arXiv subjects

Dongqin Zhang

Publications and source records attributed to Dongqin Zhang.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Intrinsic magnetic topological insulator phases in the Sb doped MnBi2Te4 bulks and thin flakes

Magnetic topological insulators (MTIs) offer a combination of topologically nontrivial characteristics and magnetic order and show promise in terms of potentially interesting physical phenomena such as the quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) effect and topological axion insulating states. However, the understanding of their properties and potential applications have been limited due to a lack of suitable candidates for MTIs. Here, we grow two-dimensional single crystals of Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 bulk and exfoliate them into thin flakes in order to search for intrinsic MTIs. We perform angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, low-temperature transport measurements, and first-principles calculations to investigate the band structure, transport properties, and magnetism of this family of materials, as well as the evolution of their topological properties. We find that there exists an optimized MTI zone in the Mn(SbxBi(1-x))2Te4 phase diagram, which could possibly host a high-temperature QAH phase, offering a promising avenue for new device applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2019

Topological axion states in magnetic insulator MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ with the quantized magnetoelectric effect

Topological states of quantum matter have attracted great attention in condensed matter physics and materials science. The study of time-reversal-invariant (TRI) topological states in quantum materials has made tremendous progress in both theories and experiments. As a great success, thousands of TRI topological materials are predicted through sweeping search. Richer exotic phenomena are expected to appear in magnetic topological materials because of varied magnetic configurations, but this study falls much behind due to the complex magnetic structures and transitions. Here, we predict the tetradymite-type compound MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ and its related materials host interesting magnetic topological states. The magnetic ground state of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ is an antiferromagnetic phase which leads to an antiferromagetic topological insulator state with a large topologically non-trivial energy gap ($\sim$0.2~eV). It is the parent state for the axion state, which has gapped bulk and surface states, and quantized topological magnetoelectric effect. The ferromagnetic phase of MnBi$_2$Te$_4$ leads to an ideal minimal type-II Weyl semimetal with two Weyl points accompanied by one hole-type and one electron-type Fermi pocket at the Fermi level, which has never been discovered elsewhere. We further present a simple and unified continuum model to capture the salient topological features of this kind of materials.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Coexistence of Intrinsic Superconductivity and Topological Insulator State in Monoclinic Phase WS2

Recently, intriguing phenomena of superconductivity, type-II Weyl semimetal or quantum spin Hall states were discovered in metastable 1T'-type VIB-group transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). Here, we report that monoclinic phase WS2 was discovered and synthesized in our experiments. The intrinsic superconducting transition was observed in monoclinic WS2 with a transition temperature Tc of 8.8 K which is the highest among previously reported TMDs without any fine-tuning process. Intersteing, topological insulator state, defined by topological invariant Z2, was also discovered with a single Dirac cone on the surface, which is different from all topological states reported in TMDs. Further, the electronic structure was found to have a strong anisotropy by Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations and first-principles calculations. Our findings reveal that monoclinic WS2 might be a new topological superconductivity candidate with a strong anisotropy.

cond-mat.supr-con↗

arXiv2018

Engineering topological phases in the Luttinger semimetal $α$-Sn

$α$-Sn is well known as a typical Luttinger semimetal with a quadratic band touching at the $Γ$ point. Based on the effective $k\cdot p$ analysis as well as first-principles calculations, we demonstrate that multiple topological phases with a rich diagram, including topological insulator, Dirac semimetal, and Weyl semimetal phases, can be induced and engineered in $α$-Sn by external strains, magnetic fields, and circularly polarized light (CPL). Intriguingly, not only the conventional type-I Weyl nodes, but also type-II Weyl nodes and double-Weyl nodes can be generated directly from the quadratic semimetal by applying a magnetic field or CPL. Our results apply equally well to other Luttinger semimetals with similar crystal and electronic structures, and thus open an avenue for realizing and engineering multiple topological phases on a versatile platform.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Observation of Coulomb gap in the quantum spin Hall candidate single-layer 1T'-WTe$_2$

The two-dimensional topological insulators (2DTI) host a full gap in the bulk band, induced by spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect, together with the topologically protected gapless edge states. However, the SOC-induced gap is usually small, and it is challenging to suppress the bulk conductance and thus to realize the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect. In this study, we find a novel mechanism to effectively suppress the bulk conductance. By using the quasiparticle interference (QPI) technique with scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS), we demonstrate that the QSH candidate single-layer 1T'-WTe$_2$ has a semi-metal bulk band structure with no full SOC-induced gap. Surprisingly, in this two-dimensional system, we find the electron interactions open a Coulomb gap which is always pinned at the Fermi energy (E$_F$). The opening of the Coulomb gap can efficiently diminish the bulk state at the E$_F$ and is in favor of the observation of the quantized conduction of topological edge states.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2016

Ideal Weyl semimetals in the chalcopyrites CuTlSe2, AgTlTe2, AuTlTe2 and ZnPbAs2

Weyl semimetals are new states of matter which feature novel Fermi arcs and exotic transport phenomena. Based on first-principles calculations, we report that the chalcopyrites CuTlSe2, AgTlTe2, AuTlTe2 and ZnPbAs2 are ideal Weyl semimetals, having largely separated Weyl points (~ 0.05/A) and uncovered Fermi arcs that are amenable to experimental detections. We also construct a minimal effective model to capture the low-energy physics of this class of Weyl semimetals. Our discovery is a major step toward a perfect playground of intriguing Weyl semimetals and potential applications for low-power and high-speed electronics.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