Signature of large-gap quantum spin Hall state in the layered mineral jacutingaite

Abstract

Quantum spin Hall (QSH) insulators are materials that feature an insulating bulk and host edge states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The helical locking of spin and momentum in these states suppresses backscattering of charge carriers, promising applications from low-power electronics to quantum computing. A major challenge for applications is the identification of large gap QSH materials, which would enable room temperature dissipationless transport in their edge states. Here we show that the layered mineral jacutingaite (Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$) is a candidate QSH material, realizing the long sought after the Kane-Mele insulator. Using scanning tunneling microscopy, we measure a band gap of 110 meV, above room temperature, and identify the hallmark edge states. By calculating the ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ invariant, we confirm the topological nature of the gap. Being a layered mineral, it is stable in air and can be thinned down to a few atomic layers by mechanical exfoliation. Furthermore, we demonstrate that it can be integrated into heterostructures with other two-dimensional materials. This adds a topological insulator to the 2D quantum material library, greatly expanding the possibilities for tuning 2D electron systems using stacks of layered materials.

References in corpus (13)

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• Mass inversion in graphene by proximity to dichalcogenide monolayer
• Emergent dual topology in the three-dimensional Kane-Mele Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$

Cited by in corpus (17)

• Jacutingaite-family: a class of topological materials
• Room-temperature quantum spin Hall phase in laser-patterned few-layer 1T'- MoS2
• Second-Order Topological Insulator in van der Waals Heterostructures of CoBr${}_2$/Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$/CoBr${}_2$
• Probing topological phases in a perturbed Kane-Mele model via RKKY interaction: Application to monolayer jacutingaite Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$
• Switchable large-gap quantum spin Hall state in two-dimensional MSi${}_2$Z${}_4$ materials class
• Theory of Glide Symmetry Protected Helical Edge States in WTe${}_2$ Monolayer
• Transport features of topological corner states in honeycomb lattice with multihollow structure
• Gate-tunable imbalanced Kane-Mele model in encapsulated bilayer jacutingaite
• Bulk-boundary-transport correspondence of the second-order topological insulators
• Magnetic transitions in the 1-D chain compounds NdPd5Ge3 and NdPt5Ge3
• Realization of Kane-Mele Model in $X{\mathbf{N}}_4$-Embedded Graphene ($X$=Pt, Ir, Rh, Os)
• Pressure-induced Superconductivity in dual-topological semimetal Pt2HgSe3
• Non-trivial topology in rare-earth monopnictides from dimensionality reduction
• Exploring Topological Transport in Pt${}_2$HgSe${}_3$ Nanoribbons: Insights for Spintronic Device Integration
• Superconductivity in doped planar Dirac insulators: A renormalization group study
• Designing Extremely Low-Power Topological Transistors with 1T'-MoS2 and HZO for Cryogenic Applications
• Floquet engineering of spin-valley selective transport in jacutingaite