Renhong Wang (王人宏), Cong Wang (王聪)*, Ruixuan Li (李睿宣), Deping Guo (郭的坪), Jiaqi Dai (戴佳琦), Canbo Zong (宗灿波), Weihan Zhang (张伟 涵), and Wei Ji (季威)*
Abstract:
Kagome materials are known for hosting exotic quantum states, including quantum spin liquids, charge density waves, and unconventional superconductivity. The search for kagome monolayers is driven by their ability to exhibit neat and well-defined kagome bands near the Fermi level, which are more easily realized in the absence of interlayer interactions. However, this absence also destabilizes the monolayer forms of many bulk kagome materials, posing significant challenges to their discovery. In this work, we propose a strategy to address this challenge by utilizing oxygen vacancies in transition metal oxides within a “1+3” design framework. Through high-throughput computational screening of 349 candidate materials, we identified 12 thermodynamically stable kagome monolayers with diverse electronic and magnetic properties. These materials were classified into three categories based on their lattice geometry, symmetry, band gaps, and magnetic configurations. Detailed analysis of three representative monolayers revealed kagome band features near their Fermi levels, with orbital contributions varying between oxygen 2p and transition metal d states. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the “1+3” strategy, offering a promising approach to uncovering low-dimensional kagome materials and advancing the exploration of their quantum phenomena.
Quantum interference has been intensively pursued in molecular electronics to investigate and utilize coherent electron transport at the ultra-small level. An essential type of quantum interference with drastic destructive-constructive switching, known as Fano interference, has been widely reported in various kinds of nanoelectronics electronic systems, but not yet been electrostatically gating in a single-molecule device. Here, we fabricate the three-terminal single-molecule transistors based on the molecule with a long backbone and a side group to demonstrate the gate-controllable Fano interference. By applying bias and gate voltages, the two-dimensional differential conductance map shows the noncentrosymmetrical Fano patterns. Combined with the electron transport model and the first principles calculations, the resonant parameters of the Fano interference can unveil the coupling geometry of the junction and the spatial distribution of the resonant states. Our findings provide an instrumental method to induce and utilize the quantum interference behaviours at the molecular level.
Jinghao Deng#, Deping Guo#, Yao Wen, Shuangzan Lu, Zhengbo Cheng, Zemin Pan, Tao Jian, Yusong Bai, Hui Zhang, Wei Ji*, Jun He*, Chendong Zhang*
Abstract:
Multiferroicity allows magnetism to be controlled using electric fields or vice versa, which has gained tremendous interest in both fundamental research and device applications. A reduced dimensionality of multiferroic materials is highly desired for device miniaturization, but the coexistence of ferroelectricity and magnetism at the two-dimensional limit is still debated. Here, we used a NbSe2 substrate to break both the C3 rotational and inversion symmetries in monolayer VCl3 and thus introduced exceptional in-plane ferroelectricity into a two dimensional magnet. Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy directly visualized ferroelectric domains and manipulated their domain boundaries in monolayer VCl3, where coexisting antiferromagnetic order with canted magnetic moments was verified by vibrating sample magnetometer measurements. Our density functional theory calculations highlight the crucial role that highly directional interfacial Cl–Se interactions play in breaking the symmetries and thus in introducing in-plane ferroelectricity, which was further verified by examining an ML-VCl3/graphene sample. Our work demonstrates an approach to manipulate the ferroelectric states in monolayered magnets through van der Waals interfacial interactions.
Fig. 1. Morphology and atomic structure of ML-VCl3 on a NbSe2 substrate.
Fig. 2. IP electric polarizations characterized by band bending near DWs.
Fig. 3. Experimental and theoretical investigations of the magnetic order in epitaxy ML-VCl3.
Fig. 4. Anisotropic charge transfer–induced IP ferroelectricity and comparison with the VCl3-graphene interface.
近日,中国人民大学物理学院季威教授研究组联合武汉大学张晨栋教授等组成联合研究团队,通过理论计算结合实验测量,在单层二维材料三氯化钒(VCl3)中,实现了反铁磁性与铁电性共存,揭示了范德华界面相互作用对磁-电共存的调控机制。相关研究成果以“Evidence of Ferroelectricity in an Antiferromagnetic Vanadium Trichloride Monolayer”为题,于2025年3月5日发表《Science》子刊《Science Advances》[Science Advances 11, eado6538 (2025)]上。
The newly-discovered chromium-based kagome metal CsCr3Sb5 has garnered significant interest due to its strong electron correlations, intertwined orders and potential for unconventional superconductivity under high pressure. However, the nature of superconducting and magnetic interactions during the transition from the parent compound CsV3Sb5 to CsCr3Sb5 remains elusive. Here, we report the discovery of spatially anisotropic Kondo resonance which intertwines with the superconducting gap, facilitated by the introduction of magnetic Cr impurities into the kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5. In addition to the gradual suppression of long-ranged charge-density-wave orders, dilute Cr dopants induce local magnetic moments, giving rise to the emergence of Kondo resonances. In addition, the Kondo resonance forms spatially anisotropic ripple-like structures around the Cr dopants, breaking all local mirror symmetries. This anisotropy arises from the antiferromagnetic coupling between itinerant electrons and the Cr-induced spin-up electrons. Remarkably, as the Kondo screening develops, the coherence peak and depth of superconducting gap with finite zero-energy conductance significantly enhances. It indicates that non-superconducting pairs at the Fermi surface in the parent compound participate in the Kondo effect, effectively screening the magnetic moments of Cr dopants while simultaneously enhancing the superfluid density. Our findings pave a unique pathway for exploring the interplay between superconductivity and local magnetic moments in kagome systems.