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  • Letter

Engineering two-dimensional hybrid-order topological insulators via trilayer coupling

Lizhou Liu1, Cheng-Ming Miao1, and Qing-Feng Sun1,2,*

  • 1International Center for Quantum Materials, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
  • 2Hefei National Laboratory, Hefei 230088, China

  • *Contact author: sunqf@pku.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. B 113, L201401 – Published 11 May, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ggh1-tpdk

Abstract

We propose an interlayer-engineering scheme to realize a two-dimensional hybrid-order topological insulator, characterized by the coexistence of first-order and second-order topological phases, in a coupled trilayer Chern system. Starting from three quantum anomalous Hall layers with Chern numbers C1/2/3=+1/−1/+1 in the decoupled limit, interlayer tunneling hybridizes their edge states into a single chiral edge mode, while simultaneously opening a gap that supports corner states. Consequently, the system exhibits the coexistence of one-dimensional chiral edge states and zero-dimensional corner states within the same bulk gap, a hallmark of the hybrid-order topology. Furthermore, we map out the topological phase diagram, and show that the hybrid-order phase is robust against mass-type disorder. Our results identify interlayer hybridization as a minimal and broadly applicable strategy for engineering coexisting edge and corner states within a topological platform.

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