Material science
Two-dimensional topological insulators: past, present and future
Abstract
Researcher
Acknowledgements
References
Supplementary Information

Two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators (TIs) are special quantum conductors that possess an insulating bulk but metallic edge with quantized charge and spin conductance protected by electron band topology. The concept of topology and TI has not only renewed our fundamental understanding of electronic properties of solid materials, but also opened an exciting avenue towards potential applications of topological quantum devices with minimized heat dissipation and robustness against disorder. In this video article, I will first introduce and review the concept of TIs within the context of transport properties of solid-state materials. I will then use two examples, the organic 2D TIs and the surface-based 2D topological states, to recap the rapid theoretical and experimental developments made in this emerging field. The existence of quantized edge conductance and topological edge states of 2D TIs has been so far confirmed experimentally in several systems, such as semiconductor quantum wells, 2D transition metal dichalcogenides, metallic overlayer of bismuth on a semiconductor surface.  However, discovery of high-temperature 2D TIs and construction of functional TI-based quantum devices remain largely elusive. At the end of this video article, I will offer briefly my personal perspective and possible future directions in low-dimensional topological materials.

Keywords:
two-dimensional materials
electron band topology
topological insulators
organic materials
surfaces and epitaxial growth
DOI: https://doi.org/10.61109/cs.202310.115
Submitted
29 August, 2023
Accepted
17 October, 2023
Published
27 October, 2023
Rights and permissions
Open Access This video article (including but not limited to the video presentation, related slides, images and text manuscript) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, duplication, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.
Comments
Comment
Cite this article
Copy
F. Liu, Two-dimensional topological insulators: past, present and future, Coshare Science 01, v3, 1-62 (2023).
or
F. Liu, Two-dimensional topological insulators: past, present and future, Coshare Science 01, video-3, 1-62 (2023).
More
PDF