Abstract
The (114) surface of the semimetal Bi is found to support a quasi-one-dimensional, metallic surface state. As required by symmetry, the state is degenerate along the line of the surface Brillouin zone with a highest binding energy of . In the direction the degeneracy is lifted by the strong spin-orbit splitting in Bi, as directly shown by spin-resolved photoemission. This results in a Fermi contour consisting of two closely separated, parallel lines of opposite spin direction. It is argued that similar states on related insulators would give rise to a one-dimensional quantum spin Hall effect.
- Received 11 December 2008
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.102.096802
©2009 American Physical Society
Synopsis
A topological metal in one dimension
Published 9 March 2009
The finding of one-dimensional, topologically protected conducting states on the surface of bismuth suggests the possibility of a quantum spin Hall effect in one dimension.
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