Controlling the Topology of Fermi Surfaces in Metal Nanofilms


 

The properties of metal crystals are governed by the electrons of the highest occupied states at the Fermi level and determined by Fermi surfaces, the Fermi energy contours in momentum space.

M. Ogawa et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 026802 (2012)

Topological regulation of the Fermi surface has been an important issue in synthesizing functional materials, which we found to be realized at room temperature in nanometer-thick films.

Reducing the thickness of a metal thin film down to its electron wavelength scale induces the quantum size effect and the electronic system changes from three to two-dimensional, transforming the Fermi surface topology.

Such an ultrathin film further changes its topology through one-dimensional (1D) structural deformation of the film when it is grown on a 1D substrate. In particular, when the interface has 1D metallic bands, the system is additionally stabilized by forming an electron energy gap by hybridization between 1D states of the film and substrate
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 May 2015 13:24