No Arabic abstract
We present an algorithm to determine topological invariants of inhomogeneous systems, such as alloys, disordered crystals, or amorphous systems. Based on the kernel polynomial method, our algorithm allows us to study samples with more than $10^7$ degrees of freedom. Our method enables the study of large complex compounds, where disorder is inherent to the system. We use it to analyse Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_{x}$Te and tighten the critical concentration for the phase transition.
Topological crystalline insulators represent a novel topological phase of matter in which the surface states are protected by discrete point group-symmetries of the underlying lattice. Rock-salt lead-tin-selenide alloy is one possible realization of this phase which undergoes a topological phase transition upon changing the lead content. We used scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) to probe the surface states on (001) Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_{x}$Se in the topologically non-trivial (x=0.23) and topologically trivial (x=0) phases. We observed quasiparticle interference with STM on the surface of the topological crystalline insulator and demonstrated that the measured interference can be understood from ARPES studies and a simple band structure model. Furthermore, our findings support the fact that Pb$_{0.77}$Sn$_{0.23}$Se and PbSe have different topological nature.
The picture of how a gap closes in a semiconductor has been radically transformed by topological concepts. Instead of the gap closing and immediately re-opening, topological arguments predict that, in the absence of inversion symmetry, a metallic phase protected by Weyl nodes persists over a finite interval of the tuning parameter (e.g. pressure $P$) . The gap re-appears when the Weyl nodes mutually annihilate. We report evidence that Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te exhibits this topological metallic phase. Using pressure to tune the gap, we have tracked the nucleation of a Fermi surface droplet that rapidly grows in volume with $P$. In the metallic state we observe a large Berry curvature which dominates the Hall effect. Moreover, a giant negative magnetoresistance is observed in the insulating side of phase boundaries, in accord with emph{ab initio} calculations. The results confirm the existence of a topological metallic phase over a finite pressure interval.
The ratio of the Zeeman splitting to the cyclotron energy ($M=Delta E_Z / hbar omega_c$), which characterizes the relative strength of the spin-orbit interaction in crystals, is examined for the narrow gap IV-VI semiconductors PbTe, SnTe, and their alloy Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te on the basis of the multiband $kcdot p$ theory. The inverse mass $alpha$, the g-factor $g$, and $M$ are calculated numerically by employing the relativistic empirical tight-binding band calculation. On the other hand, a simple but exact formula of $M$ is obtained for the six-band model based on the group theoretical analysis. It is shown that $M<1$ for PbTe and $M>1$ for SnTe, which are interpreted in terms of the relevance of the interband couplings due to the crystalline spin-orbit interaction. It is clarified both analytically and numerically that $M=1$ just at the band inversion point, where the transition from trivial to nontrivial topological crystalline insulator occurs. By using this property, one can detect the transition point only with the bulk measurements. It is also proposed that $M$ is useful to evaluate quantitatively a degree of the Dirac electrons in solids.
We present angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements of the surface states on in-situ grown (111) oriented films of Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_{x}$Se, a three dimensional topological crystalline insulator. We observe surface states with Dirac-like dispersion at $bar{Gamma}$ and $bar{M}$ in the surface Brillouin zone, supporting recent theoretical predictions for this family of materials. We study the parallel dispersion isotropy and Dirac-point binding energy of the surface states, and perform tight-binding calculations to support our findings. The relative simplicity of the growth technique is encouraging, and suggests a clear path for future investigations into the role of strain, vicinality and alternative surface orientations in (Pb,Sn)Se compounds.
We study the effect of Hunds splitting of repulsive interactions on electronic phase transitions in the multiorbital topological crystalline insulator Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_{x}$Te, when the chemical potential is tuned to the vicinity of low-lying Type-II Van Hove singularities. Nontrivial Berry phases associated with the Bloch states impart momentum-dependence to electron interactions in the relevant band. We use a multipatch parquet renormalization group (RG) analysis for studying the competition of different electronic phases, and find that if the dominant fixed-point interactions correspond to antiparallel spin configurations, then a chiral $p$-wave Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov(FFLO) state is favored, otherwise, none of the commonly encountered electronic instabilities occur within the one-loop parquet RG approach.