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research article

Observation of a topological crystalline insulator phase and topological phase transition in Pb1-xSnxTe

Xu, Su-Yang
•
Liu, Chang
•
Alidoust, N.
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2012
Nature Communications

A topological insulator protected by time-reversal symmetry is realized via spin-orbit interaction-driven band inversion. The topological phase in the Bi1-xSbx system is due to an odd number of band inversions. A related spin-orbit system, the Pb1-xSnxTe, has long been known to contain an even number of inversions based on band theory. Here we experimentally investigate the possibility of a mirror symmetry-protected topological crystalline insulator phase in the Pb1-xSnxTe class of materials that has been theoretically predicted to exist in its end compound SnTe. Our experimental results show that at a finite Pb composition above the topological inversion phase transition, the surface exhibits even number of spin-polarized Dirac cone states revealing mirror-protected topological order distinct from that observed in Bi1-xSbx. Our observation of the spin-polarized Dirac surface states in the inverted Pb1-xSnxTe and their absence in the non-inverted compounds related via a topological phase transition provide the experimental groundwork for opening the research on novel topological order in quantum devices.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1038/ncomms2191
Web of Science ID

WOS:000315992100027

Author(s)
Xu, Su-Yang
Liu, Chang
Alidoust, N.
Neupane, M.
Qian, D.
Belopolski, I.
Denlinger, J. D.
Wang, Y. J.
Lin, H.
Wray, L. A.
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Date Issued

2012

Publisher

Nature Research

Published in
Nature Communications
Volume

3

Article Number

1192

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
SCI-SB-HD  
Available on Infoscience
June 23, 2015
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/115354
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