Unit Cell Distortion and Surface Morphology Diversification in SnTe/CdTe(001) Topological Crystalline Insulator Heterostructure: Influence of Defects’ Azimuthal Distribution

Challenges and opportunities arising upon molecular-beam-epitaxial growth of topological crystalline insulator heterostructures composed of a rock-salt SnTe(001) layer of varying thickness (from 80 to 1000 nm) and a zinc-blende 4-μm-thick...

Halide (X = I, Br, Cl) Doping to Tune the Electronic Structure for Conversion of Pb0.6Sn0.4Te into a High Performing Thermoelectric Material

Fabrication of thermoelectric (TE) device requires both p and n type legs with comparable performances. Pb0.6Sn0.4Te which belongs to the class of topological crystalline insulator (TCI) has a potential to...

Antiferromagnetic topological crystalline insulator and mixed Weyl semimetal in two-dimensional NpAs monolayer

Magnetic topological states have attracted significant attentions due to their intriguing quantum phenomena and potential applications in topological spintronic devices. Here, we propose a two-dimensional material NpAs monolayer as a candidate for multiple topological states accompanied with the changes of magnetic structures. Under the antiferromagnetic configuration, the long-awaited topological crystalline insulator (TCI) emerges with a nonzero mirror Chern number $\mathcal{C_M} = 1$ and a giant band gap of 630 meV, and remarkably a pair of gapless edge states can be tailored by rotating the magnetization directions while the TCI phase survives. Moreover, we establish the existence of quantum anomalous Hall effect and nontrivial nodal points under the ferromagnetic configuration, thereby giving rise to the mixed Weyl semimetal after adding the magnetization direction to topological classification. Our findings not only provide an ideal candidate for uncovering exotic topological characters with magnetism but also put forward potential applications in topological spintronics.

Pure spin photocurrent in non-centrosymmetric crystals: bulk spin photovoltaic effect

Spin current generators are critical components for spintronics-based information processing. In this work, we theoretically and computationally investigate the bulk spin photovoltaic (BSPV) effect for creating DC spin current under light illumination. The only requirement for BSPV is inversion symmetry breaking, thus it applies to a broad range of materials and can be readily integrated with existing semiconductor technologies. The BSPV effect is a cousin of the bulk photovoltaic (BPV) effect, whereby a DC charge current is generated under light. Thanks to the different selection rules on spin and charge currents, a pure spin current can be realized if the system possesses mirror symmetry or inversion-mirror symmetry. The mechanism of BSPV and the role of the electronic relaxation time $$\tau$$ τ are also elucidated. We apply our theory to several distinct materials, including monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides, anti-ferromagnetic bilayer MnBi2Te4, and the surface of topological crystalline insulator cubic SnTe.