Speaker
Mr
Kennedy wamalwa khaemba
(Department of physics, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, 52428-00200, Nairobi, Kenya)
Description
Topological semi-metals are newly discovered states of quantum matter that have arisen interest
in the research community due to their application in spintronics and valleytronics. There are three
types of topological semi-metals (TSMs); Dirac Semi-metal (DSM), Weyl Semi-metal (WSM) and
Node Line Semi-metal (NLSM), each with special features that makes them novel candidates for
future technologies. Unlike topological insulators (TI) that have an energy gap, TSMs have their
valence and conduction bands touching in discrete points in the Brillouin zone. Tantalum phosphide
(TaP), has been classified as a Weyl semi-metal with only a single type of Weyl fermions and thus
topologically distinguished from tantalum arsenide (TaAs) that has two types of Weyl fermions.
Theoretically, if spin-orbit interaction is turned on in the system, we expect an energy gap. To this
date, little has been devoted to this relativistic interaction in TaP. Our goal will be to calculate the
bandstructure in TaP and how the spin-orbit interaction alters the single Weyl fermions. We will em-
ploy first-principles density functional theory (FPDFT) as implemented in the Siesta code. This study
is not only based on fundamental research interests but also of great potential for future applications.
Primary authors
Mr
James Sifuna
(Department of physics,The catholic University of Eastern Africa,P.O BOX 62157-00200 City square, Nairobi, Kenya.)
Mr
Kennedy wamalwa khaemba
(Department of physics, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, 52428-00200, Nairobi, Kenya)
Co-authors
Dr
George Manyali
(TheoreticaliatioDepartment of Physical Sciences, Kaimosi Friends University College, P.O BOX 385-50309, Kaimosi, Kenya})
Dr
Henry Barasa
(\affi Department of physics, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, 52428-00200, Nairobi, Kenya)
Dr
Isaac Motochi
(Department of mathematics and physical sciences, Maasai Mara University, P.O. Box 861 - 20500, Narok, Kenya})
