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Engineering a non-Hermitian second-order topological insulator state in quasicrystals

Journal Article · · Physical Review. B
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States); Louisiana State University
  2. Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States)

Non-Hermitian topological phases have gained immense attention due to their potential to unlock novel features beyond Hermitian bounds. PT -symmetric (parity time-reversal symmetric) non-Hermitian models have been studied extensively over the past decade. In recent years, the topological properties of general non-Hermitian models, regardless of the balance between gains and losses, have also attracted vast attention. Here, we propose a non-Hermitian second-order topological (SOT) insulator that hosts gapless corner states on a two-dimensional quasicrystalline lattice (QL). We first construct a non-Hermitian extension of the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model on a QL generated by the Amman-Beenker tiling. This model has real spectra and supports helical edge states. Corner states emerge by adding a proper Wilson-mass term that gaps out the edge states. We propose two variations of the mass term that result in fascinating characteristics. In the first variation, we obtain a purely real spectra for the second-order topological phase. In the latter, we get a complex spectra with corner states localized at only two corners due to the higher-order non-Hermitian skin effect of the edge modes. Furthermore, our findings pave a path to engineering exotic SOT phases where corner states can be localized at designated corners.

Research Organization:
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0017861
OSTI ID:
2479367
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2473306
Journal Information:
Physical Review. B, Journal Name: Physical Review. B Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 109; ISSN 2469-9950
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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