Journal Article

Actinide Topological Insulator Materials with Strong Interaction

Zhang, Xiao, Zhang, Haijun, Zhang, Shou-Cheng, Wang, Jing, Felser, Claudia

2012

Overview

Topological band insulators have recently been discovered in spin-orbit coupled two-and three-dimensional systems. We theoretically predict a class of topological insulators where interaction effects play a dominant role. In actinide elements, simple rocksalt compounds formed by Pu and Am lie on the boundary between metals and insulators. We show that interaction drives a quantum phase transition to a topological insulator phase with a single Dirac cone on the surface. These putative topological insulators may provide a setting for both applied and fundamental investigation.

• Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science,The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subject: Actinide compounds / Actinides / Angular momentum / Atoms & subatomic particles / Boundaries / Chemical compounds / Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties / Crystal and ligand fields / Electron states / Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems / Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures / Electrons / Energy gaps / Exact sciences and technology / Face centered cubic lattices / Insulation / Insulators / Level splitting and interactions / Materials / Materials science / Mathematical surfaces / Metal-insulator transitions and other electronic transitions / metals / Orbitals / Phase transformations / phase transition / Phase transitions / Physics / Plutonium / Strong nuclear force / Three dimensional / Topology