Topological Transitions and Fractional Charges Induced by Strain and a Magnetic Field in Carbon Nanotubes

Yonathan Efroni, Shahal Ilani, and Erez Berg
Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 147704 – Published 5 October 2017
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Abstract

We show that carbon nanotubes (CNT) can be driven through a topological phase transition using either strain or a magnetic field. This can naturally lead to Jackiw-Rebbi soliton states carrying fractionalized charges, similar to those found in a domain wall in the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, in a setup with a spatially inhomogeneous strain and an axial field. Two types of fractionalized states can be formed at the interface between regions with different strain: a spin-charge separated state with integer charge and spin zero (or zero charge and spin ±/2), and a state with charge ±e/2 and spin ±/4. The latter state requires spin-orbit coupling in the CNT. We show that in our setup, the precise quantization of the fractionalized interface charges is a consequence of the symmetry of the CNT under a combination of a spatial rotation by π and time reversal.

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  • Received 12 September 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.147704

© 2017 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Yonathan Efroni1, Shahal Ilani1, and Erez Berg1,2

  • 1Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
  • 2Department of Physics, James Frank Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA

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Issue

Vol. 119, Iss. 14 — 6 October 2017

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