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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Higher-order topological insulators in two-dimensional Dirac materials

Yang Xue1,*, Hao Huan2, Bao Zhao2,3, Youhua Luo1, Zhenyu Zhang4, and Zhongqin Yang2,†

  • 1School of Physics, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
  • 2State Key Laboratory of Surface Physics and Key Laboratory of Computational Physical Sciences (MOE) & Department of Physics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
  • 3Shandong Key Laboratory of Optical Communication Science and Technology, School of Physics Science and Information Technology, Liaocheng University, Liaocheng 252059, China
  • 4International Center for Quantum Design of Functional Materials (ICQD), Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, and CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China

  • *xuey@ecust.edu.cn
  • †zyang@fudan.edu.cn
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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L042044 – Published 23 December, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.3.L042044

Abstract

As a novel topological state, a higher-order topological insulator has attracted enormous interest, which in d spatial dimensions has gapless boundary states at (d−n) dimensions (integer n is larger than 1). Until now, merely few two-dimensional (2D) materials have been identified as higher-order topological insulators and their experimental confirmations are still absent. Here we propose a universal strategy of antidot engineering to realize second-order topological insulators (SOTIs) in 2D Dirac materials. Based on symmetry analysis, tight-binding model, and first-principles calculations, we demonstrate SOTIs in antidot-decorated Xene (X=C, Si,and Ge) by displaying its finite bulk quadrupole moment, weak topological edge states, and in-gap topological corner states. An inherent connection is established for the existing various mechanisms of the SOTIs, including quadrupole polarization, filling anomaly, and generalized Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model on a Kekulé lattice. The robustness of topological corner states of the SOTIs against edge perturbations and bulk disorders is explicitly demonstrated, rendering our strategy appealing to experimental realization of topological corner states.

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Phys. Rev. Research 3, L042044– Published 23 December, 2021
  • Received 5 September 2021
  • Accepted 30 November 2021
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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