Electronic properties of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials

TL;DR

This paper reviews the recent progress in understanding the electronic properties and potential applications of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulators, highlighting their unique quantum transport features and tunability.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the topological identification, electronic properties, and quantum transport phenomena in SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials.

Findings

Identification of topological phases in SnTe materials

Observation of surface states and their behaviors

Potential for quantum device applications

Abstract

The rise of topological insulators in recent years has broken new ground both in the conceptual cognition of condensed matter physics and the promising revolution of the electronic devices. It also stimulates the explorations of more topological states of matter. Topological crystalline insulator is a new topological phase, which combines the electronic topology and crystal symmetry together. In this article, we review the recent progress in the studies of SnTe-class topological crystalline insulator materials. Starting from the topological identifications in the aspects of the bulk topology, surface states calculations and experimental observations, we present the electronic properties of topological crystalline insulators under various perturbations, including native defect, chemical doping, strain, and thickness-dependent confinement effects, and then discuss their unique quantum transport properties, such as valley-selective filtering and helicity-resolved functionalities for Dirac fermions. The rich properties and high tunability make SnTe-class materials promising candidates for novel quantum devices.