Interplay between spin–orbit coupling and crystal-field effect in topological insulators

Crystal field effect induced topological crystalline insulators in monolayer IV-VI semiconductors.

Two-dimensional (2D) topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) were recently predicted in thin films of the SnTe class of IV-VI semiconductors, which can host metallic edge states protected by mirror symmetry. As thickness decreases, quantum confinement effect will increase and surpass the inverted gap below a critical thickness, turning TCIs into normal insulators. Surprisingly, based on first...

Spin-orbit coupling in quasiparticle studies of topological insulators

We present one-shot GW calculations of the bulk electronic structure of the topological insulators Bi2Se3 and Bi2Te3 within the all-electron full-potential linearized augmented-plane-wave formalism. We compare three different ways of treating the spin-orbit interaction in calculating the quasiparticle energies: (i) The spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is already incorporated in the noninteracting syst...

Exchange-coupling-induced symmetry breaking in topological insulators.

An exchange gap in the Dirac surface states of a topological insulator (TI) is necessary for observing the predicted unique features such as the topological magnetoelectric effect as well as to confine Majorana fermions. We experimentally demonstrate proximity-induced ferromagnetism in a TI, combining a ferromagnetic insulator EuS layer with Bi(2)Se(3), without introducing defects. By magnetic ...

Topological insulators

Topological Insulators and Superconductors

We study theoretical properties of robust low energy electronic excitations associated with topological insulators and superconductors. The bulk materials are described by non-interacting single particle band Hamiltonians with a finite excitation gap. Their topological phases are classifed according to symmetries and dimensions, characterized by discrete bulk invariants, and correspond to topol...