Robust topological edge states at the perfect surface step edge of topological insulator ZrTe₅

2016/01/22 by Xiang-Bing Li, Wen-Kai Huang, Yang-Yang Lv +13 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mtrl-sci

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.176803

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 176803 (2016) · 11 pages, 3 figures

arxiv created 2016/01/22 · arxiv updated 2016/05/03

Abstract

We report an atomic-scale characterization of ZrTe₅ by using scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe a bulk bandgap of ~80 meV with topological edge states at the step edge, and thus demonstrate ZrTe₅ is a two dimensional topological insulator. It is also found that an applied magnetic field induces energetic splitting and spatial separation of the topological edge states, which can be attributed to a strong link between the topological edge states and bulk topology. The perfect surface steps and relatively large bandgap make ZrTe₅ be a potential candidate for future fundamental studies and device applications.

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