Experimental observation of Dirac-like surface states and topological phase transition in Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te(111) films

The surface of a topological crystalline insulator (TCI) carries an even number of Dirac cones protected by crystalline symmetry. We epitaxially grew high quality Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te(111) films and investigated the TCI phase by in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$Te(111) films undergo a topological phase transition from trivial insulator to TCI via increasing the Sn/Pb ratio, accompanied by a crossover from n-type to p-type doping. In addition, a hybridization gap is opened in the surface states when the thickness of film is reduced to the two-dimensional limit. The work demonstrates an approach to manipulating the topological properties of TCI, which is of importance for future fundamental research and applications based on TCI.

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