C. David Hinostroza, Leandro Rodrigues de Faria, Gustavo H. Cassemiro, J. Larrea Jiménez, Antonio Jefferson da Silva Machado, Walber H. Brito, Valentina Martelli
{"title":"Structural investigation of the quasi-one-dimensional topological insulator Bi$_4$I$_4$","authors":"C. David Hinostroza, Leandro Rodrigues de Faria, Gustavo H. Cassemiro, J. Larrea Jiménez, Antonio Jefferson da Silva Machado, Walber H. Brito, Valentina Martelli","doi":"arxiv-2404.16194","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"The bismuth-halide Bi$_4$I$_4$ undergoes a structural transition around\n$T_P\\sim 300$K, which separates a high-temperature $\\beta$ phase ($T>T_P$) from\na low-temperature $\\alpha$ phase ($T<T_P$). $\\alpha$ and $\\beta$ phases are\nsuggested to host electronic band structures with distinct topological\nclassifications. Rapid quenching was reported to stabilize a metastable\n$\\beta$-Bi$_4$I$_4$ at $T<T_P$, making possible a comparative study of the\nphysical properties of the two phases in the same low-temperature range. In\nthis work, we present a structural investigation of the Bi$_4$I$_4$ before and\nafter quenching together with electrical resistivity measurements. We found\nthat rapid cooling does not consistently lead to a metastable\n$\\beta$-Bi$_4$I$_4$, and a quick transition to $\\alpha$-Bi$_4$I$_4$ is\nobserved. As a result, the comparison of putative signatures of different\ntopologies attributed to a specific structural phase should be carefully\nconsidered. The observed phase instability is accompanied by an increase in\niodine vacancies and by a change in the temperature dependence of electrical\nresistivity, pointing to native defects as a possible origin of our finding.\nDensity functional theory (DFT) calculations support the scenario that iodine\nvacancies, together with bismuth antisites and interstitials, are among the\ndefects that are more likely to occur in Bi$_4$I$_4$ during the growth.","PeriodicalId":501211,"journal":{"name":"arXiv - PHYS - Other Condensed Matter","volume":"31 11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"arXiv - PHYS - Other Condensed Matter","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/arxiv-2404.16194","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The bismuth-halide Bi$_4$I$_4$ undergoes a structural transition around
$T_P\sim 300$K, which separates a high-temperature $\beta$ phase ($T>T_P$) from
a low-temperature $\alpha$ phase ($T