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

Nano Letters
Junwei LiuLiang Fu

Abstract

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-principles calculations, here we demonstrate that (001) monolayers of rocksalt IV-VI semiconductors XY (X = Ge, Sn, Pb and Y = S, Se, Te) are 2D TCIs with the fundamental band gap as large as 260 meV in monolayer PbTe. This unexpected nontrivial topological phase stems from the strong crystal field effect in the monolayer, which lifts the degeneracy between p(x,y) and p(z) orbitals and leads to band inversion between cation pz and anion px,y orbitals. This crystal field effect induced topological phase offers a new strategy to find and design other atomically thin 2D topological materials.

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Citations

Jan 17, 2017·Advanced Materials·Wenhui WanFan Zhang
Jun 8, 2017·Nature Communications·Mohammad Mehdi Ramin MoayedChristian Klinke
Nov 1, 2017·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Yi-Zhen JiaShi-Shen Yan
Sep 5, 2018·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Shuai ZhangYing Dai
Jul 16, 2015·Small·Qisheng WangJun He
Sep 5, 2015·Physical Review Letters·Youngkuk KimAndrew M Rappe
Sep 10, 2016·Physical Review Letters·Ruixiang FeiLi Yang
Jun 23, 2018·Scientific Reports·Augusto L AraújoTome M Schmidt
Sep 7, 2019·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Anh PhamSean Li
Nov 18, 2018·Physical Review Letters·Qiyue WangFan Zhang
Feb 2, 2020·Nature Communications·Benjamin J WiederB Andrei Bernevig
Nov 3, 2015·Nanoscale·Haijun ZhangZhongfang Chen
Jun 21, 2018·The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters·C E Ekuma
Jun 26, 2020·ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces·Junliang LiuWen Lei

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