A topological phase buried in a chalcogenide superlattice monitored by a helicity dependent Kerr measurement

TL;DR

This study experimentally reveals a topological phase transition in chalcogenide superlattices, showing how layer thickness controls the emergence of Dirac-like states, with implications for spintronic device development.

Contribution

First experimental observation of a topological phase transition in chalcogenide superlattices using helicity dependent Kerr measurements, linking layer thickness to topological state changes.

Findings

Helicity dependent Kerr signals show a four-cycle oscillation indicating Dirac-like cones.

Increasing GeTe layer thickness induces a phase transition from Dirac semimetal to trivial insulator.

Thickness tuning can manipulate topological states in chalcogenide superlattices.

Abstract

Chalcogenide superlattices (SL), formed by the alternate stacking of GeTe and Sb$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ layers, also referred to as interfacial phase change memory (iPCM), are a leading candidate for spin based memory device applications. Theoretically, the iPCM structure it has been predicted to form a 3D topological insulator or Dirac semimetal depending on the constituent layer thicknesses. Here, we experimentally investigate the topological insulating nature of chalcogenide SLs using a helicity dependent time-resolved Kerr measurement. The helicity dependent Kerr signal is observed to exhibit a four cycle oscillation with $\pi$/2 periodicity suggesting the existence of a Dirac-like cone in some chalcogenide SLs. Furthermore, we found that increasing the thickness of the GeTe layer dramatically changes the periodicity, indicating a phase transition from a Dirac semimetal into a trivial insulator. Our results demonstrate that thickness-tuned chalcogenide SLs can play an important role in the manipulation of topological states, which may open up new possibilities for spintronic devices based on chalcogenide SLs.