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Topological crystalline insulator states in Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Se.
- Source :
-
Nature materials [Nat Mater] 2012 Dec; Vol. 11 (12), pp. 1023-7. Date of Electronic Publication: 2012 Sep 30. - Publication Year :
- 2012
-
Abstract
- Topological insulators are a class of quantum materials in which time-reversal symmetry, relativistic effects and an inverted band structure result in the occurrence of electronic metallic states on the surfaces of insulating bulk crystals. These helical states exhibit a Dirac-like energy dispersion across the bulk bandgap, and they are topologically protected. Recent theoretical results have suggested the existence of topological crystalline insulators (TCIs), a class of topological insulators in which crystalline symmetry replaces the role of time-reversal symmetry in ensuring topological protection. In this study we show that the narrow-gap semiconductor Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Se is a TCI for x = 0.23. Temperature-dependent angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy demonstrates that the material undergoes a temperature-driven topological phase transition from a trivial insulator to a TCI. These experimental findings add a new class to the family of topological insulators, and we anticipate that they will lead to a considerable body of further research as well as detailed studies of topological phase transitions.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1476-4660
- Volume :
- 11
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nature materials
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 23023551
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3449