Class Of Topological Semimetals Research Articles

Type-I antiferromagnetic Weyl semimetal InMnTi2

Topological materials have been a main focus of studies in the past decade due to their protected properties that can be exploited for the fabrication of new devices. Among them, Weyl semimetals are a class of topological semimetals with nontrivial linear band crossings close to the Fermi level. The existence of such crossings requires the breaking of either time-reversal (T) or inversion (I) symmetry and is responsible for the exotic physical properties. In this work we identify the full-Heusler compound InMnTi2, as a promising, easy to synthesize, T- and I-breaking Weyl semimetal. To correctly capture the nature of the magnetic state, we employed a novel DFT+U computational setup where all the Hubbard parameters are evaluated from first principles; thus preserving a genuinely predictive character of the theory. We demonstrate that this material exhibits several features that are comparatively more intriguing with respect to other known Weyl semimetals: the distance between two neighboring nodes is large enough to observe a wide range of linear dispersions in the bands, and only one kind of such node's pairs is present in the Brillouin zone. We also show the presence of Fermi arcs stable across a wide range of chemical potentials. Finally, the lack of contributions from trivial points to the low-energy properties makes the materials a promising candidate for practical devices. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Electronic Structure of B20 (FeSi-Type) Transition-Metal Monosilicides.

Monosilicides of transition metals crystallizing in a B20 (FeSi-type) structure (space group P23, #198) possess a wide range of specific properties. Among them are semiconductors, metals, and paramagnetic, diamagnetic, and ferromagnetic compounds. Some of them were studied as promising thermoelectric materials. Recently, B20 monosilicides have attracted attention as a new class of topological semimetals with topological charge greater than unity. In the present work, we analyze the electronic structures of B20-type monosilicides of the fourth, fifth, and sixth periods of the Periodic Table in order to reveal their common features and peculiarities. To make this analysis more consistent, we performed a density-functional study of the electronic structures of the monosilicides in a unified manner. We reviewed the results of previous calculations and the available experimental data, comparing them with our results. The band structures of ReSi and TcSi not found in the literature were calculated and analyzed as well. The topological properties of these materials and of some isostructural germanides and stannides were investigated. Analysis reveals the current understanding of electronic structures and properties of this compound group.

Ab initio optical and energy loss spectra of transition metal monopnictides TaAs, TaP, NbAs, and NbP

Transition metal monopnictides represent a new class of topological semimetals with low-energy excitations, namely, Weyl fermions. We report optical properties across a wide spectral energy range for TaAs, TaP, NbAs, and NbP, calculated within density functional theory. Spectra are found to be somewhat independent of the anion and the light polarization. Their features are explained in terms of the upper s, p, d, and f electrons. Characteristic absorption features are related to the frequency dependence of the Fresnel reflectivity. While the lower part of the energy loss spectra is dominated by plasmonic features, the high-energy structures are explained by interband transitions.

Type-II Dirac line node in strained Na3N

Dirac line node (DLN) semimetals are a class of topological semimetals that feature band-crossing lines in momentum space. We study the type-I and type-II classification of DLN semimetals by developing a criterion that determines the type using band velocities. Using first-principles calculations, we also predict that ${\mathrm{Na}}_{3}\mathrm{N}$ under an epitaxial tensile strain realizes a type-II DLN semimetal with vanishing spin-orbit coupling, characterized by the Berry phase, which is ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ quantized in the presence of inversion and time-reversal symmetries. The surface energy spectrum is calculated to demonstrate the topological phase and the type-II nature is demonstrated by calculating the band velocities. We also develop a tight-binding model and a low-energy effective Hamiltonian that describe the low-energy electronic structure of strained ${\mathrm{Na}}_{3}\mathrm{N}$. The occurrence of a DLN in ${\mathrm{Na}}_{3}\mathrm{N}$ under strain is captured in the optical conductivity, which we propose as a means to experimentally confirm the type-II class of DLN semimetals.

Long-range Coulomb interaction effects on the topological phase transitions between semimetals and insulators

Topological states may be protected by a lattice symmetry in a class of topological semi-metals. In three spatial dimensions, the Berry flux around gapless excitations in momentum space defines a chirality concretely, so a protecting symmetry may be referred to as a chiral symmetry. Prime examples include Dirac semi-metal (DSM) in a distorted spinel, BiZnSiO$_4$, protected by a mirror symmetry and DSM in Na$_3$Bi, protected by a rotational symmetry. In these states, topology and a chiral symmetry are intrinsically tied. In this work, we investigate characteristics interplay between a chiral symmetry order parameter and instantaneous long-range Coulomb interaction with the standard renormalization group method. We show that a topological transition associated with a chiral symmetry is stable under the presence of the Coulomb interaction and the electron velocity always becomes faster than one of a chiral symmetry order parameter. Thus, the transition {\it must not} be relativistic, which implies a supersymmetry is intrinsically forbidden by the long-range Coulomb interaction. {Asymptotically exact} universal ratios of physical quantities such as energy gap ratio are obtained, and connections with experiments and recent theoretical proposals are also discussed.

Voltage-Driven Magnetization Switching and Spin Pumping in Weyl Semimetals

We demonstrate electrical magnetization switching and spin pumping in magnetically doped Weyl semimetals. The Weyl semimetal is a new class of topological semimetals, known to have nontrivial coupling between the charge and the magnetization due to the chiral anomaly. By solving the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation for a multilayer structure of a Weyl semimetal, an insulator and a metal whilst taking the charge-magnetization coupling into account, magnetization dynamics is analyzed. It is shown that the magnetization dynamics can be driven by the electric voltage. Consequently, switching of the magnetization with a pulsed electric voltage can be achieved, as well as precession motion with an applied oscillating electric voltage. The effect requires only a short voltage pulse and may therefore be more energetically efficient for us in spintronics devices compared to conventional spin transfer torque switching.