Dirac cones are ubiquitous to non-trivial quantum matter and are expected to boost and reshape the field of modern electronics. Particularly relevant examples where these cones arise are topological insulators and graphene. From a fundamental perspective, this thesis proposes schemes towards modifying basic properties of these cones in the aforementioned materials. The thesis begins with a brief historical introduction which is followed by an extensive chapter that endows the reader with the basic tools of symmetry and topology needed to understand the remaining text. The subsequent four chapters are devoted to the reshaping of Dirac cones by external fields and delta doping. At all times, the ideas discussed in the second chapter are always a guiding principle to understand the phenomena discussed in those four chapters. As a result, the thesis is cohesive and represents a major advance in our understanding of the physics of Dirac materials.

Dirac cones are ubiquitous to non-trivial quantum matter and are expected to boost and reshape the field of modern electronics. Particularly relevant examples where these cones arise are topological insulators and graphene. From a fundamental perspective, this thesis proposes schemes towards modifying basic properties of these cones in the aforementioned materials. The thesis begins with a brief historical introduction which is followed by an extensive chapter that endows the reader with the basic tools of symmetry and topology needed to understand the remaining text. The subsequent four chapters are devoted to the reshaping of Dirac cones by external fields and delta doping. At all times, the ideas discussed in the second chapter are always a guiding principle to understand the phenomena discussed in those four chapters. As a result, the thesis is cohesive and represents a major advance in our understanding of the physics of Dirac materials.

This thesis elucidates electron correlation effects in topological matter whose electronic states hold nontrivial topological properties robust against small perturbations. In addition to a comprehensive introduction to topological matter, this thesis provides a new perspective on correlated topological matter. The book comprises three subjects, in which electron correlations in different forms are considered. The first focuses on Coulomb interactions for massless Dirac fermions. Using a perturbative approach, the author reveals emergent Lorentz invariance in a low-energy limit and discusses how to probe the Lorentz invariance experimentally. The second subject aims to show a principle for synthesizing topological insulators with common, light elements. The interplay between the spin–orbit interaction and electron correlation is considered, and Hund's rule and electron filling are consequently found to play a key role for a strong spin–orbit interaction important for topological insulators. The last subject is classification of topological crystalline insulators in the presence of electron correlation. Unlike non-interacting topological insulators, such two- and three-dimensional correlated insulators with mirror symmetry are demonstrated to be characterized, respectively, by the Z4 and Z8 group by using the bosonization technique and a geometrical consideration.

Over the past twenty-five years, mathematical concepts associated with geometric phases have come to occupy a central place in our modern understanding of the physics of electrons in solids. These 'Berry phases' describe the global phase acquired by a quantum state as the Hamiltonian is changed. Beginning at an elementary level, this book provides a pedagogical introduction to the important role of Berry phases and curvatures, and outlines their great influence upon many key properties of electrons in solids, including electric polarization, anomalous Hall conductivity, and the nature of the topological insulating state. It focuses on drawing connections between physical concepts and provides a solid framework for their integration, enabling researchers and students to explore and develop links to related fields. Computational examples and exercises throughout provide an added dimension to the book, giving readers the opportunity to explore the central concepts in a practical and engaging way.

Manipulation of plasmonics from nano to micro scale. 1. Introduction. 2. Form-Birefringent metal and its plasmonic anisotropy. 3. Plasmonic photonic crystal. 4. Fourier plasmonics. 5. Nanoscale optical field localization. 6. Conclusions and outlook -- 11. Dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide components. 1. Introduction. 2. Design of waveguide dimensions. 3. Sample preparation and near-field characterization. 4. Excitation and propagation of guided modes. 5. Waveguide bends and splitters. 6. Coupling between waveguides. 7. Waveguide-ring resonators. 8. Bragg gratings. 9. Discussion-- 12. Manipulating nanoparticles and enhancing spectroscopy with surface plasmons. 1. Introduction. 2. Propulsion of gold nanoparticles with surface plasmon polaritons. 3. Double resonance substrates for surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy. 4. Conclusions and outlook -- 13. Analysis of light scattering by nanoobjects on a plane surface via discrete sources method. 1. Introduction. 2. Light scattering by a nanorod. 3. Light scattering by a nanoshell. 4. Summary -- 14. Computational techniques for plasmonic antennas and waveguides. 1. Introduction. 2. Time domain solvers. 3. Frequency domain solvers. 4. Plasmonic antennas. 5. Plasmonic waveguides. 6. Advanced structures. 7. Conclusions

