Publication
Title
Band-gap formation and morphing in alpha-T-3 superlattices
Author
Abstract
Electrons in alpha-T-3 lattices behave as condensed-matter analogies of integer-spin Dirac fermions. The three atoms making up the unit cell bestow the energy spectrum with an additional energy band that is completely flat, providing unique electronic properties. The interatomic hopping term, alpha, is known to strongly affect the electronic spectrum of the two-dimensional (2D) lattice, allowing it to continuously morph from graphenelike responses to the behavior of fermions in a dice lattice. For pristine lattice structures the energy bands are gapless, but small deviations in the atomic equivalence of the three sublattices will introduce gaps in the spectrum. It is unknown how these affect transport and electronic properties such as the energy spectrum of superlattice minibands. Here we investigate the dependency of these properties on the parameter a accounting for different symmetry-breaking terms, and we show how it affects band-gap formation. Furthermore, we find that superlattices can force band gaps to close and shift in energy. Our results demonstrate that alpha-T-3 superlattices provide a versatile material for 2D band-gap engineering purposes.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Physical review B / American Physical Society. - New York, N.Y, 2016, currens
Publication
New York, N.Y : American Physical Society , 2021
ISSN
2469-9969 [online]
2469-9950 [print]
DOI
10.1103/PHYSREVB.104.115409
Volume/pages
104 :11 (2021) , 13 p.
Article Reference
115409
ISI
000696091600003
Medium
E-only publicatie
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 05.10.2021
Last edited 02.10.2024
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