Bulk crystal growth and electronic characterization of the 3D Dirac Semimetal Na3Bi

High quality hexagon plate-like Na3Bi crystals with large (001) plane surfaces were grown from a molten Na flux. The freshly cleaved crystals were analyzed by low temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), allowing for the characterization of the three-dimensional (3D) Dirac semimetal (TDS) behavior and the observation of the topological surface states. Landau levels (LL) were observed, and the energy-momentum relations exhibited a linear dispersion relationship, characteristic of the 3D TDS nature of Na3Bi. In transport measurements on Na3Bi crystals the linear magnetoresistance and Shubnikov-de Haas (SdH) quantum oscillations are observed for the first time.Comment: To be published in a special issue of APL Material

Growth, Crystal Structure and Magnetic Characterization of Zn-Stabilized CePtIn4

The growth and characterization of CePtIn4, stabilized by 10% Zn substitution for In, is reported. The new material is orthorhombic, space group Cmcm (No. 63), with lattice parameters a = 4.51751(4) {\AA}, b = 16.7570(2) {\AA}, and c = 7.36682(8) {\AA}, and the refined crystal composition has 10% of Zn substituted for In, i.e. the crystals are CePt(In3.6Zn0.1)4. Crystals were grown using a self-flux method: only growths containing Zn yielded CePtIn4 crystals, while Ce3Pt4In13 crystals formed when Zn was not present. Anisotropic temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibilities for single crystals show that Zn-stabilized CePtIn4 orders magnetically at ~1.9 K. High-temperature Curie-Weiss fits indicate an effective moment of ~2.30 muB/ Ce and a directionally averaged Weiss-temperature of approximately - 9 K. Specific heat data shows a peak consistent with the ordering temperature seen in the magnetic susceptibility data. Zn-stabilized CePtIn4 is metallic and displays no superconducting transition down to 0.14 K.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl

A new form of (unexpected) Dirac fermions in the strongly-correlated cerium monopnictides

Discovering Dirac fermions with novel properties has become an important front in condensed matter and materials sciences. Here, we report the observation of unusual Dirac fermion states in a strongly-correlated electron setting, which are uniquely distinct from those of graphene and conventional topological insulators. In strongly-correlated cerium monopnictides, we find two sets of highly anisotropic Dirac fermions that interpenetrate each other with negligible hybridization, and show a peculiar four-fold degeneracy where their Dirac nodes overlap. Despite the lack of protection by crystalline or time-reversal symmetries, this four-fold degeneracy is robust across magnetic phase transitions. Comparison of these experimental findings with our theoretical calculations suggests that the observed surface Dirac fermions arise from bulk band inversions at an odd number of high-symmetry points, which is analogous to the band topology which describes a $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$-topological phase. Our findings open up an unprecedented and long-sought-for platform for exploring novel Dirac fermion physics in a strongly-correlated semimetal

Realization of a Type‐II Nodal‐Line Semimetal in Mg3Bi2

Nodal-line semimetals (NLSs) represent a new type of topological semimetallic phase beyond Weyl and Dirac semimetals in the sense that they host closed loops or open curves of band degeneracies in the Brillouin zone. Parallel to the classification of type-I and type-II Weyl semimetals, there are two types of NLSs. The type-I NLS phase has been proposed and realized in many compounds, whereas the exotic type-II NLS phase that strongly violates Lorentz symmetry has remained elusive. First-principles calculations show that Mg3Bi2 is a material candidate for the type-II NLS. The band crossing is close to the Fermi level and exhibits the type-II nature of the nodal line in this material. Spin-orbit coupling generates only a small energy gap (≈35 meV) at the nodal points and does not negate the band dispersion of Mg3Bi2 that yields the type-II nodal line. Based on this prediction, Mg3Bi2 single crystals are synthesized and the presence of the type-II nodal lines in the material is confirmed. The angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements agree well with the first-principles results below the Fermi level and thus strongly suggest Mg3Bi2 as an ideal material platform for studying the as-yet unstudied properties of type-II nodal-line semimetals

Imaging electronic states on topological semimetals using scanning tunneling microscopy

Following the intense studies on topological insulators, significant efforts have recently been devoted to the search for gapless topological systems. These materials not only broaden the topological classification of matter but also provide a condensed matter realization of various relativistic particles and phenomena previously discussed mainly in high energy physics. Weyl semimetals host massless, chiral, low-energy excitations in the bulk electronic band structure, whereas a symmetry protected pair of Weyl fermions gives rise to massless Dirac fermions. We employed scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy to explore the behavior of electronic states both on the surface and in the bulk of topological semimetal phases. By mapping the quasiparticle interference and emerging Landau levels at high magnetic field in Dirac semimetals Cd$_3$As$_2$ and Na$_3$Bi, we observed extended Dirac-like bulk electronic bands. Quasiparticle interference imaged on Weyl semimetal TaAs demonstrated the predicted momentum dependent delocalization of Fermi arc surface states in the vicinity of the surface-projected Weyl nodes