Topological insulators in filled skutterudites

Binghai Yan, Lukas Müchler, Xiao Liang Qi, Shou Cheng Zhang, Claudia Felser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We propose new topological insulators in cerium-filled skutterudite (FS) compounds based on ab initio calculations. We find that two compounds, CeOs 4As 12 and CeOs 4Sb 12, are zero gap materials with band inversions between Os-d and Ce-f orbitals, similar to HgTe. Both compounds are predicted to become topological Kondo insulators at low temperatures, which are Kondo insulators in the bulk but with robust Dirac surface states on the boundary. Furthermore, this family of topological insulators has more unique features. Due to similar lattice parameters there will be a good proximity effect with other superconducting FS compounds, which may realize Majorana fermions. Additionally, the experimentally observed antiferromagnetic phase of CeOs 4Sb 12 at very low temperature provides a way to realize the massive Dirac fermion with topological magnetoelectric effects.

Original languageEnglish
Article number165125
JournalPhysical Review B
Volume85
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - 16 Apr 2012
Externally publishedYes

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics

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