Experimental Evidence of Topological Surface States in Mg3Bi2 Films Grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy

Nodal line semimetal(NLS) is a new quantum state hosting one-dimensional closed loops formed by the crossing of two bands. The so-called type-Ⅱ NLS means that these two crossing bands have the same sign in their slopes along the radial direction of the loop, which requires that the crossing bands are either right-tilted or left-tilted at the same time. According to the theoretical prediction, Mg3Bi2 is an ideal candidate for studying the type-Ⅱ NLS by tuning its spin-orbit coupling(SOC). High-quality Mg3 Bi2 films are grown by molecular beam epitaxy(MBE). By in-situ angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy(ARPES), a pair of surface resonance bands around theГ point are clearly seen. This shows that Mg3Bi2 films grown by MBE are Mg(1)-terminated by comparing the ARPES spectra with the first principles calculations results. Moreover, the temperature dependent weak anti-localization effect in Mg3Bi2 films is observed under magneto-transport measurements, which shows clear two-dimensional(2 D) e-e scattering characteristics by fitting with the Hikami–Larkin–Nagaoka model. Therefore, by combining with ARPES, magneto-transport measurements and the first principles calculations, this work proves that Mg3Bi2 is a semimetal with topological surface states. This paves the way for Mg3Bi2 to be used as an ideal material platform to study the exotic features of type-Ⅱ nodal line semimetals and the topological phase transition by tuning its SOC.

Tunable magnetic orders in UAu_(1-x)Sb_2

Two nonstoichiometric UAu_(1-x)Sb_2(x = 0.25, 0.1) single crystals are successfully synthesized using a flux method,and their physical properties are comprehensively studied by measuring the dc-magnetization and electrical resistivity. Evidence for at least three magnetic phases is found in these samples. In zero field, both samples undergo an antiferromagnetic transition at a relatively high temperature, and with further cooling they pass through another antiferromagnetic phase,before reaching a ferromagnetic ground state. Furthermore, the magnetic order can be tuned by varying the site occupation of Au. Such a tunable magnetic order may provide an opportunity for exploring the potential quantum critical behavior in this system.

Effect of f–c hybridization on theγ→αphase transition of cerium studied by lanthanum doping

The hybridization between the localized 4f level(f) with conduction(c) electrons in γ-Ce upon cooling has been previously revealed in single crystalline thin films experimentally and theoretically, whereas its influence on the γ → α phase transition was not explicitly verified, due to the fact that the phase transition happened in the bulk-layer, leaving the surface in the γ phase. Here in our work, we circumvent this issue by investigating the effect of alloying addition of La on Ce, by means of crystal structure, electronic transport and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements, together with a phenomenological periodic Anderson model and a modified Anderson impurity model. Our current researches indicate that the weakening of f–c hybridization is the major factor in the suppression of γ → α phase transition by La doping. The consistency of our results with the effects of other rare earth and actinide alloying additions on the γ → α phase transition of Ce is also discussed. Our work demonstrates the importance of the interaction between f and c electrons in understanding the unconventional phase transition in Ce, which is intuitive for further researches on other rare earth and actinide metals and alloys with similar phase transition behaviors.

Superconductivity of bilayer titanium/indium thin film grown on SiO2/Si(001)

Bilayer superconducting films with tunable transition temperature（Tc） are a critical ingredient to the fabrication of high-performance transition edge sensors. Commonly chosen materials include Mo/Au, Mo/Cu, Ti/Au, and Ti/Al systems. Here in this work, titanium/indium（Ti/In） bilayer superconducting films are successfully fabricated on SiO2/Si（001）substrates by molecular beam epitaxy（MBE）. The success in the epitaxial growth of indium on titanium is achieved by lowering the substrate temperature to-150？C during indium evaporation. We measure the critical temperature under a bias current of 10 μA, and obtain different superconducting transition temperatures ranging from 645 m K to 2.7 K by adjusting the thickness ratio of Ti/In. Our results demonstrate that the transition temperature decreases as the thickness ratio of Ti/In increases.