PRESS RELEASE

Ubiquitous Formation of Bulk Dirac Cones and Topological Surface States from a Single Orbital Manifold in Transition-metal Dichalcogenides

 

Authors

M. S. Bahramy, O. J. Clark, B.-J. Yang, J. Feng, L. Bawden, J. M. Riley, I. Marković, F. Mazzola, V. Sunko, D. Biswas, S. P. Cooil, M. Jorge, J. W. Wells, M. Leandersson, T. Balasubramanian, J. Fujii, I. Vobornik, J. E. Rault, T. K. Kim, M. Hoesch, K. Okawa, M. Asakawa, T. Sasagawa, T. Eknapakul, W. Meevasana & P. D. C. King 

 

Abstract

Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are renowned for their rich and varied bulk properties, while their single-layer variants have become one of the most prominent examples of two-dimensional materials beyond graphene. Their disparate ground states largely depend on transition metal d-electron-derived electronic states, on which the vast majority of attention has been concentrated to date. Here, we focus on the chalcogen-derived states. From density-functional theory calculations together with spin- and angle-resolved photoemission, we find that these generically host a co-existence of type-I and type-II three-dimensional bulk Dirac fermions as well as ladders of topological surface states and surface resonances. We demonstrate how these naturally arise within a single p-orbital manifold as a general consequence of a trigonal crystal field, and as such can be expected across a large number of compounds. Already, we demonstrate their existence in six separate TMDs, opening routes to tune, and ultimately exploit, their topological physics.

 

 

Nature Materials : https://www.nature.com/articles/nmat5031