Signatures of a Pressure-Induced Topological Quantum Phase Transition in
BiTeI
release_gczrznv3r5a7hpold3ooipevau
by
Xiaoxiang Xi,
Chunli Ma,
Zhenxian Liu,
Zhiqiang Chen,
Wei Ku,
H.
Berger,
C. Martin,
D. B. Tanner,
G. L. Carr
2013
Abstract
We report the observation of two signatures of a pressure-induced topological
quantum phase transition in the polar semiconductor BiTeI using x-ray powder
diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. The x-ray data confirm that BiTeI
remains in its ambient-pressure structure up to 8 GPa. The lattice parameter
ratio c/a shows a minimum between 2.0-2.9 GPa, indicating an enhanced c-axis
bonding through pz band crossing as expected during the transition. Over the
same pressure range, the infrared spectra reveal a maximum in the optical
spectral weight of the charge carriers, reflecting the closing and reopening of
the semiconducting band gap. Both of these features are characteristics of a
topological quantum phase transition, and are consistent with a recent
theoretical proposal.
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