Ab initio study of topological surface states of strained HgTe

Abstract

The topological surface states of mercury telluride (HgTe) are studied by ab initio calculations assuming different strains and surface terminations. For the Te-terminated surface, a single Dirac cone exists at the $\Gamma$ point. The Dirac point shifts up from the bulk valence bands into the energy gap when the substrate-induced strain increases. At the experimental strain value (0.3%), the Dirac point lies slightly below the bulk valence band maximum. A left-handed spin texture was observed in the upper Dirac cone, similar to that of the Bi${}_2$Se${}_3$-type topological insulator. For the Hg-terminated surface, three Dirac cones appear at three time-reversal-invariant momenta, excluding the $\Gamma$ point, with nontrivial spin textures.

4 pages, 3 figures

References in corpus (7)

• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Topological Insulators with Inversion Symmetry
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• Nonlocal edge state transport in the quantum spin Hall state
• Helical edge and surface states in HgTe quantum wells and bulk insulators
• Surface and Edge States in Topological Semi-metals

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Band structure of a HgTe-based three-dimensional topological insulator
• Revisiting the physical origin and nature of surface states in inverted-band semiconductors
• Super-resonant transport of topological surface states subjected to in-plane magnetic fields