating ground state of VO₂, whose properties have been an issue for accurate prediction by common theoretical probes. The effects of a systematic modulation of oxygen over-stoichiometry of VO₂from 1.86 to 2.44 on the band structure and insulator–metal transitions are presented for the first time. Results offer a different perspective on the temperature- and doping-induced IMT process. They suggest that charge fluctuation in the metallic phase of intrinsic VO₂results in the formation of e⁻and h⁺pairs that lead to delocalized polaronic V³⁺and V⁵⁺cation states. Themore »metal-to-insulator transition is linked to the cooperative effects of changes in the V–O bond length, localization of V³⁺electrons at V⁵⁺sites, which results in the formation of V⁴⁺–V⁴⁺dimers, and removal of$$\pi^{*}$$${\pi }^{\ast }$screening electrons. It is shown that the nature of phase transitions is linked to the lattice V³⁺/V⁵⁺concentrations of stoichiometric VO₂and that electronic transitions are regulated by the interplay between charge fluctuation, charge redistribution, and structural transition.

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4. Non-thermal resistive switching in Mott insulator nanowires

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16752-1  

   Kalcheim, Yoav ; Camjayi, Alberto ; del Valle, Javier ; Salev, Pavel ; Rozenberg, Marcelo ; Schuller, Ivan K. ( June 2020 , Nature Communications)

   Resistive switching can be achieved in a Mott insulator by applying current/voltage, which triggers an insulator-metal transition (IMT). This phenomenon is key for understanding IMT physics and developing novel memory elements and brain-inspired technology. Despite this, the roles of electric field and Joule heating in the switching process remain controversial. Using nanowires of two archetypal Mott insulators—VO₂and V₂O₃we unequivocally show that a purely non-thermal electrical IMT can occur in both materials. The mechanism behind this effect is identified as field-assisted carrier generation leading to a doping driven IMT. This effect can be controlled by similar means in both VO₂andmore »V₂O₃, suggesting that the proposed mechanism is generally applicable to Mott insulators. The energy consumption associated with the non-thermal IMT is extremely low, rivaling that of state-of-the-art electronics and biological neurons. These findings pave the way towards highly energy-efficient applications of Mott insulators.

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5. Doping and temperature evolutions of optical response of Sr3(Ir1-xRux)2O7

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79263-5  

   Ahn, Gihyeon ; Schmehr, J. L. ; Porter, Z. ; Wilson, S. D. ; Moon, S. J. ( December 2020 , Scientific Reports)

   Abstract We report on optical spectroscopic study of the Sr 3 (Ir 1- x Ru x ) 2 O 7 system over a wide doping regime. We find that the changes in the electronic structure occur in the limited range of the concentration of Ru ions where the insulator–metal transition occurs. In the insulating regime, the electronic structure associated with the effective total angular momentum J eff  = 1/2 Mott state remains robust against Ru doping, indicating the localization of the doped holes. Upon entering the metallic regime, the Mott gap collapses and the Drude-like peak with strange metallic character appears.more »The evolution of the electronic structure registered in the optical data can be explained in terms of a percolative insulator–metal transition. The phonon spectra display anomalous doping evolution of the lineshapes. While the phonon modes of the compounds deep in the insulating and metallic regimes are almost symmetric, those of the semiconducting compound with x  = 0.34 in close proximity to the doping-driven insulator–metal transition show a pronounced asymmetry. The temperature evolution of the phonon modes of the x  = 0.34 compound reveals the asymmetry is enhanced in the antiferromagnetic state. We discuss roles of the S  = 1 spins of the Ru ions and charge excitations for the conspicuous lineshape asymmetry of the x  = 0.34 compound.« less