Dirac Semimetals in Two Dimensions

Graphene is famous for being a host of 2D Dirac fermions. However, spin-orbit coupling introduces a small gap, so that graphene is formally a quantum spin Hall insulator. Here we present symmetry-protected 2D Dirac semimetals, which feature Dirac cones at high-symmetry points that are not gapped by spin-orbit interactions and exhibit behavior distinct from both graphene and 3D Dirac semimetals. Using a two-site tight-binding model, we construct representatives of three possible distinct Dirac semimetal phases and show that single symmetry-protected Dirac points are impossible in two dimensions. An essential role is played by the presence of nonsymmorphic space group symmetries. We argue that these symmetries…

• SF
  Simons Foundation