Topological insulators in Bi2Se3, Bi2Te3 and Sb2Te3 with a single Dirac cone on the surface

Journal Article · Wed Feb 24 04:00:00 EST 2010 · Nature Phys.5:438-442,2009

OSTI ID:972666

Zhang, Haijun; Liu, Chao-Xing; Qi, Xiao-Liang; Dai, Xi; Fang, Zhong; Zhang, Shou-Cheng

Topological insulators are new states of quantum matter in which surface states residing in the bulk insulating gap of such systems are protected by time-reversal symmetry. The study of such states was originally inspired by the robustness to scattering of conducting edge states in quantum Hall systems. Recently, such analogies have resulted in the discovery of topologically protected states in two-dimensional and three-dimensional band insulators with large spin-orbit coupling. So far, the only known three-dimensional topological insulator is Bi{sub x}Sb{sub 1-x}, which is an alloy with complex surface states. Here, we present the results of first-principles electronic structure calculations of the layered, stoichiometric crystals Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3}, Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3}, Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3}. Our calculations predict that Sb{sub 2}Te{sub 3}, Bi{sub 2}Te{sub 3} and Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} are topological insulators, whereas Sb{sub 2}Se{sub 3} is not. These topological insulators have robust and simple surface states consisting of a single Dirac cone at the point. In addition, we predict that Bi{sub 2}Se{sub 3} has a topologically non-trivial energy gap of 0.3 eV, which is larger than the energy scale of room temperature. We further present a simple and unified continuum model that captures the salient topological features of this class of materials.

• Research Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515
• OSTI ID: 972666
• Report Number(s): SLAC-REPRINT-2010-025
• Journal Information: Nature Phys.5:438-442,2009, Journal Name: Nature Phys.5:438-442,2009 Vol. 5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
ALLOYS
CONES
ELECTRONIC STRUCTURE
ENERGY GAP
General Physics
MATSCI
SCATTERING
SYMMETRY