The authors of this book present a thorough discussion of the optical properties of solids, with a focus on electron states and their response to electrodynamic fields. A review of the fundamental aspects of the propagation of electromagnetic fields, and their interaction with condensed matter, is given. This is followed by a discussion of the optical properties of metals, semiconductors, and collective states of solids such as superconductors. Theoretical concepts, measurement techniques and experimental results are covered in three interrelated sections. Well-established, mature fields are discussed (for example, classical metals and semiconductors) together with modern topics at the focus of current interest. The substantial reference list included will also prove to be a valuable resource for those interested in the electronic properties of solids. The book is intended for use by advanced undergraduate and graduate students, and researchers active in the fields of condensed matter physics, materials science and optical engineering.

This book presents advanced synthesis techniques adopted to fabricate two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) materials with its enhanced properties towards their utilization in various applications such as, energy storage devices, photovoltaics, electrocatalysis, electronic devices, photocatalysts, sensing and biomedical applications. It provides detailed coverage on everything from the synthesis and properties to the applications and future prospects of research in 2D TMD nanomaterials.

This work examines all aspects of organic conductors, detailing recent theoretical concepts and current laboratory methods of synthesis, measurement, control and analysis. It describes advances in molecular-scale engineering, including switching and memory systems, Schottky and electroluminescent diodes, field-effect transistors, and photovoltaic devices and solar cells.

This fifteenth volume of the Poincare Seminar Series, Dirac Matter, describes the surprising resurgence, as a low-energy effective theory of conducting electrons in many condensed matter systems, including graphene and topological insulators, of the famous equation originally invented by P.A.M. Dirac for relativistic quantum mechanics. In five highly pedagogical articles, as befits their origin in lectures to a broad scientific audience, this book explains why Dirac matters. Highlights include the detailed "Graphene and Relativistic Quantum Physics", written by the experimental pioneer, Philip Kim, and devoted to graphene, a form of carbon crystallized in a two-dimensional hexagonal lattice, from its discovery in 2004-2005 by the future Nobel prize winners Kostya Novoselov and Andre Geim to the so-called relativistic quantum Hall effect; the review entitled "Dirac Fermions in Condensed Matter and Beyond", written by two prominent theoreticians, Mark Goerbig and Gilles Montambaux, who consider many other materials than graphene, collectively known as "Dirac matter", and offer a thorough description of the merging transition of Dirac cones that occurs in the energy spectrum, in various experiments involving stretching of the microscopic hexagonal lattice; the third contribution, entitled "Quantum Transport in Graphene: Impurity Scattering as a Probe of the Dirac Spectrum", given by Hélène Bouchiat, a leading experimentalist in mesoscopic physics, with Sophie Guéron and Chuan Li, shows how measuring electrical transport, in particular magneto-transport in real graphene devices - contaminated by impurities and hence exhibiting a diffusive regime - allows one to deeply probe the Dirac nature of electrons. The last two contributions focus on topological insulators; in the authoritative "Experimental Signatures of Topological Insulators", Laurent Lévy reviews recent experimental progress in the physics of mercury-telluride samples under strain, which demonstrates that the surface of a three-dimensional topological insulator hosts a two-dimensional massless Dirac metal; the illuminating final contribution by David Carpentier, entitled "Topology of Bands in Solids: From Insulators to Dirac Matter", provides a geometric description of Bloch wave functions in terms of Berry phases and parallel transport, and of their topological classification in terms of invariants such as Chern numbers, and ends with a perspective on three-dimensional semi-metals as described by the Weyl equation. This book will be of broad general interest to physicists, mathematicians, and historians of science.

An important graduate textbook in condensed matter physics by highly regarded physicist.