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SUMMARY:Emergence of topological phases in lithium under pressure - Stepha
 nie Mack\, University of California\, Berkeley
DTSTART:20181116T113000Z
DTEND:20181116T123000Z
UID:TALK114070@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Nick Woods
DESCRIPTION:Discovery of new topological materials is of great interest du
 e to their unique transport properties and surface states. Most topologica
 l materials verified to date involve materials with specific crystalline s
 ymmetries\, that ensure degeneracies in the electronic band structure\, or
  materials containing heavy elements with strong spin-orbit coupling. Lith
 ium is the lightest metal on the periodic table at standard temperature/pr
 essure\, and ostensibly a simple metal assuming a close-packed structure u
 nder ambient conditions. However\, with increasing pressure it has been fo
 und to surprisingly undergo structural phase transitions to low symmetry s
 tructures that are predicted to be semi-metallic and even insulating. We p
 redict that along with these interesting structural phase transitions\, th
 ere is also an evolution in the topological properties of lithium and the 
 semi-metallic high pressure phases are topologically nontrivial. Using ab 
 initio techniques\, we can characterize and understand how these topologic
 al features arise in a light elemental solid under pressure and are well-i
 solated from the trivial electronic bands. Our results indicate that lithi
 um has previously unexplored topological properties in its pressure phase 
 diagram.
LOCATION:TCM Seminar Room\, Cavendish Laboratory
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