Dirac Landau Level Spectroscopy in Pb1−xSnxSe and Pb1−xSnxTe across the Topological Phase Transition: A Review

Abstract

Topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) are topological materials that have Dirac surface states occurring at crystalline symmetric points in the Brillouin zone. This topological state has been experimentally shown to occur in the lead–tin salts Pb1−xSnxSe and Pb1−xSnxTe. More recent works also took interest in studying the topological phase transition from trivial to non-trivial topology that occurs in such materials as a function of increasing Sn content. A peculiar property of these materials is the fact that their bulk bands disperse following a massive Dirac dispersion that is linear at low energies above the energy gap. This makes Pb1−xSnxSe and Pb1−xSnxTe ideal platforms to simultaneously study 3D and 2D Dirac physics. In this review, we will go over infrared magneto-optical studies of the Landau level dispersion of Pb1−xSnxSe and Pb1−xSnxTe for both the bulk and surface bands and summarize work that has been done on this matter. We will review recent work on probing the topological phase transition in TCI. We will finally present our views on prospects and open questions that have yet to be addressed in magneto-optical spectroscopy studies on Pb1-xSnxSe and Pb1−xSnxTe.

Keywords

• landau levels
• topological crystalline insulators
• magneto-optics
• IV–VI semiconductors