Experimental Observation of Topological Edge States at the Surface Step Edge of the Topological Insulator ZrTe_{5}

Phys Rev Lett. 2016 Apr 29;116(17):176803. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.176803. Epub 2016 Apr 28.

Abstract

We report an atomic-scale characterization of ZrTe_{5} by using scanning tunneling microscopy. We observe a bulk band gap of ∼80 meV with topological edge states at the step edge and, thus, demonstrate that ZrTe_{5} is a two-dimensional topological insulator. We also find that an applied magnetic field induces an energetic splitting of the topological edge states, which can be attributed to a strong link between the topological edge states and bulk topology. The relatively large band gap makes ZrTe_{5} a potential candidate for future fundamental studies and device applications.