Signature of pressure-induced topological phase transition in ZrTe${}_5$

Abstract

The layered van der Waals material ZrTe${}_5$ is known as a candidate topological insulator (TI), however its topological phase and the relation with other properties such as an apparent Dirac semimetallic state is still a subject of debate. We employ a semiclassical multicarrier transport (MCT) model to analyze the magnetotransport of ZrTe${}_5$ nanodevices at hydrostatic pressures up to 2 GPa. The temperature dependence of the MCT results between 10 and 300 K is assessed in the context of thermal activation, and we obtain the positions of conduction and valence band edges in the vicinity of the chemical potential. We find evidence of the closing and re-opening of the band gap with increasing pressure, which is consistent with a phase transition from weak to strong TI. This matches expectations from ab initio band structure calculations, as well as previous observations that CVT-grown ZrTe${}_5$ is a weak TI in ambient conditions.

Main Text: 11 pages, 5 figures; Supporting Information: 13 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (19)

• Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Quantum Spin Hall Insulator State in HgTe Quantum Wells
• Discovery (theoretical prediction and experimental observation) of a large-gap topological-insulator class with spin-polarized single-Dirac-cone on the surface
• The Quantum Spin Hall Effect: Theory and Experiment
• SIESTA: recent developments and applications
• Evidence for a Strong Topological Insulator Phase in $\mathrm{ZrT}{\mathrm{e}}_5$
• Spectroscopic evidence for bulk-band inversion and three-dimensional massive Dirac fermions in ZrTe5
• Observation and control of the weak topological insulator state in ZrTe5
• Gigantic magnetochiral anisotropy in the topological semimetal ZrTe5
• Topological insulator based spin valve devices: evidence for spin polarized transport of spin-momentum-locked topological surface states
• Tailoring the band structure of twisted double bilayer graphene with pressure
• Photoinduced Dirac semimetal in ZrTe5
• Consecutive topological phase transitions and colossal magnetoresistance in a magnetic topological semimetal
• Transport measurements on van der Waals heterostructures under pressure
• Probing intraband excitations in ZrTe${}_5$: a high-pressure infrared and transport study
• Gate-tunable multiband transport in ZrTe5 thin devices
• Optical conductivity and resistivity in a four-band model for ZrTe${}_5$ from ab-initio calculations
• Revealing the band structure of ZrTe${}_5$ using Multicarrier Transport
• Stabilizing the inverted phase of a WSe${}_2$/BLG/WSe${}_2$ heterostructure via hydrostatic pressure

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Nonlinear bulk photocurrent probe Z2 topological phase transition
• Pressure induced electronic band evolution and observation of superconductivity in the Dirac semimetal ZrTe5
• Effect of pressure on the transport properties and thermoelectric performance of Dirac semimetal ZrTe5