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Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures

A bulk crystal of cadmium arsenide is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, but, in a thin film, it can behave like a three-dimensional topological insulator. This tunability provides unique opportunities to manipulate and explore a topological insulator phase. However, an obstacle to engineering suc...

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Autores principales: Kealhofer, David A., Kealhofer, Robert, Ohara, Daniel, Pardue, Tyler N., Stemmer, Susanne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: American Association for the Advancement of Science 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9269884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35857456
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn4479
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author Kealhofer, David A.
Kealhofer, Robert
Ohara, Daniel
Pardue, Tyler N.
Stemmer, Susanne
author_facet Kealhofer, David A.
Kealhofer, Robert
Ohara, Daniel
Pardue, Tyler N.
Stemmer, Susanne
author_sort Kealhofer, David A.
collection PubMed
description A bulk crystal of cadmium arsenide is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, but, in a thin film, it can behave like a three-dimensional topological insulator. This tunability provides unique opportunities to manipulate and explore a topological insulator phase. However, an obstacle to engineering such tunability is the subtlety of transport-based discriminants for topological phases. In this work, the quantum capacitance of cadmium arsenide–based heterostructures provides two direct experimental signatures of three-dimensional topological insulator physics: an insulating three-dimensional bulk and a Landau level at zero energy that does not disperse in a magnetic field. We proceed to join our ability to see these fingerprints of the topological surface states with flexibility afforded by our epitaxial heterostructures to demonstrate a route toward controlling the energy of the Dirac nodes on each surface. These results point to new avenues for engineering topological insulators based on cadmium arsenide.
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spelling pubmed-92698842022-07-20 Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures Kealhofer, David A. Kealhofer, Robert Ohara, Daniel Pardue, Tyler N. Stemmer, Susanne Sci Adv Physical and Materials Sciences A bulk crystal of cadmium arsenide is a three-dimensional Dirac semimetal, but, in a thin film, it can behave like a three-dimensional topological insulator. This tunability provides unique opportunities to manipulate and explore a topological insulator phase. However, an obstacle to engineering such tunability is the subtlety of transport-based discriminants for topological phases. In this work, the quantum capacitance of cadmium arsenide–based heterostructures provides two direct experimental signatures of three-dimensional topological insulator physics: an insulating three-dimensional bulk and a Landau level at zero energy that does not disperse in a magnetic field. We proceed to join our ability to see these fingerprints of the topological surface states with flexibility afforded by our epitaxial heterostructures to demonstrate a route toward controlling the energy of the Dirac nodes on each surface. These results point to new avenues for engineering topological insulators based on cadmium arsenide. American Association for the Advancement of Science 2022-07-08 /pmc/articles/PMC9269884/ /pubmed/35857456 http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn4479 Text en Copyright © 2022 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC). https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) , which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Physical and Materials Sciences
Kealhofer, David A.
Kealhofer, Robert
Ohara, Daniel
Pardue, Tyler N.
Stemmer, Susanne
Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title_full Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title_fullStr Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title_full_unstemmed Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title_short Controlling and visualizing Dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
title_sort controlling and visualizing dirac physics in topological semimetal heterostructures
topic Physical and Materials Sciences
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9269884/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35857456
http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abn4479
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