Embedded topological semimetals

Saavanth Velury, Taylor L. Hughes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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 languageEnglish (US)
Article number184105
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume105
Issue number18
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1 2022

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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