Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators
Serbyn M, Fu L. 2014. Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. 90(3).
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Serbyn, MaksymISTA ;
Fu, Liang
Abstract
In the recently discovered topological crystalline insulators SnTe and Pb1-xSnx(Te, Se), crystal symmetry and electronic topology intertwine to create topological surface states with many interesting features including Lifshitz transition, Van-Hove singularity, and fermion mass generation. These surface states are protected by mirror symmetry with respect to the (110) plane. In this work we present a comprehensive study of the effects of different mirror-symmetry-breaking perturbations on the (001) surface band structure. Pristine (001) surface states have four branches of Dirac fermions at low energy. We show that ferroelectric-type structural distortion generates a mass and gaps out some or all of these Dirac points, while strain shifts Dirac points in the Brillouin zone. An in-plane magnetic field leaves the surface state gapless, but introduces asymmetry between Dirac points. Finally, an out-of-plane magnetic field leads to discrete Landau levels. We show that the Landau level spectrum has an unusual pattern of degeneracy and interesting features due to the unique underlying band structure. This suggests that Landau level spectroscopy can detect and distinguish between different mechanisms of symmetry breaking in topological crystalline insulators.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2014-07-03
Journal Title
Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Acknowledgement
We thank V. Madhavan and Y. Okada for related collaborations, and P. A. Lee for discussions. M.S. was supported by P. A. Lee via Grant No. NSF DMR 1104498. L.F. is supported by the DOE Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering under award DE-SC0010526.
Volume
90
Issue
3
IST-REx-ID
Cite this
Serbyn M, Fu L. Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. 2014;90(3). doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.90.035402
Serbyn, M., & Fu, L. (2014). Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. American Physical Society. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.035402
Serbyn, Maksym, and Liang Fu. “Symmetry Breaking and Landau Quantization in Topological Crystalline Insulators.” Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. American Physical Society, 2014. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.035402.
M. Serbyn and L. Fu, “Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators,” Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, vol. 90, no. 3. American Physical Society, 2014.
Serbyn M, Fu L. 2014. Symmetry breaking and Landau quantization in topological crystalline insulators. Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics. 90(3).
Serbyn, Maksym, and Liang Fu. “Symmetry Breaking and Landau Quantization in Topological Crystalline Insulators.” Physical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, vol. 90, no. 3, American Physical Society, 2014, doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.90.035402.
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