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Three-Dimensional Semi-Dirac Semiconductor in a Distorted C60 Solid with Gate-Tunable Quasi-1D Ultrahigh-Speed
Zhao Yang1, Zhiheng Lv1, Dong Liu1
1Research Center for Quantum Physics and Technologies and Inner Mongolia Key Laboratory of Microscale Physics and Atomic Manufacturing, School of Physical Science and Technology, Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot 010021, China.
None:
Combining switchable bandgaps with Dirac-like mobility remains a grand challenge for high-performance electronics. Here we propose a "3D semi-Dirac semiconductor" (3D-SDS) paradigm, integrating an intrinsic bandgap with gate-tunable, low-dimensional Dirac transport. By simulating uniaxial compression of layered C60 solids, we predict a stable body-centered orthorhombic distorted C60 solid (bco-dC60) as a concrete realization, whose simulated XRD pattern aligns with unassigned experimental peaks from diamond-rich coatings. Its low-energy conduction bands form a broad and clean 3D semi-Dirac cone at the phase boundary between a trivial insulator and a topological nodal loop─well-captured by a two-band tight-binding model from a cluster-assembled hierarchical lattice. Furthermore, bco-dC60 exhibits extreme electrical anisotropy with ∼95% axial polarization, enabling quasi-1D Dirac transport in the bulk. Generalizing these findings into a generalized k·p model and symmetry analysis, we establish the conceptual and material foundations for topological transistors, unveiling a cluster-assembly route to unite logic switching with ultrahigh-speed anisotropic transport.
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