Abstract
We review our theoretical advances in tunable topological quantum states in three- and two-dimensional materials with strong spin-orbital couplings. In three-dimensional systems, we propose a new tunable topological insulator, bismuth-based skutterudites in which topological insulating states can be induced by external strains. The orbitals involved in the topological band-inversion process are the d- and p-orbitals, unlike typical topological insulators such as Bi2Se3 and BiTeI, where only the p-orbitals are involved in the band-inversion process. Owing to the presence of large d-electronic states, the electronic interaction in our proposed topological insulator is much stronger than that in other conventional topological insulators. In two-dimensional systems, we investigated 3d-transition-metal-doped silicene. Using both an analytical model and first-principles Wannier interpolation, we demonstrate that silicene decorated with certain 3d transition metals such as vanadium can sustain a stable quantum anomalous Hall effect. We also predict that the quantum valley Hall effect and electrically tunable topological states could be realized in certain transition-metal-doped silicenes where the energy band inversion occurs. These findings provide realistic materials in which topological states could be arbitrarily controlled.
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Yang, M., Zhang, XL. & Liu, WM. Tunable topological quantum states in three- and two-dimensional materials. Front. Phys. 10, 161–176 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-015-0463-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11467-015-0463-3