Stacked topological insulator built from bismuth-based graphene sheet analogues

Rasche B, Isaeva A, Ruck M, Borisenko S, Zabolotnyy V, Buechner B, Koepernik K, Ortix C, Richter M, Van Den Brink J (2013)

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2013

Journal

Nature Materials

Book Volume: 12

Pages Range: 422-425

Journal Issue: 5

DOI: 10.1038/nmat3570

Abstract

Commonly, materials are classified as either electrical conductors or insulators. The theoretical discovery of topological insulators has fundamentally challenged this dichotomy. In a topological insulator, the spin-orbit interaction generates a non-trivial topology of the electronic band structure dictating that its bulk is perfectly insulating, whereas its surface is fully conducting. The first topological insulator candidate material put forward - graphene - is of limited practical use because its weak spin-orbit interactions produce a bandgap of ∼ 0.01 K. Recent reexaminations of Bi 2Se3 and Bi2Te3, however, have firmly categorized these materials as strong three-dimensional topological insulators. We have synthesized the first bulk material belonging to an entirely different, weak, topological class, built from stacks of two-dimensional topological insulators: Bi14Rh3I9. Its Bi-Rh sheets are graphene analogues, but with a honeycomb net composed of RhBi 8 cubes rather than carbon atoms. The strong bismuth-related spin-orbit interaction renders each graphene-like layer a topological insulator with a 2,400 K bandgap. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

Involved external institutions

Leibniz-Institut für Festkörper- und Werkstoffforschung Dresden e.V. (IFW) / Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden

Germany (DE) Technische Universität Dresden

Germany (DE)

How to cite

APA:

Rasche, B., Isaeva, A., Ruck, M., Borisenko, S., Zabolotnyy, V., Buechner, B.,... Van Den Brink, J. (2013). Stacked topological insulator built from bismuth-based graphene sheet analogues. Nature Materials, 12(5), 422-425. https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3570

MLA:

Rasche, Bertold, et al. "Stacked topological insulator built from bismuth-based graphene sheet analogues." Nature Materials 12.5 (2013): 422-425.

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