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Uncovering surface states of the Dirac semimetal BaMg2Bi2

A. De Vita1,*, J. Bakkelund2,*, H. Świątek3,*, M. J. Winiarski3, S. Malick3, C. V. B. Nielsen4, F. Bertran5, A. J. H. Jones4, P. Majchrzak6 et al.

F. Miletto Granozio7, J. A. Miwa4, R. Ernstorfer1, T. Pincelli1, T. Klimczuk3,†, C. Bigi5,‡, and F. Mazzola7,§,∥

  • *These authors contributed equally to this work.
  • †Contact author: tomasz.klimczuk@pg.edu.pl
  • ‡Contact author: chiara.bigi@synchrotron-soleil.fr
  • §Contact author: federico.mazzola@unipd.it
  • ∥Present address: Department of Physics and Astronomy ‘Galileo Galilei,’ University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
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Phys. Rev. B 113, 035148 – Published 23 January, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ps93-rfk3

Abstract

BaMg2Bi2 is a Dirac semimetal characterized by a simple Dirac cone crossing the Fermi level at the center of the Brillouin zone, protected by C3 rotational symmetry. Together with its Sr-based analog SrMg2Bi2, it has been proposed as a promising candidate for a chemically driven topological switch: while SrMg2Bi2 is an insulator, BaMg2Bi2 exhibits nontrivial topological features. A detailed understanding of its electronic structure is essential to elucidate its electronic and transport properties. Previous photoemission studies confirmed the Dirac nature of BaMg2Bi2, but were limited to high photon energies, which hindered direct comparison with density functional theory calculations (DFT), due to reduced resolution and higher-frequency matrix-element modulation in that regime. In this work, we combine high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and DFT calculations to get full insight into the valence band states, providing a comprehensive picture of the low-energy electronic structure. Our measurements reveal the presence of previously unobserved surface states. We found that they are topologically trivial, but they unlock a more comprehensive understanding of the material's behavior, reconciling previous discrepancies between experiment and theory.

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Corrections

3 February, 2026

Correction: A footnote indicating the present address of the last author was missing at publication and has been inserted. The footnote providing the email address for the last author has been fixed.

Article Text

Supplemental Material

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Outline

Information

Phys. Rev. B 113, 035148– Published 23 January, 2026
  • Received 19 August 2025
  • Revised 4 December 2025
  • Accepted 22 December 2025
  • Corrected 3 February 2026
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