Published February 14, 2024 | Version v1
Journal article

Topological diffusive metal in amorphous transition metal monosilicides

  • 1. Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institut Néel, 38000 Grenoble, France

Description

In chiral crystals crystalline symmetries can protect multifold fermions, pseudorelativistic masless quasiparticles that have no high-energy counterparts. Their realization in transition metal monosilicides has exemplified their intriguing physical properties, such as long Fermi arc surface states and unusual optical responses. Recent experimental studies on amorphous transition metal monosilicides suggest that topological properties may survive beyond crystals, even though theoretical evidence is lacking. Motivated by these findings, we theoretically study a tight-binding model of amorphous transition metal monosilicides. We find that topological properties of multifold fermions survive in the presence of structural disorder that converts the semimetal into a diffusive metal. We characterize this topological diffusive metal phase with the spectral localizer, a real-space topological indicator that we show can signal multifold fermions. Our findings showcase how topological properties can survive in disordered metals, and how they can be uncovered using the spectral localizer.

Additional details

Identifiers

DOI
10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.L021201;
arXiv
arXiv:2306.17117;
Crossref Funder ID
10.13039/100010661; 10.13039/100010663;

Publishing Information

Journal Title
Physical Review Materials
Journal Volume
8
Journal Issue
2
Journal Page Range
7 pgs.
ISSN
2475-9953

Optional Information

Copyright
©2024 American Physical Society
Contract/Grant/Project number
829044; 101042707
Notes
Contact Email: selma.franca@neel.cnrs.fr; Contact Email: adolfo.grushin@neel.cnrs.fr; Record automatically processed
Funding organization
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme; H2020 European Research Council