Semiconductor-metal transition in semiconducting bilayer sheets of transition metal dichalcogenides

Using first-principles calculations we show that the band gap of bilayer sheets of semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) can be reduced smoothly by applying vertical compressive pressure. These materials undergo a universal reversible semiconductor to metal (S-M) transition at a critical pressure. S-M transition is attributed to lifting the degeneracy of the bands at fermi level caused by inter-layer interactions via charge transfer from metal to chalcogens. The S-M transition can be reproduced even after incorporating the band gap corrections using hybrid functionals and GW method. The ability to tune the band gap of TMDs in a controlled fashion over a wide range of energy, opens-up possibility for its usage in a range of applications.Comment: Accepted in Phys. Rev.

Bulk Majorana mass terms and Dirac neutrinos in Randall Sundrum Model

We present a novel scheme where Dirac neutrinos are realized even if lepton number violating Majorana mass terms are present. The setup is the Randall-Sundrum framework with bulk right handed neutrinos. Bulk mass terms of both Majorana and Dirac type are considered. It is shown that massless zero mode solutions exist when the bulk Dirac mass term is set to zero. In this limit, it is found that the effective 4D small neutrino mass is primarily of Dirac nature with the Majorana type contributions being negligible. Interestingly, this scenario is very similar to the one known with flat extra dimensions. Neutrino phenomenology is discussed by fitting both charged lepton masses and neutrino masses simultaneously. A single Higgs localised on the IR brane is highly constrained as unnaturally large Yukawa couplings are required to fit charged lepton masses. A simple extension with two Higgs doublets is presented which facilitates a proper fit for the lepton masses.Comment: 13 Pages, Few clarifications included and added references. Figure removed. Published in PR