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Unconventional hybrid-order topological insulators

Wei Jia1,*, Yuping Tian2, Huanhuan Yang3,†, Xiangru Kong2,‡, Zhi-Hao Huang4, Wei-Jiang Gong2, and Jun-Hong An1

  • 1Lanzhou Center for Theoretical Physics, Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Gansu Province, Key Laboratory of Quantum Theory and Applications of MoE, Gansu Provincial Research Center for Basic Disciplines of Quantum Physics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
  • 2College of Sciences, Northeastern University, Shenyang 110819, China
  • 3Advanced Institute for Material Research (WPI-AIMR), Tohoku University, 2-1-1 Katahira, Sendai 980-8577, Japan
  • 4Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China

  • *Contact author: jiaw@lzu.edu.cn
  • †Contact author: yang.huanhuan.b6@tohoku.ac.jp
  • ‡Contact author: kongxiangru@mail.neu.edu.cn

Phys. Rev. B 112, L241103 – Published 3 December, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/zpcc-59kv

Abstract

Exploring novel topological matters with exotic quantum states has always been a core issue in the field of condensed matter physics, which can update the understanding of topological phases and broaden the classification of topological materials. Here, we report a class of unconventional hybrid-order topological insulators (HyOTIs), which simultaneously host various higher-order topological states in a single band gap. Such topological states exhibit a unique bulk-boundary correspondence that is different from the well-known first-order topological states, higher-order topological states, and the coexistence of both. We develop a generic surface theory to precisely capture them and discover a three-dimensional unconventional HyOTI protected by inversion symmetry, which renders both helical and corner topological states and exhibits an excellent bulk-edge-corner correspondence. By adjusting the parameters of the system, we also observe the nontrivial phase transitions between the inversion-symmetric HyOTI and other conventional phases. We further propose a circuit-based experimental scheme to detect these interesting results. Particularly, we demonstrate that a modified tight-binding model of bismuth can support the unconventional HyOTI, suggesting a possible route for its material realization. This work significantly advances the research of hybrid topological states in both theory and experiment.

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