Pressure Induced Surface States and Wannier Charge Centers in Ytterbium Monoarsenide

Abstract

We demonstrate that the XMR material ytterbium monoarsenide (YbAs) shows transitions from a trivial to a non-trivial topological phase with hydrostatic pressure of 20 GPa and maintains its topological character up to structural phase transition pressure. We observed band inversions close to the Fermi level at the X high symmetry point at 20 GPa and band parities are used to confirm the same with consideration of Spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect. The evolution of the surface states and the bulk band structure in YbAs are discussed.