2016/08/11 by G. Manzoni, L. Gragnaniello, G. Autès +25 · 5 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #2D Materials and Applications #Ab initio #Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy #Band gap #Condensed matter physics #Electronic structure #Graphene research and applications #Materials science #Nuclear magnetic resonance #Photoemission spectroscopy #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Semimetal #Spectroscopy #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological insulator #Topology (electrical circuits) #Valence (chemistry) #X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.117.237601
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 237601 (2016) · 5 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2016/08/11 · openalex created_date 2016/09/23 · openalex publication_date 2016/11/30 · arxiv updated 2016/12/07 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The complex electronic properties of ZrTe5 have recently stimulated in-depth investigations that assigned this material to either a topological insulator or a 3D Dirac semimetal phase. Here we report a comprehensive experimental and theoretical study of both electronic and structural properties of ZrTe5, revealing that the bulk material is a strong topological insulator (STI). By means of angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy, we identify at the top of the valence band both a surface and a bulk state. The dispersion of these bands is well captured by ab initio calculations for the STI case, for the specific interlayer distance measured in our x-ray diffraction study. Furthermore, these findings are supported by scanning tunneling spectroscopy revealing the metallic character of the sample surface, thus confirming the strong topological nature of ZrTe5.