Electrically tunable quantum spin Hall state in topological crystalline insulator thin films
Author(s)
Liu, Junwei; Fu, Liang
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Based on electronic structure calculations and theoretical analysis, we predict the (111) thin films of the SnTe class of three-dimensional (3D) topological crystalline insulators (TCIs) realize the quantum spin Hall phase in a wide range of thicknesses. The nontrivial topology originates from the intersurface coupling of the topological surface states of TCIs in the 3D limit. The intersurface coupling changes sign and gives rise to topological phase transitions as a function of film thickness. Furthermore, this coupling can be strongly affected by an external electric field, hence the quantum spin Hall phase can be effectively tuned under the experimentally accessible electric field.
Date issued
2015-02Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Processing Center; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of PhysicsJournal
Physical Review B
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Liu, Junwei, and Liang Fu. “Electrically Tunable Quantum Spin Hall State in Topological Crystalline Insulator Thin Films.” Phys. Rev. B 91, no. 8 (February 2015). © 2015 American Physical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1098-0121
1550-235X