A large energy-gap oxide topological insulator based on the superconductor BaBiO3

TL;DR

This paper predicts that electron-doped BaBiO3, a well-known superconductor, can act as a topological insulator with a large energy gap, offering a stable oxide platform for Majorana fermion research.

Contribution

It is the first to identify BaBiO3 as a topological insulator in the electron-doped region with a large energy gap, combining topological and superconducting properties.

Findings

BaBiO3 becomes a topological insulator upon electron doping.

Largest topological energy gap of 0.7 eV among known TIs.

Stable oxide TI suitable for interfacing with superconductors.

Abstract

Mixed-valent perovskite oxides based on BaBiO3 (BBO) are, like cuperates, well-known high-Tc superconductors. Recent ab inito calculations have assigned the high-Tc superconductivity to a correlation-enhanced electron--phonon coupling mechanism, stimulating the prediction and synthesis of new superconductor candidates among mixed-valent thallium perovskites. Existing superconductivity has meant that research has mainly focused on hole-doped compounds, leaving electron-doped compounds relatively unexplored. Here we demonstrate through ab inito calculations that BBO emerges as a topological insulator (TI) in the electron-doped region, where the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect is significant. BBO exhibits the largest topological energy gap of 0.7 eV among currently known TI materials, inside which Dirac-type topological surface states (TSSs) exit. As the first oxide TI, BBO is naturally stable against surface oxidization and degrading, different from chalcoginide TIs. An extra advantage of BBO lies in its ability to serve an interface between the TSSs and the superconductor for the realization of Majorana Fermions.