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Title: Observation of unusual topological surface states in half-Heusler compounds LnPtBi (Ln=Lu, Y)

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [1];  [4]; ORCiD logo [5];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [3];  [7]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai (China). Shanghai Inst. of Ceramics, Key Lab. for Energy-Conversion Materials
  2. Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)
  3. Max Planck Society, Dresden (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for the Physics of Complex Systems
  4. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Advanced Light Source (ALS)
  6. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai (China). Shanghai Inst. of Ceramics, Key Lab. for Energy-Conversion Materials; Max Planck Society, Dresden (Germany). Max Planck Inst. for the Physics of Complex Systems
  7. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shanghai (China). Shanghai Inst. of Ceramics, Key Lab. for Energy-Conversion Materials; Tsinghua Univ., Beijing (China)

Topological quantum materials represent a new class of matter with both exotic physical phenomena and novel application potentials. Many Heusler compounds, which exhibit rich emergent properties such as unusual magnetism, superconductivity and heavy fermion behaviour, have been predicted to host non-trivial topological electronic structures. The coexistence of topological order and other unusual properties makes Heusler materials ideal platform to search for new topological quantum phases (such as quantum anomalous Hall insulator and topological superconductor). By carrying out angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and ab initio calculations on rare-earth half-Heusler compounds LnPtBi (Ln=Lu, Y), we directly observe the unusual topological surface states on these materials, establishing them as first members with non-trivial topological electronic structure in this class of materials. Moreover, as LnPtBi compounds are non-centrosymmetric superconductors, our discovery further highlights them as promising candidates of topological superconductors.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1377502
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Vol. 7; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 108 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (29)

Multiple Dirac cones at the surface of the topological metal LaBi journal January 2017
Pressure-induced superconductivity in MoP journal May 2018
Anomalous quantum oscillations and evidence for a non-trivial Berry phase in SmSb journal May 2019
Heusler, Weyl and Berry journal July 2018
Electronic structure of the PrNiBi half-Heusler system based on the σGGA + U method journal December 2019
Heusler interfaces—Opportunities beyond spintronics? journal August 2019
Anomalous Hall effect in Weyl semimetal half-Heusler compounds RPtBi (R = Gd and Nd) journal August 2018
Multi-functional properties of non-centrosymmetric ternary half-Heuslers, RPdSb (R  =  Er and Ho) journal June 2018
Emergence of intrinsic superconductivity below 1.178 K in the topologically non-trivial semimetal state of CaSn 3 journal April 2019
Topology of triple-point metals journal July 2019
Model Hamiltonian and time reversal breaking topological phases of antiferromagnetic half-Heusler materials journal June 2017
Evidence for unconventional superconductivity in half-Heusler YPdBi and TbPdBi compounds revealed by London penetration depth measurements journal December 2018
Linear-in-Frequency Optical Conductivity in GdPtBi due to Transitions near the Triple Points journal October 2018
Dirac nodal lines protected against spin-orbit interaction in IrO 2 journal June 2019
Beyond triplet: Unconventional superconductivity in a spin-3/2 topological semimetal journal April 2018
Peculiar half-metallic state in zigzag nanoribbons of MoS 2 : Spin filtering journal September 2016
Beyond Triplet: Unconventional Superconductivity in a Spin-3/2 Topological Semimetal text January 2016
Anomalous Hall effect in Weyl semimetal half Heusler compounds RPtBi (R = Gd and Nd) text January 2016
Multiple Dirac cones at the surface of the topological metal LaBi text January 2016
Model Hamiltonian and Time Reversal Breaking Topological Phases of Anti-ferromagnetic Half-Heusler Materials text January 2017
Prediction of triple point fermions in simple half-Heusler topological insulators text January 2017
Inflated nodes and surface states in superconducting half-Heusler compounds text January 2017
Superconductivity in three-dimensional spin-orbit coupled semimetals text January 2017
Bogoliubov Fermi surfaces: General theory, magnetic order, and topology text January 2018
Emergence of intrinsic superconductivity below 1.178 K in the topologically non-trivial semimetal state of CaSn3 text January 2018
Magnetotransport properties and giant anomalous Hall angle in half-Heusler compound TbPtBi text January 2019
Electronic structure of the PrNiBi half-Heusler system based on the σGGA + U method journal December 2019
Beyond triplet: Unconventional superconductivity in a spin-3/2 topological semimetal text January 2018
Multiple Dirac cones at the surface of the topological metal LaBi text January 2016