Hourglass Dirac chain metal in rhenium dioxide

Shan-Shan Wang, Ying Liu, Zhi-Ming Yu, Xian-Lei Sheng () and Shengyuan A. Yang ()
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Shan-Shan Wang: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Ying Liu: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Zhi-Ming Yu: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Xian-Lei Sheng: Singapore University of Technology and Design
Shengyuan A. Yang: Singapore University of Technology and Design

Nature Communications, 2017, vol. 8, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Nonsymmorphic symmetries, which involve fractional lattice translations, can generate exotic types of fermionic excitations in crystalline materials. Here we propose a topological phase arising from nonsymmorphic symmetries—the hourglass Dirac chain metal, and predict its realization in the rhenium dioxide. We show that ReO2 features hourglass-type dispersion in the bulk electronic structure dictated by its nonsymmorphic space group. Due to time reversal and inversion symmetries, each band has an additional two-fold degeneracy, making the neck crossing-point of the hourglass four-fold degenerate. Remarkably, close to the Fermi level, the neck crossing-point traces out a Dirac chain—a chain of connected four-fold-degenerate Dirac loops—in the momentum space. The symmetry protection, the transformation under symmetry-breaking, and the associated topological surface states of the Dirac chain are revealed. Our results open the door to an unknown class of topological matters, and provide a platform to explore their intriguing physics.

Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-01986-3

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