New family of square net materials: Rare-earth diantimonides
Square-net Dirac semimetals like ZrSiS and SrMnBi₂ have attracted intense interest for their topologically protected electronic states and exceptional transport properties. The authors introduce rare-earth diantimonides (RSb₂) as a distinct new family that breaks new ground in this evolving field. Unlike the well studied tetragonal P4/nmm and I4/mmm families, RSb₂ compounds crystallize in an orthorhombic Cmca structure featuring staggered antimony square nets. Through comprehensive spectroscopic studies of LaSb₂, they reveal how this unique structure generates a double nodal-line topology with graphene-comparable Fermi velocities. The broken local symmetry further enables a Rashba-2 effect, providing layer-dependent spin polarization within a centrosymmetric bulk. This discovery significantly expands the square-net materials landscape, establishing RSb₂ as a versatile platform for exploring novel topological phenomena and potential spintronic applications.
Authors
- G. Vaitheeswaran (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2320-7667)
- G. Shwetha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5614-0991)
- Davide Curcio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2488-3840)
- Ilya Elfimov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2945-4244)
- Bo B. Iversen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4632-1024)
- Marco Bianchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0122-9443)
- Karl F. Fischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4663-1022)
- Philip Hofmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7367-5821)
- Matteo Michiardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9640-5093)
- Ryan Day (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7292-0103)
- Fabian Arnold (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2445-2540)
- A. Damascelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9895-2226)
- Klara Volckaert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7353-3540)
- Venkatakrishnan Kanchana
Institutions
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- Aarhus University (DK)
- University of Hyderabad (IN)
- Advanced Numerical Research and Analysis Group (IN)
- Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Materials
- Published
- 2025-12-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/ybcm-435p
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00