Synchronous and Asynchronous Mott Transitions in Topological Insulator Ribbons

Abstract

We address how the nature of linearly dispersing edge states of two dimensional (2D) topological insulators evolves with increasing electron-electron correlation engendered by a Hubbard like on-site repulsion $U$ in finite ribbons of two models of topological band insulators. Using an inhomogeneous cluster slave rotor mean-field method developed here, we show that electronic correlations drive the topologically nontrivial phase into a Mott insulating phase via two different routes. In a synchronous transition, the entire ribbon attains a Mott insulating state at one critical $U$ that depends weakly on the width of the ribbon. In the second, asynchronous route, Mott localization first occurs on the edge layers at a smaller critical value of electronic interaction which then propagates into the bulk as $U$ is further increased until all layers of the ribbon become Mott localized. We show that the kind of Mott transition that takes place is determined by certain properties of the linearly dispersing edge states which characterize the topological resilience to Mott localization.

4+ pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (9)

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• Fluctuation driven topological Hund insulators
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• Change of an insulator's topological properties by a Hubbard interaction
• Fractionalization and topology in amorphous electronic solids
• Coexistence of metallic edge states and anti-ferromagnetic ordering in correlated topological insulators
• Exciton topology and condensation in a model quantum spin Hall insulator
• Continuum Theory of Edge States of Topological Insulators: Variational Principle and Boundary Conditions
• The Mott transition as a topological phase transition