DOI: 10.1126/science.1133734. Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells

Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells

10.1126/science.1133734

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

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.

Bibliography

Bernevig, B. A., Hughes, T. L., & Zhang, S.-C. (2006). Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells. Science, 314(5806), 1757â1761.

Authors 3

B. Andrei Bernevig (first)
Taylor L. Hughes (additional)
Shou-Cheng Zhang (additional)

References 30 Referenced 6,079

10.1016/0375-9601(71)90196-4
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10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.106802
10.1103/PhysRevB.74.085308
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10.1103/PhysRevB.73.045322
10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.136602
M. Onoda Y. Avishai N. Nagaosa http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0605510.
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Y. Yao F. Ye X. L. Qi S. C. Zhang Z. Fang http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0606350.
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S. Murakami http://arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/0607001.
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10.1103/PhysRevB.74.045125
10.1016/0370-2693(93)90692-B
10.1103/PhysRevLett.60.635
10.1063/1.1425465
10.1103/PhysRevB.62.10353
We thank X. Dai Z. Fang F. D. M. Haldane A. H. MacDonald L. W. Molenkamp N. Nagaosa X.-L. Qi R. Roy and R. Winkler for discussions. B.A.B. acknowledges the hospitality of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California Santa Barbara where part of this work was performed. Supported by NSF grant DMR-0342832 and by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Basic Energy Sciences under contract DE-AC03-76SF00515.

Dates

Type	When
Created	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 14, 2006, 2:55 p.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 11:49 p.m.)
Indexed	10 hours, 10 minutes ago (Aug. 22, 2025, 12:47 a.m.)
Issued	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 15, 2006)
Published	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 15, 2006)
Published Print	18 years, 8 months ago (Dec. 15, 2006)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Bernevig_2006, title={Quantum Spin Hall Effect and Topological Phase Transition in HgTe Quantum Wells}, volume={314}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1133734}, DOI={10.1126/science.1133734}, number={5806}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Bernevig, B. Andrei and Hughes, Taylor L. and Zhang, Shou-Cheng}, year={2006}, month=dec, pages={1757–1761} }

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