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Bending strain in 3D topological semi-metals

  • Jonas Diaz
  • , Carsten Putzke
  • , Xiangwei Huang
  • , Amelia Estry
  • , James G. Analytis
  • , Daniel Sabsovich
  • , Adolfo G. Grushin
  • , Roni Ilan
  • , Philip J.W. Moll*
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • Université Grenoble Alpes

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present an experimental set-up for the controlled application of strain gradients by mechanical piezoactuation on 3D crystalline microcantilevers that were fabricated by focused ion beam machining. A simple sample design tailored for transport characterization under strain at cryogenic temperatures is proposed. The topological semi-metal Cd3As2 serves as a test bed for the method, and we report extreme strain gradients of up to 1.3%μm-1 at a surface strain value of ≈ 0.65% at 4 K. Interestingly, the unchanged quantum transport of the cantilever suggests that the bending cycle does not induce defects via plastic deformation. This approach is a first step towards realizing transport phenomena based on structural gradients, such as artificial gauge fields in topological materials.

Original languageEnglish
Article number084001
JournalJournal of Physics D: Applied Physics
Volume55
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - 24 Feb 2022

Funding

FundersFunder number
Horizon 2020 Framework Programme715730

    Keywords

    • CdAs
    • focused ion beam machining
    • pseudo-electromagnetic fields
    • strain gradients

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