Ladder Polyborane: An Ideal Dirac Semimetal with a Multi-Field-Tunable Band Gap

Hydrogen, a simple and magic element, has attracted increasing attention for its effective incorporation within solids and powerful manipulation of electronic states. Here, we show that hydrogenation tackles common problems in two-dimensional borophene, e.g., stability and applicability. As a prominent example, a ladder-like boron hydride sheet, named as 2D ladder polyborane, achieves the desired outcome, enjoying the cleanest scenario with an anisotropic and tilted Dirac cone, that can be fully depicted by a minimal two-band tight-binding model. Introducing external fields, such as an electric field or a circularly polarized light field, can effectively induce distinctive massive Dirac fermions, whereupon four types of multi-field-driven topological domain walls hosting tunable chirality and valley indexes are further established. Moreover, the 2D ladder polyborane is thermodynamically stable at room temperature and supports highly switchable Dirac fermions, providing an ideal platform for realizing and exploring the various multi-field-tunable electronic states.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates the hydrogenation can solve common problems in two-dimensional borophene, such as stability and applicability. By introducing a ladder-like boron hydride sheet, named as 2D ladder polyborane, an ideal scenario with an anisotropic and tilted Dirac cone can be achieved, which can be fully described by a minimal two-band tight-binding model. External fields, such as an electric field or a circularly polarized light field, can effectively induce distinctive massive Dirac fermions, and four types of multi-field-driven topological domain walls with tunable chirality and valley indexes are further established. Moreover, the 2D ladder polyborane is thermodynamically stable at room temperature and supports highly switchable Dirac fermions, providing an ideal platform for realizing and exploring various multi-field-tunable electronic states.