No Arabic abstract
A topological Dirac semimetal is a novel state of quantum matter which has recently attracted much attention as an apparent 3D version of graphene. In this paper, we report critically important results on the electronic structure of the 3D Dirac semimetal Na3Bi at a surface that reveals its nontrivial groundstate. Our studies, for the first time, reveal that the two 3D Dirac cones go through a topological change in the constant energy contour as a function of the binding energy, featuring a Lifshitz point, which is missing in a strict 3D analog of graphene (in other words Na3Bi is not a true 3D analog of graphene). Our results identify the first example of a band saddle point singularity in 3D Dirac materials. This is in contrast to its 2D analogs such as graphene and the helical Dirac surface states of a topological insulator. The observation of multiple Dirac nodes in Na3Bi connecting via a Lifshitz point along its crystalline rotational axis away from the Kramers point serves as a decisive signature for the symmetry-protected nature of the Dirac semimetals topological groundstate.
We demonstrate a new method to control the Fermi level around the van Hove singularity (VHS) in Li-intercalated graphene on the SiC substrate. By angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we observed a clear Lifshitz transition in the vicinity of the VHS by increasing the graphene thickness. This behavior is unexpected in a free-standing Li-intercalated graphene model. The calculation including the substrate suggests that the surface state stabilizes the Fermi level around the VHS of the Dirac bands via hybridization. In addition, we found that a sizable Schottky barrier is formed between graphene and the substrate. These properties allow us to explore the electronic phase diagram around the VHS by controlling the thickness and electric field in the device condition.
We have applied nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the distinctive network of nodal lines in the Dirac semimetal ZrSiTe. The low-$T$ behavior is dominated by a symmetry-protected nodal line, with NMR providing a sensitive probe of the diamagnetic response of the associated carriers. A sharp low-$T$ minimum in NMR shift and $(T_1T)^{-1}$ provides a quantitative measure of the dispersionless, quasi-2D behavior of this nodal line. We also identify a van Hove singularity closely connected to this nodal line, and an associated $T$-induced Lifshitz transition. A disconnect in the NMR shift and line width at this temperature indicates the change in electronic behavior associated with this topological change. These features have an orientation-dependent behavior indicating a field-dependent scaling of the associated band energies.
We point out that in the deep band-inverted state, topological insulators are generically vulnerable against symmetry breaking instability, due to a divergently large density of states of 1D-like exponent near the chemical potential. This feature at the band edge is associated with a novel van Hove singularity resulting from the development of a Mexican-hat band dispersion. We demonstrate this generic behavior via prototypical 2D and 3D models. This realization not only explains the existing experimental observations of additional phases, but also suggests a route to activate additional functionalities to topological insulators via ordering, particularly for the long-sought topological superconductivities.
A van der Waals coupled Weyl semimetal material NbIrTe4 is investigated by combining scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and first principles calculations. We observe a sharp peak in the tunneling conductance near the zero bias energy, and its origin is ascribed to a van Hove singularity associated with a Lifshitz transition of the topologically none trivial Fermi arc states. Furthermore, tunneling spectroscopy measurements show a surprisingly large signature of electron boson coupling, which presumably represents anomalously enhanced electron phonon coupling through the enhanced charge susceptibility. Our finding in van der Waals coupled material is particularly invaluable due to applicable exfoliation technology for searching exotic topological states by further manipulating near Fermi energy van Hove singularity in nanometer scale flakes and their devices.
Twisted graphene bilayers (TGBs) have low-energy van Hove singularities (VHSs) that are strongly localized around AA-stacked regions of the moire pattern. Therefore, they exhibit novel many-body electronic states, such as Mott-like insulator and unconventional superconductivity. Unfortunately, these strongly correlated states were only observed in magic angle TGBs with the twist angle theta~1.1{deg}, requiring a precisely tuned structure. Is it possible to realize exotic quantum phases in the TGBs not limited at the magic angle? Here we studied electronic properties of a TGB with theta~1.64{deg} and demonstrated that a VHS splits into two spin-polarized states flanking the Fermi energy when the VHS is close to the Fermi level. Such a result indicates that localized magnetic moments emerge in the AA-stacked regions of the TGB. Since the low-energy VHSs are quite easy to be reached in slightly TGBs, our result therefore provides a facile direction to realize novel quantum phases in graphene system.