In: Physical Review Materials, 2020, vol. 4, no. 11, p. 114201
Over the past decades, investigations of the anomalous low-energy electronic properties of ZrTe5 have reached a wide array of conclusions. An open question is the growth method's impact on the stoichiometry of ZrTe5 samples, especially given the very small density of states near its chemical potential. Here we report on high- resolution scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy...
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In: ACS Materials Letters, 2020, vol. 2, no. 9, p. 1115–1120
Applying elastic deformation can tune a material’s physical properties locally and reversibly. Spatially modulated lattice deformation can create a bandgap gradient, favoring photogenerated charge separation and collection in optoelectronic devices. These advantages are hindered by the maximum elastic strain that a material can withstand before breaking. Nanomaterials derived by exfoliating...
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In: Physical Review B, 2020, vol. 102, no. 12, p. 125201
Here we study the static and dynamic transport properties of a low-energy two-band model proposed previously in Martino et al. [PRL 122, 217402 (2019)], with an anisotropic in-plane linear momentum dependence and a parabolic out-of-plane dispersion. The model is extended to include a negative band gap, which leads to the emergence of a Weyl semimetal (WSM) state, as opposed to the gapped...
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In: Physical Review B, 2020, vol. 102, no. 4, p. 045201
TaIrTe4 is an example of a candidate Weyl type-II semimetal with a minimal possible number of Weyl nodes. Four nodes are reported to exist in a single plane in k space. The existence of a conical dispersion linked toWeyl nodes has yet to be shown experimentally. Here, we use optical spectroscopy as a probe of the band structure on a low-energy scale. Studying optical conductivity allows us to...
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In: npj 2D Materials and Applications, 2020, vol. 4, no. 1, p. 1–9
Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are commonly classified as quasi-two-dimensional materials, meaning that their electronic structure closely resembles that of an individual layer, which results in resistivity anisotropies reaching thousands. Here, we show that this rule does not hold for 1T-TaS2—a compound with the richest phase diagram among TMDs. Although the onset of ...
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In: Physical Review B, 2020, vol. 101, no. 12, p. 125205
Zirconium pentatetelluride, ZrTe5, shows remarkable sensitivity to hydrostatic pressure. In this work we address the high-pressure transport and optical properties of this compound, on samples grown by flux and chemical vapor transport. The high-pressure resistivity is measured up to 2 GPa, and the infrared transmission up to 9 GPa. The dc conductivity anisotropy is determined using a...
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In: Physical Review Letters, 2020, vol. 124, no. 17, p. 176402
Landau-level spectroscopy, the optical analysis of electrons in materials subject to a strong magnetic field, is a versatile probe of the electronic band structure and has been successfully used in the identification of novel states of matter such as Dirac electrons, topological materials or Weyl semimetals. The latter arise from a complex interplay between crystal symmetry, spin-orbit...
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In: Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, no. 1, p. 850
In a seminal paper, Mahan predicted that excitonic bound states can still exist in a semiconductor at electron-hole densities above the insulator-to-metal Mott transition. However, no clear evidence for this exotic quasiparticle, dubbed Mahan exciton, exists to date at room temperature. In this work, we combine ultrafast broadband optical spectroscopy and advanced many-body calculations to...
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In: Physical Review Materials, 2020, vol. 4, no. 2, p. 021201
Molybdenum ditelluride, MoTe2, is a versatile material where the topological phase can be readily tuned by manipulating the associated structural phase transition. The fine details of the band structure of MoTe2, key to understanding its topological properties, have proven difficult to disentangle experientially due to the multiband character of the material. Through experimental optical...
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In: Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 2019, vol. 31, no. 48, p. 485705
In the Ca1−x La x FeAs2 (1 1 2) family of pnictide superconductors, we have investigated a highly overdoped composition (x = 0.56), prepared by a high-pressure, high-temperature synthesis. Magnetic measurements show an antiferromagnetic transition at T N = 120 K, well above the one at lower doping (0.15 < x < 0.27).Below the onset of long-range...
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