Observation of the Dirac Semimetal Phase in MBE-grown ZrTe<sub>2</sub> Thin Films with Tunable Source Laser-ARPES

ORAL

Abstract

Dirac semimetals (DSMs) have drawn a considerable amount of attention in recent years due to their linear, gapless bands near the Fermi level. The transition metal dichalcogenide ZrTe2 has been theoretically predicted and experimentally demonstrated to have such a DSM phase, although direct observation of linear dispersion in all three dimensions is yet unreported. Using molecular beam epitaxy, we have grown thin films of ZrTe2 on insulating sapphire substrates. The DSM phase of ZrTe2 is investigated by in-vacuo angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). Using high harmonic generation from a Y-Fi laser, we vary the excitation wavelength of our ARPES experiment to observe the linear dispersion of the reported Dirac cone in all three momentum directions. Further, we examine the change in the DSM phase with the introduction of transition metals dopants. These create ferromagnetic order in ZrTe2, as confirmed by the square anomalous Hall hysteresis in transport measurements.

*Supported by the Penn State 2DCC-MIP under NSF Grant No. DMR-1539916.

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Presenters

  • Max Stanley

    • Pennsylvania State University

Authors

  • Max Stanley

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Timothy S Pillsbury

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University

  • Anthony R. Richardella

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, Pennsylvania State University

  • Yongxi Ou

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University

  • Boyang Zheng

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Hemian Yi

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University

  • Jeffrey Rable

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, Pennsylvania State University

  • Danielle Reifsnyder Hickey

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Nasim Alem

    • Penn State University
    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Vincent Henry Crespi

    • Pennsylvania State University

  • Cui-Zu Chang

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Department of Physics, Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University

  • Nitin Samarth

    • Pennsylvania State University
    • Department of Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
    • Physics, Pennsylvania State University
    • The Pennsylvania State University