Experimental Observation of Topological Edge States at the Surface Step Edge of the Topological Insulator ZrTe5

Xiang-Bing Li, Wen-Kai Huang, Yang-Yang Lv, Kai-Wen Zhang, Chao-Long Yang, Bin-Bin Zhang, Y. B. Chen, Shu-Hua Yao, Jian Zhou, Ming-Hui Lu, Li Sheng, Shao-Chun Li, Jin-Feng Jia, Qi-Kun Xue, Yan-Feng Chen, and Ding-Yu Xing
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 176803 – Published 28 April 2016
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Abstract

We report an atomic-scale characterization of ZrTe5 by using scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe a bulk band gap of 80meV with topological edge states at the step edge and, thus, demonstrate that ZrTe5 is a two-dimensional topological insulator. We also find that an applied magnetic field induces an energetic splitting of the topological edge states, which can be attributed to a strong link between the topological edge states and bulk topology. The relatively large band gap makes ZrTe5 a potential candidate for future fundamental studies and device applications.

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  • Received 14 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.176803

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Xiang-Bing Li1, Wen-Kai Huang1, Yang-Yang Lv2, Kai-Wen Zhang1, Chao-Long Yang1, Bin-Bin Zhang2, Y. B. Chen1,*, Shu-Hua Yao2, Jian Zhou2, Ming-Hui Lu2, Li Sheng1,3, Shao-Chun Li1,3,†, Jin-Feng Jia3,4, Qi-Kun Xue5, Yan-Feng Chen2,3, and Ding-Yu Xing1,3

  • 1National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
  • 2National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China
  • 3Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
  • 4Key Laboratory of Artificial Structures and Quantum Control (Ministry of Education), Department of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • 5State Key Laboratory of Low-Dimensional Quantum Physics, Department of Physics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China

  • *Corresponding Author. ybchen@nju.du.cn
  • Corresponding Author. scli@nju.edu.cn

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Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 17 — 29 April 2016

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