3D nature of ZrTe₅ band structure measured by high-momentum-resolution photoemission spectroscopy

2017/04/18 by H. Xiong, J. A. Sobota, S. -L. Yang +10 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.mes-hall

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.95.195119

published as Phys. Rev. B 95, 195119 (2017) (Editors' Suggestion) · 8 pages, 5 figures

arxiv created 2017/04/18 · arxiv updated 2017/05/12

Abstract

We have performed a systematic high-momentum-resolution photoemission study on ZrTe₅ using 6 eV photon energy. We have measured the band structure near the Γ point, and quantified the gap between the conduction and valence band as 18 ≤ Δ≤ 29 meV. We have also observed photon-energy-dependent behavior attributed to final-state effects and the 3D nature of the material's band structure. Our interpretation indicates the gap is intrinsic and reconciles discrepancies on the existence of a topological surface state reported by different studies. The existence of a gap suggests that ZrTe₅ is not a 3D strong topological insulator nor a 3D Dirac semimetal. Therefore, our experiment is consistent with ZrTe₅ being a 3D weak topological insulator.

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