Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals
An early triumph of quantum mechanics was the explanation of metallic and insulating behavior based on the filling of electronic bands. A complementary, classical picture of insulators depicts electrons as occupying localized and symmetric Wannier orbitals that resemble atomic orbitals. We report th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
2018
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113688 |
| _version_ | 1826197986283094016 |
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| author | Po, H. C. Zaletel, M. P. Vishwanath, A. Watanabe, Haruki |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Po, H. C. Zaletel, M. P. Vishwanath, A. Watanabe, Haruki |
| author_sort | Po, H. C. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | An early triumph of quantum mechanics was the explanation of metallic and insulating behavior based on the filling of electronic bands. A complementary, classical picture of insulators depicts electrons as occupying localized and symmetric Wannier orbitals that resemble atomic orbitals. We report the theoretical discovery of band insulators for which electron filling forbids such an atomic description. We refer to them as filling-enforced quantum band insulators (feQBIs) because their wave functions are associated with an essential degree of quantum entanglement. Like topological insulators, which also do not admit an atomic description, feQBIs need spin-orbit coupling for their realization. However, they do not necessarily support gapless surface states. Instead, the band topology is reflected in the insulating behavior at an unconventional filling. We present tight binding models of feQBIs and show that they only occur in certain nonsymmorphic, body-centered cubic crystals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:57:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/113688 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:57:05Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1136882022-10-01T00:09:20Z Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals Po, H. C. Zaletel, M. P. Vishwanath, A. Watanabe, Haruki Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Watanabe, Haruki An early triumph of quantum mechanics was the explanation of metallic and insulating behavior based on the filling of electronic bands. A complementary, classical picture of insulators depicts electrons as occupying localized and symmetric Wannier orbitals that resemble atomic orbitals. We report the theoretical discovery of band insulators for which electron filling forbids such an atomic description. We refer to them as filling-enforced quantum band insulators (feQBIs) because their wave functions are associated with an essential degree of quantum entanglement. Like topological insulators, which also do not admit an atomic description, feQBIs need spin-orbit coupling for their realization. However, they do not necessarily support gapless surface states. Instead, the band topology is reflected in the insulating behavior at an unconventional filling. We present tight binding models of feQBIs and show that they only occur in certain nonsymmorphic, body-centered cubic crystals. 2018-02-15T16:38:10Z 2018-02-15T16:38:10Z 2016-04 2015-12 2018-02-09T18:29:00Z Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 2375-2548 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113688 Po, H. C. et al. “Filling-Enforced Quantum Band Insulators in Spin-Orbit Coupled Crystals.” Science Advances 2, 4 (April 2016): e1501782–e1501782 © 2016 The Authors http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501782 Science Advances Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/ application/pdf American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) |
| spellingShingle | Po, H. C. Zaletel, M. P. Vishwanath, A. Watanabe, Haruki Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title | Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title_full | Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title_fullStr | Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title_short | Filling-enforced quantum band insulators in spin-orbit coupled crystals |
| title_sort | filling enforced quantum band insulators in spin orbit coupled crystals |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/113688 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT pohc fillingenforcedquantumbandinsulatorsinspinorbitcoupledcrystals AT zaletelmp fillingenforcedquantumbandinsulatorsinspinorbitcoupledcrystals AT vishwanatha fillingenforcedquantumbandinsulatorsinspinorbitcoupledcrystals AT watanabeharuki fillingenforcedquantumbandinsulatorsinspinorbitcoupledcrystals |