Session 2-1

Abstract

Dirac materials have emerged in recent years as an exciting class of materials as functional materials for applications in quantum sensing and quantum information. However, they also offer a testbed to probe fundamental physics, such as the detection of quantum anomalies and light dark matter, in experimentally tractable tabletop experiments.
In particular, the layered Dirac materials ZrTe₅ and HfTe₅ are widely celebrated for their highly strain-tunable electronic, topological, and transport properties. Many reports that these materials host a chiral anomaly abound; however, our understanding of the mechanism behind this phenomenon is stymied by our lack of understanding of the microscopic atomistic details of these materials. The measured anomalous transport properties only occur when Te content is sub-stoichiometric. Using ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations we shed light on the effects of strain, in the form of chemical pressure, that Te vacancies contribute to ZrTe₅ and HfTe₅, and the implications for the existence of a chiral anomaly [1].
Additionally, we will propose a novel scheme for quantum sensing with proof-of-principle DFT calculations of the electronic structure of ZrTe₅-HfTe₅ heterostructures. By strain-tuning these heterostructures, we optimize interlayer orbital hybridization and facilitate energy- and momentum-resolved sensing, with implications for light dark matter detection.