arXiv · 1209.2580
Hexagonally Warped Dirac Cones and Topological Phase Transition in Silicene Superstructure
Abstract
Silicene is a monolayer of silicon atoms forming a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice. We investigate the topological properties of a silicene superstructure generated by an external periodic potential. The superstructure is a quantum spin-Hall (QSH) insulator if it is topologically connected to silicene. It is remarkable that two inequivalent K and K' points in the silicene Brillouin zone are identified in certain superstructures. In such a case two Dirac cones coexist at the same Dirac point in the momentum space and they are hexagonally warped by the Coulomb interaction. We carry out a numerical analysis by taking an instance of the ($3\times 3$) superstructure on the ($4\times 4$) structure of the Ag substrate. We show that it is a QSH insulator, that there exists no topological phase transition by external electric field, and that the hexagonally warping occurs in the band structure.
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Motohiko Ezawa. 2012-09-12. Hexagonally Warped Dirac Cones and Topological Phase Transition in Silicene Superstructure. https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2013-31029-1
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