2024/10/21 by Alejandro José Uría-Álvarez, Uría-Álvarez, A. J., J. J. Palacios +1 · 3 citations
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) #FOS: Physical sciences #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) #Phase-change materials and chalcogenides #Topological Materials and Phenomena
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2410.16034
openalex publication_date 2024/10/21 · openalex created_date 2024/11/06 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Bismuth has been shown to be topological in its different allotropes and compounds, with one of the most notable examples being the Bi-Sb alloy, the first 3D topological insulator ever discovered. In this paper we explore two-dimensional alloys of Bi and Sb, both crystalline and amorphous, to determine the critical concentrations that render the alloys topological. For the amorphous alloy, we determine the effect of structural disorder on its topological properties, remarkably observing a trivial to topological transition as disorder increases. The alloys are modelled using a Slater-Koster tight-binding model and the topological behaviour is assessed through the entanglement spectrum together with artificial neural networks. Additionally, we perform electronic transport calculations with results compatible with those of the entanglement spectrum, which, furthermore, reveal an insulator to metal transition in the highly disordered regime.