We predict that in InAs/GaSb nanowires with an inverted band alignment a transverse electric field induces a collapse of the hybridization gap, and a semimetal phase occurs. We use a self-consistent k.p approach and an adapted Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model to show that massless Dirac points result from exact cancellation between the kinetic electron-hole coupling and the field-controlled spin-orbit coupling. End states - mid-gap states localized at the extremes of a finite nanowire - are supported up to a critical field, but suddenly fade away as the system is driven through the semimetal phase, eventually evolving to trivial surface states, which expose a spin-orbit induced topological transition to the normal phase.
@article{arxiv.2409.00274,
title = {Spin-orbit control of Dirac points and end states in inverted gap nanowires},
author = {Andrea Vezzosi and Andrea Bertoni and Marco Gibertini and Guido Goldoni},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.00274},
year = {2024}
}