Abstract
Topological semimetals, such as Dirac, Weyl, or line-node semimetals, are gapless states of matter characterized by their nodal band structures and surface states. In this work, we consider layered (topologically trivial) insulating systems in D dimensions that are composed of coupled multilayers of d-dimensional topological semimetals. Despite being nominal bulk insulators, we show that crystal defects having codimension (D-d) can harbor robust lower-dimensional topological semimetals embedded in a trivial insulating background. As an example we show that defect-bound topological semimetals can be localized on stacking faults and partial dislocations. Finally, we propose how an embedded topological Dirac semimetal can be identified in experiment by introducing a magnetic field and resolving the relativistic massless Dirac Landau level spectrum at low energies in an otherwise gapped system.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 184105 |
Journal | Physical Review B |
Volume | 105 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 1 2022 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
- Condensed Matter Physics