The quantum Hall (QH) effect, which can be induced in a two-dimensional (2D) electron gas by an external magnetic field, paved the way for topological concepts in condensed matter physics. While the QH effect can for that reason not exist without Landau levels, there is a plethora of topological phases of matter that can exist even in the absence of a magnetic field. For instance, the quantum spin Hall (QSH), the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH), and the three-dimensional (3D) topological insulator (TI) phase are insulating phases of matter that owe their nontrivial topology to an inverted band structure. The latter results from a strong spin-orbit interaction or, generally, from strong relativistic corrections. The main objective of this thesis is to explore the fate of these preexisting topological states of matter, when they are subjected to an external magnetic field, and analyze their connection to quantum anomalies. In particular, the realization of the parity anomaly in solid state systems is discussed. Furthermore, band structure engineering, i.e., changing the quantum well thickness, the strain, and the material composition, is employed to manipulate and investigate various topological properties of the prototype TI HgTe. Like the QH phase, the QAH phase exhibits unidirectionally propagating metallic edge channels. But in contrast to the QH phase, it can exist without Landau levels. As such, the QAH phase is a condensed matter analog of the parity anomaly. We demonstrate that this connection facilitates a distinction between QH and QAH states in the presence of a magnetic field. We debunk therefore the widespread belief that these two topological phases of matter cannot be distinguished, since they are both described by a $\mathbb{Z}$ topological invariant. To be more precise, we demonstrate that the QAH topology remains encoded in a peculiar topological quantity, the spectral asymmetry, which quantifies the differences in the number of states between the conduction and valence band. Deriving the effective action of QAH insulators in magnetic fields, we show that the spectral asymmetry is thereby linked to a unique Chern-Simons term which contains the information about the QAH edge states. As a consequence, we reveal that counterpropagating QH and QAH edge states can emerge when a QAH insulator is subjected to an external magnetic field. These helical-like states exhibit exotic properties which make it possible to disentangle QH and QAH phases. Our findings are of particular importance for paramagnetic TIs in which an external magnetic field is required to induce the QAH phase. A byproduct of the band inversion is the formation of additional extrema in the valence band dispersion at large momenta (the `camelback'). We develop a numerical implementation of the $8 \times 8$ Kane model to investigate signatures of the camelback in (Hg,Mn)Te quantum wells. Varying the quantum well thickness, as well as the Mn-concentration, we show that the class of topologically nontrivial quantum wells can be subdivided into direct gap and indirect gap TIs. In direct gap TIs, we show that, in the bulk $p$-regime, pinning of the chemical potential to the camelback can cause an onset to QH plateaus at exceptionally low magnetic fields (tens of mT). In contrast, in indirect gap TIs, the camelback prevents the observation of QH plateaus in the bulk $p$-regime up to large magnetic fields (a few tesla). These findings allowed us to attribute recent experimental observations in (Hg,Mn)Te quantum wells to the camelback. Although our discussion focuses on (Hg,Mn)Te, our model should likewise apply to other topological materials which exhibit a camelback feature in their valence band dispersion. Furthermore, we employ the numerical implementation of the $8\times 8$ Kane model to explore the crossover from a 2D QSH to a 3D TI phase in strained HgTe quantum wells. The latter exhibit 2D topological surface states at their interfaces which, as we demonstrate, are very sensitive to the local symmetry of the crystal lattice and electrostatic gating. We determine the classical cyclotron frequency of surface electrons and compare our findings with experiments on strained HgTe. / Der Quanten-Hall (QH) Effekt, welcher in einem zwei-dimensionalen (2D) Elektronengas durch ein externes Magnetfeld erzeugt werden kann, ebnete den Weg für topologische Konzepte in der Physik der kondensierten Materie. Während der QH