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Proposal for Detecting Nodal-Line Semimetal Surface States with Resonant Spin-Flipped Reflection

Wei Chen1,2,*, Kun Luo2, Lin Li3,4, and Oded Zilberberg1

  • 1Institute for Theoretical Physics, ETH Zurich, 8093 Zürich, Switzerland
  • 2College of Science, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, China
  • 3College of Physics and Electronic Engineering, and Center for Computational Sciences, Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu 610068, China
  • 4Shenzhen Institute for Quantum Science and Engineering and Department of Physics, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

  • *pchenweis@gmail.com
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 166802 – Published 17 October, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.121.166802

Abstract

Topological nodal-line semimetals are predicted to exhibit unique drumheadlike surface states (DSSs). Yet, direct detection of such states remains a challenge. Here, we propose spin-resolved transport in a junction between a normal metal and a spin-orbit coupled nodal-line semimetal as the mechanism for their detection. Specifically, we find that in such an interface the DSSs induce resonant spin-flipped reflection. This effect can be probed by both vertical spin transport and lateral charge transport between antiparallel magnetic terminals. In the tunneling limit of the junction, both spin and charge conductances exhibit a resonant peak around zero energy, providing unique evidence of the DSSs. This signature is robust to both dispersive DSSs and interface disorder. Based on numerical calculations, we show that the scheme can be implemented in the topological semimetal HgCr2Se4.

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Outline

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 121, 166802– Published 17 October, 2018
  • Received 31 January 2018
  • Revised 23 May 2018
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