Electric-field control of zero-dimensional topological states in ultranarrow germanene nanoribbons

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Eek, Lumen, Westende, Esra D. van 't, Klaassen, Dennis J., Zandvliet, Harold J. W., Bampoulis, Pantelis, Smith, Cristiane Morais
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Eek, Lumen
Westende, Esra D. van 't
Klaassen, Dennis J.
Zandvliet, Harold J. W.
Bampoulis, Pantelis
Smith, Cristiane Morais
author_facet Eek, Lumen
Westende, Esra D. van 't
Klaassen, Dennis J.
Zandvliet, Harold J. W.
Bampoulis, Pantelis
Smith, Cristiane Morais
contents Reversible, all-electric control of symmetry-protected zero-dimensional modes has been a long-standing goal. In buckled honeycomb lattices, a perpendicular field couples to the staggered sublattice potential providing the required handle. We combine scanning tunneling microscopy and tight-binding theory to switch zero-dimensional topological end states reversibly on and off in ultranarrow germanene nanoribbons by tuning the electric field in the tunnel junction. Increasing the field switches off the end modes of topological two-hexagon wide ribbons, while the same field switches on zero-dimensional states in initially trivial three- and four-hexagon wide ribbons. This atomic scale platform realizes a proof-of-principle for a zero-dimensional topological field effect device, opening a path for ultrasmall memory, controllable qubits, and neuromorphic architectures.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2506_16158
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Electric-field control of zero-dimensional topological states in ultranarrow germanene nanoribbons
Eek, Lumen
Westende, Esra D. van 't
Klaassen, Dennis J.
Zandvliet, Harold J. W.
Bampoulis, Pantelis
Smith, Cristiane Morais
Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Reversible, all-electric control of symmetry-protected zero-dimensional modes has been a long-standing goal. In buckled honeycomb lattices, a perpendicular field couples to the staggered sublattice potential providing the required handle. We combine scanning tunneling microscopy and tight-binding theory to switch zero-dimensional topological end states reversibly on and off in ultranarrow germanene nanoribbons by tuning the electric field in the tunnel junction. Increasing the field switches off the end modes of topological two-hexagon wide ribbons, while the same field switches on zero-dimensional states in initially trivial three- and four-hexagon wide ribbons. This atomic scale platform realizes a proof-of-principle for a zero-dimensional topological field effect device, opening a path for ultrasmall memory, controllable qubits, and neuromorphic architectures.
title Electric-field control of zero-dimensional topological states in ultranarrow germanene nanoribbons
topic Materials Science
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.16158