Robust Helical Edge Transport in Quantum Spin Hall Quantum Wells

Abstract

We show that burying of the Dirac point in semiconductor-based quantum-spin-Hall systems can generate unexpected robustness of edge states to magnetic fields. A detailed $\mathbf{k}\cdot \mathbf{p}$ band-structure analysis reveals that InAs/GaSb and HgTe/CdTe quantum wells exhibit such buried Dirac points. By simulating transport in a disordered system described within an effective model, we further demonstrate that buried Dirac points yield nearly quantized edge conduction out to large magnetic fields, consistent with recent experiments.

11 pages, 6 figures