Intertwined Rashba, Dirac, and Weyl Fermions in Hexagonal Hyperferroelectrics

Domenico Di Sante, Paolo Barone, Alessandro Stroppa, Kevin F. Garrity, David Vanderbilt, and Silvia Picozzi
Phys. Rev. Lett. 117, 076401 – Published 8 August 2016
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Abstract

By means of density functional theory based calculations, we study the role of spin-orbit coupling in the new family of ABC hyperferroelectrics [Garrity, Rabe, and Vanderbilt Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 127601 (2014)]. We unveil an extremely rich physics strongly linked to ferroelectric properties, ranging from the electric control of bulk Rashba effect to the existence of a three-dimensional topological insulator phase, with concomitant topological surface states even in the ultrathin film limit. Moreover, we predict that the topological transition, as induced by alloying, is followed by a Weyl semimetal phase of finite concentration extension, which is robust against disorder, putting forward hyperferroelectrics as promising candidates for spin-orbitronic applications.

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  • Received 14 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.076401

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Domenico Di Sante1,2,*, Paolo Barone2,5, Alessandro Stroppa2, Kevin F. Garrity3, David Vanderbilt4, and Silvia Picozzi2

  • 1Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland Campus Süd, Würzburg 97074, Germany
  • 2Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR-SPIN), Via Vetoio, L’Aquila 67100, Italy
  • 3Material Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg Maryland, 20899, USA
  • 4Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
  • 5Graphene Labs, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, via Morego 30, 16163 Genova, Italy

  • *domenico.disante@physik.uni-wuerzburg.de

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Issue

Vol. 117, Iss. 7 — 12 August 2016

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