Nonreciprocal Giant Magneto-Optic Effects in Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides without Magnetic Field

Interfacing single-atom catalysis with continuous-flow organic electrosynthesis

The global warming crisis has sparked a series of environmentally cautious trends in chemistry, allowing us to rethink the way we conduct our synthesis, and to incorporate more earth-abundant materials in our catalyst design. "Single-atom catalysis" has recently appeared on the catalytic spectrum, and has truly merged the benefits that homogeneous and heterogeneous analogues have to offer. Further still, the possibility to activate these catalysts by means of a suitable electric potential could pave the way for a true integration of diverse synthetic methodologies and renewable electricity. Despite their esteemed benefits, single-atom electrocatalysts are still limited to the energy sector (hydrogen evolution reaction, oxygen reduction, etc.) and numerous examples in the literature still invoke the use of precious metals (Pd, Pt, Ir, etc.). Additionally, batch electroreactors are employed, which limit the intensification of such processes. It is of paramount importance that the field continues to grow in a more sustainable direction, seeking new ventures into the space of organic electrosynthesis and flow electroreactor technologies. In this piece, we discuss some of the progress being made with earth abundant homogeneous and heterogeneous electrocatalysts and flow electrochemistry, within the context of organic electrosynthesis, and highlight the prospects of alternatively utilizing single-atom catalysts for such applications.

Enhanced Faraday rotation in proximitized monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides

Monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) under the application of a magnetic exchange field carry the nontrivial optical Hall conductivity and thus exhibit the nonzero Faraday rotation (FR) angle. However, the tradeoff between the FR angle and transmission hinders their possible applications in magnetic-optical (MO) devices. Here, we theoretically show that a heterostructure of two photonic crystals with proximitized monolayer TMDCs enables the enhancement of the FR angle and transmission simultaneously through the combination of a four-band Hamiltonian model, Kubo formula and transfer matrix method. The MO improvement in the hybrid structure in both the FR angle and transmission is determined by the combined effects from the localized electromagnetic field at the interface between the two photonic crystals and the satisfaction of the phase match condition. Our work opens up an alternative opportunity to use TMDCs in two-dimensional MO fields in the visible frequency range.

Giant Valley Splitting and Valley Polarized Plasmonics in Group V Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Monolayers

Two-dimensional group VI transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) provide a promising platform to encode and manipulate quantum information in the valleytronics. However, the two valleys are energetically degenerate, protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS). To lift this degeneracy, one needs to break the TRS by either applying an external magnetic field or using a magnetic rare-earth oxide substrate. Here, we predict a different strategy to achieve this goal. We propose that the ferromagnetic group V TMD monolayer, in which the TRS is intrinsically broken, can produce a larger valley and spin splitting. A polarized ZnS(0001) surface is also used as a substrate, which shifts the valleys to the low-energy regime (near the Fermi level). Moreover, by calculating its collective electronic excitation behaviors, we show that such a system hosts a giant valley polarized terahertz plasmonics. Our results demonstrate a new way to design and use valleytronic devices, which are both fundamentally and technologically significant.