Multiple Dirac Cones and Topological Magnetism in Honeycomb-Monolayer Transition Metal Trichalcogenides

Abstract

The discovery of monolayer graphene has initiated two fertile fields in modern condensed matter physics, Dirac semimetals and atomically-thin layered materials. When these trends meet again in transition metal compounds, which possess spin and orbital degrees of freedom and strong electron correlations, more exotic phenomena are expected to emerge in the cross section of topological states of matter and Mott physics. Here, we show by using ab initio calculations that a monolayer form of transition metal trichalcogenides (TMTs), which has a honeycomb network of transition metal cations, may exhibit multiple Dirac cones with tunable gaps in the electronic structure. Furthermore, we elucidate that electron correlations and carrier doping turn the multiple-Dirac semimetal into a topological ferromagnet with high Chern number. Our findings raise the honeycomb-monolayer TMTs to a new paradigm to explore correlated Dirac electrons and topologically-nontrivial magnetism. In turn, the unique wide-ranging properties of the materials will deliver new building blocks for atomically thin heterostructures.