Spin splitting in a polarized quasi-two-dimensional exciton gas

We have observed a large spin splitting between "spin" +1 and -1 heavy-hole excitons, having unbalanced populations, in undoped GaAs/AlAs quantum wells in the absence of any external magnetic field. Time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy, under excitation with circularly polarized light, reveals that, for high excitonic density and short times after the pulsed excitation, the emission from majority excitons lies above that of minority ones. The amount of the splitting, which can be as large as 50% of the binding energy, increases with excitonic density and presents a time evolution closely connected with the degree of polarization of the luminescence. Our results are interpreted on the light of a recently developed model, which shows that, while intraexcitonic exchange interaction is responsible for the spin relaxation processes, exciton-exciton interaction produces a breaking of the spin degeneracy in two-dimensional semiconductors.

Substantial enlargement of angular existence range for Dyakonov-like surface waves at semi-infinite metal-dielectric superlattice

We investigated surface waves guided by the boundary of a semi-infinite layered metal-dielectric nanostructure cut normally to the layers and a semi-infinite dielectric material. Using the Floquet-Bloch formalism, we found that Dyakonov-like surface waves with hybrid polarization can propagate in dramatically enhanced angular range compared to conventional birefringent materials. Our numerical simulations for an Ag-GaAs stack in contact with glass show a low to moderate influence of losses.

Magnetic Edge Anisotropy in Graphenelike Honeycomb Crystals

The independent predictions of edge ferromagnetism and the quantum spin Hall phase in graphene have inspired the quest of other two-dimensional honeycomb systems, such as silicene, germanene, stanene, iridates, and organometallic lattices, as well as artificial superlattices, all of them with electronic properties analogous to those of graphene, but a larger spin-orbit coupling. Here, we study the interplay of ferromagnetic order and spin-orbit interactions at the zigzag edges of these graphenelike systems. We find an in-plane magnetic anisotropy that opens a gap in the otherwise conducting edge channels that should result in large changes of electronic properties upon rotation of the magnetization.

Topological spin waves in the atomic-scale magnetic skyrmion crystal

We study the spin waves of the triangular skyrmion crystal that emerges in a two-dimensional spin lattice model as a result of the competition between Heisenberg exchange, Dzyalonshinkii–Moriya interactions, Zeeman coupling and uniaxial anisotropy. The calculated spin wave bands have a finite Berry curvature that, in some cases, leads to non-zero Chern numbers, making this system topologically distinct from conventional magnonic systems. We compute the edge spin-waves, expected from the bulk-boundary correspondence principle, and show that they are chiral, which makes them immune to elastic backscattering. Our results illustrate how topological phases can occur in self-generated emergent superlattices at the mesoscale.