Band inversion and the topological phase transition in (Pb,Sn)Se
| Autor: | M. H. Berntsen, Andrzej Szczerbakow, Annica M. Black-Schaffer, B. M. Wojek, Oskar Tjernberg, B. J. Kowalski, Tomasz Story, Piotr Dziawa, Thiagarajan Balasubramanian |
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| Rok vydání: | 2014 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
Condensed matter physics business.industry Band gap 02 engineering and technology Parameter space 021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology Condensed Matter Physics 01 natural sciences Electronic Optical and Magnetic Materials Nonlinear system Semiconductor Gapless playback 0103 physical sciences Topological order 010306 general physics 0210 nano-technology business Solid solution Surface states |
| Zdroj: | Physical Review B. 90 |
| ISSN: | 1550-235X 1098-0121 |
| DOI: | 10.1103/physrevb.90.161202 |
| Popis: | The recent discovery of a topological phase transition in IV-VI narrow-gap semiconductors has revitalized the decades-old interest in the bulk band inversion occurring in these materials. Here we systematically study the (001) surface states of Pb1-xSnxSe mixed crystals by means of angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy in the parameter space 0 = T >= 9 K. Using the surface-state observations, we monitor directly the topological phase transition in this solid solution and gain valuable information on the evolution of the underlying fundamental band gap of the system. In contrast to common model expectations, the band-gap evolution appears to be nonlinear as a function of the studied parameters, resulting in the measuring of a discontinuous band-inversion process. This finding signifies that the anticipated gapless bulk state is in fact not a stable configuration and that the topological phase transition therefore exhibits features akin to a first-order transition. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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