Quantum spin Hall effect and topological phase transition in HgTe quantum wells
Quantum spin Hall effect and topological phase transition in HgTe quantum wells
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DOI：
10.1126/science.1133734
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发表时间：
2006-12-15
期刊：
影响因子：
56.9
通讯作者：
Zhang, Shou-Cheng
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bernevig, B. Andrei;Hughes, Taylor L.;Zhang, Shou-Cheng
我们发现，量子自旋霍尔效应(QSH)是一种具有不同于传统绝缘体的拓扑性质的物质状态，可以在碲化汞-碲化镉半导体量子阱中实现。当量子阱厚度变化时，电子态在临界厚度d(C)处从正态转变为“反转”型。我们证明了这种相变是一种拓扑量子相变，它介于传统的绝缘相和具有单对螺旋边态的QSH效应相之间。我们还讨论了QSH效应的实验检测方法。
We show that the quantum spin Hall (QSH) effect, a state of matter with topological properties distinct from those of conventional insulators, can be realized in mercury telluride-cadmium telluride semiconductor quantum wells. When the thickness of the quantum well is varied, the electronic state changes from a normal to an "inverted" type at a critical thickness d(c). We show that this transition is a topological quantum phase transition between a conventional insulating phase and a phase exhibiting the QSH effect with a single pair of helical edge states. We also discuss methods for experimental detection of the QSH effect.