No Arabic abstract
We performed angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy of the Bi(111) surface to demonstrate that this surface support edge states of non-trivial topology. Along the $bar{Gamma}bar{M}$-direction of the surface Brillouin zone, a surface-state band disperses from the projected bulk valence bands at $bar{Gamma}$ to the conduction bands at $bar{M}$ continuously, indicating the non-trivial topological order of three-dimensional Bi bands. We ascribe this finding to the absence of band inversion at the $L$ point of the bulk Bi Brillouin zone. According to our analysis, a modification of tight-binding parameters can account for the non-trivial band structure of Bi without any other significant change on other physical properties.
The topological order of single-crystal Bi and its surface states on the (111) surface are studied in detail based on empirical tight-binding (TB) calculations. New TB parameters are presented that are used to calculate the surface states of semi-infinite single-crystal Bi(111), which agree with the experimental angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy results. The influence of the crystal lattice distortion is surveyed and a topological phase transition is found that is driven by in-plane expansion. In contrast with the semi-infinite system, the surface-state dispersions on finite-thickness slabs are non-trivial irrespective of the bulk topological order. The role of the interaction between the top and bottom surfaces in the slab is systematically studied, and it is revealed that a very thick slab is required to properly obtain the bulk topological order of Bi from the (111) surface state: above 150 biatomic layers in this case.
BiTeI has a layered and non-centrosymmetric structure where strong spin-orbit interaction leads to a giant spin splitting in the bulk bands. Here we present high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) data in the UV and soft x-ray regime that clearly disentangle the surface from the bulk electronic structure. Spin-resolved UV-ARPES measurements on opposite, non-equivalent surfaces show identical spin structures, thus clarifying the surface state character. Soft x-ray ARPES data clearly reveal the spindle-torus shape of the bulk Fermi surface, induced by the spin-orbit interaction.
The peculiar metallic electronic states observed in the Kondo insulator, samarium hexaboride (SmB$_6$), has stimulated considerable attention among those studying non-trivial electronic phenomena. However, experimental studies of these states have led to controversial conclusions mainly to the difficulty and inhomogeneity of the SmB$_6$ crystal surface. Here, we show the detailed electronic structure of SmB$_6$ with angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy measurements of the three-fold (111) surface where only two inequivalent time-reversal-invariant momenta (TRIM) exist. We observe the metallic two-dimensional state was dispersed across the bulk Kondo gap. Its helical in-plane spin polarisation around the surface TRIM suggests that SmB$_6$ is topologically non-trivial, according to the topological classification theory for weakly correlated systems. Based on these results, we propose a simple picture of the controversial topological classification of SmB$_6$.
Density functional theory (DFT) has been used as an important tool for studying activity of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts. The dispersion effects, which are not encountered in many of the previous DFT studies for periodic Pt(111), are scrutinized for their role in predicting ORR activity on Pt (111) surface. Spin orbit coupling is employed to account for relativistic effects expected for heavy metal platinum, which has not been addressed in any of the previous studies on Pt(111). Adsorption behavior of intermediates and free energy changes of elementary reactions of ORR are analyzed with commonly used dispersion methods. A cumulative enhancement of ORR energetics and a maximum of 25% improvement in theoretical limiting potential are observed. The study illustrates the importance of consideration of these effects for better prediction of electrocatalytic activity for platinum based catalysts.
We report first-principles calculations of acoustic surface plasmons on the (0001) surface of Be, as obtained in the random-phase approximation of many-body theory. The energy dispersion of these collective excitations has been obtained along two symmetry directions. Our results show a considerable anisotropy of acoustic surface plasmons, and underline the capability of experimental measurements of these plasmons to {it map} the electron-hole excitation spectrum of the quasi two-dimensional Shockley surface state band that is present on the Be(0001) surface.