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Topological Crystalline Insulator Nanomembrane with Strain-Tunable Band Gap

The ability to fine-tune band gap and band inversion in topological materials is highly desirable for the development of novel functional devices. Here we propose that the electronic properties of a free-standing nanomembrane of topological crystalline insulator (TCI) SnTe and Pb$_{1-x}$Sn$_x$(Se,Te) are highly tunable by engineering elastic strain and controlling membrane thickness, resulting in tunable band gap and giant piezoconductivity. Membrane thickness governs the hybridization of topological electronic states on opposite surfaces, while elastic strain can further modulate the hybridization strength by controlling the penetration length of surface states. We propose a frequency-resolved infrared photodetector using force-concentration induced inhomogeneous elastic strain in TCI nanomembrane with spatially varying width. The predicted tunable band gap accompanied by strong spin-textured electronic states will open up new avenues for fabricating piezoresistive devices, thermoelectrics, infrared detectors and energy-efficient electronic and optoelectronic devices based on TCI nanomembrane.