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Electronic structure associated with nonsymmorphic nodal lines in rare-earth tetraborides

Y. Kondo1, S. Souma2,3,*, G. Hoshino1, A. Homma1, T. Osumi1, D. Shiga4, H. Kumigashira4, K. Ozawa5, T. Koretsune1 et al.

K. Segawa6 and T. Sato1,2,3,7,8,†

  • 1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
  • 2International Quantum Materials Center (Q2), Advanced Institute for Materials Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 3Center for Science and Innovation in Spintronics (CSIS), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 4Institute of Multidisciplinary Research for Advanced Materials (IMRAM), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 5Institute of Materials Structure Science, High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
  • 6Department of Physics, Kyoto Sangyo University, Kyoto 603-8555, Japan
  • 7International Center for Synchrotron Radiation Innovation Smart (SRIS), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 8Mathematical Science Center for Co-creative Society (MathCCS), Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan

  • *Contact author: seigo.soma.e2@tohoku.ac.jp
  • †Contact author: t-sato@arpes.phys.tohoku.ac.jp

Phys. Rev. Research 8, 043067 – Published 19 October, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/n9xl-chqq

Abstract

We report a combined microfocused angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy and first-principles study of the rare-earth tetraborides RB4 (R=Tb, Gd), which host a Shastry-Sutherland lattice. We identify extended bulk nodal lines at the tetragonal Brillouin-zone boundaries, whose fourfold degeneracies are enforced by the nonsymmorphic glide-mirror symmetries even in the presence of spin-orbit coupling (SOC), unlike conventional nodal lines that SOC typically gaps. Systematically evolving Dirac-like dispersions resolved by momentum-distribution-curve analysis support this symmetry-enforced nodal line. We further identify a related nodal-line feature that disperses toward the Fermi level (EF); although the calculated SOC-induced gap for this feature (0.2–4.6 meV) lies below the experimental resolution, its proximity to EF offers a band-structure basis consistent with the emergence of large magnetoresistance. First-principles Wilson-loop calculations establish a nontrivial π Berry phase for the bulk nodal line, and we observe a photon-energy-independent surface-derived feature whose dispersion is consistent with the calculated surface state. Our results identify RB4 as a platform for nonsymmorphic-symmetry-enforced nodal-line physics with potential relevance to large magnetoresistance and topological surface states.

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