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Dirac and Weyl superconductors in three dimensions.
Shengyuan A Yang1, Hui Pan2, Fan Zhang3
1Engineering Product Development, Singapore University of Technology and Design, Singapore 138682, Singapore.
Physical Review Letters
|August 9, 2014
Summary
We introduce three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl superconductors, featuring protected nodal points and surface Majorana arcs. These exotic states are realized in specific centrosymmetric materials with mirror symmetry, offering new avenues in topological quantum matter research.
Area of Science:
- Condensed Matter Physics
- Quantum Materials
- Topological Superconductivity
Background:
- Superconductors (SC) exhibit unique quantum phenomena.
- Topological phases of matter possess protected surface states.
- Dirac and Weyl semimetals are characterized by points of band touching.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce three-dimensional Dirac and Weyl superconductors.
- To identify criteria for their realization in centrosymmetric materials.
- To explore the impact of symmetry breaking on their topological properties.
Main Methods:
- Theoretical proposal of three-dimensional Dirac (Weyl) superconductors.
- Investigation of bulk nodal points and surface Majorana arcs.
- Analysis of symmetry conditions (centrosymmetry, odd-parity pairing, mirror symmetry) for realization.
Main Results:
- Protected bulk fourfold (twofold) Dirac (Weyl) nodal points at zero energy.
- Surface Majorana arcs at zero energy.
- Criterion for realization in centrosymmetric SCs with odd-parity pairing and mirror symmetry.
- Pairs of Dirac nodes in mirror-invariant planes for nontrivial mirror winding number.
- Gapping of Dirac nodes into topological SCs upon breaking mirror symmetry.
- Evolution of Dirac nodes to nodal rings (inversion-gauge symmetry breaking) or Weyl nodes (time-reversal symmetry breaking).
Conclusions:
- Three-dimensional Dirac (Weyl) superconductors represent a novel topological phase.
- Specific symmetries are crucial for their existence and stability.
- Symmetry breaking provides pathways to engineer different topological states from these nodal superconductors.
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