2019/05/06 by I-Lin Liu, Liu, I-Lin, Colin Heikes +15
Physics and Astronomy · Materials Science · #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Graphene research and applications #Quantum many-body systems
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1905.02277
Layered transition metal chalcogenides are promising hosts of electronic Weyl nodes and topological superconductivity. MoTe2 is a striking example that harbors both noncentrosymmetric Td and centrosymmetric T' phases, both of which have been identified as topologically nontrivial. Applied pressure tunes the structural transition separating these phases to zero temperature, stabilizing a mixed Td-T' matrix that entails a unique network of interfaces between the two non-trivial topological phases. Here, we show that this critical pressure range is characterized by unique coherent quantum oscillations, indicating that the change in topology between two phases give rise to a new topological interface state. A rare combination of topologically nontrivial electronic structures and locked-in transformation barriers leads to this counterintuitive situation wherein quantum oscillations can be observed in a structurally inhomogeneous material. These results open the possibility of stabilizing multiple topological superconducting phases, which are important for solving the decoherence problem in quantum computers.