The Quantum Odyssey: Visualizing Topological Materials With “3D Glasses”

Using X-rays (green in the picture), researchers have created 3D cinema-like effects on the kagome metal TbV6Sn6. This way, they have succeeded in tracking down the behavior of electrons (blue and yellow in the picture) and have taken a step forward in the understanding of quantum materials. Credit: Jörg Bandmann/ct.qmat)

An international team of scientists has succeeded in experimentally confirming a characteristic of topological materials.

Scientists from around the globe have experimentally confirmed a unique characteristic of topological materials. Using ‘3D glasses’-like technology and particle accelerators, they successfully visualized the relationship between an electron’s topology and its quantum mechanical properties, marking a significant step forward in understanding these future-focused materials.

Topological quantum materials are seen as a beacon of hope for energy-saving electronics and the high-tech of the future. A defining feature of these materials is their ability to conduct spin-polarized electrons on their surface, while remaining non-conductive inside. To put this into perspective: In spin-polarized electrons, the intrinsic angular momentum, i.e. the direction of rotation of the particles (spin), is not purely randomly aligned.

To distinguish topological materials from conventional ones, scientists used to study their surface currents. However, an electron’s topology is closely linked to its quantum mechanical wave properties and its spin. This relationship has now been demonstrated directly by means of the photoelectric effect – a phenomenon in which electrons are released from a material, such as metal, with the aid of light.

Visualizing the Topology of Electrons With “3D Glasses”

Prof. Giorgio Sangiovanni, a founding member of ct.qmat in Würzburg and one of the theoretical physicists in the project, likened this discovery to using 3D glasses to visualize the topology of electrons. As he explains: “Electrons and photons can be described quantum mechanically as both waves and particles. Therefore, electrons have a spin that we can measure thanks to the photoelectric effect.”

To do this, the team used circularly polarized X-ray light – light particles possessing a torque. Sangiovanni elaborates: “When a photon meets an electron, the signal coming from the quantum material depends on whether the photon has a right- or a left-handed polarization. In other words, the orientation of the electron’s spin determines the relative strength of the signal between left- and right-polarized beams. Therefore, this experiment can be thought of like polarized glasses in a 3D cinema, where differently oriented beams of light are also used. Our ‘3D glasses’ make electrons’ topology visible.”

Headed by the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat – Complexity and Topology in Quantum Matter – this ground-breaking experiment, along with its theoretical description, is the first successful attempt at characterizing quantum materials topologically. Sangiovanni points out the essential role of a particle accelerator in the experiment, stating: “We need the synchrotron particle accelerator to generate this special X-ray light and to create the ‘3D cinema’ effect.”

Quantum Matter, Particle Accelerators, and Supercomputers

The journey to this monumental success spanned a period of three years for the researchers. Their starting point was the kagome metal TbV₆Sn₆, a quantum material. In this special class of materials, the atomic lattice has a mixture of triangular and honeycomb lattices in a structure reminiscent of a Japanese basketweave. Kagome metals play an important role in ct.qmat’s materials research.

“Before our experimental colleagues could start the synchrotron experiment, we needed to simulate the results to make sure we were on the right track. In the first step, we devised theoretical models and ran calculations on a supercomputer,” says Dr. Domenico di Sante, the project lead and a theoretical physicist, who is also an associate member of the Würzburg Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 1170 ToCoTronics. The findings from the measurements lined up perfectly with the theoretical predictions, enabling the team to visualize and confirm the topology of the kagome metals.

International Collaboration

The research project involved scientists from Italy (Bologna, Milan, Trieste, Venice), the UK (St. Andrews), the USA (Boston, Santa Barbara), and Würzburg. The supercomputer used for the simulations is in Munich, and the synchrotron experiments were performed in Trieste. “These research findings perfectly illustrate the remarkable results theoretical and experimental physics can produce when working in tandem,” concludes Prof. Sangiovanni.

Reference: “Flat band separation and robust spin Berry curvature in bilayer kagome metals” by Domenico Di Sante, Chiara Bigi, Philipp Eck, Stefan Enzner, Armando Consiglio, Ganesh Pokharel, Pietro Carrara, Pasquale Orgiani, Vincent Polewczyk, Jun Fujii, Phil D. C. King, Ivana Vobornik, Giorgio Rossi, Ilija Zeljkovic, Stephen D. Wilson, Ronny Thomale, Giorgio Sangiovanni, Giancarlo Panaccione and Federico Mazzola, 18 May 2023, Nature Physics.
DOI: 10.1038/s41567-023-02053-z