Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 1, 2025

Probe Type II Band Alignment in One-Dimensional Van Der Waals Heterostructures Using First-Principles Calculations
Published on: October 12, 2019
Dominant Two-Dimensional Electron-Phonon Interactions in the Bulk Dirac Semimetal Na3Bi
Dhruv C Desai1, Jinsoo Park1, Jin-Jian Zhou2
1Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, United States.
Abstract:
Bulk Dirac semimetals (DSMs) exhibit unconventional transport properties and phase transitions due to their peculiar low-energy band structure, yet the electronic interactions governing nonequilibrium phenomena in DSMs are not fully understood. Here we show that electron-phonon (e-ph) interactions in a prototypical bulk DSM, Na3Bi, are predominantly two-dimensional (2D). Our first-principles calculations reveal a 2D optical phonon with strong e-ph interactions associated with in-plane vibrations of Na atoms. We show that this 2D mode governs e-ph scattering and charge transport in Na3Bi and induces a dynamical phase transition to a Weyl semimetal. Our work advances the quantitative analysis of electron interactions in Na3Bi and reveals a dominant low-dimensional interaction in a bulk Dirac semimetal.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Energy Bands in Solids
Band Formation:
When atoms are brought close together, as in a solid, these discrete energy levels begin to split due to the overlap of electron orbitals from adjacent atoms. This split occurs because of the Pauli exclusion principle, which states...
Valence Bond Theory
Types of Semiconductors
Band Theory
The energy difference between these bands is known as the band gap.
Conductor, Semiconductor,...
Semiconductors
Metals such as copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), or lead (Pb) have low resistivity and feature conduction bands that are either not fully occupied or overlap with the valence band, making a bandgap non-existent. This allows electrons in the highest energy levels of the valence band to easily transition to the conduction band upon gaining...
Biasing of Metal-Semiconductor Junctions
In Schottky junctions, where the semiconductor is n-type, applying a positive voltage to the metal relative to the semiconductor reduces its Fermi...

