We consider the phenomenon of natural optical activity, and related chiral magnetic effect in metals with low carrier concentration. To reveal the correspondence between the two phenomena, we compute the optical conductivity of a noncentrosymmetric metal to linear order in the wave vector of the light wave, specializing to the low-frequency regime. We show that it is the orbital magnetic moment of quasiparticles that is responsible for the natural optical activity, and thus the chiral magnetic effect. While for purely static magnetic fields the chiral magnetic effect is known to have a topological origin and to be related to the presence of Berry curvature monopoles (Weyl points) in the band structure, we show that the existence of Berry monopoles is not required for the dynamic chiral magnetic effect to appear; the latter is thus not unique to Weyl metals. The magnitude of the dynamic chiral magnetic effect in a material is related to the trace of its gyrotropic tensor. We discuss the conditions under which this trace is non-zero; in noncentrosymmetric Weyl metals it is found to be proportional to the energy-space dipole moment of Berry curvature monopoles. The calculations are done within both the semiclassical kinetic equation, and Kubo linear response formalisms, with coincident results.

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Herein, copper-tetracyanoquinodimethane (CuTCNQ) with phase-I kinetics character has been proposed as an effective cathode for potassium-ion batteries. In a voltage range of 2-4.1 V (vs. K+/K), both cuprous cations (Cu+) and organic anions (TCNQ-) are electrochemically active, and they render a three-electron redox mechanism, thereby enabling CuTCNQ to yield a high specific discharge capacity of 244 mA h g-1. Even after 50 cycles, the discharge capacity of 170 mA h g-1 is retained at 50 mA g-1. In addition, when the current density is elevated to 1000 mA g-1, the discharge capacity is still maintained at 125 mA h g-1. These test data are among the best results reported for high-potential cathodes of potassium-ion batteries.

The search for new two-dimensional topological insulators (2D-TIs) with large band gaps is of great interest and importance. Our first-principles calculations predicted three candidates for 2D-TIs, arsenene functionalized with F, OH and CH3 groups (AsX, X = F, OH and CH3), which preserved large bulk band gaps from 100 to 160 meV (up to 260 meV) derived from the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) within the px,y orbitals. This picture is similar to what was reported for an AsH monolayer with a band gap of 193 meV. Ab initio molecular dynamic (AIMD) simulations demonstrated the thermal stabilities of the AsX monolayers even at 500 K. The nontrivial topological phase was confirmed by the topological invariant Z2 and topological edge state. The topological electronic bandgap of the AsF monolayer can be effectively modulated by biaxial tensile strain and vertical external electric field. In addition, pronounced light absorption in the near-infrared and visible range of the solar spectrum was expected for the AsX (X = H, F) monolayers from the adsorption peaks at 0.45-1.6 eV, which is attractive for light harvesting. The nontrivial quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators AsX could be promising candidates for practical room-temperature applications in dissipationless transport devices and photovoltaics.

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We study the kinetic magnetoelectric effect (current-induced magnetization including both the orbital and spin contributions) in three-dimensional conductors, specializing to the case of p-doped trigonal tellurium. We include both intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the effect, which stem from the band structure of the crystal, and from disorder scattering, respectively. Specifically, we determine the dependence of the kinetic magnetoelectric response on the hole doping in tellurium, and show that the intrinsic and extrinsic effects dominate for low and high levels of doping, respectively. The results of this work imply that three-dimensional helical metals are promising for spintronics applications, in particular, they can provide robust control over current-induced magnetic torques.In this Section we summarize the current state of the KME theory in semimetals and doped semiconductors. arXiv:1712.06586v1 [cond-mat.mes-hall]

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