{
  "abstract": "While three-dimensional Dirac semimetals have been extensively studied in centrosymmetric materials such as Cd3As2 and Na3Bi , the recent colloidal synthesis of wurtzite HgTe (wz-HgTe) opens new opportunities for exploring topological quantum phases in noncentrosymmetric systems. Building on recent evidence that bulk wz-HgTe is a noncentrosymmetric Dirac semimetal, we investigate how strain and quantum confinement reshape its topology. To this end, we combine density-functional theory, semiempirical tight-binding, and k · p approaches. Bulk wz-HgTe hosts two Dirac points along the Γ – A line, i.e., along the c axis, located only 37 meV above the Fermi level, indicating that the Dirac regime should be experimentally accessible by doping or electrostatic gating. We show that biaxial strain drives a sequence of topological phase transitions from a Dirac semimetal to a three-dimensional topological insulator and eventually to a multiband metal. In (0001) thin films, quantum confinement induces oscillatory transitions between trivial and topological insulating phases. We demonstrate that this behavior is governed not only by the underlying s – p band inversion, but also by the crystal-field splitting specific to the wurtzite structure and by the presence of bulk Dirac points. In contrast, (1-100) films exhibit a single topological transition and, above a critical thickness, develop surface states forming Fermi-arc-like contours that connect the projections of the Dirac points in the two-dimensional Brillouin zone. In the same weak-confinement regime, semimetallic nanowires oriented along the c axis are predicted to host localized edge states that should be accessible to transport measurements or scanning tunneling spectroscopy. These results establish the topological phase diagram of wz-HgTe beyond the strong-confinement regime explored so far and reveal how crystal symmetry, inversion breaking, strain, and confinement combine to reshape the topology of a Dirac material. More broadly, they identify wurtzite HgTe as a promising platform for engineering topological phases in experimentally relevant nanostructures.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 3,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Antoine Hage"
    },
    {
      "name": "Jing Li"
    },
    {
      "name": "Christophe Delerue"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c56wxmgckrwke.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1103/5pj7-34v4",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "c56wxmgckrwke",
  "issns": [
    "2643-1564",
    "2643-1564"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05754313v1",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "hal",
      "0.phys"
    ],
    [
      "hal",
      "0.spi"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3107|Topological Materials and Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7169764691",
  "pdf_url": "https://hal.science/hal-05754313/document",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-16",
  "publisher": "American Physical Society",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c56wxmgckrwke.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:53Z",
      "native_id": "hal-05754313",
      "source": "hal",
      "url": "https://hal.science/hal-05754313v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "openalex:3107|Topological Materials and Phenomena",
      "subfield": "amo"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Strain- and confinement-induced topological phases in noncentrosymmetric wurtzite HgTe",
  "title_text": "Strain- and confinement-induced topological phases in noncentrosymmetric wurtzite HgTe",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:53Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c56wxmgckrwke",
  "venue": "Physical Review Research",
  "versions": []
}