Effekt aus diesem Grund nicht ohne Landau Level existieren kann, gibt es eine Vielzahl von neuartigen topologischen Phasen, die auch in der Abwesenheit von Magnetfeldern existieren können. Zum Beispiel stellen die Quanten-Spin-Hall (QSH), die Quanten-Anomale-Hall (QAH) und die drei-dimensionale (3D) topologische Isolator-Phase isolierende, topologische Phasen dar, die Ihre nicht-triviale Topologie einer invertierten Bandstruktur verdanken. Letztere wird durch eine starke Spin-Bahn Wechselwirkung, oder im Allgemeinen durch starke relativistische Korrekturen, erzeugt. Das Hauptziel dieser Thesis ist es dabei das Schicksal dieser bereits bestehenden topologischen Zustände in Magnetfeldern zu erforschen und deren Verbindungen zu Quantenanomalien aufzuzeigen. In diesem Zusammenhang werden wir insbesondere die Realisierung der Paritätsanomalie in Festkörpersystemen diskutieren. Weitergehend wenden wir Bandstruktur-Engineering an, d.h. die Veränderung der Quantentrogdicke, der Verspannung und der Materialkomposition, um die vielfältigen topologischen Eigenschaften des topologischen Isolators (TIs) HgTe zu manipulieren und zu untersuchen. Wie die QH Phase, zeichnet sich die QAH Phase durch unidirektional propagierende, metallische Randkanäle aus. Aber im Vergleich zur QH Phase, kann sie auch ohne Landau Level existieren. Die QAH Phase stellt daher ein Kondensierte-Materie-Analogon zur Paritätsanomalie dar. Wir zeigen, dass diese Verbindung es uns ermöglicht in der Gegenwart eines Magnetfelds zwischen QH und QAH Zuständen zu unterscheiden. Damit widerlegen wir den weitverbreiten Glauben, dass diese zwei topologischen Phasen nicht unterschieden werden können, da beide durch eine $\mathbb{Z}$ topologische Invariante beschrieben sind. Etwas genauer gesagt, zeigen wir, dass die QAH Topologie in einer besonderen topologischen Invarianten kodiert bleibt, der spektralen Asymmetrie. Diese quantifiziert die Differenz in der Anzahl von Zuständen in Leitungs- und Valenzbändern. Indem wir die effektive Wirkung eines QAH Isolators im Magnetfeld herleiten, zeigen wir, dass die spektrale Asymmetrie dabei mit einem einzigartigen Chern-Simons Term verbunden ist, welcher die Information über die QAH Randkanäle beinhaltet. Wenn ein QAH Isolator einem externen Magnetfeld ausgesetzt wird, kann dies zur Bildung von gegenläufigen QH und QAH Randkanälen führen. Diese helikalartigen Randzustände besitzen exotische Eigenschaften, die es uns ermöglichen QH und QAH Phasen zu unterscheiden. Unsere Ergebnisse sind insbesondere für paramagnetische TIs von Bedeutung, da für diese ein externes Magnetfeld von Nöten ist, um die QAH Phase zu induzieren. Ein Nebenprodukt der Bandinversion ist die Bildung von zusätzlichen Extrema in der Dispersion des Valenzbands bei großen Impulsen (oft auch als `Kamelrücken' bezeichnet). Wir entwickeln eine numerische Implementierung des $8 \times 8$ Kane Modells um die Signaturen des Kamelrückens in (Hg,Mn)Te Quantentrögen zu untersuchen. Indem die Quantentrogdicke und die Mn-Konzentration variiert wird, zeigen wir, dass die Klasse von topologisch nicht-trivialen Materialien weiter in direkte und indirekte TIs unterteilt werden kann. Für direkte TIs mit $p$-Ladungsträgerdichten, zeigen wir, dass die Anheftung des chemischen Potentials an den Kamelrücken zu einem Beginn von QH-Plateaus bei ungewöhnlich kleinen Magnetfeldern (zweistelliger mT-Bereich) führen kann. Im Gegensatz dazu verhindert der Kamelrücken bei indirekten TIs die Beobachtung von QH Plateaus im $p$-Bereich bis zu großen Magnetfeldern (einige Tesla). Diese Ergebnisse erlauben es uns jüngste experimentelle Beobachtungen in (Hg,Mn)Te Quantentrögen der Existenz des Kamelrückens zuzuschreiben. Obwohl sich unsere Diskussion dabei auf (Hg,Mn)Te beschränkt, sollte sich unser Modell leicht auch auf andere topologische Materialien mit einer kamelartigen Struktur im Valenzband übertragen lassen. Zusätzlich haben wir die numerische Implementierung des $8 \times 8$ Kane Modells verwendet, um den Übergang von einer 2D QSH zu einer 3D TI Phase in verspannten HgTe Quantentrögen zu untersuchen. Diese Halbleitermaterialien zeichnen sich durch 2D topologische Oberflächenzustände an Grenzflächen aus, welche, wie wir zeigen, sehr sensitiv für die lokale Kristallsymmetrie des Gitters und elektrostatische Ladung sind. Wir bestimmen die klassische Zyklotronfrequenz der Oberflächenelektronen und vergleichen diese mit experimentellen Messungen an verspannten HgTe Qunatentrögen.

