Reversible transdimensional phase transition in a topological semimetal

Reversible transdimensional phase transition in a topological semimetal | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Reversible transdimensional phase transition in a topological semimetal Shoujun Zheng, Qingrong Liang, Jiali Chen, Liu Yang, Wei Jiang, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The dimensionality in material science serves as a fundamental spatial metric that profoundly shapes both phases and inherent properties of materials. Phase engineering is widely employed to tailor atomic and dimensional structures, facilitating the discovery of emergent quantum phases. However, isocompositional phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) materials are typically restricted in the same dimension due to the significant differences in surface energies and out-of-plane chemical bonds. Here, we report a reversible transdimensional phase transition between a 2D ferroelectric phase and a 3D topological T’ phase in the semimetal PtBi 2 . Reversible resistance hysteresis loops are revealed in the electrical measurements, which originate from the 2D-3D phase transition and contact resistance modulation. This transdimensional phase transition is attributed to the mechanism of intralayer splitting and interlayer reconstructions: Pt atoms migrate from one layer to the van der Waals gap and format covalent bonds with Bi atoms in the adjacent layer. Theoretical calculations further confirm that our results not only refer to transdimensional structural changes but also 2D-3D transdimensional topological transitions, establishing the transdimensional phase engineering as a platform for exploring topological and functional quantum states. Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Topological matter/Topological insulators dimensionality phase transition two-dimensional materials topological semimetal PtBi2 Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files movie1.avi 2D-3D phase transition path view 1 movie2.avi 2D-3D phase transition path view 2 supportinginformation.docx supporting information for Reversible transdimensional phase transition Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7430072","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":504254200,"identity":"c808e7a4-d2ae-4dd9-a342-755ce48f5f73","order_by":0,"name":"Shoujun Zheng","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAxUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFACHhBhk8AGZxOpJS2BjY1ELYcTGIjWIt9/9uDjgl/n8/jkGxgfvG1jkDcnpMXgwLlk45l9t4uBDmM2nNvGYLizgZAWxh4zad6e24ltbAxs0rxtDAkGBwg5rJnH/DdvzzmQFvbfRGlhOMZjxszz4wDYFmaitBic4TGW5m1IBvolsVlyzjkJww0EHdZ/xvAzzx+7PPnmwwc/vCmzkSfsMBBgbAOTDUBCghj1IPCHWIWjYBSMglEwIgEAfFw44xgc4FwAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5290-7857","institution":"Beijing Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shoujun","middleName":"","lastName":"Zheng","suffix":""},{"id":504254201,"identity":"1971a6d4-9dec-4d28-a515-ee0725fe483c","order_by":1,"name":"Qingrong Liang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"School of Physics, Beijing Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qingrong","middleName":"","lastName":"Liang","suffix":""},{"id":504254202,"identity":"15b6fb12-ac2b-4ce9-87e9-7ebf0ff9b8af","order_by":2,"name":"Jiali Chen","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2646-6189","institution":"Beijing Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiali","middleName":"","lastName":"Chen","suffix":""},{"id":504254203,"identity":"fb40a190-bd94-4ea5-a3f4-5c95a7019bc0","order_by":3,"name":"Liu Yang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"China Three Gorges University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liu","middleName":"","lastName":"Yang","suffix":""},{"id":504254204,"identity":"5ce5f728-bda2-4874-a8a9-e65f9b54fb2d","order_by":4,"name":"Wei Jiang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6167-1156","institution":"Beijing Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wei","middleName":"","lastName":"Jiang","suffix":""},{"id":504254205,"identity":"39d47757-7ff5-4255-9caf-42a73b80370c","order_by":5,"name":"Jiadong Zhou","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5268-2136","institution":"Beijing Institute of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiadong","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhou","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-22 02:45:17","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":91976984,"identity":"2f47ecf9-049e-4ac4-9968-1def583dd073","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-23 10:13:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2430277,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7430072/v1_covered_2041899b-151d-4d6a-a1e6-b01eaf4219b4.pdf"},{"id":91976181,"identity":"c4c8f717-3e7a-45e8-8a2a-18293896d172","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-23 10:05:03","extension":"avi","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":8007680,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"2D-3D phase transition path view 1","description":"","filename":"movie1.avi","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7430072/v1/e656dfaafba43a22898cfe86.avi"},{"id":91976180,"identity":"94d96df4-082f-408f-831a-a9c33b71054a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-23 10:05:03","extension":"avi","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":8007680,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"2D-3D phase transition path view 2","description":"","filename":"movie2.avi","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7430072/v1/dc226a3978ed614b240c5113.avi"},{"id":91976182,"identity":"18ad4a4c-35c0-4ab9-88e8-66b14bede521","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-09-23 10:05:04","extension":"docx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":15039834,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"supporting information for Reversible transdimensional phase transition","description":"","filename":"supportinginformation.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7430072/v1/744d1e4c5be2f28a90c4fd9f.docx"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Reversible transdimensional phase transition in a topological semimetal","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"dimensionality, phase transition, two-dimensional materials, topological semimetal, PtBi2","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThe dimensionality in material science serves as a fundamental spatial metric that profoundly shapes both phases and inherent properties of materials. Phase engineering is widely employed to tailor atomic and dimensional structures, facilitating the discovery of emergent quantum phases. However, isocompositional phase transitions in two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) materials are typically restricted in the same dimension due to the significant differences in surface energies and out-of-plane chemical bonds. Here, we report a reversible transdimensional phase transition between a 2D ferroelectric phase and a 3D topological T\u0026rsquo; phase in the semimetal PtBi\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e. Reversible resistance hysteresis loops are revealed in the electrical measurements, which originate from the 2D-3D phase transition and contact resistance modulation. This transdimensional phase transition is attributed to the mechanism of intralayer splitting and interlayer reconstructions: Pt atoms migrate from one layer to the van der Waals gap and format covalent bonds with Bi atoms in the adjacent layer. Theoretical calculations further confirm that our results not only refer to transdimensional structural changes but also 2D-3D transdimensional topological transitions, establishing the transdimensional phase engineering as a platform for exploring topological and functional quantum states.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Reversible transdimensional phase transition in a topological semimetal","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-09-23 10:04:59","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7430072/v1","editorialEvents":[],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-communications","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"NCOMMS","sideBox":"Learn more about [Nature Communications](http://www.nature.com/ncomms/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ncomms.nature.com/","title":"Nature Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature Communications","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"05d106e1-cef4-4983-a400-97b0e9fe5ae2","owner":[],"postedDate":"September 23rd, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[{"id":53576726,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Phase transitions and critical phenomena"},{"id":53576727,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science/Condensed-matter physics/Topological matter/Topological insulators"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-09-23T10:04:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-09-23 10:04:59","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7430072","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7430072","identity":"rs-7430072","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}