Dirac parameters and topological phase diagram of Pb1-xSnxSe from magneto-spectroscopy

Pb1-xSnxSe hosts 3D massive Dirac fermions across the entire composition range for which the crystal structure is cubic. In this work, we present a comprehensive experimental mapping of the 3D band structure parameters of Pb1-xSnxSe as a function of composition and temperature. We cover a parameter space spanning the band inversion that yields its topological crystalline insulator phase. A non-closure of the energy gap is evidenced in the vicinity of this phase transition. Using magnetooptical Landau level spectroscopy, we determine the energy gap, Dirac velocity, anisotropy factor and topological character of Pb1-xSnxSe epilayers grown by molecular beam epitaxy on BaF2 (111). Our results are evidence that Pb1-xSnxSe is a model system to study topological phases and the nature of the phase transition.Comment: Submitte

Hole-LO phonon interaction in InAs/GaAs quantum dots

We investigate the valence intraband transitions in p-doped self-assembled InAs quantum dots using far-infrared magneto-optical technique with polarized radiation. We show that a purely electronic model is unable to account for the experimental data. We calculate the coupling between the mixed hole LO-phonon states using the Fr\"ohlich Hamiltonian, from which we determine the polaron states as well as the energies and oscillator strengths of the valence intraband transitions. The good agreement between the experiments and calculations provides strong evidence for the existence of hole-polarons and demonstrates that the intraband magneto-optical transitions occur between polaron states

Linear Temperature Variation of the Penetration Depth in YBCO Thin Films

We have measured the penetration depth $\lambda(T)$ on $\rm YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7}$ thin films from transmission at 120, 330 and 510~GHz, between 5 and 50~K. Our data yield simultaneously the absolute value and the temperature dependence of $\lambda(T)$. In high quality films $\lambda(T)$ exhibits the same linear temperature dependence as single crystals, showing its intrinsic nature, and $\lambda(0)=1750\,{\rm \AA}$. In a lower quality one, the more usual $T^2$ dependence is found, and $\lambda(0)=3600\,{\rm \AA}$. This suggests that the $T^2$ variation is of extrinsic origin. Our results put the $d$-wave like interpretation in a much better position.Comment: 12 pages, revtex, 4 uuencoded figure

Direct surface cyclotron resonance terahertz emission from a quantum cascade structure

A strong magnetic field applied along the growth direction of a semiconductor quantum well gives rise to a spectrum of discrete energy states, the Landau levels. By combining quantum engineering of a quantum cascade structure with a static magnetic field, we can selectively inject electrons into the excited Landau level of a quantum well and realize a tunable surface emitting device based on cyclotron emission. By applying the appropriate magnetic field between 0 and 12 T, we demonstrate emission from a single device over a wide range of frequencies (1-2 THz and 3-5 THz)

Massive and massless Dirac fermions in Pb1-xSnxTe topological crystalline insulator probed by magneto-optical absorption

Dirac fermions in condensed matter physics hold great promise for novel fundamental physics, quantum devices and data storage applications. IV-VI semiconductors, in the inverted regime, have been recently shown to exhibit massless topological surface Dirac fermions protected by crystalline symmetry, as well as massive bulk Dirac fermions. Under a strong magnetic field (B), both surface and bulk states are quantized into Landau levels that disperse as B^1/2, and are thus difficult to distinguish. In this work, magneto-optical absorption is used to probe the Landau levels of high mobility Bi-doped Pb0.54Sn0.46Te topological crystalline insulator (111)-oriented films. The high mobility achieved in these thin film structures allows us to probe and distinguish the Landau levels of both surface and bulk Dirac fermions and extract valuable quantitative information about their physical properties. This work paves the way for future magnetooptical and electronic transport experiments aimed at manipulating the band topology of such materials.Comment: supplementary material included, to appear in Scientific Report

Interband mixing between two-dimensional states localized in a surface quantum well and heavy hole states of the valence band in narrow gap semiconductor

Theoretical calculations in the framework of Kane model have been carried out in order to elucidate the role of interband mixing in forming the energy spectrum of two-dimensional carriers, localized in a surface quantum well in narrow gap semiconductor. Of interest was the mixing between the 2D states and heavy hole states in the volume of semiconductor. It has been shown that the interband mixing results in two effects: the broadening of 2D energy levels and their shift, which are mostly pronounced for semiconductors with high doping level. The interband mixing has been found to influence mostly the effective mass of 2D carriers for large their concentration, whereas it slightly changes the subband distribution in a wide concentration range.Comment: 12 pages (RevTEX) and 4 PostScript-figure

Electron and hole states in quantum-dot quantum wells within a spherical 8-band model

In order to study heterostructures composed both of materials with strongly different parameters and of materials with narrow band gaps, we have developed an approach, which combines the spherical 8-band effective-mass Hamiltonian and the Burt's envelope function representation. Using this method, electron and hole states are calculated in CdS/HgS/CdS/H_2O and CdTe/HgTe/CdTe/H_2O quantum-dot quantum-well heterostructures. Radial components of the wave functions of the lowest S and P electron and hole states in typical quantum-dot quantum wells (QDQWs) are presented as a function of radius. The 6-band-hole components of the radial wave functions of an electron in the 8-band model have amplitudes comparable with the amplitude of the corresponding 2-band-electron component. This is a consequence of the coupling between the conduction and valence bands, which gives a strong nonparabolicity of the conduction band. At the same time, the 2-band-electron component of the radial wave functions of a hole in the 8-band model is small compared with the amplitudes of the corresponding 6-band-hole components. It is shown that in the CdS/HgS/CdS/H_2O QDQW holes in the lowest states are strongly localized in the well region (HgS). On the contrary, electrons in this QDQW and both electron and holes in the CdTe/HgTe/CdTe/H_2O QDQW are distributed through the entire dot. The importance of the developed theory for QDQWs is proven by the fact that in contrast to our rigorous 8-band model, there appear spurious states within the commonly used symmetrized 8-band model.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected]