NanotechnologyarXiv2026-07-01Skeptical (33)
Confinement in a magnetically induced WSe$_2$ quantum dots
Rachid El Aitouni, Mohammed El Azar, Clarence Cortes et al.
Monolayer tungsten diselenide (WSe$_2$) has become a suitable platform for quantum transport and spintronics and valleytronics applications because it possesses an intrinsic band gap and strong spin-orbit coupling and spin-valley coupling features. The electrostatic confinement of Dirac fermions proves challenging in graphene because of Klein tunneling, yet WSe$_2$ provides an environment that supports both carrier localization and the development of confined quantum states. In this work, we theoretically investigate the confinement of massive Dirac fermions in a WSe$_2$ quantum dot generated by a localized magnetic field. Using the effective Dirac Hamiltonian in the presence of a magnetic flux, we derive the exact wave functions and scattering coefficients by employing Kummer's confluent hypergeometric functions together with Bessel and Hankel functions. Our results show that the localized magnetic field provides an efficient mechanism to suppress Klein tunneling and promote the formation of stable quasibound states. We systematically examine the scattering efficiency and carrier density distributions as functions of the incident energy, magnetic field strength, and quantum dot radius. We find that low-energy carriers are strongly confined by the magnetic barrier, while the interplay between magnetic localization and geometric confinement gives rise to sharp and tunable resonance peaks. These results provide valuable insight into the control of spin-valley transport in transition metal dichalcogenide nanostructures and establish a theoretical basis for the development of quantum confinement devices and quantum information technologies.
NanotechnologyarXiv2026-07-01Skeptical (25)
Observation of Flat Bands in Type-II Weyl Semimetal TaRhTe$_{4}$
Harry Rankin, Tyler J. Slade, Benjamin Schrunk et al.
Flat bands have been theoretically predicted for decades but have only recently been realized in quantum materials such as magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene, kagome and Lieb lattices, and rare-earth metal compounds. To date, only twisted layered materials have enabled tuning of flat-band energies near the electronic chemical potential, thereby influencing transport and thermodynamic properties. Here, we report the presence of flat bands near the chemical potential in bulk TaRhTe$_{4}$, a noncentrosymmetric van-der Waals type-II Weyl semimetal. Flat bands are rarely observed in Weyl semimetals, particularly in nonmagnetic bulk systems, and the observed flat bands were not predicted by density functional theory calculations. TaRhTe$_{4}$ therefore provides a platform in which nontrivial topology coexists with flat bands near the Fermi level, as evidenced by our angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements.
NanotechnologyarXiv2026-07-01Preprint (55)
Electric-field effects on defect migration energetics in GaN
Farshid Reza, Hamdy Arkoub, Alexander S. Hauck et al.
A predictive understanding of defect transport in GaN under operating electric fields is critical for assessing device reliability in high-power and radiation environments. In this work, a ReaxFF reactive force field for GaN is developed using a density-functional-theory training set that includes structural, thermodynamic, and defect properties. The force field yields various properties such as lattice parameters, cohesive energies, and defect formation and migration energies in close agreement with prior first-principles and experimental results. Under externally applied electric fields, we find that migration barriers can be strongly modulated, with changes that depend on defect type and field orientation. Notably, the electric fields do not simply linearly bias defect motion in GaN, but can anisotropically modify migration barriers through charge-lattice coupling, leading to nonlinear transport behavior. The response arises from field-induced partial charge redistribution and local lattice distortion. These results demonstrate that electric fields can complexly modify the defect migration landscape, providing new insight into defect transport in GaN under high-field conditions.