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Band inversion and the topological phase transition in (Pb,Sn)Se

Wojek, B. M. ; Dziawa, P. ; Kowalski, B. J. ; Szczerbakow, A. ; Black-Schaffer, A. M. ; Berntsen, M. H. ; Thiagarajan, Balasubramanian LU ; Story, T. and Tjernberg, O. (2014) In Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics) 90(16).
Abstract
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 <= x <= 0.37 and 300 K >= 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,... (More)
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 <= x <= 0.37 and 300 K >= 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. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)
volume
90
issue
16
article number
161202
publisher
American Physical Society
external identifiers
  • wos:000344024300001
  • scopus:84908042676
ISSN
1098-0121
DOI
10.1103/PhysRevB.90.161202
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a4210f53-6d3f-4110-8188-8bbae6be640e (old id 4875668)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 13:00:15
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:02:35
@article{a4210f53-6d3f-4110-8188-8bbae6be640e,
  abstract     = {{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 &lt;= x &lt;= 0.37 and 300 K &gt;= T &gt;= 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.}},
  author       = {{Wojek, B. M. and Dziawa, P. and Kowalski, B. J. and Szczerbakow, A. and Black-Schaffer, A. M. and Berntsen, M. H. and Thiagarajan, Balasubramanian and Story, T. and Tjernberg, O.}},
  issn         = {{1098-0121}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{16}},
  publisher    = {{American Physical Society}},
  series       = {{Physical Review B (Condensed Matter and Materials Physics)}},
  title        = {{Band inversion and the topological phase transition in (Pb,Sn)Se}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.161202}},
  doi          = {{10.1103/PhysRevB.90.161202}},
  volume       = {{90}},
  year         = {{2014}},
}