Graphene, the two-dimensional lattice of sp2-hybridized carbon atoms, has a great potential for future electronics, in particular for opto-electronic devices. The carrier relaxation dynamics, which is of key importance for such applications, is in the main focus of this thesis. Besides a short introduction into the most prominent material properties of graphene and the experimental techniques, this thesis is divided into three main parts. The investigation of the carrier relaxation dynamics in the absence of a magnetic field is presented in Chapter 3. In the first experiment, the anisotropy of the carrier excitation and relaxation in momentum space was investigated by pump-probe measurements in the near-infrared range. While this anisotropy was not considered in all previous experiments, our measurements with a temporal resolution of less than 50 fs revealed the polarization dependence of the carrier excitation and the subsequent relaxation. About 150 fs after the electrons are excited, the carrier distribution in momentum space gets isotropic, caused by electron-phonon scattering. In a second set of two-color pump-probe experiments, the temperature of the hot carrier distribution, which was obtained within the duration of the pump pulse (about 200 fs), could be estimated. Furthermore, a change in sign of the pump-probe signal can be used as an indicator for the Fermi energy of different graphene layers. Pump-probe experiments in the far-infrared range in reflection and transmission geometry were performed at high pump power. A strong saturation of the pump-induced transmission was found in previous experiments, which was attributed to the pump-induced change in absorption. Our investigation shows the strong influence of pump-induced reflection at long wavelengths, as well as a lot smaller influence of the saturation of the pump-induced change in absorption. At a high pump power, the increase of the reflection exceeds the change in absorption strongly, which leads to negative pump-probe signals in transmission geometry. In Chapter 4, investigations of the carrier dynamics of graphene in magnetic fields of up to 7T are presented. Even though the optical properties of Landau-quantized graphene are very interesting, the carrier dynamics were nearly unexplored. A low photon energy of 14meV allows the investigation of the intraband Landau-level (LL) transitions. These experiments revealed two main findings: Firstly, the Landau quantization strongly suppresses the carrier relaxation via optical-phonon scattering, resulting in an increased relaxation time. Secondly, a change in sign of the pump-probe signal can be observed when the magnetic field is varied. This change in sign indicates a hot carrier distribution shortly after the pump pulse, which means that carrier-carrier scattering remains very strong in magnetic fields. In a second set of pump-probe measurements, carried out at a photon energy of 75meV, the relaxation dynamics of interband LL transitions was investigated. In particular, experiments on the two energetically degenerate LL transitions LL(−1)->LL(0) and LL(0)->LL(1) showed the influence of extremely strong Auger processes. An ultrafast and extremely broadband terahertz detector, based on a graphene flake, is presented in the last chapter of this thesis. To couple the radiation efficiently to the small flake, the inner part of a logarithmic periodic antenna is connected to it. With a rise time of about 50 ps in a wavelength range of 9 μm to 500 μm, this detector is very interesting to obtain the temporal overlap in two-color pump-probe experiments with the free-electron laser FELBE. Furthermore, the importance of the substrate material, in particular for the high-speed performance, is discussed.

Zugl.: München, Univ., Diss., 2008

Zugl.: Hannover, Univ., Diss., 2007

Zugl.: Ilmenau, Techn. Univ., Diss., 2008

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarbeit, 2006.

Zugl.: München, University, Diss., 2009.

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2001--Aachen.

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2003--Aachen.

Melt flow plays an important role in directional solidification of multicrystalline silicon influencing the temperature field and the crystallization interface as well as the transport of impurities. This work investigates the potential of a traveling magnetic field (TMF) for an active control of the melt flow. A system of 3D numerical models was developed and adapted based on open-source software for calculations of Lorentz force, melt flow, and related phenomena. Isothermal and non-isothermal model experiments with a square GaInSn melt were used to validate the numerical models by direct velocity measurements. Several new 3D flow structures of turbulent TMF flows were observed for different melt heights. Further numerical parameter studies carried out for silicon melts showed that already a weak TMF-induced Lorentz force can stir impurities near to the complete mixing limit. Simultaneously, the deformed temperature field leads to an increase of the deflection of crystallization interface, which may exhibit a distinct asymmetry. The numerical results of this work were implemented in a research-scale silicon crystallization furnace. Scaling laws for various phenomena were derived allowing a limited transfer of the results to the industrial scale.