Strong topological metal material with multiple Dirac cones

Huiwen Ji, I. Pletikosić, Q. D. Gibson, Girija Sahasrabudhe, T. Valla, R. J. Cava

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

We report a new, cleavable, strong topological metal, Zr2Te2P, which has the same tetradymite-type crystal structure as the topological insulator Bi2Te2Se. Instead of being a semiconductor, however, Zr2Te2P is metallic with a pseudogap between 0.2 and 0.7 eV above the Fermi energy (EF). Inside this pseudogap, two Dirac dispersions are predicted: one is a surface-originated Dirac cone protected by time-reversal symmetry (TRS), while the other is a bulk-originated and slightly gapped Dirac cone with a largely linear dispersion over a 2 eV energy range. A third surface TRS-protected Dirac cone is predicted, and observed using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, making Zr2Te2P the first system, to our knowledge, to realize TRS-protected Dirac cones at M¯ points. The high anisotropy of this Dirac cone is similar to the one in the hypothetical Dirac semimetal BiO2. We propose that if EF can be tuned into the pseudogap where the Dirac dispersions exist, it may be possible to observe ultrahigh carrier mobility and large magnetoresistance in this material.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number045315
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume93
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 25 2016

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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