Strain driven onset of non-trivial topological insulating states in Zintl Sr${}_{2}X$ compounds ($X$=Pb, Sn)

Abstract

We explore the topological behavior of the binary Zintl phase of the alkaline earth metals based compounds Sr${}_2$Pb and Sr${}_2$Sn using both standard and hybrid density functional theory. It is found that Sr${}_2$Pb lies on the verge of a topological instability which can be suitably tuned through the application of a small uniaxial expansion strain ($>$ 3%). The resulting non-trivial topologically insulating state display well-defined metallic states in the Sr${}_2$Pb(010) surface, whose evolution is studied as a function of the film thickness.

5 pages, 4 figures

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