2013/02/28 by Tanmoy Das, A. V. Balatsky · 1 citation
Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Condensed Matter Physics #Condensed matter physics #Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides #Geometry #Heterojunction #Homogeneous space #Physics #Quantum #Quantum mechanics #Surface (topology) #Surface states #Symmetry protected topological order #Topological Materials and Phenomena #Topological insulator #Topological order #Topology (electrical circuits) #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1038/ncomms2972
published as Nat. Communications 4, 1972 (2013) · (v2): Two design principles for our proposals are included. Accepted for publication in Nature Communications
arxiv created 2013/05/05 · openalex publication_date 2013/06/06 · arxiv updated 2013/06/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Topological insulators represent a new class of quantum phase defined by invariant symmetries and spin-orbit coupling that guarantees metallic Dirac excitations at its surface. The discoveries of these states have sparked the hope of realizing non-trivial excitations and novel effects such as a magnetoelectric effect and topological Majorana excitations. Here we develop a theoretical formalism to show that a three-dimensional topological insulator can be designed artificially via stacking bilayers of two-dimensional Fermi gases with opposite Rashba-type spin-orbit coupling on adjacent layers, and with interlayer quantum tunneling. We demonstrate that in the stack of bilayers grown along a (001)-direction, a non-trivial topological phase transition occurs above a critical number of Rashba bilayers. In the topological phase, we find the formation of a single spin-polarized Dirac cone at the -point. This approach offers an accessible way to design artificial topological insulators in a set up that takes full advantage of the atomic layer deposition approach. This design principle is tunable and also allows us to bypass limitations imposed by bulk crystal geometry.