Converting normal insulators into topological insulators via tuning orbital levels
Author(s)
Shi, Wu-Jun; Liu, Junwei; Xu, Yong; Xiong, Shi-Jie; Wu, Jian; Duan, Wenhui; ... Show more Show less
DownloadPhysRevB.92.205118.pdf (1.145Mb)
PUBLISHER_POLICY
Publisher Policy
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Terms of use
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Tuning the spin-orbit coupling strength via foreign element doping and modifying bonding strength via strain engineering are the major routes to convert normal insulators to topological insulators. We here propose an alternative strategy to realize topological phase transition by tuning the orbital level. Following this strategy, our first-principles calculations demonstrate that a topological phase transition in the cubic perovskite-type compounds CsGeBr[subscript 3] and CsSnBr[subscript 3] could be facilitated by carbon substitutional doping. Such a unique topological phase transition predominantly results from the lower orbital energy of the carbon dopant, which can pull down the conduction bands and even induce band inversion. Beyond conventional approaches, our finding of tuning the orbital level may greatly expand the range of topologically nontrivial materials.
Date issued
2015-11Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Materials Processing Center; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of PhysicsJournal
Physical Review B
Publisher
American Physical Society
Citation
Shi, Wu-Jun, Junwei Liu, Yong Xu, Shi-Jie Xiong, Jian Wu, and Wenhui Duan. “Converting Normal Insulators into Topological Insulators via Tuning Orbital Levels.” Physical Review B 92, no. 20 (November 2015). © 2015 American Physical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1098-0121
1550-235X