Lifshitz transition and van Hove singularity in a Topological Dirac Semimetal

Abstract

A topological Dirac semimetal is a novel state of quantum matter which has recently attracted much attention as an apparent 3D version of graphene. In this paper, we report critically important results on the electronic structure of the 3D Dirac semimetal Na3Bi at a surface that reveals its nontrivial groundstate. Our studies, for the first time, reveal that the two 3D Dirac cones go through a topological change in the constant energy contour as a function of the binding energy, featuring a Lifshitz point, which is missing in a strict 3D analog of graphene (in other words Na3Bi is not a true 3D analog of graphene). Our results identify the first example of a band saddle point singularity in 3D Dirac materials. This is in contrast to its 2D analogs such as graphene and the helical Dirac surface states of a topological insulator. The observation of multiple Dirac nodes in Na3Bi connecting via a Lifshitz point along its crystalline rotational axis away from the Kramers point serves as a decisive signature for the symmetry-protected nature of the Dirac semimetal's topological groundstate.

5 pages, 4 Figures, Related papers on topological Fermi arcs and Weyl Semimetals (WSMs) are at http://physics.princeton.edu/zahidhasangroup/index.html

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Cited by in corpus (23)

• Discovery of Weyl fermion semimetals and topological Fermi arc states
• Optical evidence for a Weyl semimetal state in pyrochlore Eu2Ir2O7
• Origin of dissipative Fermi arc transport in Weyl semimetals
• Emergent Weyl nodes and Fermi arcs in a Floquet Weyl semimetal
• Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of Photoexcited Dirac Fermion in The Three Dimensional Dirac Semimetal Cadmium Arsenide
• Many-body effects and ultraviolet renormalization in three-dimensional Dirac materials
• Anomalous transport properties of Dirac and Weyl semimetals
• Coexistence of New Fermions in Topological Semimetal TaS
• Experimental Progress on Layered Topological Semimetals
• Spectral properties of Dirac billiards at the van Hove singularities
• Observation of sixfold degenerate fermions in PdSb${}_2$
• Progress in epitaxial thin-film Na3Bi as a topological electronic material
• Cascade of magnetic field induced Lifshitz transitions in the ferromagnetic Kondo lattice material YbNi4P2
• Large optical conductivity of Dirac semimetal Fermi arc surfaces states
• Engineering and probing topological properties of Dirac semimetal films by asymmetric charge transfer
• Role of f-d exchange interaction and Kondo scattering in Nd doped pyrochlore Iridate (Eu1-xNdx)2Ir2O7
• Tunable interface states between Floquet-Weyl semimetals
• Role of Sn impurity on electronic topological transitions in 122 Fe-based superconductors
• Importance of interactions for the band structure of the topological Dirac semimetal Na3Bi
• Superconductivity on the verge of electronic topological transition in Fe based superconductors
• Role of Hund's splitting in electronic phase competition in ${\mathrm{Pb}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Sn}}_x\mathrm{Te}$
• Observation of quantum oscillations near the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit in CaAs3
• Discovery of magnetic topological crystals