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Shear-resistant topology in the quasi-one-dimensional van der Waals material Bi4Br4

Jonathan K. Hofmann1,2,3,*, Hoyeon Jeon4, Saban M. Hus4, Yuqi Zhang5,6,7, Mingqian Zheng8, Tobias Wichmann1,2,3, An-Ping Li4, Jin-Jian Zhou8, Zhiwei Wang5,6,7 et al.

Yugui Yao5,6,7, Bert Voigtländer1,2,3, F. Stefan Tautz1,2,3, and Felix Lüpke1,2,9,†

  • *Contact author: jo.hofmann@fz-juelich.de
  • †Contact author: f.luepke@fz-juelich.de
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Phys. Rev. B 111, 245415 – Published 12 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/tdp5-wmqc

Abstract

Bi4Br4 is a prototypical quasi-one-dimensional (1D) material in which covalently bonded bismuth bromide chains are arranged in parallel, side-by-side and layer-by-layer, with van der Waals (vdW) gaps in between. So far, two different structures have been reported for this compound, α−Bi4Br4 and β−Bi4Br4, in both of which neighboring chains are shifted by b/2, i.e., half a unit-cell vector in the plane, but which differ in their vertical stacking. While the different layer stacking is known to result in distinct electronic properties—higher-order and weak topological insulators, respectively—the effect of different in-plane arrangements of the atomic chains remains an open question. Here, using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy (STM/STS), we report an unusual Bi4Br4(001) structure, with a shift of b/3 between neighboring chains in the plane and AB layer stacking. We determine shear strain to be the origin of this structure, which can readily result in shifts of neighboring atomic chains because of the weak interchain bonding. For the observed b/3 structure, the (residual) atomic chain shift corresponds to an in-plane shear strain of γ≈7.5%. STS reveals a bulk insulating gap and metallic edge states at monolayer surface steps, indicating that, just like for α−Bi4Br4, monolayers of the b/3 structure are also quantum spin Hall insulators, in agreement with density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

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Phys. Rev. B 111, 245415– Published 12 June, 2025
  • Received 25 November 2024
  • Revised 10 May 2025
  • Accepted 22 May 2025
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