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The interplay between topological electronic structure and superconductivity has attracted tremendous research interests recently as they could induce topological superconductivity (TSCs) which may be used to realize topological qubits for quantum computation. Among various TSC candidates, superconducting BaSn3 (Tc∼4.4K) has been predicted to be a topological Dirac semimetal (TDS) hosting two pairs of Dirac points along the Γ-A direction. Here, by combining the use of angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, we identified the predicted topological Dirac fermions and confirmed the TDS nature of the compound. In addition, we observed surface states connecting the Dirac points. Our observations demonstrate BaSn3 as a superconductor with nontrivial topological electronic structures.

© 2019 American Physical Society. Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculation, we have studied the bulk and surface electronic structure of metallic rutile 5d transition metal oxide IrO2 that harbors both edge and corner sharing Ir-O octahedrons. We observe strong modulation of the band structure by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). The measured band structure is well reproduced by our ab initio calculation without band renormalization, suggesting the absence of the SOC-enhanced correlation effect in IrO2. In accordance with the calculation, we visualize two types of Dirac nodal lines (DNLs) protected by mirror symmetry and nonsymmorphic crystal symmetry, respectively. SOC gaps the first type of DNLs, which may contribute largely to the strong spin Hall effect. The second type of DNLs at the edges of Brillouin zone, however, remain intact against SOC. Our results not only provide important insights into the exotic transport properties of IrO2, but also shed light on the understanding of the role of SOC in the iridate family.

Paraquat (PQ) exposure could cause pulmonary fibrosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) in an acute PQ poison model. One hundred and forty-four Sprague Dawley rats were equally divided into three experimental groups: control group, PQ group, and PQ + PDTC group. At days 1, 3, 7, 14, 28, and 56 of treatment, the serum levels of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1), the levels of hydroxyproline, the protein expression of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) pathway, and histopathological change in lung tissue were assessed. The survival rate of rats treated with PQ + PDTC was increased compared with that of rats treated only with PQ ( p < 0.05), and the occurrence of pathological changes was dramatically attenuated in the PQ + PDTC group. The serum levels of TGF-β1 and the hydroxyproline levels in the PQ group were significantly increased in a time-dependent manner compared with those in the control and PQ + PDTC groups on days 7, 14, 28, and 56 ( p < 0.05). Additionally, the protein levels of NF-κB proteins p65, inhibitor of κB (IκB) kinase (IKKβ, and IκB-α were significantly downregulated in the PQ + PDTC group as determined by array analysis. The present findings suggest that overexpression of TGF-β1 may play an important role in PQ-induced lung injury and that PDTC, a strong NF-κB inhibitor, can rescue PQ-induced pulmonary fibrosis by influencing the protein expression of NF-κB pathway.

In coaxial laser cladding, the quality and property of deposition products are greatly influenced by the powder flow, which is responsible to transport additive materials to the deposition point on a substrate precisely. The metallic powder flow in coaxial laser cladding is simulated by a numerical model based on the gas-solid flow theory. The characteristics of powder concentration distribution between coaxial nozzle and deposition point for a kind of nickel based alloy powder are studied by the proposed model. The relationship between the process parameters and powder flow characteristics, such as focus distance from the nozzle exit and maximum powder concentration, is analyzed to optimize the powder feeding process. In addition, the influence of substrate with different surface shapes on the powder flow is investigated. The results can be used as a guideline for the location of the substrate and the selection of proper processing parameters for coaxial laser cladding.

The recent discovery of the extreme magnetoresistance (XMR) in the nonmagnetic rare-earth monopnictides LaX (X = P, As, Sb, Bi,), a recently proposed new topological semimetal family, has inspired intensive research effort in the exploration of the correlation between the XMR and their electronic structures. In this work, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate the three-dimensional band structure of LaBi, we unraveled its topologically nontrivial nature with the observation of multiple topological surface Dirac fermions, as supported by our ab initio calculations. Furthermore, we observed substantial imbalance between the volume of electron and hole pockets, which rules out the electron-hole compensation as the primary cause of the XMR in LaBi.

We report on the electronic structure of the elemental topological semimetal $\alpha$-Sn on InSb(001). High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission data allow to observe the topological surface state (TSS) that is degenerate with the bulk band structure and show that the former is unaffected by different surface reconstructions. An unintentional $p$-type doping of the as-grown films was compensated by deposition of potassium or tellurium after the growth, thereby shifting the Dirac point of the surface state below the Fermi level. We show that, while having the potential to break time-reversal symmetry, iron impurities with a coverage of up to 0.25 monolayers do not have any further impact on the surface state beyond that of K or Te. Furthermore, we have measured the spin-momentum locking of electrons from the TSS by means of spin-resolved photoemission. Our results show that the spin vector lies fully in-plane, but it also has a finite radial component. Finally, we analyze the decay of photoholes introduced in the photoemission process, and by this gain insight into the many-body interactions in the system. Surprisingly, we extract quasiparticle lifetimes comparable to other topological materials where the TSS is located within a bulk band gap. We argue that the main decay of photoholes is caused by intraband scattering, while scattering into bulk states is suppressed due to different orbital symmetries of bulk and surface states.

© 2017 American Physical Society. Topological insulators represent unusual topological quantum states, typically with gapped bulk band structure but gapless surface Dirac fermions protected by time-reversal symmetry. Recently, a distinct kind of topological insulator resulting from nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry was proposed in the KHgX (X=As, Sb, Bi) compounds. Unlike regular topological crystalline insulators, the nonsymmorphic glide-reflection symmetry in KHgX guarantees the appearance of an exotic surface fermion with hourglass shape dispersion (where two pairs of branches switch their partners) residing on its (010) side surface, contrasting to the usual two-dimensional Dirac fermion form. Here, by using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we systematically investigate the electronic structures of KHgSb on both (001) and (010) surfaces and reveal the unique in-gap surface states on the (010) surface with delicate dispersion consistent with the "hourglass Fermion" recently proposed. Our experiment strongly supports that KHgSb is a nonsymmorphic topological crystalline insulator with hourglass fermions, which serves as an important step to the discovery of unique topological quantum materials and exotic fermions protected by nonsymmorphic crystalline symmetry.

We report an alternative synthesis process, cold-wall thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD), is replied to directly deposit single-layer and few-layer graphene films on Ar plasma treated Ni and Cu foils using CH4 as carbon source. Through optimizing the process parameters, large scale single-layer graphene grown on Ni foil is comparable to that grown on Cu foil. The graphene films were able to be transferred to other substrates such as SiO2/Si, flexible transparent PET and verified by optical microscopy, Raman microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The sheet resistance and transmission of the transferred graphene films on PET substrate were also discussed.