Polar and Phase Domain Walls in Weyl Semimetallic MoTe<sub>2</sub>: New Paradigm for Topological Interfacial States

ORAL

Abstract

Much of the dramatic growth in research on topological materials has focused on topologically protected surface states. While the domain walls of topological materials such as Weyl semimetals with broken inversion or time-reversal symmetry can provide a new paradigm for exploring topological interfacial states, such investigations have received little attention to date. Utilizing in-situ cryogenic transmission electron microscopy combined with first-principles calculations, we discover intriguing domain-wall structures in MoTe2, both between polar variants of the low-temperature(T) Weyl phase, and between this and the high-T higher-order topological phase. We demonstrate how polar domain walls can be manipulated with electron beams, and show that phase domain walls tend to form superlattice-like structures along the c axis. Scanning tunneling microscopy indicates a possible signature of a conducting hinge state at phase domain walls. Our results open new avenues for investigating topological interfacial states and unveiling multifunctional aspects of domain walls in topological materials.

*The work at Rutgers University was supported by the NSF under Grant No. DMR-1629059.

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Presenters

  • Sang-Wook Cheong

    • Rutgers University
    • R-CEM & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Emergent Materials, Rutgers University; Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative, Pohang University of Science and Technol
    • Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers University, Physics and Astronomy, and Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials and Max Plank POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers University, Piscataway
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics, Rutgers University
    • Physics & Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Physics, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA

Authors

  • Fei-Ting Huang

    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA

  • Seong Joon Lim

    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University

  • Sobhit Singh

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University

  • Jinwoong Kim

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers University, New Brunswick

  • Lunyong Zhang

    • Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials and Max Plank POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 790-784, Korea
    • Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials and Max Plank POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Republic of Korea
    • Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids

  • Jaewook Kim

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Emergent Materials, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers University
    • Physics, Rutgers University

  • M.-W Chu

    • Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 106, Taiwan, China
    • Center for Condensed Matter Sciences and Center of Atomic Initiative for New Materials, National Taiwan University
    • Center for Condensed Matter Sciences, National Taiwan University, Taipei 10617, Taiwan

  • Karin M Rabe

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
    • Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick

  • David Vanderbilt

    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Piscataway, NJ 08854, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
    • Department of Physics & Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ, United States
    • Rutgers University
    • Physics, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Rutgers University, New Brunswick

  • Sang-Wook Cheong

    • Rutgers University
    • R-CEM & Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Center for Emergent Materials, Rutgers University; Max Planck POSTECH/Korea Research Initiative, Pohang University of Science and Technol
    • Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers University, Physics and Astronomy, and Laboratory for Pohang Emergent Materials and Max Plank POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA
    • Rutgers University, Piscataway
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics, Rutgers University
    • Physics & Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers Center for Emergent Materials and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University
    • Rutgers University, New Brunswick
    • Physics, Rutgers University
    • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, USA